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Save up and choose a great dining table

January 31, 2012 By John Coles

A dining table is a really important purchase for homeowners and it’s After all, eating around it is one of the best ways to spend time with your family and, of course, with friends when you invite them over for dinner.

Many people only have four people in their family but choose to buy an extending dining table to make sure there is enough space for when they have all the extended family over for Christmas or other special occasions throughout the year.

This kind of table is great for those kinds of occasions, but you should think seriously before you buy an extending table about how often you will actually want to use it.  The only problem with extending dining tables is that most of them have an obvious dividing line across the middle. You can find some models that don’t – instead the top folds open cleverly to reveal a second half underneath, so you have the illusion of a solid table top.  However, you can always tell an extending dining table is not quite as solid as a conventional one.

If given the choice between a really beautiful piece of furniture that will grace your kitchen or dining room for every day of the year over the practicality of a table that is extended for just a few days each year, most people would choose the beautiful one.  After all, you can always put an extra small table alongside your solid dining table, and cover the two with matching tablecloths for big occasions.

Harveys has a great range of dining furniture – in a number of different styles. It’s worth going to have a look in store as well as online to make sure you are really happy with your choice before you decide to buy – you’re likely to have a dining table for a good few years.

 

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Reliability makes people loyal to a car brand

January 28, 2012 By John Coles

Often people are loyal to a car brand, and there’s a good reason for this loyalty. If you’re currently assessing your finances and you plan to buy a car in the near future, if you’ve had trouble-free motoring for years, then you’re likely not to want to change brand and take more of a risk with a different manufacturer.

Honda drivers certainly seem to show this kind of loyalty to the brand. And it seems that they have good reason. Honda repeatedly wins awards and commendations for reliability – most recently demonstrated last year with the Which Car? and Warranty Direct reliability study. For the sixth time in a row, the Japanese car manufacturer led the survey results for the most reliable car, in this survey which judges cars on their failure rate during the first 12 months.

In the same survey, Honda’s CR-V and HR-V dominated the SUV category as well. In addition, the 2011 JD Power Survey also named Honda as number two for overall owner satisfaction. So, it’s clear that fondness for the Honda brand is not just anecdotal.

As well as leading the way in reliability, Honda has also been one of the pioneering manufacturers in producing greener technology for transport.

Along with Toyota, it was the first manufacturer to launch a production hybrid. And Honda’s hybrids are continuing to lead the way – with three hybrid options available in the UK. These are the Jazz, the Insight and the CR-Z.

The Jazz is a supermini and the 2012 Jazz hybrid has the same hybrid system as its bigger brothers the Insight and the sporty CR-Z. The Jazz hybrid matches its petrol equivalent for top speed but will actually accelerate to that speed more quickly. And it gets ten more miles per gallon next to the petrol version. It gets 64.2 mpg and emits only 104g/km of CO2.

The Insight has been around for more than a decade now, so more hybrids are now coming onto the second hand market, making a good environmental choice for those who can’t afford to buy new. And if you’re in the market for a sporty hybrid, the CR-Z is probably the most reasonably priced hybrid sports car that is on the market today.

 

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How to be a good landlord

January 20, 2012 By John Coles

As anyone who has invested in property to rent will know, being a landlord can be a difficult task sometimes. Messy, unreliable or noisy tenants can cause serious amounts of stress and worry, and you can be left wondering why you bother.

 

However, it is almost always the case that if you vet your tenants first and do your best to be a good landlord, you will get good tenants. A landlord who takes little interest in his tenants and properties is likely to be rewarded with tenants who don’t care much about keeping the place nice, respecting the neighbours, or paying the rent on time.

 

No tenant wants their landlord popping round unannounced every five minutes, and it is in fact a contractual obligation in most rented properties that the landlord or lady should give at least 24 hours’ notice before calling round. So respect this and respect your tenants’ privacy.

 

Don’t go too far the other way however, and take so little interest that your tenants feel they can’t contact you should they need to. Answer calls from tenants and call them back if you miss them. Fulfil your obligations and fix problems when you say you are going to fix them. There’s nothing more frustrating than having to call and pester your landlord incessantly before anything gets done.

 

Keep your tenants in the loop and if you can’t fulfil a promise, let them know.

 

Make sure the house is fit to live in. Ask yourself if you would be happy paying rent to live there and if things need replacing, replace them. If the bed is full of woodworm and you can’t afford to buy a brand new one, you can get beds on finance from stockists including Bensons. It’s an investment worth making if you want to maintain a reputation as a good landlord.

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Plan your monthly budget at home

December 20, 2011 By John Coles

It’s December, which can only mean one thing – Christmas and the new year are just around the corner.

 

And with 2012 on the horizon, it’s the perfect opportunity for you to start planning ahead and thinking about New Year’s Resolutions. I don’t know about you, but I’ve found it quick tricky to budget this year. I’ve splashed out too much, particularly in the run up to Christmas, and now I’ll be starting the new year with far less money than I was hoping to.

 

My aim is to start budgeting, every month, so that my bank balance ends the month at zero, rather than below that level!

 

It’s a great idea to have a budget in mind, especially when you go food shopping, as that’s the time when you tend to get a bit overexcited about everything on offer. When you’re walking down the aisles, it’s best to have a shopping list to hand, so you stay on track and don’t let your mind wander off in all sorts of directions!

 

If you’ve got a list in front of you, not only will it mean you don’t forget the crucial Fairy Liquid you’re desperate for, but it will also mean you don’t pick up the chocolate bar that isn’t really necessary. It works a treat for me – I sit down the evening before I’m heading shopping, noting down what we’ve got in the fridge and cupboards already, so I don’t end up with double of everything.

 

I also find it’s far easier to plan the quick meals I’ll be cooking during the week, as I know exactly what ingredients I’m after and I don’t have to worry about forgetting anything.

 

Even if you’re not usually a fan of New Year’s Resolutions, why not give them a go next year? You’re bound to see the impact on your bank balance if you do, which is an incentive in itself!

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Why pick up coupons?

December 20, 2011 By John Coles

With the recession continuing to bite, more and more retailers are turning to vouchers and money off coupons to entice new and old trade in.

 

It’s unsurprising really, since so many businesses have gone bust in recent months, as they just can’t survive without seeing at least some customers coming through the door. This year really has been the year of the coupon, with people increasingly hunting for vouchers to make sure they get whatever they’re after at a bargain price.

 

Websites have sprung up rapidly in the past few months, offering vouchers and money off coupons for anything and everything you could possibly imagine. The idea of actually paying full price for something seems like a ridiculous concept nowadays, when you can almost always find something with a discount either in a magazine or newspaper, or on the internet.

 

The reality is that it’s a case of people keeping an eye on their family finance. When times are tough, the last thing everyone wants to do is spend money. But with vouchers and coupons around, they have the chance to treat their family, without paying a small fortune to do so.

 

There’s no suggestion that UK consumers will become like US ones just yet, desperately hoarding money off vouchers and stocking up on every item they can get their hands on. Extreme couponing, as it’s known, has really taken off in the States, with people stockpiling everything from toilet rolls to dog food, as long as it’s on offer!

 

While that’s obviously at one end of the scale, it does make sense to try collecting money-saving vouchers, as you never know when they might come in handy.

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Follow the example of business leaders

December 14, 2011 By John Coles

There is an absolute glut of advice on how people should go about forging their careers.  But the majority of advice is given by people who haven’t actually practiced what they preached.  They may know the theory behind being successful in business, but the people worth heeding are those who have been there and done it themselves.

The best way to approach your career is to trust your instinct – make decisions using your gut as well as your head.  Also, take heed of those who have done things the hard way and learnt from their mistakes.

By asking questions from people who have built a successful career, you can learn valuable lessons. You can ask them about mistakes they made and what they did to get back on the right path. You may be able to learn enough like this to avoid making similar mistakes in your own career.

Lord Alan Sugar is a case in point – he left school with few qualifications and yet is one of the most successful business men in the UK today. On his TV programme, The Apprentice, you can see how the candidates fall into traps, but the ones who carry on to succeed are the ones who learn from their mistakes rather than obstinately sticking to their guns.

Here’s a particular example. People who want to start out in the property management business should study the careers of successful property magnates like David Lichtenstein. Lichtenstein is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lightstone Group, a US real estate business.  Started in 1988, the business has had its share of mistakes but it is still there and doing business.

One of the objectives of Lightstone is to buy quality properties that are in distressed situations – so getting extreme value for money.  The company advises that others follow this strategy.

It’s fine to look to others for advice, but remember some of it isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. Advice is worth following though, if it comes from people who have faced difficulties and been successful nonetheless.

 

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Watch your back on the road

December 14, 2011 By John Coles

Ever wondered why your car insurance premiums go up every year? Whether you’ve got one of the new eco cars UK consumers have been buying recently, or whether you’ve got a bog-standard Ford Fiesta or a 4×4 like a Honda CR-V, we all notice the costs creeping up.

Well, alongside covering the costs of uninsured drivers on the road, you’re also paying to cover the costs caused by the latest insurance scam going on roads all over the country.

In the UK, in the last two years, there’s been a rise in the numbers of apparent accidents which are actually choreographed by gangs working in tandem to defraud insurance companies.  These professional criminals patrol the roads looking for the right moment to bump into innocent drivers and then make a false claim.  Apparently it has already cost the insurance industry millions and increased premiums reflect this.

So what do you need to be on the alert for?

The gangs drive in three separate cars.  One lead vehicle will drive very slowly in front of an innocent driver’s vehicle. The second car drives behind the innocent driver, so he’s sandwiched.  The third vehicle will then appear ‘from nowhere’ and swerve in front of the lead vehicle. They will be ‘forced’ to brake, the innocent driver will not have time to stop and bump the lead vehicle, and the second criminal’s vehicle will go into the back of him.

Suddenly one innocent driver and two criminal drivers are all filing insurance claims.  Often the innocent driver has no idea what has taken place as they have witnessed the third criminal’s car swerving in front of the other driver. Unwittingly they exchange details with the ‘victim’ of the crash and the claim is legitimised.

Apparently, insurers have got wise to this kind of scam due to the numbers of claims being filed by groups of young men in cars together and all claiming whiplash.

Whatever car you drive, this kind of scam will affect your insurance premiums, so if you suspect you’ve seen anything like this happening, it’s best to inform the police.

 

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Forex dabbling

December 12, 2011 By John Coles

If you want to try your hand at trading the foreign exchange market – or Forex for short – there are lots of online tutorials and even a little free money to get you started in a risk-free way.

Perhaps the wisest way to dip your toe in the water is to open a demo account with Sunbird Forex for example.

In this way, there’s absolutely no risk whatsoever and you can steadily develop strategies to see how they perform over time. There’s a word of information out there – theories, stop-losses and the like, which devotees will swear to when they’re successful of course.

The important thing is to trust the one person you truly can – yourself – and to keep your head. Remember that most traders lose money over time, but a few make millions and there are millions to be made. This is a 1.8 trillion US dollar a day market. It’s the biggest trading market in the world so the sky really is the limit if you can develop a winning strategy.

If you have the time, then it’s well worth the effort in trying a demo account. There’s simply nothing to lose.

Strategies may be very short term, based on small intra-day currency movements, or longer term based on your reading of the world’s economic fortunes and the likely relative performance of world economies and their currencies.

All the major world currencies are tradable like the US, Canadian and Australian dollars, the Euro, British pound, Japanese yen and Swiss Franc. So if, for example, you think the Eurozone crisis hasn’t anywhere near reached its peak, but that the coalition government is doing well in securing the UK’s finances, then you may think it’s wise to be long of sterling against the Euro. You may, of course think the exact opposite – that’s the game. And if you get it right, you can make a fortune.

You can also lose a bomb – but dummy trading first, then playing with money you can afford to lose in real life may be the best way to go.

This article was written by David, who is enthusiastic about all things finance. He often finds out about the latest news at sunbird forex.

 

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Save money – look after your car exhaust

November 24, 2011 By John Coles

Cars cost money, but once you’ve bought and paid for yours, it needn’t cost you much to maintain it and keep it on the road for years.  Just by looking after it well, you can save yourself unnecessary extra payments on items such as the exhaust.  Of course, there will come a time when you need to replace both the exhaust, but the better you look after it, the more years you’ll get out of it.

The exhaust system seems complex, but really it’s just a piping system for the fumes from the engine’s combustion of the fuel to be released.  The exhaust is a long tube filled with baffles to reduce the noise of the process of combustion – which is, in essence, a series of explosions.

It’s one of the people things fear going wrong on a car – and rightly so, because to replace the whole exhaust can be costly. However, if you keep a close eye on it, you can spot when things need work and save the expense of replacing the whole thing.

Rust is often a problem as it is caused by excess moisture left in the pipes. A common cause is lots of short journeys – if the engine doesn’t run for long enough, it won’t get sufficiently hot in the exhaust to burn off any condensation. Go further and the exhaust has a chance to dry out.  You may decide to replace the pipe with stainless steel as it will then be rust-resistant and last a lot longer.

Also keep an eye on the oxygen sensor and check it’s working properly. This is something you’ll have to get confirmed by a mechanic but if you seem to be getting through a lot more fuel than usual, it could be a faulty oxygen sensor that is allowing the engine to run too rich. Again, this is something that can be replaced individually.

The exhaust silencer will rust through and need renewing at some point, but you can get these separately, and as with a lot of things in life, you usually get what you pay for.

If you’re looking for overall reliability in a car, Honda has just come top of the What Car? and Warranty Direct’s reliability study for the sixth year running. Honda’s key to success in this survey is its very low 9 per cent failure rate during the first year after a car’s registration.

 

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Plan for income – not capital growth

November 22, 2011 By John Coles

If ever you ask a financial planner about your investments and investing strategy going forward, he or she always seem to ask you the same question; are you interested in capital growth or income – or perhaps both?

The natural tendency is for those under 50 or so to say they’re more interested in capital growth. But be careful here – what you’re really interested in doing is reinvesting the dividends and that’s a different thing entirely. In other words, you’re more interested in your own capital growth than you are in the companies in which you’re investing.

Let’s consider a hypothetical example. A small company continually tells its shareholders that it is doing incredibly well with some world beating “no brainer” technology or other.

The share price rises, as you as a shareholder have your capital growth. But every now and again, the company creates new shares and/or comes back to its shareholders via a rights issue for more capital to fund this fantastic business. These are huge warning signs. Some such companies come good, but the vast majority do not. It’s far better, on the whole, to eschew such “jam tomorrow” investments in favour of sold high dividend companies with long and established track records which are operating in essential industries.

It’s worth checking out some decent online resources when you’re trying to find out more. There are plenty of opinion sites and blogs out there, with people like David Lichtenstein trying to give you an insight into the world as they see it, which may help to boost your understanding.

When you receive the sold dividends from such companies, you can then decide where you want to put them or whether you want to re-invest them automatically into the self-same companies. This is a well proven strategy for capital growth – i.e. your own capital growth through reinvesting the income. So the next time you’re asked this question – be careful how you respond.

The same is true of property investing. You’d be foolish to even think about buying property without a proven discount (which you know you can extract “capital growth” from) or a healthy income stream – via rents. It’s not rocket science – it’s good common sense.

 

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