I’m fully aware that I’m a bit late on this one and you probably couldn’t care less about what yet another student thinks about interning, but bear with me. I’ve just finished my internship (courtesy of Moneymagpie) and reckon my tuppence is worth at least as much as a professional writers’ view.

The premise of the internship is always going to be divisive depending on whether you’re a glass half-empty or half-full sort of person. In general the pay is awful and sometimes confined to expenses, but as my predecessor Jag says, there’s usually an opportunity to learn something useful like industry specific skills, general people skills (you should ALWAYS ask if your colleagues ‘fancy a tea’ when you make one even if you know they only drink organic herb and rainwater ‘infusions’), and basic cut-and-paste skills when put in charge of the company’s client contact list. For anyone spending their summer fetching soya milk lattes for free, don’t be fooled. The flash company you’re working for probably spent a small fortune getting an agency to rebrand their “no-wage slave” vacancy as an “internship”; the fact that you’re there means the HR executive can cheerfully report that it was money well spent.  

Sadly, for every talented Matt or Sam who can’t afford to work for free or expenses, there’s a Jemima (“but do feel free to call me Mimsy like everyone else does”) whose godmother’s got a friend at an art gallery looking for holiday cover for the receptionist (or, as it’s sold to Mimsy, the “administrative co-ordinator vacancy”). It comes to something when you need a degree and half of Debrett’s behind you to qualify for a chance to answer the phone. Matt and Sam can cheer themselves up with the knowledge that co-ordinating administration for free and gratis somewhat extracts the urine, and would probably be a pretentious fun-free zone anyway.

Most internships, however, fall somewhere in the middle of these two extremes. Mine did. I enjoyed working at Moneymagpie but then I reckon I was lucky to be with friendly people doing useful, interesting work. I had a good idea that in a profession as competitive as journalism the humble intern can’t expect the sort of perks a banking intern gets as standard. I also knew that I’d rather take the experience now as an undergraduate rather than blindly cast around for an opportunity after my degree. I think it’s paid off:  having done my stint here I now appreciate how limited my knowledge was before starting. Employers who talk about ‘invaluable experience’ are not always lying. Realising how much you don’t know is actually pretty useful, and perhaps the short-term wage trade off has a long term value in reducing the chance of you looking like an arrogant pillock when you do start work for real.

In an ideal world – the one where you get a comfortable grant, buy a pint at your SU for 50p and pick up a job for life after graduation – you wouldn’t need to do an internship in photocopying to stand a chance of getting a graduate-entry job. Or you’d at least be paid for doing it. Seeing as money is tight, jobs are thin on the ground and 50p won’t buy a pint of water, the canny option is to take the hit and make the best of your placement. Take every opportunity to learn something new, be it software programming or that nifty way of getting the photocopier to staple pages for you. Make an effort to get to know the people in your office – people appreciate and remember courtesy. Get good use from your office’s tea station (one friend took up drinking coffee purposely to ensure he actually got a tea break).  And if it’s really terrible, remember that neither the working day nor your internship will last forever. Console yourself with the happy thought of 5pm clocking off – and the contact list nestled in your messenger bag.

The standard licence condition 25 was put in place to stop customers being miss-sold tariffs through these avenues. It seems that even after post-financial crises, major companies are still finding ways to steal business, fleece customers and make money. These fraudulent acts do come at a price as Ofgem can fine a company up to 10% of its annual turnover. Considering that Scottish Power Energy, one of the companies in question, recorded revenues of £3.6 billion in the year to December 31 2009, could mean fines running into hundreds of millions of pounds, a crippling amount of money by any standard.

An idea to protect customers from companies who seem to continuously mislead comes from Sebastian Gordon, the senior media officer for Consumer Focus. He suggests that it would be beneficial for customers if phone and internet providers’ complaints data was published. He states “If consumers could compare performance on complaints handling it would allow them to factor this into their choice of provider and act as a spur to companies to improve help for customers who have cause to complain.”

The release of this story will obviously be a shock to many customers, and possibly even more so for those who are searching for an energy supplier, feeling they cannot trust any company, seeing as even the big energy companies are “scheming”. There is still hope, as this non-discriminatory comparison site is on hand to help. Check our article on how to save £468 on switching energy suppliers which  can help you see the pro’s and con’s with choosing certain energy companies over others.

To make sure that you aren’t “swindled” by any energy companies, here are a few tips:

• The reports showed that the elderly and the vulnerable are particular at risk. If you feel you fall into this bracket, then make sure that you contact a friend or family member to make sure that any deal you are offered is competitive and beneficial for you.
• If you feel unsure about a door-to-door salesperson, don’t be afraid to ask for identification and to phone the company to verify the credentials of the individual.
• Salesmen will only ever be able to talk about the company they work for, so if someone comes to you showing their company’s rates compared to others, it is best to check yourself and then go through official channels.
• If you receive a telephone call regarding changing your energy supplier, it is best to either ask them to sent a letter stating the offer in question. If the offer is real, the letter will be printed on  official headed paper by the company. If you are annoyed by receiving unsolicited calls from then you can register with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), which is a free service allowing you to opt out from receiving such calls.

Time to have a look at the good and bad of these – largely untrusted and, almost as largely, correctly – companies:

The advantages

The pitfalls

Which are the better companies?

The advantages

This is a valuable way of minimising financial damage, especially for someone who will not be in difficulty for a long period of time. For example:

• Mrs A fails to make a bill payment; the creditor charges her extra. She could be hit with ‘insufficient funds for transaction’ charges from her bank or failed Direct Debit fees, which would have been reduced or prevented by a debt management plan.

These plans also consolidate all your outgoings, possibly to more than one creditor, into one monthly payment. Debt consolidation makes it easier to track and stay on top of your expenditure.

The pitfalls to consider

• Because you have a smaller monthly payment, you will need longer to repay your original debt. The time until you become debt-free will obviously increase again if you use a fee-charging company and have further expenditure.

• A debt management company’s admin fees take up a huge proportion of your spending. For example, Baines and Ernst take £70 plus two months’ payment purely in set-up costs*. Their fees are 17.625% of your repayments, up to £100 a month. These fees could cripple you even further, especially should your financial problems last more than a year.

• There is no guarantee that your creditors will accept the debt management proposal; they may refuse reducing payments or freezing the extra interest. You could be paying to use a service that was never going to work

• Creditors are still free to take legal proceeding against you at any time.

• Your credit rating will go down because it will show details of a debt management plan. This may reduce your chances of being approved for credit in the future.

What are the better companies?

Aa a general rule, avoid these private companies like the plague. The Citizens’ Advice Bureau or Payplan.com offer free advice to people in debt. Interestingly, it is only since the 1990s that there have been companies that charge for their work; before this debt management was strictly not-for-profit. But, should you wish to use the private option, it’s probably best to follow the guidelines of the Debt Managers Standards Association.  Here are a few options:

• Chiltern Debt Management
• Gregory Pennington
• Debt Management Associates Ltd
• Easierdebt
• Baines and Ernst
• The Debt Advisor

*source: payplan.com

I am once again kicking myself for buying something online and forgetting until is too late that I should have clicked through to buy said item from one of the two cashback sites I am registered with. Had I remembered then I would be enjoying either 7.5% cashback from Clarks with Quidco for me or 3.5% cashback from Clarks with Kidstart for the children.

But no this money is now lost forever.

Just like the £80 I would have got through Kidstart had I clicked through when buying our household insurance earlier in the year. That time I thought it was Karma for bragging to you all in this blog about how much I had saved by shopping around for insurance. Of course if I had bothered to follow the advice I have given so many readers over the years I would have had even more to brag about!

So I am rejigging my advice “do as I say not as I do” and if you are not yet signed up to a cashback site you should read the Moneymagpie guide here.

Don’t worry you won’t be expected to buy anything you wouldn’t ordinarily be buying but you make money back on what you do buy because basically the retailers pay the cashback site to bring them you as a customer.

Happy shopping!

Every time I look in mine, right to the back, I find lots of copies of things. I really don’t need another pair of jeans or another long black cardigan, or pair of boots, possibly ever and certainly not this year…

Bags of Style

A new bag picks an outfit up though, and hardly costs anything if you make one. I bought some fabric from a charity shop recently. A spangled patterned dress – the sort of thing I’d never wear. Although the style of the dress was hideous, the material was really eye catching and perfect for a bag. I’ve made it up into a simple tote bag. There are lots of free patterns for this: try Henriettashandbags.com.

Taking care of your clothes

It sounds simple but it’s thrifty to look after your clothes in the first place. Even less expensive clothes keep well if you hand wash clothes instead of blasting them through the machine and iron them properly (ironing is boring I know but it does make clothes far smarter). Other ways include: using moth balls, hanging clothes on good hangers, using a clothes brush, shaving bobbles off woollen clothes and making sure you replace lost buttons. The only thing I don’t tend to bother with is dry cleaning, as it’s so expensive. There are products that you can tumble dry with your clothes to ‘dry clean’ them (I’ve successfully used the Dr Beckmann ones in the past).

Buying new

Wherever you live there’s likely to be a vintage or retro market somewhere not too far away. There are lots of car boots sales starting up again now, after the summer break, so there should be some bargains about. For those living in Suffolk, the Woodbridge Vintage and Modern Market is back at the end of September. There will be secondhand clothes for sale, as well as new clothes by local designers, including hand knitted cashmere. Sounds great. Check it out here: Debenevents.com

This time of year is great for blackberrying. The hedgerows round where I live are laden with berries. I’ve been throwing them on cereal and in cakes and crumbles. Free food! I’ve not made any jam yet but I read a great article recently for anyone thinking of mashing berries into gorgeous pots of jam. See it here: Guardian.co.uk.

Pots of homemade jam make lovely presents and if you use unusual, funky jars and make pretty labels, they look even better.

If your own garden is bursting with blackberries, or apples (or any kind of fruit and veg), there’s a great scheme to help you share it. It’s called Abundance and collects produce from those who have it to spare and delivers it free to local groups, charities and communities. It runs in cities across the UK, including Manchester and Sheffield and Edinburgh. Google your local area with the word ‘abundance’ and see if there’s a scheme near you.

Olympic Renting

Anyone who lives near to the Olympic stadium (or near to any Olympic event) could rent their home out and make thousands. According to the property agents, home renting will be huge during the games. I’ve been writing about it for The Observer, see here: Observer.co.uk.

Back to school

For parents who are struggling with back to school costs, I hope they’ll find some helpful ideas in an article I wrote for the Sunday Express. See it here: Express.co.uk.

• Warning, warning, warning!
• Latest online competitions – try them now!
• Getting started
• Online competitions
• Magazine competitions
• Slogan competitions
• Writing competitions
• Photography competitions

Warning, warning, warning!

If you enter an online competition you’ll be asked to include your email address. This generally means that your inbox will soon be flooded with spam – lots and lots of it. To avoid this problem all you have to do is set up a separate email account. This can be your ‘competition account,’ where everything competition related gets sent. That way your personal email account gets left alone, and you still get the chance to win big prizes. Don’t let the spam win!

Do also note that for some of these competitions you have to give your phone number. Not all these companies give you the choice of opting out of receiving marketing texts etc., so make sure you check the terms and conditions if you hate receiving them.

Current picks

• Win £1000 just by registering with the UK’s number one sweetener Canderel. And once you’ve registered you’ll become an automatic member of the Canderel Rewards Programme where you’ll find lots more goodies up for grabs. Register now.
• Every month, Optical Express will give one lucky patient free laser eye surgery. To enter, simply fill out the enquiry form and check the box for “Win free treatment.” The winner is drawn at random at the end of each month.
• Win a holiday to Thailand by clicking here: closes 15th May 2011.
• Head to the Get Me a Quiz website. Not only are there loads of free quizzes you can pit your wits against – there are free prizes up for grabs if your general knowledge is good enough!
• Pizza Express are offering a £5000 prize to create the nation’s next favourite pizza. Not bad for some meat and cheese on bread! Invent your favourite topping and enter the competition here.

Getting started

There is an endless number of competitions you could enter and the prizes are just as varied. Here are some helpful tips to get you started:

Think big

Do you know that you are more likely to win the large prizes like a car than you are a free box of chocolates? Fewer people enter competitions with big prizes thinking the odds are stacked against them, which means actually your odds of winning can often be higher. You’re also more likely to win competitions that require greater effort like the ones where you need to send in postcards or fill out surveys.

Sales scams

Watch out for competitions that offer you a free holiday just so recruiters can lure you into a meeting and try to convince you to buy a timeshare with their company. These people can be incredibly persuasive so if you do take them up on their free holiday, make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into.

Learn from the experts

For more comping tips read From Beginner to Winner – The Comping Essentials. The book is considered an essential introduction to entering competitions and was written by Kathy & Steve Walker, who have won over £40,000 worth of prizes to date. It offers tips on different types of competitions: how to enter, where to find competitions, how to organise your entries, competitions to avoid and other pearls of wisdom. It really is a great resource to start you off.

For more regular tips, subscribe to one of the monthly ‘comping’ magazines. Comping is so popular that there are loads of magazines dedicated to its coverage. Search for titles such as BIG, Colossus, Puzzle Collection and Prizes & Puzzles Special Magazine at magazinestand.co.uk. These mags are packed full of competitions to enter.

Here are some different types of competitions to consider entering:

• Online competitions
• Magazine competitions
• Slogan competitions
• Writing competitions
• Photography competitions
• How to get guaranteed freebies

Online competitions

The easiest competitions to enter are ones that are online. Since these are geared towards generating traffic all they really want is your email address – which is easy to provide. By all means enter these if they look reasonable (many are not so be careful when you are looking around).

But you MUST set up a separate email account to enter them. Otherwise you will find your inbox clogged up with nasty spam.

Concentrate on reputable brands or companies. Competitions like the chance to win a year’s FREE shopping at ASDA is a good one to get started with. The steps are all pretty much the same: you usually need to register with the site, fill out the survey and then you’re entered into the competition. Again, though, according to one reader – see Jane’s comments below – these people send you loads of spam emails if you enter so set up a separate email account with Hotmail or Yahoo for this one if you want to enter.

• Competitions in newspapers and magazines

Magazine-run competitions are very similar to online competitions. For the most part all you have to do is visit their website and answer a simple question, or fill out a postcard and mail it in to enter. Again, you’ll need to register your details as the whole point of the competition for them is to generate traffic and boost subscriptions.

It’s a good idea to grab free postcards whenever you can to enter competitions where you have to send in your answer. These sort of entry-form competitions take a bit more effort – and therefore have far fewer entrants. So if you do come across them, get your answers in as you have a greater chance of winning. Don’t be put off by the big ticket items – remember, fewer people enter these competitions believing the odds of winning are slimmer. Check out these current competitions on offer:

• The Mirror has loads of great competitions, including: holidays to Africa and Spain, a year’s supply of Ben and Jerry’s ice-cream, tickets to London Fashion Weekend, an Apple Macbook Pro and loads more.
• The Sun’s website is currently promoting a number of competitions including the chance to win an iPad, a holiday for two to Manhattan and a HD TV and Blu-Ray player. And if you happen to have a particularly large pet lazing around the house, snap a photo of them for the chance to win a jumbo Samsung 40″ LCD TV and Home Cinema System. Once you’ve taken the photo sign up to My Sun and then join their Pet of the Week group. It will only take a few minutes and once you’ve registered you can enter this competition.
• Marie Claire magazine has a number of competitions running at the moment, including the chance to win a ‘Classic British Weekend Away’ worth £850.
• The Guardian always seem to have impressive competitions running on their website. At the moment we think the two night break in an Aberdeen boutique hotel looks amazing, so enter it now!

Slogan competitions

Think you’ve got a bit of creative genius in you? Slogan competitions are terrific for the keen comper who’s ready and willing to put in a little more effort than simply typing in an email address or sending back a postcard. Companies love to use slogan competitions as a way to market their products at low costs and encourage consumers to think positively about what they’re selling.

With most slogan competitions, the sponsor company will begin by having you answer a few simple questions to determine whether or not you are fit for the task. You may be asked to complete some part of a phrase in an “apt and original” manner. Once again, because so few people make an effort to enter, slogan competitions are a dream for the avid comper.

How YOU can create knock-your-socks-off slogans:

• CompersNews monthly newsletter publishes thousands of prize-winning slogans. Have a look at those that have won in the past to help you get an idea of the kinds of slogans that companies look for.
• Winning-Slogans provides tons of examples of past winning slogans and a Beginner’s Guide for winning slogan competitions.
• Winning slogans typically have rhyme, rhythm or a pun. Go out and grab yourself a rhyming dictionary and dictionary of English idioms at Amazon, which takes all the hassle out of creating history’s next greatest slogan!
• Remember that the point of the slogan is to advertise the product in a positive light.  Your slogan should always make the product look good.
• Word limits are key!  Slogans that surpass the given word limit will not be considered.  Always stick to the competition rules.
• If possible enter more than once. But be careful – don’t send in several horrible slogans. Instead come up with two really good ideas that are different in their approach – for example one that is clever and witty and one that is more direct and serious. Be careful to check the terms and conditions of each competition as some specify that you can only make one entry.
• Remember – the more obscure or difficult the competition, the fewer the entrants so the better the chance you have at winning.
• Join websites like Loquax and CompersNews for free details on upcoming competitions. Magazine Stand also has details of lots of prize-heavy publications.

Writing competitions

If you have a way with words and fancy a chance to earn some cash visit First Writer website for a list of competitions. These cater to all sorts of writing styles and genres. Some of them do have entry fees although most are under £5. But there are several that do not charge and the site displays a clear list of them. Prizes include week-long holidays, £1,000 prize and magazine publications.

Also, winning writing competitions can be added to your portfolio when approaching editors or publishers. Any achievement that you can brag about can’t hurt!

Another great site is the Writer’s Forum Competition. This is a great site that will link you to competitions. The magazine awards £800 in prizes for each issue and offers a forum for every type of writer and style imaginable.

For a list of upcoming competitions, their closing dates and prizes visit Prize magic. It isn’t a pretty site but it has a comprehensive list of links to current competitions.

If your kids are creative then keep your eye on the Young Writer Magazine. It’s published three times a year, at the beginning of each school term and features writing competitions. You have to subscribe which costs £10 for the year. Tips for winning writing competitions:

• People love stories that are about everyday life situations and experiences that they can relate to. They need to care about your characters, so make them real.
• There are loads of helpful resources to inspire you. Writebuzz has lots of good advice. It also lets you share your ideas with other members and lists lots of competitions to get you started. You do need to become a member, but it’s free.
• Begin with a bang! Editors routinely say they read the first paragraph of a piece, and if they aren’t interested in finding out what will happen next they stop there. Try to bring an element of suspense early on in your story.
• If the contest doesn’t have a specific length requirement, send a story or article that is medium length (1,500 to 3,000 words). This way you won’t overwhelm judges who don’t have the time to read 10,000-word manuscripts.
• When someone reads your writing they should be able to say, ‘This article or story is about …’ and finish the description in one sentence. Get rid of the things that don’t relate to the main theme of your story or article.
• Follow the rules of the contest. This seems simple, but lots of people break them and their entries are the first to be thrown out. Pay attention and fill out the entry forms correctly so that you are entered into the correct writing category.
• Proofread and make sure that your grammar and spelling are correct – get other people to read over your work.

Photography competitions

Not many people will compete in photography competitions if they don’t think they are good at it. However you don’t actually need to take Pulitzer prize-winning photos to win. Instead, fun, outrageous and quirky photos can be very popular. These competitions are great because not many will go to all that trouble, reducing the competition and giving you a better chance of winning. Some tips on how to win:

• Start carrying your camera with you wherever you go.
• If the competition is to promote a product make sure it is clearly visible in the photograph.
• Appeal to the judges’ emotions either with humour or sentiment.
• While you don’t need to take professional quality photos, you do need to make sure your picture is not blurred, dark or poorly composed.

Photographic magazines like The British Journal of Photography are a great place to look for competitions, however these tend to have more professional photographers entering.

Proof Positive posts loads of monthly and ongoing photography contests, each of which centres on a particular theme.  Prizes include cash, free products, magazine subscriptions and the chance for your photo to be featured in a publication.

Photographers.co.uk also has a long list of upcoming competitions. It’s great because it divides up the competitions by genre, prizes, and dates. Many are competitions for professional photographers, but there are still some for amateurs to try out. Check out last years winners to get an idea of what judges are looking for. Other websites like Ephotozine also run competitions which are well worth checking out.

Get guaranteed freebies!

Strictly speaking, getting freebies isn’t the same as entering a competition – usually you get a free product or trial from a company in the hope that you’ll visit them again. Having said that, you can save plenty of money on freebies – and signing up for a free trial doesn’t take up much time.

The catch? To get the freebies, you have to sign up for some free trials of other products. These tend to be things like a free trial of Lovefilm (the DVD home delivery service) – so you might even be glad to take advantage of these free trials. You also have to refer one person to the deal (though that person doesn’t have to take part in the offer if they don’t want to).

For the best freebies straight to your inbox sign up now to the FREE Moneymagpie newsletter or keep an eye on our article Free stuff: top freebies, discounts and vouchers.

How much could I make from competitions?

You could win anything from a £5 voucher for cat-food to £1,000, a new car, a luxury holiday in the sun or a year’s supply of toilet rolls.

Remember you can sell your prizes on eBay if you don’t need them. Seasoned ‘compers’ do well because they recognise the golden rule that low uptake of competitions means more chance of winning. Plus they get loads of practise entering hundreds themselves.

Start comping:

• The Prize Finder – links to competitions and giveaways.
• UK Competitions - details of competitions updated daily.
• Get Me A Ticket – allows members to enter all kinds of free competitions for the chance to win great prizes, such as a Nintendo Wii, cars, DVDs, holidays, cash and more. Please note: you must be at least 18 years of age to participate.
• Just Comps has literally thousands of competitions you can enter.

Do you know of other great competitions, or have you won fabulous prizes in competitions? Tell us about it by commenting below, or on the money making forum!

This is all marvellous for the consumer and of course should apply to all the consumer items we have to deal with – until, that is, we get to the financial services industry and especially when buying various types of investment funds.

For many years various trade bodies have tried to operate classifications of different types of funds or portfolios. The Investment Managers’ Association (IMA) has structured a range of classifications of funds to try and describe their contents. The key for such classifications is to go back to their reason for existence – and this is clearly to provide greater definition and direction to investment advisers and their clients. Following this logic, then whatever the titles that are being applied, then the constituents must properly reflect them. This is relatively straightforward in, say, any geographical divisions, although even this can be blurred when looking into the underlying investments.  These may be being quoted in one market but may in fact be a company from a completely different area – just look at the makeup of the FTSE 100, where over 65% of the profits of its constituents are from overseas and an increasing number of the individual companies are not British at all.

The problem comes to the fore though when dealing with more subjective divisions where interpretation can sometimes be at best vague and at worst positively misleading.

For example, if you look at the ‘Balanced Managed’ classification you will find that rather than having a broadly based range of different asset classes, the portfolio can consist of up to 70% in equities, with the rest made up of a bit of fixed interest bonds, property and cash. This is not just unbalanced; it is potentially a highly volatile and thus much riskier investment structure than the average balanced investor would probably expect to have.

Even the ‘Cautious Managed’ sector can often have 50-60% in equities and this is hardly a level of potential volatility that most would call cautious. These are misleading titles.

This has come about because in the past, portfolios were predominantly made up of equities and thus these allocations were effectively the ‘norm’. However, since those days innovation and development in investment management have taken us a long way from the somewhat simplistic attitude of just balancing a combination of equities, fixed interest, property and cash. There is also a similar level of measurement by APCIMS which manages the classifications for stock broking portfolios and again a balanced profile is quite likely to have in excess of 70% in equities.

The increased use of the disciplines of institutional management have led to a broadening of investment classes and greater appreciation of both risk and volatility management. This has meant that through the greater understanding of correlations between different asset classes, portfolios and their managers can have a far greater understanding and appreciation of the risk and variation in the behaviour of their portfolios and thus the greater understanding for the opportunity to achieve their desired outcome. Therefore now we can have Cautious portfolios that really do take a cautious approach with, say, just 25% in equities and the rest broadly spread across the other asset classes globally.

These old classifications must and indeed will change, but along with them so must the attitudes of the authorities such as the Ombudsman, so that the understanding of far better risk management and control are reflected in investor’s portfolios.

***

And finally………….. For those who prefer to take the longer view of historical events, the 24th of August was the 1600th anniversary of the sack of Rome by Alaric I, the leader of the Visigoths.  The Roman capital had been in fact already been moved to the Italian city of Ravenna by the young Emperor Honorius, after the Visigoths entered Italy. However, this was the first time in 797 years that Rome had fallen to an enemy. The previous sacking of Rome was by the Gauls under their leader Brennus in 387 BC. St Jerome, a citizen in Rome at the time, wrote that “The city which had conquered the whole world, was itself conquered…”

A timely reminder to all superpowers that their time will finally come to an end.

Have a good week.

Justin A. Urquhart Stewart
Director
Seven Investment Management Limited

In order to avoid falling into this trap, join us for our live webcast at 1.00pm today when we will be joined by Scottish Widows savings expert Ian Naismith who will be on hand to offer some straightforward guidance on how to prepare for your retirement.

Submit your questions now, and join the webcast live at 1.00pm

Jams and other treats also make fantastic presents and stocking fillers. They look great, show you care and beat a pair of boring old socks hands down! So if you’re looking for ways to make a bit of money on the side and you love to don a pinny, read on…

• Make extra cash – or even a regular income – from home baked goodies.
• Our step-by-step guide to help you start selling cakes, sweets and jams.
• Do you make cash from your talent? Tell us all about it by leaving a comment below, or by posting on our MoneyTalk Forum.

Cash from your cakes

The beautiful thing about earning by baking is that it’s straightforward and flexible. It isn’t something that you necessarily have to do on a regular basis – if you’re a little short of cash one week, it’s easy enough to hunt down your next local car boot sale and get baking. All you’ll really need is to have a good few recipes under your belt and a reasonable idea of what people would buy.

You don’t have to be qualified for this, but there are hundreds of baking/cake decorating courses you can go on which are likely to benefit the quality of your products. You can find courses at LearnDirect. The Food Standards Agency has also got some useful information on starting up a food business if you decide that baking is the business for you.

Here’s our foolproof six-step guide to selling your home-made cakes, jams and sweets:

Steps to success

Step 1: Research

Take a trip to your local car boot sale or farmers’ market and look for which food stalls are the busiest. If it seems like jam is the ‘in-thing’ and there aren’t that many stalls that sell it, you’ve found your product.

If you’re at a car boot and there aren’t any stalls selling food then it’s a good idea to take a look at the people that are there. Are they the sort who would prefer to buy upmarket, fancy, homemade produce or a couple of 10p fairy cakes to nibble on while they have a browse for basement bargains? Make the kind of cakes and sweets you think you could sell easily.

Ask your family and friends what they’d like. Try to ask a wide range of people and see if you come out with any unanimous decisions. Also, speak to any cake sellers you see at fairs and markets and ask them which cakes sell best.

It’s also important to research the food safety standards you’ll have to meet to keep on the right side of the law. Legislation says that all food businesses must register their kitchens with their local authority unless they operate on a “casual and limited” basis only. Currently you don’t have to register if you’re baking for profit for less than five days in five consecutive weeks.

If you’re simply selling once in a blue moon at a car boot sale or market then you don’t need to worry. However, if you are planning on making an income in this way, contact your local council and ask them what the rules are in your area: oddly the laws vary depending on where you live.For example, in some places you will need to become a registered trader even if you only sell your food once every couple of months. If you do have to register your kitchen, it’s totally free to do so and the council is obliged to accept your application.

Be aware that if you’re regularly selling food produce, it’s highly likely you’ll need to take a course in food hygiene. You can do this over the internet and it’ll cost you about £30. The course is mostly just common sense so it’s reasonably easy and you can complete it in your own time.

Step 2: Costings

If you want to make this moneymaking scheme worth your while, you need to do some basic costings.

It doesn’t have to be complicated. You’ll need to take into consideration:

• How much ingredients cost
• Cost of the sale location fee (car boot sale/farmers market fee) if there is one
• Cost of travel to the location
• Cost of the food packaging (keep it simple to start with – clingfilm will do in some places)
• Initial cost of food hygiene training (if you’re planning on regular sales)
• Cost of labels/general stationery/invoicing pads
• Extra cost of gas or electricity for your oven

Once you’ve worked out how much all of this is likely to cost you, you should be able to work out how much you’ll need to sell your cakes, sweets and jams for to break even and then make a profit.

While you do your research, you should be taking note of how much other stallholders sell their cakes and foods for, to get a rough idea of how much you can reasonably expect to charge.

If you have to price your products extortionately just to make a profit, see if there’s anywhere you can cut back on costs. Shop around for cheaper ingredients or look for different locations that aren’t as pricey.

Step 3: Recipe experimentation

Once you’ve got a good idea of the kind of people you’re going to be selling to, it’s time to get your product sorted. You’ll need to come up with a range of different products to make this work.

If you want to sell jams then make taster pots of all different flavours and try out different variations of ingredients. For cakes, try out different methods, ingredients, flavours and fillings. With sweets test out different recipes. You could try focusing on one area, like chocolate, fudge or maybe even health food!

Get your friends and family to try all your samples out and find out which are the most popular choices. They’ll likely be more than willing to help!

It’s worth knowing that at farmers’ markets, you’re not likely to sell much unless you use local, organic ingredients. People who go to these events look for traditional homemade foods and one of the pros of shopping for food at a farmers’ market is that you’re able to ask the stallholder precisely where the food is from and how it was made.

Stallholders at farmers’ markets should be prepared to give honest, credible answers to customers – so factor these more expensive ingredients into your budget. Remember that people are usually willing to pay for high quality.

It’s also important to get the right equipment. This Tefal Electric Jam Maker will make any jam maker’s day much easier. It does cost a rather hefty £99.89 (including three jars and a recipe book) but if you want to be able to make jam on a regular basis it could be a worthwhile investment.

Step 4: Location

Before you decide to make a real go of this, it’s advisable to give it a few test runs somewhere that isn’t going to cost you the earth.

Try out a stall at a car boot sale first, because it will only cost you between £5 and £15 to set up there. You can find your nearest car boot sale on Carbootjunction.com.

Once you’re more established, you might consider going a little more upmarket, although if you have cracked the car boot market you could also simply increase the number of cakes you take with you and let your business grow that way.

There are a number of other outlets that will let you sell your goods, such as the Women’s Institute, which runs country markets around the UK. It costs just 5p to join and they’ll take about 10% commission on sales to cover the costs of the market.

To join, you just need to pop down to your local market and have a word with the controller. You can find the contact details for your local market on the website or you can call their head office on 01246 261508 for more information.

To set up a stall at a farmers’ market, you need to find one local to you. You can do this by searching the Certified Farmers’ Markets website for your nearest market. The website doesn’t deal directly with the people who run the markets so you can contact them via the details they provide on the site.

Step 5: Presentation

Presentation is important, particularly if you sell at an upmarket venue. Consider your customers: are they going to want something ‘cheap and cheerful’, or posh-looking homemade produce? Funnily enough, some of the more expensive jams and cakes have ‘the rustic look’: you could find yourself charging a lot for produce which looks especially homely!

Packaging can affect your sales in a big way. Ribbon is cheap if you buy in bulk from a haberdashery store, and can neaten up any edges around your cakes. If you’re selling jams it’s worth getting some fancy labels printed, or spending some time decorating your own. You could experiment with themed packaging around holidays like Easter and Christmas, and for days like Valentine’s Day and Hallowe’en.

Whatever you use to package your products, it’s important to remember that you’re dealing with food. This means that you are limited to certain types of packaging depending on what food you’re selling. It’s mainly the use of adhesives which is restricted but again – you’ll need to contact your local council for more information.

Step 6: Taking it further

A simple way to get some repeat business is to get some business cards printed off. If you’re making cakes, you could then advertise the fact that you bake to order for parties and events (if your kitchen can take the strain!)

Pop into local cafés and coffee shops (not the chain outlets), hand them your card and make your services known – maybe even provide them with a few samples.

If you’re looking to make a real business out of this, there are a lot more things you’ll have to consider.

Useful contacts

• DirectGov’s Local Council Directory
• Carbootjunction
• Certified farmers markets
• WI/country markets
• LearnDirect
• Jobsgrapevine – Cooking forum
• Got a sweet money making idea? Tell us about it on the money making forum.

At the beginning of the school holidays I was delighted to discover my local leisure centre was running a Government led scheme of free swimming for children. I was a tad miffed that I hadn’t known about it, and that the scheme had been running for over a year as part of the Labour Government’s plan to get Britain fit for 2012. Under the ‘Swim4Life’ plan, as it’s called, under 16s and over 60s get free swimming. Hurrah! What a good idea.

We’ve gone twice a week this summer, with a car full of children. My daughter’s changed from being a nervous doggy paddler, to having confidence and skill in the water. The pool has never been full, and it’s been good to see youngsters who were clearly overweight and unfit, making the most of this scheme and burning off some energy – and calories.  I’d never seen ‘moobs’ on young boys before – and it was a worrying site to see chaff marks on the wobbly legs of primary school kids.

I thought the ‘Swim4Life’ free swimming scheme  was  a fantastic incentive to get children to exercise and to get them off the streets.  So I was disappointed, if not surprised, to hear that the scheme is now to be scrapped as part of the Government’s cost cutting measures.  Hugh Robertson, the Sports and Olympic Minister, says that the scheme was considered too expensive to continue and has been axed as part of £73 million savings needed to be made by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

What? I’m sorry – but someone in that department needs to talk to someone in the Heath Department. Mr Robertson may not have thought any further than this being a great freebie treat for children and families that has to be sacrificed to help the country’s deficit. But consider this. Our NHS is spending over a million pounds every hour treating diabetes. Diabetes is on the increase alongside rising obesity rates.  And they are connected.  Our children are spending too much time infront of computers , and eating too much junk.  Cutting the free swim scheme won’t make people pay for the service instead. They just won’t go.

I know that because I’m one of them. And it’s not to make a protest. It’s cost. As a single mum who has never had any child support,  swimming is a treat for my child.  For swimming to be effective as a fitness regime, you have to go regularly. With car parking costs, that makes it over £12 a visit for a family of four at our local centre.  That’s more than a KFC Bargain Bucket  or a couple of Big Macs and 2 Happy Meals.  For the most affected groups the scheme is aimed at – those on lower incomes – this becomes an inaccessible, once in a while treat.  Free swimming or KFC and MacDonalds?. Hmmm…..

Encouraging children to exercise isn’t easy. Grown ups aren’t that good at it either in many cases, and I hold my hand up there. As a single mum I can’t go to a gym – my exercise activities have to include my child – and this is the only thing locally we can do together.

I totally understand the Government’s need to make drastic cutbacks to save money, but exactly how is this going to save money? The swimming pools are already there.  The lifeguards are already hired. On our visits I’ve seen dads out with toddlers, teaching them to swim. The toddlers go free anyway and the dads pay anyway. For pensioners,  and for the over 60s, free swimming is a great idea to help keep them active and healthy – and less of a burden, surely,  on the NHS.

I’ve never seen our local pool full.  In fact the four – only four – single showers in the changing rooms are usually queue free. Our local centre is a £15 million newbuild, paid for with our – my -  taxes.   This weekend, mid-morning Sunday, I counted 26 people in the pool. Five of those were wearing swim nappies so were freebies anyway. Only about 8 of the swimmers were under 16 and there were no over 60s there at all. When I was a child, Sunday morning sessions at the pool were packed. Dad would take us while mum prepared the roast lunch.

The people making the most of this free swim scheme are the people who can’t afford to pay, and in many cases, the kids who need to shift some weight.  Start charging and they’ll just stop using the facility. Most of my friends on average incomes tend to use the town’s more luxurious and elite Esporta facility, which charges memberships for swimming and gym use.  The council’s pool is there for the rest of us.  So I’m really puzzled as to how the ‘research’ quoted by Hugh Robertson was compiled and where the savings are going to come from? The pools will still be there, still serviced and heated and still staffed. The vending machines at the leisure centre won’t make as much money though and the car park ticket machine will be a little quieter.  So someone will make some losses there, along with the companies who sell the goggles, the armbands and the avdertising space.

There won’t be a flurry on the tills and the young freebie swimmers suddenly start to pay – they’ll just go back to the sofa and TV with a bucket of chicken.

©Jane Green

1. Put yourself on a cool online job site. We really like Jobfact! for two main reasons: 1) it’s anonymous so you can put your whole CV up there and be offered jobs without anyone (particularly your current boss) knowing it’s you, and 2) you could make money from it. Sign up to Jobfact! and then refer friends to jobs. If they get those jobs then you get £100 a time. Brilliant!
2. List your skills. Sometimes we don’t go for jobs because we only think in terms of the specific job description we’ve been doing for a while. However, if you list all the things you actually do in your job and possibly elsewhere, such as your skills as a parent or a fund-raiser for your favourite charity, you will realise just how many skills you use on a daily basis. This will  help you fill your CV with all your relevant skills, and increase your range of job choices.
3. Get online help with your CV. There are loads of places you can go online to get help writing a killer CV. The BBC website’s CV help is a good place to start, as is the Government’s Directgov website. In fact, if you just Google ‘CV writing’ pages of sites with CV tips will come up – you’ll be spoilt for choice. There are even sites with CV templates, CV samples and examples of bad CV formats. You can find CV ‘how to’ guides all over but remember to take more notice of the British ones than the plethora of American sites giving CV help as there are differences in approach, and British employers can find the US CV style a bit irritating.
4. Get work while you wait. Still can’t get that Head of Marketing job? Keep yourself going by babysitting in the local area, doing some waitressing or helping neighbours with DIY. Get your skills out in the cyberverse by putting yourself on the free website Jobsgrapevine. Also check out Gumtree to see if there are some little earners you could get involved in while you’re waiting. If you’re stuck for ideas, check out our Make Money section for loads of ways to make cash on the side. This is also really important for your finances, your skill set and your self esteem.
5. Think outside the box. This isn’t as scary as it sounds. Think about other jobs you could do with your skills (see point 2) and think about other routes to find them (see other points below). A lot of the best jobs aren’t advertised in the usual papers and magazines, they tend to be put out there through word-of-mouth or even created by people looking for a job. Can you see an opening for yourself in a company? Maybe they need to be told that they need you. Come up with a good argument for why they need you and get in touch with whoever hires and fires there. Don’t just apply for the same old job in the same old way!
6. Get extra skills for free. There are lots of free courses you can take online, from learning languages to tech skills. The BBC website has plenty of free online language courses including French, Spanish, Greek and even Japanese. Our article on how to boost your job prospects for free has links to all sorts of free courses in everything from healthcare to technology. Apart from the new skill itself, learning extra little bits shows that you’re adaptable and up-to-date – just what your new employer is looking for.
7. Get extra skills at a price. It could be that you’re not getting jobs because your qualifications aren’t strong enough. If you have the money, this could be a good time to get new qualifications: you could consider going back to college or university, or taking out a Career Development Loan to help finance an evening class or training course.

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8. Use quality paper and envelopes. Yes, the majority of job applications now are done online, but it’s a good idea to send your CV by snail-mail too to make yourself stand out from the crowd. As an added extra, use really good-quality paper in cream or off-white to make it stand out from other paper applications. (Wacky and florescent colours are probably best avoided!)
9. Create your own job. Who says you need to work for one company anyway? Maybe you could be a ‘consultant’ or freelance worker for various outlets. Why not create your own job: work out what companies need in your area of expertise and then tout yourself about. You will have more freedom and variety and it might be something you can do from home too. Get some ideas from our Make Money section on how to set yourself up in business.
10. Go for quantity. Once you’ve got the basics right (a good CV, proper spelling and covering letter etc) it’s a numbers game. Write off to as many job offers as you see. If you’re doing it by email it’s not going to cost you anything and you never know. However, you will up your chances by a mile if you make your application relevant to the job (see point 28 below).
11. Put a P.S. on your covering letter. It seems to work for the marketing people and, if you think about it, we tend to take more notice of the P.S. than the body of a letter. Think up something witty, apposite or just plain useful and put it in your P.S. You might be surprised at the response!
12. Watch your spelling and grammar. Seriously, you would be amazed at the number of people who don’t spellcheck their CVs or covering letters. It’s even better to get a clever friend to go over them before sending them out to check for errors. Another pair of eyes makes a huge difference. It’s particularly important when you’re applying for very popular jobs as you will instantly be rejected just because you got the spelling wrong or an apostrophe in the wrong place. Similarly, and very importantly, make sure you spell correctly the name of the person you are applying to. Getting that wrong will also get you instantly rejected.
13. Research pay rates for the job you want. Go to Jobfact! and you can find out what you should be being paid for the job you have now and for the job you want. You should have an idea of what to expect, so you will know if an offer is a good one or not.
14. Register with a temp agency while you’re waiting. There are lots of temporary job agencies around and, again, it’s a numbers game – sign up with several temp jobs agencies and you have a greater chance of landing some work. Also, make sure you phone them regularly to see if they have work. Don’t wait for them to call you.
15. Get help with your interview skills. Get a friend, ideally one who hires people, to give you a mock interview or two. Get them to be very honest about how you come across and what you could do better. Also, see the great interview tips on Directgov. If you improve your interview technique you can definitely increase your chances of getting a job.
16. Film it! Got someone to give you a mock interview? Great. To get even more out of the experience, if you have a camcorder (or even a video phone) it can be really useful for someone to film you during the interview. You’ll see for yourself exactly how you come across when you watch it back (hopefully not through your fingers!) You’ll become aware of your own physical and verbal tics and so learn to counter them. (We all have them – but being aware of them will make you stop saying “Ummm” so much, or automatically looking down when you’re nervous.) You’ll be surprised at how much and how quickly this will help you improve how you present yourself to others in high pressure social situations. For some jobs it’s also handy to do a video CV for yourself – those in the technology sector are often more interested in video applications than simple written ones.
17. Learn not to take rejection personally. Hey, it’s business. Not everyone can get that job. Pretty much everyone’s been rejected for some job at some time. The more you can brush off rejection (of every kind) the quicker you will get on in life and the happier you will be generally.
18. Network. We can’t stress too much just how important it is to network. Far, far more jobs are picked up through personal contacts and personal recommendations than through job ads. You could even ignore the ads for a while and just spend your time doing business networking. So get out to business networking evenings (try your local business associations and chambers of commerce if you don’t know where to start) and look on all social occasions as possible networking opportunities. If you’re open enough then anywhere from the gym to the pub can present networking opportunities.

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19. Network online. Social and business networking sites are increasingly the way to get work now. Make sure you join LinkedIn, link up with lots of people and check out the jobs section every day. Go on to Twitter (follow me at @Jasmine and follow Moneymagpie at @Moneymagpie) and follow useful people in your sphere. Let it be known that you’re available and post tweets that are fun and useful so that you get followed and retweeted a lot. Do the same on Facebook – build up your network and ask about opportunities (become a fan of ours too). If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
20. Make use of friends and family. Networking isn’t just limited to business contacts or those you meet at official events. If you think of all your friends and family – and all the people that they, in turn, know – the chances are that you have gained a decent pool of contacts without even trying. All you need to do is let them know that you’re looking – because beyond your immediate family, they’re unlikely to know you’re searching. If they know you’re on the lookout, they might prove to be very useful indeed. You never know, your cousin’s friend might have just the opportunity you’ve been looking for…
21. Set up your own ’side’ business at home while you’re waiting. Make the most of the downtime – set up your own business on the side. It’s something you could get on with now and then keep going when you get a job just to bring in some extra cash.
22. Be willing to travel to work. Yes it’s a nuisance to spend half an hour or more in the train or in the car but the more flexible you are, the more jobs you can access.
23. Be willing to move country. OK, it’s a big shift but given the state of our economy, there are going to be lots of people looking to do the same thing for a few years – especially new graduates who can’t find positions in the UK. Teaching English is always a popular option but if you’ve got skills and ambition you can set yourself up almost anywhere. Check out the plethora of jobs abroad sites on Google. It’s amazing what’s out there. Also, if you would like to just go off for a short time, check out Gap Year for Adults which has ideas for jobs, travel and general fun on a year off abroad. Working abroad could be the best thing you’ve ever done!
24. Set up your own blog and write about your area of work. OK, it’s a long-term project but it’s free to blog (go to Blogger.com to set up your blog in minutes for nothing), it gets your creative juices going, you can write what you like and people searching for information in your field could come across it through the blogosphere. It’s all part of getting yourself out there! It can also be a great thing to show off to potential employers, as it demonstrates your enthusiasm for working in that particular industry. We have a number of bloggers on Moneymagpie and it’s a popular section of the site.
25. Volunteer. If you have time on your hands, use it for good – and get yourself out of the house – by becoming a local volunteer. You could work for a charity or visit elderly people or help at a local school. Whatever you do you will be getting out there, keeping busy, and learning new skills and networking. You never know who you might meet and who could point you in the direction of a job. Also, it will do wonders for your CV.
26. Apply for jobs you’re overqualified for. Check job vacancies that might be beneath you. For a start, you could get the job which would be a way in to other jobs later on. Also, you may find that the person receiving your CV needs to fill another slot that is not advertised yet. This could be the one for you.
27. Apply for jobs above your current level. Don’t feel limited by most recent job you have had. If you see job vacancies that would be a bit of a promotion for you, apply for them. Why not? You may be more qualified than you think.
28. Do internships. Even if you’ve been in employment for some time, doing an internship can be a great way of learning new skills and switching your job. Don’t allow yourself to become slave labour, of course, but do get the most training out of it that you can. Also, spend your time networking with people in the office. Have a look at the Government’s Graduate Talent Pool website for opportunities, or think about contacting companies directly to see if they have opportunities.
29. Customise your CV and covering letter. Sounds obvious but if you are sending out hundreds of applications it’s understandable that you would want to send the same one all the time. However, if you can customise your CV a bit, and certainly make sure that your covering letter is fully customised to the job advert, you will greatly increase your chances of getting a great job.

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30. Get a routine and keep to it. If you’re stuck at home and the only thing in your life is your CV and covering letter, give yourself a break. Get a daily routine and treat getting a job as your job – for the time being at least, it is your job. Having said that, don’t get stale. Give yourself time to relax and socialise, and take the chance to maybe do a bit of volunteering or temporary work. All these things will keep life varied, keep you sane, enhance your CV and give you the chance to network with others.
31. Check out local free sheets and websites. You just never know. They may be small and look insignificant but it’s worth a quick scan here and there for a juicy job that’s just down the road. Local sites tend to advertise local jobs and local papers certainly have a lot of local jobs in them, so check them out.
32. Get a part-time job. If you’re waiting for a long time for a proper, full-time job, you can at least stave off debt by getting a part-time job in the meantime. It could be anything – working in a bar, doing the school run for local parents, dog-walking or working in a shop. Look through the print ads and online for the latest part-time work oppotunities. It could be that it will keep your CV fresh, make you more employable and still give you time to continue to hunt for the job of your dreams.
33. Get the name of the individual you should write to directly. It really helps to go direct to the person hiring. Somehow it’s more personal and, generally, more successful. But, make sure you spell their name correctly. If you don’t, you’re toast.
34. Write articles about what you work in. If you can, write articles for magazines for your area of work. It will get you noticed and give you something to show prospective employers. It could even create job vacancies for you.
35. Share your contacts with other job-seekers. What goes around comes around. By sharing your contacts with friends who are looking you will be helping yourself as they are more likely to do the same to you. It’s also good for the soul to give rather than concentrate on your own life all the time!
36. Spend free time sorting other aspects of your life. Get that bathroom painted; sort out your cupboards and drawers and sell your junk on eBay or a car boot sale; get your filing properly sorted and switch all your bills to cheaper providers. This is time that can be used really well and you will be SO pleased once you get a job that you got all those niggly jobs out of the way first.
37. Join your trade union or trade association. This is another type of networking. It’s also possible that some jobs will only be advertised through union contacts. Going to union meetings can also be a really focused way of networking.
38. Teach what you know. If you can’t get a job for the moment, look into teaching it at adult evening classes or even at a college or university. Even if you get a full-time job later you could keep the teaching going in the evenings.
39. Keep a record. You can lose touch with who you’ve applied to, who you’ve spoken to and what stage you’re at with various applications. Keep a record if you can – perhaps a computer spreadsheet or just a list on the back of an envelope to remind you which jobs you’ve already applied for, so that you don’t double up.
40. Follow up on job applications by phone. If you possibly can, try to speak to the person you are applying to. Don’t be a nuisance but just ask politely if they’ve received your application (they might not have – it could be caught in their spam filter). If they haven’t then you could offer to send it again by snail mail. If they have then offer to send more references or similar. It helps to show you’re professional on the phone.
41. Create a professional-looking email address to contact you. Somehow, Hotmail and Yahoo addresses just don’t look the part if you’re going for a professional job. Or if you do, make sure your e-mail is something like ‘Joe.bloggs@hotmail.com’, rather than something jokey like ‘misshotpants@hotmail.com’. It might have seemed amusing when you first signed up to the service, but it’s unlikely that your potential employer will see the funny side of your e-mail address…
42. Develop a businesslike phone manner. Essentially ‘be prepared for the call’. If you’ve put your mobile number on your CV (and we suggest you do) then you could get a call from a potential employer at any time. Make sure you answer the phone professionally unless you’re sure it’s your mum or your best friend. Any calls you’re unsure of, assume it’s important and answer brightly and positively.
43. Be positive… speaking of positively… it’s easy to feel down when you’ve sent out hundreds of applications and been knocked back over and over. Remember, persistence wins the prize and we tend to get in life what we expect. Expect the best and that’s what you’re likely to get. However, keep an open mind too. If you’re getting rejected all the time it could be that your CV or your application letter or your interview approach need work. Go through these with friends and/or professionals and make them work for you rather than against you. There’s no harm in asking for feedback as to why you were rejected either. Don’t be pushy – many employers might be too busy or they had too many applications to answer back – but some will probably give you feedback, which is always useful.
44. Watch what you put on social media sites. We’ve all heard of people being sacked from their jobs or simply not getting the job they want because they’ve slagged off the company. Also, if you say on your CV that you are ‘hard-working, dedicated to your job and professional’ then your Facebook page has nothing but pictures of you off your face at party after party, half-naked in the street, this could scupper your chances. Prospective employers are increasingly checking profiles on social networking sites so clean yours up now! (Or at least, make sure your privacy settings are set accordingly).
45. Dress to impress. You don’t have to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe (in fact we recommend that you spend no more than you absolutely have to while you’re out of work) but do make sure you look smart and clean when you go to an interview. There are lots of ways of getting cool clothes for next to nothing, as we show in this article on cheap designer clothes. Don’t look like you’re trying too hard but do look like you care about your appearance and about the company.
46. Make sure your qualifications are up-to-date. Now is exactly the right time to check that the qualifications you say you have in your CV are still up-to-date. Do you need a new CRB check? Is your First Aid current? Are you sure of your knowledge of the mortgage market or the latest legal rulings your field of corporate law? If you can afford it, now is a very good time to take the latest courses and exams to keep up.
47. Get a job-seeking buddy. As with dieting and getting out of debt it can really help to have someone with whom to search for work. You can look over each other’s CVs, help each other with interview skills and generally encourage each other. Make sure you’re with someone positive, though. Getting together with someone who constantly expects to fail is going to do you no favours.
48. Search for jobs with odd spellings. When you’re looking for jobs online, try odd spellings to find jobs that are hidden because they’re written wrongly (that happens a lot). So if you’re looking for ‘Personal Assistant’ for example, try ‘Personal Asistant’ or ‘Personelle Assistant’ or even ‘Pursonal Assistant’. You’d be surprised how many ads are typed in badly. The advantage of that is that these ads won’t have been seen by many others so you will have a head-start on them.
49. Remember to sell yourself. Modesty is an attractive trait, but a job application isn’t the time for it. You’re selling yourself to someone else, and they’re highly unlikely to be aware of all the things you’ve done and achieved. So make sure they know about it – or they’ll never find out just how good a fit you were for the job! Make sure you don’t brag or boast of course – but there’s nothing wrong with painting yourself in the best possible light you can. It’s what a job application and an interview are there for – to give you the opportunity to shine!
50. Don’t give up. It’s far too easy to give up, particularly if you live in an area where there’s lots of unemployment and your friends have given up hope. Go find more positive people (they’re probably the ones who are getting the work anyway) and hang out with them instead. Also, refuse to accept defeat yourself. Keep going – it’s the ones who persist, persist and persist that win in the end.

Has this been useful? Have you got any tips and tricks to earn extra cash on the side? Get over to our money making forum and let everyone know what you’re up to.

After I blogged about a member of Three’s executive team (that’s what it call its complaint’s team) shouting down the phone at me last month and calling my husband a lyre I got a message from Three saying another member of the executive team would be taking over.

I’m sure this was just a coincidence, of course.

Anyway to quickly recap. My husband called on March 8, 2010 at the end of an 18 month contract to ask when he should cancel his direct debit as he no longer wanted the service. He was told his last direct debit had been taken and he could use the service up to March 20. This is what he did only to end up being hounded by a debt collection agency several months later for £56.

Stuart, the shouty Three man, had not disputed these dates but that was the only thing he did not dispute. He claimed that my husband would have been told that he had to give 30 days notice on 8 March and nothing about payments. Even though I pointed out that if this had been the case my husband would surely have gone on using service until the April 8, not March 20 he refused to budge getting markedly more belligerent by the second and ended up denying that Three 1) would have to keep a record of the call of March 8 for more than six weeks, and 2) 18 month contracts are actually 18 month plus 30 days.

Here Ofcom was of tremendous help. Firstly telling me that the firms it regulates do indeed have to keep recordings of calls for a minimum of six months and recommended I make a complaint to Otelo, the industry ombudsman. It has the power to order Three to hand over any recording of this disputed call.

Secondly on the issue of length of contract it turns out Ofcom is currently investigating the issue of length of contracts and specifically what action telecoms companies have to take at the end of a contract as it appears I am far from the only person out there who has difficultly with firms automatically rolling over set length contracts with out bothering to ask their customers if they wish to continue with the service.

So anyway, as I said above, once I’d run through what Ofcom had said surprise surprise Three do a complete about face and clear the “outstanding balance”.

My hope in sharing this is to encourage more people to stand up for themselves when threatened and shouted at by big business.

To run through what LV said: £50 on uniform, £10 on stationary, £40 sports kit, £10 haircut, £12 school bag, £20 winter coat, £6 lunch box, school books £20.

Ok in our  house: uniform £11 (pack of cotton polo shirts and trousers from Tesco); stationary £0 (we have a loads of pencil cases, pens etc in the house); sports kit £3.50 (gym shoes from M&S – the £1 one’s from Tesco did not fit); haircut £0 (didn’t need one); school bag £12 (maybe Next read the survey and priced accordingly?); winter coat £0 (it is only August and last year’s will fit when it actually gets cold) lunch box £0 (last year’s is still pristine); school books £0 (thankfully the Scottish Government still pays for these).

So all in a total of £26.50 rather than the £122 LV figure.

That the new school year has seen us landed with bills for lunches £5.25 a week, fruit £7.50 this term, milk £11, this term, plus up front payment for school trips £20 this term and the bill for after school activities will be arriving soon (last year £100-ish a term).

But then dropping him off last week I was reminded that this year he is old enough to merit an extra 30 minutes of teaching each day – well Monday to Thursday at least – so I find myself with an extra 2 hours of working time each week. Which touch wood should put a few more pounds in the bank to help pay for it all. Because like you, and all parents, I want my son to be able to do all the sports and activities he chooses without stressing about the cost – he is only seven after all.

PS Don’t forget to read Moneymagpie’s excellent guide to getting cheap free school uniforms and meals.

Are you having trouble being approved for credit cards, bank accounts or any other financial products? It could be something really simple so you need to find out why. You can get a Free Credit Check from Experian and start resolving any issues to improve your credit rating. Click here to sign up for your free credit check.

• What affects your credit file?
• 10 easy ways to improve your credit record
• Should you pay to access your credit file?

What affects your credit file?

• If you have applied for several new loans or credit cards recently and been turned down. Financial companies are like sheep and if they find that you’ve been turned down by a few other lenders, they’re likely to turn you down too.
• If you made several applications for credit and loans at the same time because it makes you look like you’re in a desperate financial situation.
• If you have County Court Judgments (CCJs) against you or you have regularly been late with mortgage or loan payments.
• If you don’t pay your phone bills for a few months, this is considered a big black mark.
• Your age affects your points score. Too young can be as bad as being too old.
• If you’re single it can be a problem – being married gives the impression that you’re stable.
• Having the same address over a long period of time will help.
• If you are not on the electoral roll you can be rejected.

10 easy ways to improve your credit record

1. Make sure you are on the electoral roll. If you’re not, write to your local council who will send you the registration form.
2. Make your payments on time. If you cannot do this, contact the lender as soon as possible to discuss what options are available to you. You may be able to change your repayment schedule, or make a minimum repayment instead.
3. If you have paid a court judgment… make sure it is shown as being settled on your credit record. If it is not, contact the court.
4. If a bankruptcy order has ended or been withdrawn… and this is not shown on your credit report, send a copy of your certificate of discharge or annulment to all credit reference agencies and ask for your report to be updated.
5. If you have paid off a credit account but your report doesn’t show this… contact the organisation concerned and ask them to make the necessary changes, or contact us and we will contact the relevant organisation for you.
6. Avoid credit repair companies. If information on your credit report can be removed or altered, Experian will do it for free. The Office of Fair Trading has issued a warning that the advice and information given by credit repair companies may be wrong and unhelpful and can even make your situation worse, not better.
7. Build a good credit history. If you’ve no real credit record to speak of, it’s obviously hard for companies to judge your reliability (and they don’t usually give you the benefit of the doubt). So how do you build a good credit history? Borrow money and pay it back religiously, on time, every month. If companies won’t lend to you, there are credit cards aimed at people with poor credit records. They have whopping interest charges though – so only use it a small amount every month and then pay the bill DURING the interest-free period. CapitalOne does a very high interest credit card (34.9%) which it will offer to people with poor credit histories. ONLY USE IT IF YOU CAN PAY IT OFF – if you’re struggling to repay your bills now, don’t take out this card.
8. Always check your credit report. It always makes sense to get a copy of your credit report before you apply for credit. It gives you the chance to clear up any wrong information that may stop you getting better financial products. Just as importantly, it will help ensure you don’t get rejected for what you apply for. You can get a Free Credit Check from Experian and start resolving any issues to improve your credit rating. Click here to sign up for your free credit check. But if you ignore this advice and get rejected – see number 9 below!
9. Don’t let rejection lead to rejection. If you are rejected, find out the reason why. Examine your credit record (it may be that it’s got false or out-of-date information on it). If you just apply somewhere else without investigating your first rejection, you’re even more likely to get rejected the second time around. And it’s not just rejections that harm your credit score – every time a company searches your credit record (i.e every time you apply for something) it’s logged. If you have a number of searches in a short period, it will affect your credit rating adversely.
10. Don’t get dragged down by debt. It’s hard to get your credit rating on an even keel if you’re constantly battling debt and missing payments. If this is you, check out our step-by-step guide to getting out of debt. The National Debtline also offers free, confidential advice (telephone 0808 808 4000).

Should you pay to access your credit report?

Really. I can’t tell you how many people I come across who say something like ‘I’ve got an idea for a business’ or ‘I’d really like to do x to make money’ or something like that and then they never do anything about it.

There are always excuses:

• “I’m too busy” (these are people who spend most evenings in front of the tely or drinking with friends)
• “I don’t know where to start”
• “Someone else will probably do it”
• “I haven’t got time”

These are just excuses – seriously. Have you noticed how it’s usually the very busiest people, the ones who are up early and working through the day and into the night, who somehow find the time to get things done? It’s funny how we always find time to do things we actually want to do.

If you’re serious about getting a money-making idea off the ground, here are a few starting points:

• Break it down into small chunks. You will never even start a project if it looks too enormous. As they say, the way to eat an elephant is to do it piece by piece (not that I want you to eat an elephant because I love them!). Basically you have to break down any big project into small, manageable chunks and do those one by one. Even if it means you do one small chunk every night, if you keep on doing it, you will get there.
• Persist. One of the most valuable qualities in any business person, or anyone who wants to do something worthwhile or a bit different, is to be willing to persist, persist, persist. Even if it takes years to get it off the ground, keep going.
• Get help and support. There are lots of ways you can get this – either from friends and people you know or from government agencies like Businesslink or even through social media (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin etc). There are people all around the world who are trying to do what you are doing or have done it, made the mistakes and learned their lessons. They can help you and most are eager to do so.
• Get ideas from people on our Forum. Our Money-making forum is there to share ideas for making money and support people who are trying. Go for it!

• August Only! 2 for 1 mains at Dim T
• August Only! 2 for 1 mains at Cafe Rouge
• August Only! 2 for 1 for £1 to charity at GBK
• August Only! 2 for 1 mains at Auberge
• August Only! 2 for 1 mains at Pizza Hut
• 15% off at Masala Zone
• NEW PAUL La Carte Noir card
• Free starter or dessert at Chiquitos
• 50% off at La Tasca
• Yate’s deals
• Bodean’s Q Card Offers
• £30 dinner for 2 at Loch Fyne
• Summer Offer: 3 for 2 at Café du Marché
• 20% off food and drink at railway stations
• Old Orleans special offers
• £20 meal deal for two at The Real Greek restaurants
• Cake and coffee at Brasserie Gerard
• Special Offers at Browns
• Big offers at Henry’s Cafe Bar
• 2 courses for £9.99 or 3 for £12.99 at TGIs
• Latest Chez Gerard offers
• Brewers Fayre – 2 mains for £9
• Beefeater bargains
• Offers at 5pm
• Wagamama special offers
• Club Gourmet Privilege Card Extended offer
• Pancakes for £5 at My Old Dutch – London only
• Millie’s Cookie Club - Sweet Savings
• Revolution – 2 for 1 burgers and other offers
• Blue Mondays at Yo! Sushi
• Lastminute food deals
• Starbucks rewards
• Toptable offers
• Crown Carveries

For more special offers sign up to our weekly bargain alerts!

15% off at Masala Zone

If you enjoy a good curry sign up to Masala Zone’s mailing list and get 15% off your bill the next time you eat there (you do have to spend at least £6.95 on food and drink from the a la carte menu, but it’s still a top deal). When you’re on the mailing list you’ll be kept up to date on all Masala Zone’s latest offers, competitions, news and more. Sign up now.

2 for 1 mains at Dim T

For some delicious Asian cuisine head to a Dim T restaurant and get 2 main courses for the price of one this August. The offer runs Sunday-Thursday and whilst it doesn’t include dim sum there’s still plenty of classics to choose from. And if you go on a Monday you’ll also receive a FREE Asahi (a Japanese beer in case you were wondering), Coca-Cola or glass of wine to enjoy with your meal. If you’re nearest branch is at London Bridge or More London, be warned that the offer is only valid at these branches between 12 and 5pm. Claim this offer by registering to Dim T’s mailing list here.

Cafe Rouge 2 for 1 on main courses

Fancy a bit of French?  Well this offer from Cafe Rouge may be just up the street for you and one other; or maybe you could get the whole gang in as each voucher is valid for up to four people.  The offer runs Sunday-Thursday and excludes Centre Parcs and airport locations, ending on the 29th August.  Register for the voucher here.

2 for 1 for £1 to charity at GBK

GBK is holding this offer in conjunction with Capital FM’s Help a London Child campaign.  For every voucher they will donate £1 to the appeal.  The offer includes burgers and main salads but excludes the kiwiburger and build your own. It runs 7 days a week for both eat-in and takeaway orders until 30th August. Print your voucher off here.

2 for 1 on mains at Auberge

Fancy French tonight, tomorrow, anytime?  Great, because this deal is running all day seven days a week until the 31st August.  Do book ahead for parties of six or more, but otherwise simply print off your voucher here and bring it in with you. Check out the restaurants delicious menu and where to find them here.

£20 meal deal for two at The Real Greek restaurants

For a delicious taste of the Mediterranean head to The Real Greek and enjoy a meal deal for two for just £20. The meal includes a range of Greek delicacies such as halloumi skewers, flatbread, Htipiti, sardines and more, and if you fancy a tipple you can choose between a glass of wine or a pint of beer. £2 from the first 5000 meals sold will go to the Have a Heart charity, and the offer runs every day of the week until February 2011. Download your voucher here. Only one voucher can be used for every two customers and a maximum of six people are allowed at a table.

2 for 1 mains at Pizza Hut

You only need one of these vouchers for the table, and as each table seats 10 what a great excuse for a get together!  The deal runs all day every day, not to be used in conjunction with any other offers until the 31st August.  Print off your voucher now and check out Pizza Hut’s website for more offers.

£30 dinner for 2 at Loch Fyne

There’s nothing fishy about this latest offer from Loch Fyne. Enjoy a delicious meal for two for just £30, including wine, a starter and main course. The offer runs Sunday to Thursday from 7pm and includes a starter and main course as well as carafe of wine for you and your loved one to enjoy. View a sample menu here or find your nearest Loch Fyne restaurant.

*Note: the deal isn’t valid in the Cairndow branch.

PAUL La Carte Noir Card

Pick up a PAUL La Carte Noir loyalty card and treat yourself to a free Parisian breakfast, including a large coffee and croissant or pain au chocolat. The card lets you build up reward points to spend at PAUL, can be give preloaded as a treat-filled gift card and entitles you to a free coffee after you’ve bought nine (which adds up on all those morning coffee treats). Ten lucky cardholders will receive cards loaded with £100 to spend on PAUL’s sandwiches, cakes and drinks. Pick up your card at your local PAUL bakery and register it at the PAUL website.

Free starter or dessert at Chiquitos

Spice up your palate with some sizzling Mexican food at Chiquitos. And from now until 30 September you’ll get the choice of a free starter of dessert when you order a main course. To claim this offer you will need a voucher, which you can get by signing-up for free to receive the latest deals and news from Chiquitos. The deal doesn’t run on Saturdays and cannot be used alongside any other offers. One voucher valid per table (maximum 6 people).

Café du Marché’s 3 for 2 offer

Café du Marché is an equisite French restaurant located in Charterhouse Mews, London. Throughout the summer they are offering their diners 3 courses for the price of 2, serving delicious French delicacies such as pan fried foie gras, scallops with spinach and garlic butter and iced chocolate parfait with hazlenut praline.

You don’t need a voucher but you may need to book a table. Check out the Café du Marché website now.

50% off at La Tasca

Sign up to La Tascas’s mailing list and you’ll get a voucher entitling you to 50% off food from the ‘tapas to share’ menu. The offer runs Sunday-Friday until 5th September, and only one voucher can be used per table (maximum 8 people). The offer is not running in the following branches: Aberdeen, Bath, Bristol Cabot Circus, Edinburgh Omni Centre, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Plymouth and Silverburn.  Sign up to the mailing list now.

Bite: 20% off at food and drink at railway stations

A Bite card entitles you to 20% off at a range of food and drinks outlets at railway stations across the country.  What’s more, it’s aboslutely FREE! Outlets include Upper Crust, Burger King, Real Pubs on Stations, Delice de France and more. Sign up for the card here.

Yates’s Deals

When it comes to bargain grub Yates’s rarely disappoint. Their current deals include: two main courses for just £5.95, 2 for 1 desserts, burger or curry plus a drink for £4.95 and bottles of wine for less than a fiver. Best of all these offers are available all day every day so no need to worry about timing your visit. To be the first to hear about Yates’s latest deals and news register to their website now – it’s FREE!

Offers at 5pm

5pm.co.uk is much the same as Toptable, with great deals for restaurants all over the country. But because it’s a company that was started in Glasgow, it doesn’t have the emphasis on London restaurants that people who live elsewhere in the UK can find frustrating. And just like Toptable, whilst you’re getting your great deals, you also pick up points that to go towards future free meals.

Beefeater bargains

Head to a Beefeater restaurant before 6.30pm Monday-Saturday and enjoy a main course for just £5.99. Or if you’re feeling hungrier you can have a two course meal for just £7.99 or a three course meal for just £9.99. There are also some great deals running in the evening where a three course meal will set you back just £11.99 (Monday to Thursday). Find your nearest Beefeater here.

Cake and Coffee at Brasserie Gerard

Throughout the week you can treat yourself to a delicious slice of cake (fudge, carrot or Victoria sponge) at Brasserie Gerard, plus a coffee, tea or fruit juice for just £3.95. Offer is valid before 6 pm every day.

Brewers Fayre – 2 mains for £9

Brewers Fayre are currently offering a ‘2 mains for £9’ deal, which is available Monday to Friday from 12.00 until 6.30pm. There are also desserts from just £3.50 and Sundays are great value too – guests can enjoy a two course Sunday roast for just £9 or a three course meal for £11. Find your nearest Brewers Fayre here.

Special offers at Brown’s

Enjoy a traditional Sunday roast at Brown’s with all the delicious trimmings, and one child per eating adult gets their meal for FREE. The child has to be under 12 and they will get to choose their meal from the Children’s Menu. Adults get to choose between a Rib of Beef (£10.95), Half a Chicken (£9.95) or a Loin of Pork (8.95), all of which are served with roast potatoes, seasonal vegetables and cauliflower cheese. No voucher needed.

Or why not try the restaurant’s signature cocktails for £3.50 each from 4pm until closing Sundays to Wednesdays. These include various flavoured Martinis and daquiris, mai tai and grapefruit cosmopolitan – normally priced from £4.85. View this offer here.

2 courses & wine for two at only £29 Browns has extended their “Become a friend of Browns” offer whereby you can enjoy a two course meal for two with a bottle of wine for only £29. Simply sign up to your local Browns newsletter and the offer will be yours.

Burger King vouchers

Sign up here for a range of BK vouchers, including 2for1 offers and other goodies.

Latest Chez Gerard Offers

Dine at Chez Gerard and choose from their selected menu to get two courses for £16.95 or three courses for £20.95, which is up for grabs all day 7 days a week. If you fancy something a bit simpler you should also make the most of their £9.95 Steak and Frites deal, although this isn’t valid at their Opera Terrace Branch on Saturday or 30th August, or at their Heathrow branch. 

Club Gourmet Privilege Card

Do not throw it away! The card has been extended for a brief period until further notice. If you are a card holder, continue slashing 15% from your bills at Chez Gerard, Brasserie Gerard, Bertorelli, Il Bertorelli and Livebait. No new cards are being issued currently. You’re in an exclusive group if you kept yours. Find out more here.

Henry’s Cafe Bar 20% off the total food bill

Get £5 off your next visit to one of Henry’s Cafe Bars when you sign up for their newsletter. Just register online here and they’ll send you the £5 voucher to use in your local Henry’s.

You can also enjoy discounted cocktails, wine and beer during their Happy Hour periods. Each venue runs their Happy Hour at different times, so make sure you check out times before heading down. Find your nearest venue here.

Lastminute food deals

Lastminute has ongoing offers including half price deals at restaurants all over the country so you really can afford some posh nosh! Check them out here. And if you’re really strapped for cash, don’t worry. There is even an eat out for under £15 section to suit the most limited budget.

Millie’s Cookie Club- Sweet Savings

Snap up loads of cookie bargains by signing up to Millies Cookie Club. Being a member of this tasty club will give you access to exclusive offers, competitions and, our favourite, freebies. What are you waiting for- the cookies won’t eat themselves you know!

Pancakes for £5 at My Old Dutch – London only

Have some ‘Monday Madness’ at the My Old Dutch Pancake Houses and pay just £5 when you can order any pancake from the a la carte menu between 11am and 11pm (excluding Bank Holiday Mondays, Pancake Day and 14th and 21st December). Choose from Kensington, Holborn, Chelsea or Ealing houses.

Bodean’s Q Card Deals

Nab yourself a free Q Card from London BBQ chain Bodean’s and you’ll be entitled to a whole rack of discounts every day of the week! These bargains include 10% off your entire bill, a steak meal for just £10, free nachos, free desserts and more. Find out more about the Bodean’s Q Card benefits here.

Old Orleans special offers

Get £10 off your next meal at Old Orleans when you register to their members club for free. Once you’ve become a member you’ll be amongst the first to receive latest deals and promotions news. Warning! To get your £10 off you will have to spend over £20 on food- it’s still a great bargain though! Register here for free.

Oh and if you fancy booking a party at Old Orleans every one of your guests will be treated to a complimentary cocktail! Find out more here.

Revolution – 2 for 1 burgers and other offers

Visit a Revolution restaurant and bar and enjoy 2 for 1 burgers every Monday. There is no voucher needed – just ask for the Happy Mondays burger offer when you order. Revolution are now also running ‘Pizza Tuesdays’ where you can get 2 for 1 pizzas all day.  Also, get steak and a drink on Wednesdays, after 2pm, for 7.95. No voucher is needed, just make sure you visit on the right day! View these offers here.

Starbucks rewards

Coffee fiends can get great rewards, including extra espresso shots and free syrups, when using the Starbucks Reward card  – check out their latest offers here. Pick up the card in store and register online here.

2 courses for £9.99 or 3 for £12.99 at TGIs

From Monday to Thursday you can get 2 courses (a starter and a main or a main and dessert) for £9.99 or 3 courses for £12.99 from TGI’s selected Take 2 menu. There’s a good range of dishes to choose from, including Loaded Potato Skins, Mozzarella Dippers, Half Rack Jack Daniel’s Ribs, New York Chicken Linguine, Dirt Cake and Chocolate Fudge Fixation. Yummy.

This offer excludes bank holiday Mondays and is only available at participating restaurants. Find out which restaurants are taking part here.

Toptable offers

Toptable is offering a load of tempting specials with 50% off deals, meals for £15 or less, cheap set menus and free bottles of wine chucked in at restaurants all over the country. These deals are not only cheap but they also earn you points on your Toptable account.

You can sign up to Toptable for free and you’ll get 200 points just for joining. Once you book through the site, all you need to do is a quick review of the restaurant after you’ve had your meal and you’ll pick up some more points.

Then, when you’ve accumulated enough points, you can eat for free in another Toptable-registered restaurant – brilliant!

Wagamama special offers

If you can’t resist the Japanese curries at Wagamama, or you just love the informal eating style at those long wooden benches, you can get discounts and deals by signing up to be a Wagamama member on their website. It’s free to join and when you do you’ll get discounts for different Wagamama restaurants every week. Sign up here and get your chopsticks ready!

Blue Mondays at Yo! Sushi

Blue Mondays at Yo! Sushi are back and extended to more restaurants! Enjoy a variety of dishes from the conveyor belt and only pay the price of Blue dishes – that’s £2.20 each! This promotion is available until further notice. To see the full list of participating restaurants and terms and conditions click here.

Crown Carveries

This is actually an ongoing deal not a one off special offer, but it’s so good that we thought we’d throw it in anyway. Throughout the country Crown Carveries offer a traditional English carvery for just £3.59. The price includes a choice of 3 roast meats, vegetables, stuffing, roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding, and runs all day Monday to Saturday.

Useful links

• Toptable
• Lastminute
• Chez Gerard
• 5pm.co.uk

• What is it?
• What are the benefits?
• Are there any downsides?
• What are the real costs?
• Should I go for the free option?
• How do I know which is best for me?

What is the scheme all about?

Solar panels could make you money through the Government’s Feed-in Tariff (Fit) scheme – it’s also known as ‘Clean Energy Cashback’. The Labour Government brought it in in April this year to encourage us to produce more clean energy for ourselves and for the national grid. It’s part of the UK’s target to generate 15% of energy from renewable sources by 2020. If you’ve got a roof, you could be in business.

The scheme promises to reward you if you have photovoltaic solar panels (solar PV) installed on your roof. If you go for it, you’ll benefit in three ways:

• You get paid what is called the ‘generation tariff’, which is a direct payment from your energy supplier for each unit of electricity you generate. This starts at 41.3p per kilowatt/hour (kWh), and this amount will increase in line with the rate of inflation for the next 25 years.
• You also get what is called the ‘export tariff’, which is a payment made for energy you send back to the electricity grid, as opposed to electricity you use yourself. This pays you an extra 3p per kWh.
• You make savings on your electricity bills as you no longer need to buy all your electricity from an external supplier.

So, you’ll save money on your electricity usage (which will become ever-more helpful as the price of electricity is set to go up exponentially over the next 25 years) and you’ll make money from producing solar energy to sell back to the grid.

What are the benefits?

Aside from the environmental benefits – a reduction in your CO2 emissions while promoting renewable energy sources –  there are big financial rewards up for grabs. Not only do you save money on your energy bill but you will benefit from an annual income for the next 25 years – an income that has been protected by statute. The amount you could get each year is not guaranteed but it’s highly likely to be at least £1,000 a year for most of the 12.3 million households that could be suitable for the panels.

Importantly (and even better for your pocket) your income from this system is exempt from income tax. This makes the scheme particularly attractive to those paying higher rate tax and those paying none. It means that you get to keep the full amount each year – earning you money for doing nothing! The returns are index-linked (i.e. they go up with inflation) and they could add a substantial amount to your retirement income, particularly if you have not put enough away into a pension or other investment.

In fact, the boffins at British Gas have worked out that to get the same return with a bond investment, a 40% tax payer would have to get an annual interest rate of 14.83% (compared to the income generated from the largest type of panels).

Are there any downsides?

The big downside to installing solar PV is the length of time it takes to pay for itself. In environmental terms solar panels offset themselves after about four years, but financially you’ll have to be living in your home for the next fifteen years to get back your investment, and start making a profit.

If you can reasonably expect to be in your home for that length of time then solar panels could be for you. However, if there’s a chance you’ll be moving home in the next couple of years – say to downsize, or to find more space for a young family – you should tread carefully. Not only will your buyers benefit from your investment, you might actually find it harder to sell your home! Solar panels can be huge and, depending on where they’re placed, very obvious. Some people really don’t like solar panels, and there have been cases where would-be sellers have had to remove the panels to close a sale.

So even if you’re considering the free option (see below), you should only do it if you know you won’t need to sell your home for a while. The housing market is likely to be sluggish for the next couple of years and you don’t want to give yourself any hurdles to get a sale, or be losing money unnecessarily.

As the main electricity production time is, funnily enough, during daylight hours, appliances running during the day will benefit the most. If you’re out of the house all day you could set a timer for some machines to work during these periods such as water-heating, washing machines, dishwashers etc.

What are the real costs?

Feed-in tariffs are designed so that the average monthly income from your installation will be significantly greater than your monthly loan repayment (with a 25 year loan). The Energy Saving Trust reckon that an average system (2.2kW) costs around £12,000 (including VAT at 5%). Solar electricity systems can cost in the region of £4,500 to £8,000 per kW, but costs per kW should reduce as the system size increases. Here are some of the best current deals:

• The largest size offered by British Gas is the 3.36kWp which is suitable for roofs of at least 30.2 square metres. This one costs £15,624 (including installation) but over 25 years it will bring in an estimated £42,521 in income and savings and should pay for itself in just over ten years. They also offer 2.52 kWp and 1.68kWp panels, paying for themselves in 12 and 14 years respectively.
• SolarCentury tot up their costs from a personalised estimate based on your postcode. With standard 2.2kWp tiles, they suggest that you could earn around £26,000 over 25 years, with a typical cost of £12,500 if you buy outright. Their panels range in size from 1.7kWp to 3.7kWp – the exact amount you can earn depends on the size of your panels and how big your roof space is. They also offer ’solar loan’ and ’solar mortgage’ options to finance your panels.
• HomeSun do sell solar panels outright, but lean towards ‘free’ panel provision (see below). They estimate that the ‘average user’ could be £1085 a year better off, factoring in energy savings: to achieve this you’d need to use 2.5kWp panels. You can buy solar panels outright from HomeSun from £11,000, or get the panels for free under their ‘Solar Share’ scheme.
• ISIS solar ask you to contact them directly for more information about buying solar panels from them outright. If you go with their ‘rent a roof’ system you don’t have to pay anything: installation and maintenance are both free, and your electricity will be free too because of the solar electricity your home will generate. They say that the average customer could save around £300 a year with their system.
• A Shade Greener operates in Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Humberside, with plans to extend this service to the Midlands and South West. You can’t buy solar panels from A Shade Greener, but they generously agree to leave the panels on your home after the 25 year agreement is up so you, or whoever is living in your home, can continue to benefit from the panels. Like ISIS solar, A Shade Greener will take care of installation, maintenance and the cost of the panels, and you get the electricity the panels generate for free.
• It’s also possible to buy and install solar panels yourself! You won’t get the same warranties as you would if you bought panels through a company like the ones above, but you will be cutting out the middleman, benefiting from the full Feed-in Tariff. Consumer guide Which? has produced a guide to buying solar panels full of the ins-and-outs of how to buy, what the jargon is and how your system will work.

Do beware of cheap deals, by the way. The solar panel business has suddenly sprung into life in the last year and there are all sorts of very small businesses around (mostly builders and roofers) who are trying to get in on the action. However, not all of them will do a good job so it’s best to go with a reputable company (such as the ones mentioned above) who can give you a cast-iron 25-year guarantee on the panels.

If you’re looking for a grant to help with the cost of buying solar panels, your best bet would be to have a look at the Energy Saving Trust’s grants database, which works out what you can get financial help with depending on where you live and your income. It’s also worth getting in touch with your local council to see what’s on offer: you can get your local council’s contact details here.

Oh, and if you’re wondering about maintenance, you don’t have to worry. Other than washing them once a year or so, you don’t need to do much to maintain your solar panels. You may need to replace the ‘inverter’ after about ten years at a cost of roughly £300. Solar PV has been available for many years and is a reliable system, and the panels come with a 25 year guarantee.

Should I go for the “free” option?

With the free option there are no upfront costs to you, and you do benefit from cheaper electricity each year thanks to the energy generated from your panels. However, you won’t benefit from the regular annual income from the electricity for the next 25 years. It comes down to whether you can afford to invest in solar panels or whether annual savings on your electricity bill will be enough for you. The free option still saves you money, but won’t make you any.

This is a big downside as the index-linked, tax-free income could be very useful. However, if you don’t have the money to invest now, and particularly if you think you might move house in the near future, this free option may be better for you. Consumer Focus has got a good section on things you should ask before getting ‘free’ panels if you’re thinking of choosing this option.

How do I know which is best for me?

Deciding whether to buy or ‘rent’ solar panels depends very much on your own circumstances – whether you can raise enough to buy the panels, whether you’ll be moving home in the short to mid-term, and how important renewable energy is to you. If you’re planning to buy solar panels you’ll need to factor in their cost – they represent an investment as much as buying shares does.

Panels perform best on south-facing roofs, at an angle of between 30-40 degrees to the sun. Even if your roof doesn’t match this ideal you could still have solar panels fitted and make a profit – it’s best to talk to an individual company (or companies) for more information.

Each provider has a different way of working, but in general you can expect:

• an upfront estimate as to the expected ongoing performance of your installation
• an in-home display that will enable you to see how your installation is performing and when it is generating power. This means you can decide to use your electrical appliances at this time to take advantage of the ‘free’ energy
• an EPPC (Expected Panel Performance Certificate) that will enable you to see the additional value and benefit impact on your home. This will protect your investment if you were to move home or sell property. Showing would-be buyers the benefits should stop them demanding that the panels be removed.
• help with applying for the Feed-in Tariff benefits and ensuring you have all the required elements for a successful application to the scheme.

Whichever scheme you choose, generating your own electricity from solar panels is a good long-term plan for making a bit of extra money while doing your bit for the environment. Solar panels make a lot of sense even if you’re just looking to save on your electricity bills – something we will all be forced to do as prices continue to rise and incomes fall.

Useful links

• Energy Saving Trust
• Ofgem
• ISIS solar
• A Shade Greener
• HomeSun
• SolarCentury
• British Gas
• Consumer Focus’ solar panel factsheet
• Find your local council here