admin

Don’t let the rain ruin your day

by

Here’s how to make sure you don’t miss out in the washout…….

If today’s summer washout took the fizz out of your day, you could be in with a second chance!

Lots of places shout about their ‘rainy day guarantees’ which can mean just one hour of rain and you get a free return trip.

Sounds like a sweetner if your day’s a washout, but on the downside, every place sets its own rules. And this applies to everything from how long the rain must last, who can claim, (as in most cases the ‘rainy day guarantee’ only applies to online ticket holders), and even if you qualify for a freebie, when you’re actually allowed back in for that promised free visit!

Here’s a round up of some of the places offering rainy day guarantees so do check the full terms and conditions on the individual websites and keep hold of your ticket as you may need to show it second time round.

Chessington World of Adventures – One hour of continuous rain means a free return visit. Rainy days are posted on its website but popular times like school holidays are often ‘excluded’ from the free return deal.

Warwick Castle – Must rain for one hour or more during your visit.

Weymouth Sea Life Adventure Park – One hour or more of ‘persistent’ heavy rain means a free return visit.

Pleasurewood Hills – 90 minutes of rain needed for this one and only available for Silver and Gold ticket holders.

Drayton Manor Theme Park – Constant rain for 2 hours or more between 10am – 5pm during April, May or June means a free return trip.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach – Must rain for 3 consecutive hours or more before you’ll get a free return visit but this only applies the following day. Or you can go back half price any Sunday during the season.

Just returned from a fabulous trip to Australia

by

Here’s my top tips for ways to save in Sydney……..

Just back from a fantastic holiday in Australia and love it so much this was my third trip there.

Spent a week in Sydney which is a stunning city and if you want to take in the sights on a budget here’s some of my top tips.

* You’ll need an ‘Opal’ card to get around Sydney on buses, trains and ferries. It’s a free card and you can pick one up from stations and convenience stores. Then just load it up before you travel and tap on and off every time.

Sunday travel is ‘capped’ at $2.50 so worth saving your ‘big travel day’ in the city for a Sunday to save money.

* Climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge is an amazing experience and I loved every minute. But it will set you back around £160 a time depending on the exchange rate. So if money’s tight, (or you don’t have a head for heights), take in the views from the Sydney Harbour Bridge Pylon Lookout. Far fewer steps and it costs $15 a time; that’s around £9.

Or why not take in the views walking across it at street level? I caught the ferry from Circular Quay to Milsons Point Wharf. Then just a few minutes up the road at the junction of Broughton and Burton Streets you’ll find the bridge stairs. Great walk back to the Rocks area across the bridge and all for free!

* Tours and trips can eat into your budget so to learn more about Sydney’s history why not take the free walking tour around the Rocks area. Leaves every night from Cadmans Cottage at 6pm and no need to book; just turn up!

 

Why tea and coffee are such valuable commodities

by

And I don’t mean on the trading floor………

Spotted a piece on the BBC News website this week about the politics of the office tea round.

And how, if you’re slow to take your turn, it can mean you’re out in the cold.

I’m a great believer in the power of mug of tea, or coffee for that matter, as a non tea drinker myself.

If I’m having work done around the house I’m straight in the kitchen getting the kettle on and dishing up some decent biscuits. In my personal research always found chocolate ‘Hobnobs’ go down best!

And never under estimate the power of a mug of tea as it can save you some serious cash!

When our washing machine was playing up a couple of years ago I called out a repair engineer, (as it was under warranty), and while chatting over tea and biscuits he told me he often got called out to fix machines that had fallen victim to kids ‘posting’ things through the door or the fact that filter had never been cleaned.

He said that strictly speaking under company rules, if the machine was under warranty, he was supposed to bill for his time, unless the problem was an actual ‘machine fault’ but let slip that ‘if they’ve given me a decent cup of tea I don’t usually bother’.

Now I’m not suggesting this works in every case but many’s the time I’ve managed to negotiate a deal over a cuppa when it comes to the DIY so it’s not just in the workplace that it pays to do the tea run!

BBC News – The politics of the office tea round

The Chancellor cracked some jokes but the Budget wasn’t much of a boost for the pound in your pocket……

by

Here’s my one minute guide to today’s budget…..

The Chancellor had earned the nickname of ‘Spreadsheet Phil’ however his debut Budget performance was peppered with a fair few jokes although when it comes to the pound in your pocket he didn’t plunder the Treasury coffers to dish out much cash…..

While there were announcements regarding funding for social care, the NHS and education here’s what it means for the pound in your pocket.

* You can earn more before paying tax. The ‘personal allowance’ rate, (the chunk of cash you can earn before paying tax), goes up from £11,000 to £11,500 from April. And the limit will go higher still, up to £12,500 by 2020.

* The self employed took a bit of a battering with changes to National Insurance. The main rate of Class 4 National Insurance goes up from 9% to 10% from April 2018 and again to 11% from April 2019. But a small sweetener in that Corporation Tax will fall from 20% down to 17% by 2020.

* Savings rates have been shabby for some time, even to the point of being threadbare in some cases! From April the new NS&I Bond (National Savings & Investments) means you can save up to £3,000 over three years years earning 2.2% interest.

* Small print gets checked out. While it’s not instant cash in your pocket, this one could save you money in the long run; although it’s early days yet. If you’ve ever signed up for a ‘free trial’, not read the (often very lengthy!) terms and conditions, and found you’ve been clobbered with a big bill, this is one issue the Government’s keen to investigate.

* And finally if you feel like you need a drink after that little lot….you won’t pay more on wine or beer. Unlike previous budgets where a few pence went on wine, spirits or beer this time round there’s no increase.

PPI Claims Deadline Announced…..

by

May seem a while off but get those claims in now…..

This week the Financial Conduct Authority announced the deadline for new PPI claims.

It’s 29th August 2019 which may seem a long way off right now but if you haven’t made a claim and think you’re owed money, it’s worth doing it now as if there’s a big rush of claimants there could be a backlog.

 

Pancake Week at Bill’s Restaurants

by

Why enjoy pancakes on one day when you can make a week of it?

I’ve just been told by the folks at Bill’s Restaurants that they’ll be having an entire week long celebration for Pancake Day. Runs from 20th – 28th February and not just your standard lemon and sugar versions either but its special pancake menu will feature lemon cheesecake, salted caramel and banana split versions!

Plus there’s a free jar of pancake topping for customers on Pancake Day itself which is 28th February.

How do Hermes couriers manage to leave a parcel in a locked shed?

by

They don’t; they just say they have but pop it in the bin instead!

Came home yesterday to find a note from the Hermes delivery people saying my parcel was in my bin! Nice one!

Stranger though was the fact that when I checked my order status on its website, my parcel as listed as ‘left securely in shed’.

Now maybe Hermes couriers have some special hidden powers that none of us know about; but I’d be curious to know how they could have got into my shed to leave a parcel when it’s in my back garden and got a big padlock on it?

And of course that would mean they then got it back out again, to leave it in my bin! Ok so sarcasm aside, I know it’s probably a thankless job and they’re not earning huge sums of money, plus, as is often well documented, couriers may not get paid until a delivery is made; hence parcels are often pictured on social media after they’ve been left in all sorts of daft places.

Am guessing maybe there’s not a ‘tick box’ to say ‘dumped in bin’ so looked better to claim it was left in a locked shed; except they didn’t have the key……..

 

The brilliant concept of Ziferblat

by

Everything inside is free – all you pay for is the time you spend there.

Discovered Ziferblat on a trip to Liverpool last week and I’m hooked!

Once inside this fabulous cafe come meeting place, everything is free, from coffee and cake to wifi, papers and even a stack of board games.

The original version opened in Moscow, founded by Ivan Meetin as a ‘tree house’ for adults and since then these little meeting places have taken off with 14 locations around the world.

All you pay for is the time you spend there. At the Albert Dock in Liverpool you pay 8p a minute. So spend an hour there and you’re looking at £4.80 which is probably more than a coffee and a cake in Starbucks. And as the food and drink is unlimited – you can help yourself and make toasted sandwiches, munch on biscuits and cake and stock up on cheese snacks, you could pop in for a lovely feed all for under a fiver. And while I’m not suggesting you whizz in, scoff and run, let’s be honest you could probably manage a coffee and snack in 15 minutes which would only set you back £1.20.

Did spot a couple of folks there who seemed to be piling their plates high, clock watching and running off but most people were there enjoying the relaxing surroundings and making the most of a brilliant concept. Totally sold!

If you fancy trying one in the UK there’s venues in Manchester, London and Liverpool.

http://www.ziferblat.co.uk

Why do some folks seem embarrassed to save money?

by

How you can save £5 in one minute…..

It always amazes me when people seem to willingly pay over the odds for something, especially when you tell them how they can save money.

If you pay to park at my local station before 10am it costs £8.10, but from 10am onwards it’s £3.30. So that’s a big difference if you bowl up just before 10 and don’t check the charges.

So yesterday morning, there I was standing by the machine at one minute to ten waiting for it to tick over and a fellow traveller approached.

So I explained that he was welcome to go first but if he waited less than a minute he’d save a fiver on his parking which was exactly what I was about to do.

He seemed taken back and blustered on about the fact he wasn’t worried about that and went ahead to pay. Now whether he was paying from his own pocket or putting it on ‘company expenses’ wouldn’t the logic of saving £5 make it worth waiting that extra minute? Especially when the next train in either direction was a good ten minutes away?

Funny enough we both ended up on the same platform waiting for the London train; me a fiver richer and him a fiver poorer! Smug, me? Never…….