Posted on January 19th, 2012 by Dan. 1 Comment

As part of my ongoing campaign to act like a grown up I’ve been looking at finding a better place to keep my savings

The only problem is that, due to the state of the economy at the moment, most savings accounts are paying pittance in interest. Sure, using price comparison sites like the one I linked to above you can make sure you’re getting the best return for your investment – but the days of 5% interest savings accounts are long gone.

So I got to thinking – what other ways could I make some decent money from my savings?

* Invest in starting up a online business selling pictures of giant robot dinosaurs that make out of pencil crayons, milk bottle tops, and bits of dried spaghetti.
* Use it to go back to uni and train to be a dentist. They get paid a load of cash right? And how hard can it be? You only need to learn about one tiny bit of the body and I have most of the tools already in my shed.
* Spend it all on 10p packets of Space Raiders, then sneak them into the cinema and sell them at a vastly inflated profit to all the patrons.
* Send it to this Nigerian king I’ve been emailing recently.

Everyone of those ideas is solid gold. In fact I should set up some sort of internet “I can make you rich” course!

*Set up some sort of internet “I can make you rich!” course.

Of course the other slight drawback is that I don’t actually have any money to save. Damnit.

Back to the drawing board.

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Posted on January 17th, 2012 by Dan. 2 Comments

I have a hankering for a corduroy jacket. A brown corduroy jacking with elbow patches on it. I wish i was joking, but I’m not – I really fancy one. I think they are cool.

I don’t know why i think they are cool – I just do. I mean Dr Who wears one! (well nearly, his one is tweed)

It’s not cool though is it? In actual fact it’s the sort of thing a middle age man with a beard and a wishy washy liberal do-gooder job would wear.

Hmmm.

Other signs and symptoms of my pathetic middle ageness include trying to get a hold on my finances. There was a time when I lived my life as an impetuous ball of whirling irresponsibility. If I wanted something i bought it.

After kids this obviously changed of course. But I still never paid much thought to the intricacies of my finances. I too no notice of interest rates I was being charged or was receiving. and I never shopped around.

But recently I’ve noticed that the Money section has become my favourite supplement in the Guardian, and I’ve been looking online to compare credit cards and even mortgage rates.

It’s scary stuff I tell you.

Of course I still have no idea at all what I’m doing. I still require Kerry to carefully steer me round like a three year old in a broken glass factory. But I’m making an effort, and that’s the main thing.

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Posted on January 16th, 2012 by Dan. 2 Comments

I am not an organized man. In fact, it’s pretty fair to say I am an exceptionally disorganised man.

I am also someone who never puts off to tomorrow anything that could feasibly be put off until next week, or even next month/year/decade.

These two delightful character traits combine to make my existence a non stop rollercoaster ride of ulcer inducing stress and panic. It’s so bad that I suspect that if I didn’t have my wife to act as my custodian I’d be living naked and shivering in a ditch somewhere.

One of my biggest mental blocks is gas and electricity meter readings. Every time I get one of those little slips asking to do one I absentmindedly throw it on the to-do heap and go back to whatever vitally important task I was doing previously (probably watching Batman cartoons if I’m honest).

This wouldn’t be a problem except for the fact my slackness in not supplying a meter reading invariably leads to an estimated bill – which is either too high or, even more scarily, too low; meaning I eventually end up having to pay a whopping great big backpayment.

However British Gas recently emailed me to let me know that they’re coming to my rescue. Hurrah!

Over the next few years British Gas are providing all their customers with new “smart meters”. These meters will take readings every 30 minutes, and then once a day transmit them magically to British Gas. This means that never again will I have to rummage around under the sink with a torch trying to read the tiny numbers, or have to feel mortified at the state of the house when a meter reader unexpectedly turns up at the door.

It also means an end to estimated bills, which is very nice indeed.

Also, with the new smart meters I’ll be able to monitor my energy use via the internet, or even my smartphone, which will make reducing our energy consumption a lot easier and reduce our carbon footprint – again, very nice indeed.

Here’s a short video to show you what I mean.

What’s more in the future British Gas plan to provide itemised bills showing how various domestic appliances add to costs, as well as information on the size of household’s carbon footprint and how usage compares with community and national averages.

British gas plan to contact their customers when their homes are ready for upgrade and arrange for an expert to change the meter, explain how to use the smart energy monitor, and even give their customers tips on how to save on bills. Marvolous.

If you want to know more about the smart meters from British Gas then you can join their facebook group or visit their website.

This is a sponsored post on behalf of British Gas

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Posted on January 3rd, 2012 by Dan. 3 Comments

We came back from Center Parcs early. Only a day early but for some reason it felt like a bit of a failure. Amy was ill, some sort of virus that gave her a temperature and a rash that, judging by her occasional proclamations of “I’m scratching!”, was a bit itchy.

I’m sure given different circumstances it would have been an ok holiday, certainly worth the £200 we paid for four nights. However I wouldn’t want to pay the full price summer rates, it’s just not that nice. The cabins were the main let down – all grey breezeblocks and you could tell the interiors were ten years old. The toilets interested me though (ass oddly they always do) they were a strange shelf design so you could see your turd laid out for you before flushing it away. I should have taken a photo (minus turd obviously). Even for one as predisposed to turd examination as myself it was a bit disconcerting.

Anyhow, we came back yesterday. Amy had the biggest tantrum I’d ever seen when we made her come away from the play gym into the car. Mainly due to a combination of her extreme tiredness and her really enjoying herself and not wanting to go. She made a friend that was very sweet to see, but a little poignant at the same time. One of the blogs I regularly read (in fact the main inspiration that made me start this blog) once said something about the sadness that goes along with the knowledge that walking along with her Daddy wont be the most important thing in a little girls life forever. That’s why I’m doing this I suppose, to try and record the time when it was.

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Posted on December 12th, 2011 by Dan. 4 Comments

Hi.

In case anyone is interested I have a new blog. Sort of.

If anyone is interested in community news and events in Slaithwaite and the Colne Valley then they could do worse than go visit my new community hyperlocal site Slawit.org

It bears very little similarity to what I did here – I’m using it more as a method of engaging with and providing a service to my local community than a form of self expression, but it’s there if you’re interested.

If anyone fancies throwing a link it’s way in order to push it up the google search lists I’d be eternally grateful. However I apreciate it’s not exactly on topic for many people :)

This isn’t a commercial venture, but if by any freak of fate I ever make any money from it then it will go to the Joseph Salmon Trust.

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