Pennies for thought

Car insurance can often be one of the biggest lump sum expenditures you will encounter throughout the year. You can pay car insurance monthly and this will inevitably cost more in the long run so if you can afford the full year you make a small saving there.

The trouble with insurance policies though is that there are too many to choose from! The main thing to take in consideration when buying is that you only purchase from reputable companies. If you save a few hundred pounds on a policy and then they won’t pay out for whatever reason then it is a dead loss.

Buying online will generally save you money but if you do not understand the policy make sure to phone them and inquire before purchasing. Other companies that operate fully online can keep costs down and pass on the savings to you but again be sure they are reputable.

Comparison websites are not always the cheapest option either when a lot of the bigger companies with better deals opt out from using comparison websites.

There are a few little tips that will help you keep your premium down
- Don’t over value the cost of your car
- Don’t go for the lowest excess you can
- Don’t opt in for extras you can get cheaper else ware
- Buy the policy online if possible

Over valuing the cost of your car is just adding cost to your premium and will not gain a penny from this unless the car is written off

The best way to view picking an excess is as an amount you can stretch to affording in one working month. If you can afford £200 don’t choose any lower because this will raise your premium and having the realisation of having to pay expenses out of your own pocket will have you driving safely in no time.

Always review the optional extras when buying an insurance policy and make sure you are not paying for things you don’t need. Windscreen cover is always a worthwhile extra if repairs are free but breakdown cover can quite often be picked up cheaper else ware.

The majority of the time when you get into a bump you will pay outside of insurance anyway due to the rise in premiums you will incur. Little things like calling the insurer for general questions are even logged and put against your policy with bigger companies.

Ok this post will not save you money but it my save a lot of your time, so I guess if you believe time is money then your in for a saving!

A lot of big Internet companies (Play and Amazon to name a couple) offer very low prices and free delivery making them a lot more appealing than buying on the highstreet. Internet shopping is a great way to save a few pounds and I swear by it but there is something you should take in to consideration before buying.

Most companies will have a few different payment options available for each product that vary in price and delivery timescale. The more you pay the better service you will recieve and thats a given but make sure you find out who will be delivering under the ‘free’ option. In most cases the company will be using the lowest and most cost effective delivery service (which just so happens to be the worst!) the Home Delivery Network.

My personal experiences with this company have been regrettable to say the least. Here are the flaws they make in just attempting to deliver two products.

1. Give my post to a random neighbour (I don’t even know them!)
2. Leave expensive parcel on my unsecured doorstep for anyone to take during the day.
3. Package mysteriously goes missing (presumably stolen by HDNL or off my doorstep!)
4. Package left on the doorstep is of course is broken!
5. Waited in all weekend for delivery attempts that never happened and they claimed a note was left.

Just don’t bother with the hassle and pay the extra couple of pounds and save yourself the huge headache of phoning up companies. HDNL surprisingly enough will just keep leading you on saying it is coming and have no complaint department! The retailer will sort out the missing or broken product but even then it has to be redelivered by the same incompetent people.

You don’t have to take my word for it, a simple Google search will get you 1 star ratings and stories about post left in bins, parcels given to strangers and so on. So I urge you to just avoid this comapany like the plague as the couple of quid saved will only end up being spent on Polyfilla for the damage you made to your walls in sheer frustration.

It is good for the online retailers to give us these low prices and free delivery but we as consumers deserve a certain level of professionalism and customer service that we are simply not getting here.

If you are looking to keep data from an old machine, for some extra storage or backing files then this is an option worth thinking about.

Buying pre-built external hard drives can be expensive and building your own will offer you more space and customisation for your money. You need to work out your requirements and this can be done in a few simple steps.

1. SATA vs IDE hard drive
The purpose of this blog is not to get too technical so all I will say is that SATA drives will generally be quicker and easier to connect up. Size of drive is down to personal preference but you have never really have too much space.

2. Connection type – USB (1.0 or 2.0) Firewire (400 or 800)
You ca n choose from Firewire or USB, Firewire comes as 400 or 800 but both are  quicker than USB 2.0 which makes them a good option if you have a port available. Another benefit of Firewire is being able to daisy chain drives saving you ports on your machine. I would recommend a drive that supports Firewire or both for large data transfer but otherwise USB will do the job fine.

3. Enclosure specs
Once you have selected the first two options it narrows down your choices and design is obviously down to personal preference. Make sure sure obviously that your enclosure supports the type of hard drive you have bought. You can buy ultra quiet fan enclosures but these will cost a little extra.

This should not only save you a bit of money but also make sure that you have an external hard drive tailored to your exact requirements.

Most of us will generally work out reliability of a product by price scales or staying safe with household brand names. With the rising incentive of unbiased online product reviews we can also get a general overview of the product quality but not the reliability.

A good tip to find out the reliability of a product is to go instore and ask about certain products at the counter. Each product has a log of how many have been sold and how many have been returned.

It is always worth checking out reliability of a product as the false economy of unreliable products is not a worthwhile saving. When you spend out the extra you also get the additional quality of the product over the time.

Road tax is one of those expenses that well all begrudge because you generally don’t see anything for your money besides poorly timed and badly managed roadworks.

Paying for your tax all in one lump sum will save you a few pounds over paying in 6 month periods but this is not the only reason you should pay yearly. One half of your 6 months will also incur the tax inflation of that year and with the new ‘green’ outlook – this looks set to continue.

Last year my tax was set at 104.50 for 6 months or £190 for the year. So paying in two installments makes it £209 a year (£19 extra) which seems about fair given the extra 6 months to pay the extra.

But factor in the change in rates from the existing ones to the new £112.75 for 6 months and £205 for the year and you are looking at 217.25 for the year (27.25 extra) with the extra inflation added to the final 6 months.

This may not seem like a lot of money but in reality it will almost cover the cost of a basic MOT. If it is a case of you needing the extra 6 months to save up the money thenit is unavoidable but otherwise you are just wasting money by not paying yearly. If you swap car in the time you can transfer it over and if you want to cancel it you can at any time.

Email scams are everywhere but we can generally use the theory of ‘if it sounds to go to be true then it is’ unfortunately this is not always the case. You may notice at some point that a friend will email you with a link to some kind of electronics site. Most people will spot that the email is written strangely and just email the person about it but not everyone will pick up on it.

MSN have become especially susceptible to spam emails and mining mailshots. In short, your passwords are being cracked by scripts that enter your accounts and filter out all your contact email addresses. Then all the contacts are emailed an email similar to this one below -

‘hey,
how are you ?
Just received  my iphone 3gs 32gb from this website.  www.faonyt.com much cheaper than others and genuine . if you would like to get one,you can check it out.
all the best for 2010
Regards’

If you ever come across an email like this then make sure inform the sender as they will need to change their password details on there email account. There are plenty of great deals online but always verify the sources before jumping in and getting your card out.

When you are out taking pictures you do not want to be restricted by rain. This is just a cheap solution to keeping your camera dry and working.

This is really aimed at cameras without a fixed lens as a camera of that type should ideally be watertight already. All cameras have a degree of water resistance but it is always better to be safe than sorry. Water damage will almost never be covered under the warantee of a general purpose camera.

If you just get a pack of ziplock freezer bags (size depends on camera type, flash etc). Cut the bottom of the bag open, put the camera inside and secure the end of the lens gently with the ziplock. This gives you a decent budget water shield for only a couple of pounds and a few seconds of your time.

Always be careful with the lens on your camera as it is a delicate piece of the camera.

A lot of people are unsure whether this is actually fact or myth and it is kind of both. Things tend to get too generalised and this often leds to misconceptions that people will overlook and just assume it worked.

Most common household batteries are NiMH (nickel-metal hydride), NiCd (nickel-cadmium) and alkaline. The facts are that unless alkaline batteries are being held at a very high storage temperature to begin with then chilling them will make very little difference.

NiMH and NiCd batteries on the otherhand will discharge alot quicker. This is often apparant in recharable batteries that have gone on charge but not been used straight away. Freezing the batteries will retain a substancially larger amount of the overall battery life.

Always make sure to store batteries safely and to only use batteries in electronics at room temperature.

There is nothing more frustrating that the few seconds after being caught by a speed camera. It is over, you are caught and there is no point slowing too late or thinking of an elaborate way to get out of it.

The fine alone is not the problem, its the points and rise in insurance that comes along with it that is the real issue.

People are caught everyday speeding past gatso and mobile cameras. There is no elaborate undercover money-making scheme going here it is common sense. All speed cameras (including mobile cameras are documented online for each county). Most gatso cameras are easy to spot and with mobile cameras covered why are we still getting caught?

I do not encourage speeding but I do insist that people take the time to read what is right in front of them. Take 5 minutes before your next trip out of town or a new area and check the camera spots.

Many people rely on GPS systems to keep them from getting fines. But the reality is the software needs to be totally up to date each journey and the information completely accurate. 99% of the time this will not be the case so you need to take the initiative and do it yourself.

Due to the high numbers of us being caught softer penalties are being introduced. You can in some cases take a driving awareness course now to stop from getting the points and just pay the fine. This is good when it comes to insurance renewal.  

People have been hiding reg plates, claiming cars are stolen and even burning cameras. We can prevent things from escalating to this so easily yet we don’t seem to bother.

When you look at how cheap a pizza actually is to make yourself or buy in a supermarket you should realise that takeaway pizza is a waste of money.

Not everyone would agree with this but I find decent a frozen or chilled pizza just as good as a takeaway one. Takeaway pizza is often soggy and greasy from sitting in a steamy pizza box. Although ordering pizza is incredibly easy to order by phone and Internet, it is even easier to just chuck a few decent pizzas in the freezer.

The best supermarket pizzas are around £4 or £5 which seems like a lot while your shopping but that is half the price of a takeaway pizza!

I have no grudge against Italian food although I feel it is the kind of food you would be making at home if you had no money. It is good tasting, cheap and simple food to make so why go out and spent the extra money on eating it?