crazy rewards

I should know about temp work - I've done it enough. So, what are the pros and cons of temp work?

Pros

• It gives you breathing space if you aren't sure of what you want to do as a career, and gives you experience of verious jobs, to help you decide on what path is right for you
• It can be the easiest wat to get your foot in the door. You can gain experience, contacts and insider knowledge.
  
• Especially if you are a student, temp jobs usually pay better than traditional student work like restaurants/bars.
  

Cons

• No benefits. Temps usually receive little or no holiday entitlement, and miss out on sick pay, health insurance, pension plans and other bonuses. Sometimes, you do get holiday entitlement paid by the hour, and you accrue it, which can be good if you are in the role a while.
  
• No security. You're not guaranteed an end date for any job, so a month long assignment could end on day two, and you can't do anything about it.

So how can you land a role? Make sure your CV is up to date and inform your referees that you are wanting to use them. Also, research the various temping agencies there are - choose the ones that suit you best. You will usually get an invitation to register with the agencies you choose and have an informal chat - this is usually an informal interview, so sell yourself.

How can you boost your pay? Develop your skills. Often, advanced Microsoft Office skills can be a massive plus. Improve your typing speed too. If you need to, get CRB checked and security cleared as soon as possible as this can be quite a lengthy process.

They are absolutely EVERYWHERE! And thousands of shoppers across the UK have been snapping up some bargains in them.

Even before some stores opened, loads of us were queued outside, as sales were announced and prices were cut by up to 70%.

Some high street stores, such as John Lewis and M&S started early - beginning their sales on their websites on Christmas Day. John Lewis has their busiest ever online sales between 7pm and 8pm and said that the traffic to their website was 12 times bigger than on Christmas Day last year.

And it seems that the January sales didn't stay in January - 82% of high street retailers were offering discounts even before Christmas!

It's expected that UK citizens will have to pay £5.1bn in tax this Christmas. It's been found that the average Brit family will pay £204 on top of the normal xmas spending - £21 less than they did last year but still quite hefty, considering the VAT cut that's been introduced.

According to Deloitte, the average British family spends £1,244 at Christmas - more than I've spent, I can tell you that!

We all know this Christmas has proved to be a bit of a difficult one, when it comes to affording all the latest stuff for our kids. But a lot of families who can't afford the latest gadgets and toys are blaming Santa for the shortfall.

According to netmums.com, 44% of mums are planning to blame Santa for the cheaper presents, rather than themselves. 49% are planning to stick to their normal spending budgets when it comes to their kids presents this year, despite the downturn.

Women have been shown to cause less accidents, and are always believed to have lower priced car insurance premiums than their male counterparts. But, research has found that this isn't necessarily the case, and some women drivers have price differences on their car premiums of as much as £600 a year!

The research looked at how much women would pay, per year, with a number of online insurance providers. The sample was chosen to show a range of locations, age, car models, driver histories and also jobs. The results showed that the most a female would pay was a huge £944.45 a year. The smallest average saving was over £145.

Just goes to show that the differences in policy costs that women are faced with, can be just as big as those that men are faced with, and also emphasises the need to shop around for policy prices, rather than just settling on the first one you find or trusting your renewal quote.

Money website Fool.co.uk have warned customers to stay away from certain financial products during the economic downturn, to avoid further financial difficulty.

These are:

• Credit Card Cheques
• Store Cards (These can charge up to 50% more interest on purchases than normal credit cards!)
• Payday Loans
• Logbook Loans
• IVAs

They have also recommended that customers should read the small print before taking out any credit agreement. Rather than choosing any of the above five products, maybe people should look at the overdrafts if they are in need of a little extra? But, be warned of the charges that are applied if you go over the agreed amount!

And why? To get away from the recession. More than 400,000 Brits above the age of 50 are choosing to turn their backs on the UK, in a quest to find happiness and financial security further afield.

RIAS found that one in ten Brits over the age of 50 were seriously considering jetting off overseas, on top of the 400,000 already planning to do so. Not to mention the other advantages of moving abroad:

• Cheaper property

• Better climate

• Lower cost of living

• Health benefits of the new pace of life

I know I’d be gone in a flash if I had the money. I’ll definitely be gone by the time I reach retirement.

According to Gordon Brown, that's exactly what we need. He has called on international leaders to introduces tax cuts to try and save global economy.

He is hoping that meeting the G20 group will generate support for his plans in providing a global solution.

The G20 group includes finance ministers and governors from 20 of the most powerful nations in the world, and Gordon Brown is hoping to get them on his side with regard to his plans.

In most cases, a parking fine is due to something that is our fault. In some cases, it's plain unfair. Mistakes happen, such as unclear signs, technology faults or human error. These, you can try and reclaim. Trying to reclaim parking charges because you parked on double yellow lines, parking in places where it isn't safe to do so, or blatantly ignoring obvious signs just won't work.

If you have a ticket that you think has been issued unfairly, you need to act as sono as possible. If you are intending to appeal, don't pay the fine. Paying the fine admits that you're liable. So, what to do:

• Gather Evidence - Take photographs, including the signs, markings (or lack of), your car and the meter - whichever are relevant to your case.
  
• Keep Your Ticket - If you are parked in a paid-for bay
• Gather the Paperwork - Anything that proves your story
  • Proof of mitigating circumstances
  • Crime Reference numbers
  • Witness statements
  • Copies of all correspondence

To begin an appeal, you need to know which appeal process applies - have a read through this article first. Chances are, you will have to pay - You need to provide every thread of evidence to be able to have a good go at appealing, but if you think you are in the right, there is no reason why you souldn't fight your corner.

The British pound has dropped against the dollar and the euro after the Bank of England said that the economic landscape has worsened dramatically.

Sterling fell to $1.5226 from $1.5426 and fell to a record low vs. the euro, at 82.15 pence.

The finalists from this year's X-Factor have all contributed to a rendition of Hero, recorded for the charity, Help for Heroes, which provides support for wounded serviemen and the Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal.

The song is expected to become 2008's fastest-selling single and is currently the top seller on play.com and iTunes.

And Chancellor Alistair Darling has said that he will refund tax on sales of the single, commending the efforts of the X-Factor contestants who have contributed to it.

The six main energy suppliers have seen an 8% drop in customer satisfaction levels in the last year. According to USwitch, in October 2007, 33% of customers weren't happy with their gas/electricity providers. The figure currently rests at 41%.

In January, npower were the first provider to raise their prices, putting gas prices up by 17.2% and electricity prices up by 12.7%. Edf followed suit, as did British Gas, both putting up both supplies by 15%.

The big six energy suppliers have seen an eight per cent drop in customer satisfaction levels in the past year, according to research from uSwitch.com. In February, Scottish Power and Eon also increased their rates, and in March, Scottish and Southern raised theirs. To make matters worse, by August, all six had raised prices even more. On average, bills have risen 42% this year - around £381 per household.

All the changes propsed by the Prime Minister and the government seem to be a little too late. 41% of consumers are unsatisfied, and the figure doesn't surprise me. 55% don't believe they are getting value for money and 59% think their supplier isn't even offering them the best deal. I'm assuming they won't offer the best deals on a plate - the consumer will have to chase them.

Approximately 20,000 children are to receive computers and broadband internet access as part of a government trial, to try and bring the benefits of the Internet to low income families.

The Prime Minister has announced the £300m programme, and will commence in February 2009 in Suffolk and Oldham. If it proves to be successful, the scheme will roll out across the country later in the year.

Families must earn less than £15,000pa to qualify or be on income support. It should prove to help the education of schoolchildren, especially as the Internet is gradually becoming an essential requirement for homework.

According to figures from the Daily Echo, more than 36,000 cars are being driven in Hampshire without insurance. The stats used figures for accidents involving uninsured vehicles in the past year to calculate the lack of cover on Hampshire's roads.

In some areas of the county, more than 1 in 10 motorists had no car insurance. Southampton city centre was reported to have the worst black spot, where 12.5% had no cover - that's 1,426 vehicles.

Areas of major concern were shown to be:

• Portsmouth/Highfield (7% - 548 cars)
• Sholing/Thornhill (6.8% - 2,039 cars) and
  
• Shirley/Milbrook (6.5% - 1,423 cars)

The report also found that uninsured drivers were also ten times more likely to drink-drive and 3X more likely to be convicted of careless driving. Police have said that more than 10,000 drivers without a licence/insurance have had their vehicles seized since July 2005.

More and more parents are being tempted to commit fraud when it comes to their car insurance, by putting themselves down as the main driver when it is their offspring who use the vehicle the most, in order to reduce the cost of their car insurance.

If the insurer is thinks you are the main driver when you are an occasional user, they could turn you down for claims and insurance will be more expensive in the future.

The practice where a parent uses their own name on the insurance quote for their offspring's vehicle is known as 'fronting'.

EDF will take the lead role in the development of nuclear power in the UK with a £12.4bn agreed takeover of British Energy.

They have also signed a memorandum of understanding for Centrica, to take a 25% stake in British Energy, although the deal is unlikely to be signed for a few more months.

The water companies have handed OfWat a report, which will see water bills rise 9% above inflation by 2015. This will add an average £355 a year to consumer bills, before even accounting for inflation.

Why this much? Even though the water companies claim that they don't expect consumers to cover the total cost of replacing faulty pipes and improvements to the network, they do suggest part of the cost should be covered, by increasing the bills. But if the bills are increased to cover this over the next few years, they will never return to the levels of today - in effect the consumers will be paying long term, for a short term investment.

OfWat will be submitting its proposals in April 2009. Final figures will be confirmed in November 2009.

Car insurance can be a complete rip off at the moment, but there are ways of keeping the premium down while still retaining cover that is applicable to you:

• Travel fewer miles - Many policies will give you a reduction if you travel under a certain amount of miles, just ask them!
• Add security - By adding a car alarm, you can reduce the cost of your policy. It won't be much of a saving, but it's still something!
• Drive a smaller car - It will save you petrol and will be cheaper to insure. Not always possible, but worth a thought if it is.

Sainsburys are doing their latest stint of saving 5p/litre of petrol/diesel for every £50 you spend on food in store. Pretty much like the Tesco ones that have recently expired.

So get down to your nearest store and grab yourself cheap petrol whilst the offer is valid.

Some places in the UK are paying more than others for their gas and electricity, and is being put down to where they live.

Yorkshire and Humberside are paying 28% more than those in the South East and with an average bill of £1,248 a year, this can equate to a big difference!

The average annual energy bill for customers of EDF energy now stands at £1,190 a year, following a 17% increase for gas and 22% increase for electricity earlier this year. However, in a survey of 2,000 people, it was found that there is a gap of 28% between the highest and lowest monthly spends - the cheapest being in the South East, where it is at an average of £46 ap erson, while the average per person in Yorkshire and Humberside is £59. That's one heck of a difference for the same product!

The UK government has today released plans to introduce the slop bucket - the weekly collection of waste food throughout the UK. So, not only have some local councils taken away weekly rubbish collections, they now expect us to live for a week at a time, accumulating waste food in a giant bucket.

A trial of the system cost £1.6m, and now, the authorities have declared that the whole of the UK should introduce these slop buckets to their kitchens. Those who still have the weekly rubbish collections aren't too keen on the idea... it's been noted that many homes reported an increase in vermin after the introduction.

Local authorites have already said that they will need new equipment for the slop bucket collection, which will cost tens, if not hundreds, of millions of pounds - £10 increase in council tax will pay for that... Surely it would be more cost effective to return to the weekly rubbish collections?

A study by Sainsbury's home insurance has shown that students who have decided to live away from their parent's home are likely not to be covered by their family's home insurance policies. UCAS has revealed that the research showed 25% of home  insurance policies don't cover students while they are away from home, leaving thousands unprotected.

Check the policy before the students move away. Some insurance policies do cover them, so there's no point shedding out for a new one. Insurance is essential for students, as they are prime targets for theft. Many of their homes are left unoccupied for long periods of time during the day, and over vacations, and thieves watch for this.

The number of women in senior posts in politics, the law and the media has dropped compared with last year according to a report by Equality and Human Rights. They said that in 12 of 25 job catergories it studied, there were fewer women holding the top jobs.

Women's representation has however increased in eight areas, including company directors and the civil service.

According to the findings, there are now fewer MPs, cabinet members, national newspaper editors, senior police officers and judges, NHS executives, trade union leaders and heads of professional bodies, compared with 2007.

It blamed Britain's business culture of longer working hours and inflexible working practices for the news, by discouraging women who want to both work and have a family. 

There's a dodgy situation developing in the commercial market. While more and more people are being rejected for credit applications, it seems that those who are successful are applying between 4 and 8 times. But does this affect your credit rating?

For years, we have been advised that the more failed applications which appear on your file, the less chance of being successful in the future. Even though those who are making multiple applications are middle class income-wise, they seem surprised if they are refused, and deciding to do quick fire applications. As the credit agencies have said, it is the number of searches over a period of time which rings the alarm bells, not necessarily the fact they were rejected, so be careful.

Royal Bank of Scotland have reported pre-tax losses of £691million during the first half of 2008. This has been seen as the second biggest loss in UK banking history.

They say they were hit by £5.9bn write-downs after the credit crunch cut the value of many of its mortgages and assets.

The company's shares adeed 2.7% to 239.25pence in London

The price of oil has dropped to $118 a barrel amid signs of rising supplies and slowing demand.

The British based investment firm, Alliance Trust believe that the price of a barrel of oil will fall to the $100 mark by the end of the month.

Millions of UK households are paying energy tariffs that the energy minister believe are unjust.

Pre-payment tariffs can be up to 70% higher than the lowest rates available said National Energy Action. Ofgem are now investigating.

Soaring oil prices could push energy costs up further, by more than 60%, within the next few years, which has led to concerns that some consumers having pre-payment meters installed because they can't afford their energy bills.

The charity, National Energy Action, believe the number of people struggling to pay their bills will rise in the next year.

The National Housing Federation, which represents 1300 housing associations, estimated the difference between the best regular tariffs and the worst prepay tariffs to be £330 a year.

If you go to their website, and look for the 20% off banner, click on it, and fill in your details, you will have a voucher emailed to you which can be printed off and spent in store.

Just in time for the summer holidays!

Up to £1.5bn in tax credut payments was lost to fraud, accidental overclaims and other errors in 2006/07 says the National Audit Office.

This accounted for 7.2% and 8.4% of all money given out in credits.

The figure for 2006/07 was between £1.28bn and £1.5bn, down from between £1.3bn and £1.64bn in 2005/06.

Earlier this year, it was found that rightful tax claimants had been overpaid £1bn in 2006/07/

If you are planning to fly with Ryanair and are opting to pay via cradit or debit card, be aware that they have increased their charges.

To pay via debit card now costs you £4 (It used to be £1.20)

To pay via credit card will also cost you this much, up from £3.20

It is still free to pay with a Visa Electron though...

Play.com are doing a pretty good offer at the minute for Wii lovers - They have a range of games on offer from just £9.99, including:

• Prince of Persia: Rival Swords
• Cranium: Kabookii
• Sonic and the Secret Rings
• CSI: Hard Evidence
• The Golden Compass
• Super Smash Borothers: Brawl

The Pass Plus scheme, designed by the Driving Standards Agency, costs approximately £180 to do, lasting 6 hours, with 6 modules being covered:

• Town driving
• All weather driving
• Driving out of town
• Night driving
• Driving on dual carriageways
• Driving on motorways

There's no examination - you get a certificate of completion when the instructor is happy with your progress.

But is it worth doing? 15 insurance companies offer discounts for people who have the certificate, between a 5 and a 35% reduction. But this doesn't necessarily mean a cheaper premium. If you don't have the certificate, you can still get a better deal on insurance as long as you shop around for the best deals. Don't just accept the first one you find and expect them all to be priced similarly. Policies can fluctuate by massive amounts. For example, as a 24 year old driver with 6 years no claims, my insurance policy cost about £250 last time i renewed it, and that was for fully comprehensive, with monthly payments (not bad eh?). But, some companies were asking over £700 for one. This just highlights the importance of looking around.

Extra bonuses which can help lower your premium include using your car for social purposes, rather than using it to drive to work (reduces the risk of public car parks), choosing an older less powerful car (instead of a Max Power'ed one!), taking out third party insurance instead of fully comprehensive, and having off road parking at night. These all lower your quote, so get shopping.

It has become such a major issue that it has been entered into the latest edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary (OED), where "crunch" carried a definition of "a severe shortage of money or credit".

The dictionary has been in print since 1911 and now contains 240,000 words, phrases and definitions.

The squeeze on mortgages has led to the entry of "credit crunch" along with "sub-prime" in the context of the US home loan to those with a poor credit history.

The confidence of British businesses has fallen to its lowest level since June, 1992, according to BDO Stoy Hayward.

Its Business Trends Report showed confidence about the next three months had fallen to 97.7 in June, from 98.3 in May - the lowest figure since Black Wednesday, when the pound was removed from the Exchange Rate Mechanism.

The report comes at the same time as we are seeing low consumer confidence due to falling house prices, the credit crunch and the slowing economy.

There's a battle going on this weekend between all the major supermarkets, who are all introducing their own special offers in competition with eachother. It's set to be of limited time, some offers ending on Tuesday. This war couldn't come at a better time for families who have to do their weekly shop, especially with the current boom in food prices.

Asda have on offer a range of 50p staple foods, including bread, butter and eggs.

Tesco has cut more than 40 goods and its promotions point out how much cheaper they are than Asda.

Sainsbury's have cut the prices of many summer groceries, including strawberries and ice cream, as part of a promotion which ends on Tuesday.

They all seem to be following a boom in sales at discount stores such as Aldi and Lidl.

The June Index showed that annual food proce inflation is running at 19.8%, adding £1000 to a typical annual food bill for an average family.

But are these food price slashes an indication of the ingredients used and the suppliers being squeezed?

Every time you use a cash machine at Tesco, the company will donate money to charity. The initiative is fee amd has been established to raise £33,000 for Marie Curie Cancer Care, which is currently celebrating its 60th birthday.

The promotion is hoping to fund 1,500 extra hours of nursing care at home, for peole with terminal illnesses throughout the UK.

Every time people use cash machines to withdraw from their current or savings accounts, as well as topping up their mobile phone through the machine, money will be donated Marie Curie, to help those people who are suffering from cancer and choose to die at home.

Facebook has triumphed, as have the other varying social networking sites, but, apparently, the online banking facilities are much more heavily used. Since the onslaught of the credit crunch, more and more Brits are checking their finances online.

According to a recent survey by Cahoot, UK residents spend 3 billion hours a year checking their finances using online banking. Thats 300million more hours than people using Facebook. This equates to every adult in the UK spending 1.5hours per week using the banking facilities.

Around 70% of people who bank online have also said that they use the service more now than they did a year ago.

Rogue traders are still selling dodgy items, and when it comes to a car, you want one that doesn't cause you an accident. But these death trap vehicles are still being sold to young drivers, leaving them at risk.

Five out if eight second hand cars bought during an undercover operation in Hertfordshire, were deemed unsafe to drive. Trading standards officers are encouraging young drivers to get an independent engineer to check out the low-price cars or insist on a full MOT before they go ahead and buy.

Nearly 42,000 people complained about their second hand car last year - thats the biggest single source of complaints from consumers which were received by trading standards officers.

Among the faults were cut brake fluid sensor wires, leaking rear suspension dampers and under-inflated tyres.

Just shows the importance of buying a motor from a reliable dealer.

Telephone calls from prison have been complained about, since they cost seven times more than normal payphone rates.

The group says that half the calls made from jail last less than three minutes due to these high costs and has made a super-complaint to OfCom. The NCC say that the cost of the calls seems to be completely unrelated to the cost of provision, where calls to landlines cost a minimum charge of 10p for the first 55seconds and then a charge of 1p per 5.5 seconds after that. This is the equivalent of 11p per minute, and does not vary on the time of day or destination of the call.

Other research has found that nearly half of prisoners lose contact witht their families during their sentence, and are six times less likely to offend if they have their supportive family network. This would obviously be more difficult to maintain if the cost of phone calls is so high that the prisoners can't pay for the call.

The phone services are provided by BT in England and Wales, and Siemens in Scotland. A BT spokesperson said that the prices are in accordance with the Prison Service.

OfCom has 90 days to respond to the complaint, which makes up part of a very few number of lodged super-complaints, which also include bank charges, PPI and doorstep lending.

As we all know, petrol in the UK is extortionate, and is still set to increase. However, if we were to drive over to mainland Europe for our holidays, we could be paying much much less. A recent survey, the Motoring on the Continent Report, said that the cheapest fuel is in Spain and Switzerland. Switzerland was the only one of 12 different European countries, where unleaded petrol was still less than £1 a litre, announced by Post Office Travel Services.

Driving in Spain was the best deal for diesel and for hire cars. The UK was the sixth best value for money, but it did show the largest underlying price increase for the year to June for unleaded petrol.

The report showed that the cost of unleaded had risen massively int he past 12 months, in the 12 countries analysed. So, what are the prices?

For unleaded (£ per litre):                                   

1. Switzerland - £0.92                                   
   
2. Spain - £1.00
3. Austria - £1.02
4. Sweden - £1.11
5. Italy - £1.15
6. UK - £1.16
7. Germany - £1.19
8. France - £1.24
9. Denmark - £1.28
10. Netherlands - £1.29
11. Belgium - £1.30
12. Norway - £1.40

For diesel (£ per litre):

1. Spain - £0.94
2. Austria - £1.01
3. Switzerland - £1.02
4. Germany - £1.12
5. Italy - £1.15
6. Netherlands - £1.15
7. Belgium - £1.18
8. France - £1.22
9. Sweden - £1.27
10. UK - £1.29
11. Denmark - £1.32
12. Norway - £1.45

It was also found that hiring a car for three days was cheapest in Spain and Portugal, and most expensive in Greece and Norway.

Despite the age certification of some violent games being over-18, youths are still able to buy them online, particularly through online auction sites.

Almost 90% of retailers tested by the Trading Standards Institute sold under 18 year olds games, which are specifically designed with an 18 certification. These games included Manhunt 2 and Grand Theft Auto 4. This is in breach of the official classifications and traders can face a hefty fine, or 6 months in jail if they are caught. Online traders have to comply with the same rules.

The association also added that parents and guardians also had an important role to play, by ensuring their children are not playing these games, which are deemed unsuitable.

Six local authorities enlisted volunteers between the ages of 12 and 16 to attempt to buy 18-rated games online, paying with them by postal orders. Out of 44 transactions, 38 of the volunteers walked away with the game. The games also included Godfather and Hitman, and all carry a BBFC rating of 18 due to the violent content.

Game ratings are under increased scrutiny after Manhunt 2 was certified an 18 in the UK earlier this year, despite a nine month battle with the makers, Rockstar, to ban the release of the game.

The strike over the weekend has left a number of Shell stations dry. As the drivers took part in the 3rd day of the strike, just over 7% of stations had no unleaded or diesel, compared with 1% on Saturday.

Demand for fuel was up by a third compared with the week before. On Sunday, 647 petrol stations out of 8700 in the UK were dry, compared with 112 on Saturday.

The tanker drivers have confirmed that they are to hold a second four-day strike next weekend, in rows over pay.

There is also a tight supply of fuel from other providers, particularly in the South West and North West of England, and central Scotland.

• Texaco said it was coping - between 30 and 40 of their stations had run out of some kind of fuel
• Esso said some of their fuel grades had ran out. They have also asked people to only buy what they need.
  
• BP said they had no major reports of stations being dry, but demand was still high

Due to the high fuel costs, global airlines are increasing fees and fares, and cutting jobs, to try and manage their costs.

Australian airline, Virgin Blue is to raise ticket prices by an average of £2.40 and plans to cut costs by $50m AUD this year.

United Airlines and US Airways are incurring a $15 fee for the first checked in bag. United Airlines have also said they will cut around 1000 jobs in addition to 500 previously announced.

Finnair are planning to cut 500 jobs and some US airlines are adding a surcharge of $20 per roundtrip to account for fuel.

Northumbrian Water have said that they will be finding it difficult to keep water rates in line with inflation.

Rising energy costs, spending on a reservoir (Abberton Reservoir, £140million project) and the investment in preventing sewers flooding are said to be accountable for the cost of bills.

The comments came as Northumbrian Water reported profits of £170.3m, up 15.2% from last year. They supply water and sewage services to 2.6million people in the North East, and 1.7million in the south though trading with Essex & Suffolk Water.

This has also followed the firm being fined £15,000 for not providing full sets of water samples for analysis by the Environment Agency in 17 out of 56 visits between January 2005 and February 2006.

It seems that Abbey have a wide range of fantastic deals available, especially considering the current market. But is this worth the renowned bad customer service? It has been said on a number of occasions that the customer service Abbey offers is far from great, but with the fantastic deals, hopefully they will also improve there competency.

Mortgages

As the credit crunch continues and banks close their doors, Abbey has stayed open. Why? Because of the funding available to its Spanish parent, Santander.

Abbey's current best fixed rate is 5.84% until September 2011. For this, you need to provide a 20% deposit, and a booking fee of £999. Higher rates are still available for those with a 10% deposit.

However, they did increase the rate on their fixed rate deals to 0.56%. But, they weren't the only ones.

Credit Cards

The Zero card offers 0% on both balance transfers and purchases for 6 months, with no fee. It also benefits from no foreign exchange transaction fees or cash advance fees. It is only short term though. It is good for travel though.

Current Accounts

They give a choice of either 8% credit interest on balances up to £2500 for the first 12 months, or 0% interest on an agreed overdraft for 12 months. After the 12 months, the in-credit interest rate drops to 2.5% (with £1,000 monthly credit needed). It is still 25 times the rate paid by other leading competitors.

Savings Accounts

Their Instant Access Saver gives 6.5% on savings and after opening the account, you can use any branch you want to deposit or withdraw your money. This can be a lifesaver when internet transfers can take up to 3 days. It does come with an introductory bonus of 1% payable for the first 12 months, and you need at least £1000 to benefit from the best rate.

Loans

Their loan has a typical APR of 7.9%, which applies to all amounts between £1000 and £25000. So whether  you decide to use Abbey for your next loan, or search online to compare the best deals on unsecured or secured loans, Abbey a worth a thought. Especially in the current crunch.

It has been warned that airline prices are to be on the increase, as well as extra charges for luggage etc. being imposed and it's all down to soaring oil prices. It's expected that extra prices will be seen on major airlines, much like the system Ryanair currently operate, whereby airline users will be paying extra for food, baggage etc.  The warnings have come after British Airways added £60 to long distance return flights. Other major airlines such as Virgin Atalntic have also upped their prices.

It has been confirmed by the Land Registry. It said prices fell by 0.2% in April, taking the average price to £183,626. This meant that the annual rate ofh ouse inflation fell again, from 3.6% to 2.7%. The Land Registry also said that the latest movement continues to point towards a weakening housing market, but suggests the decline in prices has not been as fast as some other surveys have suggested.

There are big differences between regions according to the Land Registry. Prices have fallen in the last year in the East Midlands, Wales and the West Midlands. In London, they are still 7% higher than they were this time last year.

The mortgage crisis, which has happened due to the credit crunch, has seen a 30% drop in property sales. In the first quarter of 2008, there were on average, 72,479 sales a month, in comparison to 103,141 the quarter previous. A similar trend has been seen for the applications to build new homes. Applications between Feb and April were 27% lower than in the same period a year ago.

Is it any good? Carphone Warehouse are offering free laptops to new customers who take up their mobile package. At £35 a month for an 18 month contract, is it any good?

The deal offers:

• Free 2.8Mbps dongle from 3, but only a 3Gb data allowance and is highly restrictive to medium or heavy internet users
• Acer Aspire 5315 Laptop
• 80Gb Hard Drive
• DVD Writer
• Wireless Enabled
• Intel Celeron Processor
• Windows Vista Home Edition
  

You also have to spend £14.99 on delivery of the laptop. The monthly tariff is over double that of Vodafone's 3Gb deal, at £15 per month. This offer also includes a dongle, with speeds of up to 7.2Mbps.

If people did a bit of consumer research, they could find a laptop with a higher spec for the same amount of money that they would spend on this offer, over the term of the contract.

Even though these offers sound awesome, it may be worth shopping around.

A Best Before date must be given, by law, for non-perishable food. Food that is used before this date will be at it's best quality, although its legal to sell food past this date, as long as its not eggs. In contrast, a Use By date is applied to perishable food, such as dairy, meat and fish, and is the date up to which food remains safe for consumption. You can't sell food past this date.

But does eating gone-off food harm you? Obviously, it will impose a higher risk, but surely, as long as you aren't stupid and eat something that smells considerably off, or leave things for a year, a couple of days wouldn't matter? Aside from the legal perspective, my thought would be that if things are cooked thoroughly, the risk would be minimal. I eat things that are a couple of days past their sell by quite often, and I'm still alive. Even when it comes to eggs, which are renowned for being a bit dodgy (due to the salmonella hazard), can be eaten after their best before date. Just pop them into a jug of cold water - if they sink, they are still ok. You can watch eggs sink 2 weeks after their "best before" date, meaning they are perfectly fine - just not "as good" as they could have been.

It just makes me think, after reading an article about just how much money we, as consumers, waste on food which we throw away, even though it's perfectly edible. According to WRAP, the Waste and Resources Action Programme, we throw away 6.7m tons of food every year - most of it is fine. This year, it's estimated that we will throw away £10billion worth of food which we believe isn't suitable to eat.

Thats £420 a household.

A report has said that bank account details are on sale online for as little as £5 in "cyber-crime supermarkets". Criminals are also believed to be targeting social networking sites, according to a report into online crime. Its also believed that EU identities can sell for more than US ones, as they can be used across the EU. The target of social networking sites is predicted, because the users are believed to be less careful than those using online banking.

According to the Internet Security Threat Report, UK bank details were most advertised on black market forums. The most frequently targeted were the high profile businesses, but he report also found an increase in personal attacks.

In the final half of 2007, the firm saw 50 credit card numbers for sale at "20 and 500 credit card numbers for £100. Full identities were the 3rd most common atem for sale - making up 9% of all advertised goods, compared with 6% in 2007.

It was concluded that identity trading was on the up, and even stolen EBay accounts were now being put up for sale.