So you want to get started with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies – but you don’t want to hand over your bank details (or any real money!) yet.

Not a problem – you can genuinely get started without spending anything.

I know because this is how I got started.

With just an hour or so of effort you can easily earn a decent amount of crptocurrency (approx £30- £50) to get started. Just read our step by step guide on how to earn free cryptocurrency.

You can then get used to how everything works – digital wallets, trading from one currency to another, investing etc – without risking any of your own money.

The whole crypto world can be quite confusing. So it’s nice to have an easier way to get some Bitcoin/Ethereum etc without having to do a lot of reading. If you learn by doing, then our guide is a great way to get going.

Then you can either just sit back with a greater understanding of the whole ‘crypto’ world. And leave your free currency to invest. Or cash it in. Or you can dive deeper, learn more, earn more and maybe even dip your toes into investing in Bitcoin.

One thing is for sure – you cannot lose any money following this approach. The worst that can happen is you lose a bit of time following the steps, and the crytocurrency you receive ends up being worth nothing one day!

But if you have any questions or feedback on the guide, then just add a comment below or get in touch.

The post How To Get Started With Bitcoin (For Free) appeared first on The Money Blog.

The sheer wealth of information available makes it seem so big and overwhelming. But just like most things – they make it sound incredibly complicated so it makes them look clever…

Our online introductory stock trading guide has proven popular.

It won’t make you a city finance whiz kid overnight. But it will introduce all the basics, and get you started. It’s also completely free, which is nice.

Everything is covered – from what shares really are, to what makes the stock markets work, right through to things like trading patterns and those buying and selling signals.

Head over to Learn Stock Trading Basics to get started.
(Don’t worry – you don’t have to sign-up or anything)

Build yourself a solid knowledge of the basics today, and you can steadily build on them and get the benefit for many more years in the future.

The post Stock Trading Guide (Free) appeared first on The Money Blog.

And I’m talking a proper confetti cut paper shredder – not one of those pathetic battery powered ones that are no better than tearing a page up.

The kind of people who are willing to go through bins to steal documents are capable of sticking pieces of paper back together. So even a good strip cut shredder can be risky.

What Is A Confetti Cut Paper Shredder?

Strip cut shredders cut pages into long thin strips, cross cut shredders also cut those long strips into smaller pieces (better).

But confetti cut are the daddy of shredders, as they blitz pages into tiny little pieces of confetti. Even the most dedicated thief is just not going to bother with confetti!

So obviously confetti cut shredders are also the most ‘expensive’.

But guess what…

You Can Get Quality Confetti Cut Shredders At Great Prices

In fact, I’ve just found 2 top models that are in stock and available to buy online now, at great prices.

If you shop wisely they can even be as cheap as a decent strip cut shredder!

So please don’t buy one of those nasty £20 ones from Argos or WH Smiths – they are slow, noisy and will break in a year! And end up costing you MORE. I know because I’ve burned through TWO of them before learning my lesson!

Get one of these and you’ll thank me for it:-

1. Rexel ProStyle Shredder

Click Here to Find it on Amazon.co.uk

Rexel make the best quality shredders. And this Rexel Pro Style Shredder is my personal favourite. It can take 11 sheets at a time (that’s a lot – most cheap shredders struggle with 3 pages), and easily destroys old credit cards securely too.

It also has a 20 litre storage bin. This does matter – smaller bins will annoy you by getting full too often and regularly needing emptying!

Plus the motor is much quieter than most shredders which I find highly desirable, so it might matter to you too. This is well built and will last you for years. Looks pretty snazzy too.

2. Rexel Style Plus Shredder

Click Here to Find it on Amazon.co.uk

This is the little brother of the Pro Style shredder. It’s sheet capacity is reduced to 7 sheets at a time, and the storage bin is 12 litres instead of 20 litres. But it’s still a great machine, so worth considering if you’re tight on space.

The post What Is The Best Shredder To Buy For Home Use? appeared first on The Money Blog.

Is tobogganing on police time with police equipment really that evil? Surely it just gives the UK Police a more friendly down to earth image..?

I’d consider it community policing and great public relations.

Wouldn’t you rather see a riot shield being used as a sledge than pressed in protestors faces..!?

The post UK Police Sledge With Riot Shields (video) appeared first on The Money Blog.

If you want to try a new bank, then here’s a nice ‘bribe’ to get you started on friendly terms

Alliance & Leicester will give you a sweet £100 when you move to their Premier Current Account. It pays a half decent interest rate on your balance (there’s a good chance your old bank doesn’t pay anything!), and they throw in some free travel insurance.

If you’re ready for a change, you can’t really go wrong getting £100 just to try them out?

NOTE: Don’t hang around though – this deal ends on 8th November.

Apply now for a Premier Current Account with £100 Cashback

Here’s the full deal:-

• £100 cashback when you open a new Premier Current Account and move your banking using A&L’s Switching Service. Conditions Apply.
• Free annual multi-trip European travel insurance worth up to £60 (upper age limit of 65 applies).
• 0% EAR Typical overdraft. No usage fees on arranged overdrafts for 12 months from when you open the account (new customers only). A usage fee of 50p a day (up to £5 a month) applies after that. Maximum overdraft limit is £2,000.
• Credit interest rate of 0.50% AER (variable) on balances up to £2,500 and 0.10% AER (variable) on balances over that amount
• You must be over 21. You’ll need to pay in at least £500 every month.

The post £100 Premier Current Account Cashback appeared first on The Money Blog.

All you want to do is post a letter. So when did going to the Post Office become such a ridiculous ‘hard sell’ experience?

I ask for 1st class postage. I just want my package weighed and the price. That’s it.

Is it valuable?

None of your business. I asked for 1st class postage, that’s all I want. (Which as I might remind you automatically INCLUDES compensation to the value of £39 should you lose it!)

Do you want it to get there tomorrow?

Well that would be nice. Like in the old days when 1st class meant first delivery next day, and second class meant second delivery. Oh, wait, you’re still trying to push me to buy Special Delivery at £5 a go. No, I still just want 1st class, as I already said.

Would you like to top up your mobile phone?

What? Don’t be silly, I just want to post my bloody package!

Did you know the Post Office now offer credit cards and car insurance?

Yes, I bloody do, because you bored me with them last week when I came in just to buy some stamps. And I’m still not interested because I know I can get better credit cards and car insurance elsewhere.

OK, so did you want any stamps today?

*&^%*$£*.

My THREE nearest Post Offices all now do this same stupid blind irritating ‘upsell’ process. You want a stamp, so clearly you must need a new credit card… round of applause for the idiot marketing manager responsible for that.

I now buy stamps from WH Smiths whenever possible.

Is your local Post Office this irritating?

The post I Just Want a Bloody Stamp..! appeared first on The Money Blog.

Are the newspaper headlines screaming out the good news though? Of course not – there’s lots of other far more depressing stories they can fill our day with instead…

Economy Grows Two Months In a Row

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) says that the economy hit bottom as long ago now as March this year. There has then been modest growth in April and May.

Even the property market shows signs of recovering – with both Nationwide and Halifax reporting about 2 per cent increase in property values last month. First time buyers are still being stuffed for huge deposits, but hang in there folks as the times they are a-changin.

Break Out The Sparkling Wine

No it’s not boom time. So stick with the quality sparkling wine instead of that overpriced Champagne version.

It’s just another welcome reminder that reading the daily newspapers makes you depressed! So why not dump the Daily Drudge. Maybe we should subscribe to Positive News instead.

The post Shock News: UK Recession Over..? appeared first on The Money Blog.

This young internet upstart is causing quite a stir online. By giving away free shares to members when they join (for free), it has managed to rapidly go from 0 to 188,455 members in just 1 month! Before they even know what they are joining..!

The free offer is still running, so you can join the fun too. You’ll get 250 free shares in the company if you join today (more about me2everyone free shares here)

So What is It?

That seems to be part of the fun. We’re not sure. It’s kind of a new virtual online world and social networking site type of a thing. It could be ‘the next big thing’ or a great big ‘what was all the fuss about’.

Members now holding free shares are of course hoping it will turn out to be the next Facebook or MySpace – so their free shares will be worth thousands.

With the kind of growth experienced so far, they certainly have potential. If they can nudge those people who signed up to get the free shares into active users. And if they can deliver a platform that tempts people away from Facebook and MySpace.

It costs nothing to find out. You can grab your free shares by joining here.

The post Free Shares From me2everyone..? appeared first on The Money Blog.

All my search results are showing the dreaded ‘This site may harm your computer’ message.

So either Google is having a funny turn, or my laptop has been taken over by aliens, or worse!

Even Google.co.uk and Google.com are reported as potentially harmful…

Aliens, Google or has Kaspersky let me down..?

UPDATE:
Oh dear, I think Google central will be rolling out some serious ass whippings… reports are coming in all over the place of the same dodgy search results… here’s just a few:-
Getting a malware warning for every site in Google search results?
Is Google Crazy? Google.com May Harm Your Computer?

LATEST:
The official word from Google themselves was a technical glitch in the file of ‘bad sites’ they maintain. A tiny error of including the entry ‘/’ in the files translated to the software as meaning ‘every website’.

So for a period of only 40 minutes or so, Google panicked us all by reporting every website in the world, including their own, as BAD!

The post Google Goes Crazy – And May Harm Your Computer..! appeared first on The Money Blog.

I mean, these days consumers want (and deserve) better from their credit card providers – am I right?

So why should we put up any longer with cards with an annual fee. No need to. What about cards with crazy high interest rates? No need to. What about those cards that hide a really short period before interest starts to accrue? No need to.

Today you can get credit cards that pay cashback, don’t pay an annual fee, don’t charge high interest rates, and have sensible terms.

My card just paid me £119.28 as a cashback reward. Here’s my statement to prove it:-

I did nothing to earn this. I simply switched from my old credit card provider to my new one. Of course, future cashback rewards will also just automatically get credited to my account. Simple as that.

So if you have a credit card, don’t put up with a poor deal. Switch today and put that cash back in your own pocket.

Right now today you can get a stunning deal if you get an amex platinum cashback card – it will pay 5% cashback for the first 3 months, and up to 1.5% cashback after that too.

Or if you want to see what else the market can offer, see all the top cashback cards here (it’s a fast changing industry so it’s worth checking for the latest updates).

The post Cashback Cards Are Top – They Work! appeared first on The Money Blog.