UK Personal Finance Blog - UKMoneyPotUK Personal Finance Blog - UKMoneyPotA UK personal finance blog and account of a personal finance website owner.
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The Eye of the Mortgage Storm or the Aftermath?
2008-06-04 16:25:00 Imagine deciding to pursue a career in the mortgage industry…. A few months of studying, revision and exams followed by several weeks of ‘feet-finding’ and ‘on the job’ learning. Only to end up in an industry bearing the brunt of the now infamous ‘credit crunch’. Why do these thing always happen to me! OK, I know, there are lots ... More About: Storm , Mortgage , Mortgages
Getting Quotes Online - Without getting a phone call!
2008-03-13 18:20:00 It’s nearly impossible at the moment to get a quote for things like mortgages, loans and insurance without being telephoned almost the second you hit the ‘Get Quote’ button. Far too many sites that offer online quotes lead you to believe you WILL get a quote online when in fact they are just gathering your details to give you ... More About: Phone , Insurance , Quotes , Online , Call
What?s Left on My Mortgage after the Fixed Rate Offer Ends?
2008-02-15 20:12:00 Here’s an interesting tool I found while trying to find out which mortgage product reduced the overall debt by the most over a certain period. Mortgage Balance Calculator This calculator produces amortization tables for the mortgage which show the remaining balance at the end of each year. The rate you input is used for the entire term but if ... More About: Left , Mortgages , Ends , Rate
Man Keeps House after Lender ?Delays? Repossession
2008-02-14 21:22:00 Squatters rights in the UK allow someone to apply for possessory title after 10 years and provided the registered owner does not object in the following 2 years the squatter effectively becomes the owner. But what happens if a mortgage lender ‘delays’ repossession proceedings for 15 years? Well, a High Court ruling has recently allowed Mr Djabar Babai of ... More About: House , Mortgages , Delays
Snowman and The Bandit Ride Again
2008-02-12 13:52:00 Would you attempt to drive 1500 miles across Europe in 4 days in a car worth under £500? If it was for charity, of course you would! Wouldn’t you? Well that’s exactly what a couple of my friends are doing from April 3rd to 7th in a Nissan 100NX dressed up to look (a bit like) the car ... More About: General , Ride , Snowman
Unlawful Bank Charges - What?s the Alternative?
2008-01-14 22:13:00 It’s all over the news and I heard Martin Lewis (MoneySavingExpert.com) getting quite emotional on the radio today about unlawful bank charges. Of course we’d all love to have totally fee free banking and yes it’s true banks don’t only make money by charging fees. Here’s an informative thread on the consumeractiongroup.co.uk forum http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/foru m/campaign/47583-how-banks-make-their.htm l. The recent events ... More About: Alternative , Banking , Bank , The Alternative , Alterna
Unlawful Bank Charges - What?s the Alternative?
2008-01-14 22:13:00 It’s all over the news and I heard Martin Lewis (MoneySavingExpert.com) getting quite emotional on the radio today about unlawful bank charges. Of course we’d all love to have totally fee free banking and yes it’s true banks don’t only make money by charging fees. Here’s an informative thread on the consumeractiongroup.co.uk forum http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/foru m/campaign/47583-how-banks-make-their.htm l. The recent events ... More About: Alternative , Banking , Bank , The Alternative , Alterna
Chelsea Building Society Ferrari Giveaway
2007-12-19 18:52:00 Before getting to the Ferrari bit of this post, as I haven’t posted for a while, there’s a bit of catching up required. Firstly, I can now put letters after my name! CeMAP (Certificate in Mortgage Advice & Practice). Having completed the three required exams, I am now able to legally provide mortgage advice and sell mortgages ... More About: Society , Building , Chelsea , Mortgages
Loan Payment Protection Insurance
2007-11-12 13:29:00 It’s been a while since I’ve written anything but this had to be said! A lot more information is being made available regarding loan payment protection and the cost to the borrower and the benefits of shopping around for prices. I recently looked at the figures and found some staggering results. One lender quoted for a £10,000 loan ... More About: Insurance , Loan , Payment
Bhutan & Buddhist Tory Policies
2007-09-09 15:46:00 Ever heard of or looked into Bhutan ? It’s a Kingdom and you can’t visit as a free roaming tourist. It’s nestled in the eastern Himalayas bordering Tibet, it’s Buddhist and Gross National Happiness is more important than gross national profit. Think about it, if you’re happy, would you be concerned about money? http://www.kingdomofbhutan.com/ Guided holidays aren’t cheap though but I’d ... More About: General , Policies , Tory
Free Laptops a Giveaway Farce
2007-09-06 14:43:00 I received an email from a friend yesterday with details of a laptop giveaway by The Carphone Warehouse. 50 laptops worth £500 each were to be secreted about the centre of Southampton and a select number of other UK cities. Unfortunately, due to a potential security risk, police called a halt to the plans. 50 lucky passers ... More About: Laptops , General , Free , Farce
CeMAP - Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice
2007-09-05 19:07:00 Well, I passed Module 1 of 3 on Monday and begin a course to cover parts 2 & 3 on the 29th. I attended a course for module 1 at the University of Westminster run by New Leaf Training (www.newleaftraining.com) who are also running the second phase. All being well I should be qualified to advise on ... More About: Advice , Mortgage , Practice , Mortgages , Mort
Tax Refund Information Notice from HMRC
2007-08-30 16:09:00 I’ve just received a supposed notification from HMRC that I am eligible for a £225 refund. The HMRC logo is at the top, there is a picture of a stack of pound coins down the side and there is a link at the bottom of the email which I am required to click to process a ‘Tax ... More About: Information , Notice
Kuti?s Southampton, Bad Singing and a Moldy Cake.
2007-08-16 13:46:00 Went out for a meal with some friends for my brother’s birthday last night to Kuti’s in Southampton . It’s quite a nice Indian restaurant with a good reputation in quite a nice area of the city. There was champagne, poppadoms and a varied selection of exotic dishes. All in all, a pretty good evening. Then came the cake… This ... More About: Cake , Amusing , Mold , Singing
An Expensive Bargain
2007-08-06 20:34:00 I recently paid £5 for something I could have bought for £2 but the alternative could have cost as much as £25. Anyone who uses Nokia mobile phones will know that several months ago Nokia changed the size of the charger adapter plug. Not so bad because you are usually supplied a new adapter with each new ... More About: Bargain , Expenses
Staggering BT Incentives for Switching to Direct Debit
2007-08-01 13:18:00 From the 1st of July, BT introduced a discount for customers paying by direct debit or Monthly Payment Plan. This discount will run for 18 months from the 1st of July to December 2008. Exclusions include BT Mobile, BT Business Total Broadband and OneBillPlus customers. But how much is it? What’s the discount? It is, an amazing, £0.50 a ... More About: Direct , Switching , Incentives , Geri , Dire
Sir Michael Cained
2007-07-31 22:23:00 Following an evening in the company of hedonist Sir Elton John, Sir Michael Caine has compiled an album of his favourite chill-out tracks on a new album entitled ‘Cained.’ http://uk.news.launch.yahoo.com/dyna/arti cle.html?a=/31072007/397/sir-michael-chil ls-0.html&e=l_news_dm You can just picture the scene, Sir Michael and Sir Elton having just enjoyed a gourmet feast with some fine wine or perhaps champagne are sitting around ... More About: Amusing
Problems Switching Electricity Provider
2007-07-31 18:10:00 About 3 months ago I was called by British Gas and having a few minutes of free time I listened to what was said. Everything made sense and I could see a definite saving so I agreed to switch from Southern Electric to British Gas. I did what was asked of me, signed what I needed to ... More About: Electricity , Problems , Expenses , Switching , Provider
Secured Loan Arrangement Fees
2007-07-29 14:59:00 Have you been shopping around for a secured loan and been quoted what you think is an unnecessarily high fee for arranging the loan? The secured loan market has grown in recent years and as a result there are a lot of companies now providing loans or brokering loans. As with any industry with a lot of ... More About: Loans , Loan , Fees , Range , Cure
Bank of England Base Rate - Interest - ed?
2007-07-26 14:32:00 In changing times when the interest rate is rising and is said to continue doing so, it pays to know where you stand. Keeping an eye on the Bank of England base rate can give you some idea of trends and so can keeping updated on inflation and inflation reports. So where can you go to keep updated? The answer ... More About: Banking , Interest , Bank of England
Link Exchangers Beware of Sneak Attacks
2007-07-26 13:26:00 In the world of online marketing many website owners ‘exchange links’. This simply means placing a link on one website in exchange for a link from another website. Link s from other websites are thought of by search engines as ‘votes’ and can help in moving a website higher up the order of natural search engine results. It ... More About: Beware , Attacks , Chang , Tacks
Dell, You?re Having a Laugh!
2007-07-20 13:52:00 I started experiencing a few problems with my trusty laptop lately and thought I better look into a back-up or replacement. In the DELL catalogue I found an amazing deal. A Dimension C521. Not the latest or highest spec machine around but: Dual core processor 3600+ 1GB RAM 250GB Hard Drive DVD RW 13-in-1 card reader Genuine Windows Vista 1yr collect and return. And…. A ... More About: Dell , Ving , Laugh
Page 1 of the Yellow Pages Loan Section, For FREE!
2007-07-17 19:38:00 Thanks to the way my local yellow pages organises the adverts on the first page of the loans section they have space to feature the first few standard text listings and I made the No.1 spot! If you look at the loan section of any yellow pages you will see ALL of the boxed or larger ... More About: Free , Page , Loan , Yellow , Section
Paid! Finally!
2007-07-17 13:41:00 I haven’t written about this until now because I ran the risk of venting on page but I have finally received a long overdue commission cheque. Naturally the first thing I did was jump on my bike and cycle to the bank! (It’s just up the road..) The cheque comes from one of the price comparison sites ... More About: Paid , Finally , Fina , Ally
Homer J. Simpson, a Symbol of Pagan Fertility?
2007-07-17 13:04:00 This is genius… http://uk.news.yahoo.com/itn/20070717/ten -homer-homage-ruffles-pagans-ea4616c.html More About: Simpson , Amusing , Pagan , Homer
Eat Well, Eat Cheap.
2007-07-16 16:12:00 Looking around at various other personal finance blogs I’ve seen many entries about food which is, although sometimes taken for granted, something that we all spend a lot of money on during our lives. Food is also not only fundamental for survival but it is also responsible for the way we feel. A good healthy balanced diet is ... More About: Expenses , Cheap , Well
New Barclaycard Breathe Card with Green Incentives
2007-07-10 21:18:00 But is it a good idea? On the surface the new Barclaycard ‘Breathe’ card looks fantastic for anyone that is environmentally concerned. 50% of profits donated to worldwide projects that help tackle climate change Discounts and low interest rates on selected greener spend such as money off insulation and discounts on bicycles at Halfords. The profits are already being used to ... More About: Credit Cards , Card , Green , Clay , Incentives
I Knew It!
2007-07-10 20:38:00 The headline: Burping cows ‘harming environment’ The first line: Cows could be doing more damage to the environment than four-wheel-drive cars, scientists have warned. The full story: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/itn/20070710/tuk -burping-cows-harming-environment-dba1618 .html And also, BBC News: Experts claim cows are responsible for about 3% of Britain’s greenhouse gases! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/6288 012.stm Come on guys! Keep up, I blogged that over a month ago! :) http://www.ukmoneypot.co.uk/4×4s-and -carnivores.htm More About: Blogging
Cancellation Fees - The Conclusion
2007-07-09 19:10:00 No cancellation fee to pay and nothing to pay for the 48hrs car insurance cover I theoretically had. Today I tried calling NU again. This time to determine what was meant by ‘the date of purchase of the contract’ because according to their terms: ?You have a statutory right under Financial Services Authority rules to cancel your ... More About: Insurance , Fees , Ella , Ancel , The Con
Update on Car Insurance Cancellation Fees.
More articles from this author:2007-07-08 13:07:00 This is a continuation of a previous post regarding 14 day cooling off periods and cancellation fees. http://www.ukmoneypot.co.uk/car-insurance -cancellation-fees-how-they-can-get-you.h tm Following the cancellation I have since received 2 letters from NU both claiming I owe different amounts! One for the amount of £24.07 which it turns out was a complete admin error and should never have been sent because the ... More About: Insurance , Car Insurance , Fees , Update , Ella 1, 2 |
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