Personal finance and money news, analysis and comment | guardian.co.uk

Followers

Friday, 3 September 2010

Wednesday, 1 September 2010

Awesome website in the UK for bargains as they appear, if you are not already a member i suggest you sign up.

HotUKDeals

For an idea of the bargains to be had check out the rss feed on the right.

Monday, 30 August 2010

10 ways to make some quick money

1. Clearance Sale


Selling all your unwanted books, clothes, toys and videos is a great way of making a bit of extra cash, as well as clearing out your closets. Amazon, eBay and Gumtree are all reputable and secure websites to sell your stuff on, and after paying the initial listing fee, can earn you a tidy profit.
How much can you make?
Dedicated sellers can make £100s on the side, but it all really depends on what you’re selling.

2. Story time

If you’ve had a near-death experience, or a have a gripping or extraordinary tale to tell, why not get paid to have it published? Feature World is an online publishing agency, run by journalist Alison Smith-Squire. As a writer for women’s magazines and national newspapers, she’ll help you choose which publication to sell your story to, tell you how much money you might expect to get for it, and look after your interests. And as an added incentive, selling your story through Featureworld.co.uk is free.
How much can you make?
Sending a ‘star letter’ to a magazine could earn you £50, and published stories about £150. Depending on the newspaper or magazine, paparazzi-style or amusing photos can also sometimes be nice little money spinners.


3. Shop ‘til you drop
 
If you’re a self-confessed shopaholic, getting paid to shop is a dream job. Unfortunately, you won’t earn big bucks from doing it, but a bit of extra cash never goes amiss. Becoming a mystery shopper is relatively straightforward. By registering at one of the companies sites, when a shopper is needed in your area for a particular store, the company will get in contact, specifying details of what you have to buy and what you have to be on the look out for. Retail Maxim and Optimum Contract are both agencies that are worth registering with.
How much can you make?
Depending on the agency, you can be paid up to £70 a time, and some agencies may offer to pay your travel expenses.


4. Give the dog a phone

Recycling your old mobile handset is an effortless way of getting a bit of extra money. Envirofone.com is the UK’s favourite online mobile phone recycling site. They paid out over £4 million last year, for both working and damaged handsets. Registering to trade in your old phone is easy - just follow the step-by-step guide on their website.
How much can you make?
Trading in your old handset is beneficial to both you, and the environment. Envirofone.com will donate some of the money they get for your phone to charity, and you’ll pocket the rest. An old Nokia N-Gage would get you £12.34, and a Motorola Razr is worth £40.07.


5. Space to let?

If parking in your area is a little on the steep side, and you’ve got a spare space during the day, you could rent it out on a monthly basis. Registering at Parklet.co.uk is free, quick and very simple. Your spare space will join hundreds on the online parking marketplace. You can also set restrictions on use if you’re likely to need the space yourself, and ask users to pay a deposit.
How much can you make?
You should be able to make just under the going parking space rate in your area. Spaces in London generally go for around £200 a month.


6. Picture perfect money

If you’ve got an album full of scenic shots, or a new camera that you’re itching to try out, then you could make a very handy bit of pocket money. Whether you’re the next David Bailey or you’re completely camera shy, selling your photos on Fotolia.com is free, so there’s nothing to lose.
How much can you make?
This is something where size really does matter. A small photo could net you a couple of pence, whereas larger images fetch more. Selling your photos on this site can take a bit of time, but registering is free and easy, so waiting for the cash to start flowing your way is worth it.


7. Music to your ears

SliceThePie.com is a music review site with a difference. You review the songs you listen to, then you get paid. As simple as that. The site pays you 5p for each song you rate, but as your credibility as a reviewer grows, you can earn more – as much as 25p a song. Nice as pie!
How much can you make?
If you’ve got a spare ten minutes every day, sitting down to do a couple of these could net you about £30 a month, which isn’t bad if you enjoy music.
ConsumerChoices.co.uk suggests registering to the site and having a look around. There is music from every genre, and you can pick and choose what you’d like to review.


8. “Your opinions matter to us…”

Getting paid for online surveys may seem like a bit of a scam, but if you carefully sift through the multitude of companies offering “cash for your views,” then you’ll be able to find some that are really worthwhile. Signing up to Surveyhawk.com costs just £18, but after filling in a few questionnaires for their affiliate companies, you’ll soon be in profit.
How much can you make?
Surveys can pay between £2-£40, and online focus groups can pay as much as £75.


9. “Any cashback with that?”

If you tend to do a lot of you’re shopping online, then this is an option that you could really prosper from. CashbackShopper.co.uk is a UK site which rewards you for shopping online at 1000’s of online shops and high street retailers. It’s free to sign up to and they also offer a free £5 joining bonus, and a further £5 for every friend you refer.
How much can you make?
? If you shop online from a cashback store using a cashback credit card, you’ll get double the cash back. The American Express Platinum Card gives 5% cashback to customers for the first three months on up to £4,000 of spending. You could make £200 if you spend the full amount in the next three months, and double that if you make your purchases online.


10. Pimp your ride

A new advertising idea, that could have only come from America, is now speeding its way down the M4. Sign up to GetPaidToDriver.com and an advertising company will tart up your car with a paint job, in the style of the product you’re advertising. It’s a good way to earn some extra money each month while doing all your usual stuff – picking the kids up from school, visiting friends, shopping and even the day to day running of your existing business if it involves driving around. Just agree to have your car branded with the advertising company’s advert and see a cheque come through your door every month!
How much can you make?
Depending on the company you sign with, and the product you’re advertising, you could earn between £200 and £800 a month.

Sunday, 29 August 2010

Almighty dollar

Almighty dollar is an idiom often used to satirize an obsession for material wealth (the phrase implies that money is a kind of deity).
The beginning of the realisation that wealth can engender quasi-religious respect has been attributed to British writer Ben Johnson, who wrote in 1616:
"Whilst that for which all virtue now is sold,
And almost every vice, almightie gold"[1]
The "dollar" version of the phrase is commonly attributed to Washington Irving, who used it in the story "The Creole Village", which was first published in the 1837 edition of The Magnolia, a literary annual.[2][note 1]
"The almighty dollar, that great object of universal devotion throughout our land, seems to have no genuine devotees in these peculiar villages; and unless some of its missionaries penetrate there, and erect banking houses and other pious shrines, there is no knowing how long the inhabitants may remain in their present state of contented poverty."
Edward Bulwer-Lytton is often credited with coining the related phrase "pursuit of the almighty dollar", which he used in his 1871 novel The Coming Race.[3] More obscure uses of the phrase can be found as far back as 1852.[4][5]
"The Almighty Dollar" is also the name of an Ozzy Osbourne song from the Black Rain album. The song argues that money and greed are destroying the planet by blinding people to problems such as global warming and pollution.
"Almighty Dollar" is also the name of a Devin The Dude song from the 2007 album Waitin' To Inhale. It is a lament both of a marijuana user's lack of money and the declining buying power of the U.S. dollar.

Saturday, 28 August 2010

Money

Money is any object that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context.[1][2] The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally, a standard of deferred payment.[3][4]
Money originated as commodity money, but nearly all contemporary money systems are based on fiat money.[3] Fiat money is without intrinsic use value as a physical commodity, and derives its value by being declared by a government to be legal tender; that is, it must be accepted as a form of payment within the boundaries of the country, for "all debts, public and private".
The money supply of a country consists of currency (banknotes and coins) and demand deposits or 'bank money' (the balance held in checking accounts and savings accounts). These demand deposits usually account for a much larger part of the money supply than currency.[5][6] Bank money is intangible and exists only in the form of various bank records. Despite being intangible, bank money still performs the basic functions of money, being generally accepted as a form of payment