With Christmas just around the corner, the season to be jolly is upon us. Whether you’re a festive fiend or little bit of a scrooge, there is no getting away from it… Christmas costs money. If you’re anything like me, you make your Christmas budget, and then promptly blow it. ‘It’s Christmas’, we say, ‘let’s…
Tag: £50
Who is social housing for?
For many people nowadays, the mention of social housing, or ‘council houses’ as they’re more commonly known, conjures up images of people living in destitute. The common stereotypes are of the single teenage mum, or of Channel 4’s infamous series ‘Benefits Street’….of housing to be avoided unless one is in absolute dire need. However, the…
Mortgage madness: confessions of a millennial on the property ladder
Good post-Brexit day to you today. How is Armageddon going for you? Don’t worry; I’m not going to harp on at you about the [forthcoming/recent] generation-defining episode which [might consign/ has consigned] us into the political equivalent of a Mad Maxian desert wilderness. I am far too much of a yammering man-child with insufficient real world experience…
What age of car offers best value for money?
Writing this blog is definitely doing my finances a favour. As I sat by the window, pondering the conditions that govern the finances of the average punter, my eye came to rest on my battered old Xsara Picasso, lurking out the back. It’s definitely been the most resilient car I’ve owned (touch wood), but there’s…
My precious: one groom’s search for a ring that didn’t cost the (middle) earth
With less than a month to go, any fears that my wedding would find me trussed up and humiliated in outfits and ceremonies I didn’t understand have proved unfounded. Instead, I’ve found myself on a short voyage of self discovery, the main discovery being that dressing up and adorning myself like a peacock isn’t all…
Beating back the buy-to-lets: why our search for a first home is impossible!
So I started ‘looking to buy’ recently. After the initial terrified response from my boyfriend, he came around to the idea that we really would be better off buying a property rather than spending extortionate amounts of money we will never see again on rent. The beginning has been slow. We’ve seen six properties so…
Something old: I saved hundreds on my wedding suit by going vintage
Followers of my wedding shenanigans may remember my previous post about wedding tackle – I smugly outlined the reasons why I was more clever than everyone else for choosing to outfit myself and my best men in waistcoats, shirt and pants – thereby avoiding the overpriced monkey suit that seems designed to acclimatise the groom to…
What happened when our landlord took all of our money – Part Three
[Editor’s note: this is the third in a gripping three-part series. Click here for part one and here for part two] The landlord won his appeal because of ‘extenuating circumstances’. We were going back to court… Nearly a year after the letter of doom from the landlord, we were going back to court. This time we…
What happened when our landlord took all our money – Part Two
[Editor’s note: this is the second in a gripping three-part series. Click here for Part One) “I will be keeping your deposit of £2,500 to cover the damage you caused from your party. Following a previous inspection of the property I will be charging a further £3,000 to cover the damage you have caused during…
What happened when our landlord took all our money – Part One
With soaring property prices and hefty deposits, many are stuck renting year after year. When you get a good property with a decent rent and a nice landlord, it makes it a little less difficult to transfer half your salary across to them each month. You’re paying for somewhere lovely to live after all. But…