In January this year, I moved for the fourth time in two years. Not through choice – I was happy where I was – but because my lovely landlord needed his flat back, and my other two flatmates were buying their first flats. Given how much I hate moving house, I decided to live in…
Health & Beauty
Smiles cheaper – the secret to white teeth…on a budget
I’ve always been an avid drinker of tea. Green tea, red tea, camomile – you can’t beat a soothing cup of something hot. It’s one of life’s few simple pleasures. When I got my braces at the age of seventeen, I was cautioned against this habit; while the benefits of drinking green tea are plenty,…
Our NHS is a modern miracle – and we shouldn’t need “Call the Midwife” to remind us
Recently I’ve discovered a new show that I can binge on. It’s not really new, but it’s new to me – Call the Midwife, based on books of the same name by Jennifer Worth, a midwife who began her career in the 1950s. Reflecting true events that happened in the period, this drama opens up a…
Emma Leaven and the false economy of flu
This cartoon is part of a series of graphic strips by Steve Bee, author of the Pension Guru cartoons. Join Emma and her family as they muddle through life puzzling over any-and-all things personal finance.
Are you running indoors? You’re wasting money! (And other savings tips).
Mid-January is the time of slowly diminishing New Year’s Resolutions. It’s a scientific fact that changing behaviours in any significant way goes against human nature. However, even the smallest of changes can make a big impact, on both your health and your wallet. Here’s some suggestions. Breakfast Let me just start by stating the obvious,…
Emma Leaven and the weighty puzzle
This cartoon is part of a series of graphic strips by Steve Bee, author of the Pension Guru cartoons. Join Emma and her family as they muddle through life puzzling over any-and-all things personal finance.
Long read: What’s the true cost of a hearing loss?
Is there a way to accurately count the true cost of a disability? I’ve often wondered whether ‘I coulda been a contender,’ had I not been born half deaf. It is a phrase I’ve always joked about when I think about how my hearing loss might have affected my career and future earnings. Did being…
Would you have your hair cut by a trainee?
In my twenties, when I couldn’t stretch to exorbitant salon prices, I was usually very happy with free, or almost free, hair cuts done by trainee hairdressers. I say ‘usually’ because there was just the one time when I emerged from the chair distraught after a scissor-happy frenzy had ensued and I was convinced my…
Get fit: get paid
You know the cliché: new year, new you. Early January sees the gyms filling up, the streets full of pavement pounders, and empty fruit and veg aisles, as we look to shed some of the excesses of the holiday season. But, with nearly a third of us abandoning our New Year’s resolution by the second…
Should we still be paying for the contraceptive pill?
The contraceptive pill arrived in the UK in 1957. It was initially introduced to ease ‘female disorders’, and was made accessible to all women in 1960. The pill has so far done wonders for women; allowing them choice, liberation, and control. Today, 55.5% of women use the contraceptive pill, not only to prevent pregnancy, but also to…