If you’ve been buried deep in a bunker for the past 5 years or so you may have missed the fact that the global economy had a little financial blip. Actually, it wasn’t so much a blip as a meltdown and it’s not over yet.

The U.S economy is still on its back staring at the sky like a hit and run victim on life support. When Wall Street goes down the crapper the shock waves fan out across the world and many companies go the way of the dinosaurs. Like some UK retailers. Such as MFI. And Game. And Comet.

You get the idea. But when a company goes bust it’s time to party because bankruptcy means sale time. But you’re unlikely to be the only person that knows. Any store that closing down will be packed with what can only be compared to the rabid remnants of post-apocalyptic humanity as they scour the wasteland for easy pickings. Continue reading →

About 140 years ago, the prison system went through a massive series of reforms. Inmates were no longer confined to their cells for 23 hours a day. They were made to work. In return, they were paid for their efforts (but only just enough to buy life threatening quantities of snout).

Some lucky inmates won a trip on a never ending cruise.

Goldmine on legs!

You may well have heard the story of how Pam Cole was stung by her local Asda store. Due to the supermarkets cock up, Mrs Cole and her housebound husband had to survive a weekend without two pennies to rub together. On a more cheery note, Asda did refund her money. They also let her have the chops for free and presented her with a £5 voucher. Everyone’s a winner.

Ok, I’m having a little dig. I’m sure Mrs Cole was happy with her freebies. I’m also sure that Asda are happy with the positive publicity they got from this mess. But there are people out there that love to spend outrageous sums of money to sample the finest delicacies on the planet. How much do these delicacies cost? Prepare to be shocked… Continue reading →

Ever wondered how far over the edge you could be tipped by an addiction to payday loans? Let’s take a look at the potential health related risks you run by running the gauntlet.

The Payday Loan Question Mark

I’m not going to tell that payday loans are the spawn of some hellish creature from a nightmarish hinterland filled with pain and despair. I’m not going to tell you that you should avoid payday loans on pain of a lingering death of your finances. In fact, I will go so far as to say that, in some cases, payday loans can actually benefit you.

Submitting your bank account to a punishing 4000% interest for the sake of a night out on the town is definitely off the cards. But emergencies tend to require snap decisions and, sometimes, small sacrifices. What if a family member falls seriously ill at the end of the month but you can’t afford to travel? In a one off instance like this, the cost is worth bearing.

So, do you REALLY need the loan or is it a nice to have? How easily could this ‘need’ for fast cash become an addiction? In fact, before you answer that second question, let’s take a look at some of the health-related risks that await you.

Addiction

If you’ve ever been addicted to anything you already know about the cravings. Take gambling addiction as a prime example; you become secretive; You gamble even when you don’t have any money; At the most extreme, you’ll steal from friends and family to for what you tell yourself is just one more throw of the dice. Trust me, it’s not nice.

Then there’s the withdrawal symptoms. Sweating, itching and palpitations. In some cases, former gambling addicts have been diagnosed as having mental disorders.

Scary thought? Yes but it serves a purpose…

Debt related nervous breakdown

Could payday loans lead you to have a nervous breakdown? Not directly but they can contribute. Last year, the BBC reported on a man who suffered a nervous breakdown due to his massive debts. I have to admit that, in this case, the cause of his problems came for a £9,000 that he could no longer afford to repay. If you develop a habit of using payday loans on a regular basis you run the risk of running up massive debts.

Payday loan heart attack

I’m not talking about the heart attack you have when you see the interest rates you’re being charged. In this case, the heart is real. Although it’s not directed caused by your loans and repayments it’s still related. Your inability to repay your debts causes stress. Once you apply enough stress the threat of having a heart attack becomes much more real. If you’re a little sceptical take a look at this WebMD article on stress and the heart.

Debt related obesity

Obesity is fast reaching epidemic proportions. By 2030, it’s estimated that 42% of all Americans will be obese and, currently, about 23% of the UK’s population is classed as obese. But what does that have to do with payday loans? Research has shown that individuals with heavy debts tend to eat cheaper food which, in many cases, is loaded with fats and sugar. There’s also a marked decrease in the amount of exercise performed by people with heavy debts.

Mental health and debt

Debt can have a massive affect on your mental health. The Royal College of Psychiastrists give an example how easy it is to fall into debt (the bullet points follow one persons journey into debt and show how even a few missed bills can set off a downward spiral). Depression and anxiety are two points addressed as being two, very real examples of how debt can harm your mental health.

Why aren’t payday loans recognised as an illness?

Normally, at this point, you’d expect me to start giving you advice on how to break your debt habits (but I won’t because you can simply follow the link. What I will say is that debt would appear to be far more than just a problem that affects our finances; if you’re not careful, you run the very real risk of falling foul of one of the payday loan diseases.

Let's hope fuel prices never hit these highs!

In a long awaited move the spiralling price of petrol is to be investigated by watchdog to ensure that you, as a customer, aren’t being ripped off.

Opinions on the UK’s £32 billion petrol and diesel marketplace are being asked of both motoring groups and consumers in order to get a broad range of views on the sector.

Between mid-2007 and the same time this year, petrol prices has risen by over 38%. The cost of diesel has sky-rocketed by about 43%. Continue reading →

How to retire at 55 with a few tips from Scrooge

Honestly, how many of you really want to retire at 55? Spending your childrens inheritance and taking numerous holidays to sun-kissed shores might seem appealing but you need some serious funding.

So, with that thought in mind, here are a few pointers on how to build a tidy retirement fund (bearing in mind that you’ll need roughly £550,000 to be comfortable).

We’ve already had some tongue in cheek money saving tips from Scrooge. Now you’re about to get some more advice on how to power up your pension pot. Continue reading →

Data released by the Department of Works and Pensions has highlighted a staggering difference in state pension payouts. Figures show pension incomes ranging as little as £7 a week up to over £230 a week.

The huge difference in payments stems from the baffling array of additional top-ups available in the existing pension system. The government is planning to remove these variations by introducing a new flat rate pension scheme. Continue reading →

Want to see some truly terrible money saving tips? Suspend your disbelief for 10 minutes and read on…

I spend an awful lot of time browsing the web looking at what’s going on in the money industry. I work hard to produce quality money saving advice and tips but sometimes I come across so-called advice that really beggars belief. Continue reading →

When is your fixed price phone contract not fixed price? When the mobile phones companies
decided it’s time to raise the tariff!

A report by consumer magazine, Which, has found that over 80% of mobile phone shops are
misleading their customers. Buyers are being supplied with incorrect information about the
price rises.

What does this mean for you? Quite simply, the “fixed” price on your monthly tariff can
actually rise. What’s worse is that you’re powerless to do anything. In fact, some
customers who decided to break their contract in protest at the rises ended up paying hefty
penalties.

The practise, which uses hidden contract clauses, is regularly used to bring in extra income for the mobile phone industry. Potentially, the industry can earn as much as £90 million a year from these clauses.

Over the past 12 months, at least four out of the five biggest mobile operators have raised their prices. Recently, Three raised the price by 3.6%. In October, Vodafone delivered a stinging price rise by doubling rates for internet traffic and rounding contracts up to the nearest 50p.

Orange and T-Mobile raised their prices by 4.34% and 3.7%, respectively.

Vodafone allowed customers whose bills rose by over 10% to terminate their contract free of charge. On the other hand, T-Mobile and Orange charged their customers an early termination fee.

Which, whose Fixed Means Fixed campaign aims to ensure pricing remains fixed, has called form greater transparency.

Mobile operators are being encouraged to tell customers that they face potential price rises.

The watchdog is also recommending that customers be allowed to terminate their contract freely is prices do increase.

Richard Lloyd, executive director of Which, said, “There should be no nasty surprises after signing a mobile contract. People must be confident that fixed reall does mean fixed.”

Which has also lodged a complaint with Ofcom who have confirmed that they have been investigating the pratis since January following complaints.

The Ofcom review will examine how providers handle changes to fixed price contracts and present a series of recommendations.

What does it take to be an Olympic champion? More importantly, could the UK’s banking sector benefit from a few lessons in fair play?

Now, and this is a personal opinion, if we were to compare the UK’s banking sector to Olympians, what would we see? A group of people determined to win at any odds even to point of gorging themselves on performance enhancing drugs.

So, what can the banks learn from Olympic athletes?

A Sense Of Fair Play

This had to be top of the list. I understand that banks are like any other business; they need to make a profit or they’ll go under. The issue that many people have is the way the bankers go about business. Billions of pounds have been injected into the UK’s creaking banks. Little, if any, of that money has seen it’s way back into the hands of the people that propped up the banks: taxpayers.

If the bankers really want to redeem themselves they need to start lending again. To some, awarding yourself a massive bonus from the money the taxpayers provided to prop up your bank may seem fair. To the investors flocking away from the traditional banking system, it’s actually a slap in the face.

The Unrelenting Pursuit Of Excellence

what is the opposite of excellence? Failure? Mediocrity? Indifference? I’ll side with the last option. Olympians cannot be indifferent. Have you ever heard a winning athlete say, ‘whatever’? Given the number and scale of banking cock ups over the last few years, it’s easier to envisage a champagne swilling trader uttering an apathetic word.

So what can the tainted financial institutions learn? It’s about more than just them and their huge piles of cash. Indifference to the pain of their customers leads to revolt. Revolt leads to you and I heading off to Dave Fishwick’s bank. Why? Because he cares. He’s not indifferent to the outcome just like Jessica Ennis relentlessly pursues excellence in order to win the Heptathlon.

Courage To Succeed

I could have easily highlighted a desire to succeed as an example of how Olympic athletes lead the way. But it’s not the right word. We all have desires but that doesn’t mean they’ll ever amount to anything. But courage is a different matter. Once an athlete has the desire to succeed it’s up to them to have the courage to push for the top. Desire seeds your ambition; courage sees it reach fruition.

But how does this apply to the banks? Surely they’re filled with people who have reached the top of the financial food chain? Yes, this is true but you have to consider the lack of courage this promotion process takes. Many bankers think that they should be highly paid because of the risks they take… with other peoples money! Instead of cutting and running at the first sign of trouble wouldn’t it be better if they were a little more courageous in the way they handle our money? Making a fat commission is less important than having the balls to protect what’s important – the customers money.

Discipline and Consistency

Olympic athletes not to be not only disciplined but they need to be consistent. They need to maintain both of these traits in training and competition. An athlete needs to push through fatigue, personal problems and personal difficulties so that create the right mindset for achieving their goals.

Certain jobs in the banking sector do require discipline. Without this personal trait, we’d see a lot more failed banks. What does let some institutions down is their level of consistency. Consistently earning massive bonuses may be important but delivering consistent returns for the customers is more important. Let’s look at it another way – it’s easy to be consistenlty crap but it takes real effort and dedication to be consistently good.

Coping With Adversity

Where does strength of character come from? It’s built up from many differing experiences but one of the key foundations is found in an athletes ability to overcome adverse conditions. To know what it’s like to lose with grace. To come back from failure with more determination to win. To finally recognise that it’s time to hang up their medals and take a job in TV!

This is the most dificult one for me to answer. I’m sure that any bank employee reading this will give me numerous examples of adversity in their job. I welcome your insights – please leave them in the comments – but the most important point to take away from this example is falling on your sword.

If you have any other thoughts or ideas then let me know in the comments section. Whilst your’re here I really do think you should follow us on Twitter .