What are the ins and outs of Help to Buy?
For what seems like an eternity, those aspiring to get onto the property ladder for the first time have seen their dreams dashed as a result of astronomically high house prices. Even paying a deposit of around 10% or less of a home’s value is too much for many hopeful…
What’s your money mentality?
At home, we have been discussing not so much how we acquired such large consumer debt, nor how we got out of it to the point where we can now repair our roof, install solar panels and invest. No, the question we are now asking is how do we regard…
Why Grandma, What Big Pockets You Have
In an attempt to keep the wolf from the door, students in the UK are increasingly turning to the older generation to help finance the rising costs of tuition fees and, with the maximum tuition fee now standing at a hefty £9,000, it seems that the bank of gran and…
Happy Birthday to me and 51 things you may wish you didn’t know about me
Good day, my friends. Today is my birthday and yes, I am 51. Last year, I told you how I love being 50; I still love it and still think that there are many advantages to getting older. And no disadvantages that I can see so far. May be some…
Frugality or folly: macaroons and baking mastery
I have a confession to make: I tried macaroons for the first time about a month ago in Helsinki. Sounds strange? It isn’t, really. Macaroons were not around when I was growing up In Bulgaria. We can blame it on communism – God knows we already blame too many things…
Diary of a Job Seeking Operative
It’s been a pretty busy week, or at least as busy as it can get without a job. This week I have applied for two positions through my work programme, Avanta, and neither exactly falls into my desired type of job. Yet, at this point I am willing to take…
Will tapering Quantitative Easing kill the recovery or allow the markets to get back to normal?
Editor’s note: Quantitative Easing (QE) is a monetary practice that many central banks had to resort to, and are still using, to prevent the monetary supply falling and to stimulate the economy. This is rather controversial and debates – political and financial – are taking place in many countries. This…
Why most personal finance is probably wrong
For some time now, I’ve felt that a large proportion of the personal finance advice around – and some of it coming from established names in the industry – is wrong. Not the kind of ‘people just don’t get how this works’ wrong; more like the ‘world has changed…
Principled Money Posts #54: ‘a big thank you’ edition
Good evening, my dear reader. Even with my first sentence, you may have noticed two things: First, this Sunday my post doesn’t begin with ‘The Money Principle’ needs you message; and Two, the golden urn with a ‘P’ to the right has changed and it is saying ‘FINALIST’. Yes, The…
Frugality or folly: homemade pizza
I know, I know; pizza is not good for you. And let’s face it – it is not only ‘junk’ food giving us a load of carbs and bad fats but it is also something that responsible adults are not supposed to like. OK, call me irresponsible than but I…
Job Interview Mind Games, What Gives?
Greeting’s all. I’m sad to report that I am still unemployed, and it has left a sour taste with me to say the least. My job interview with TNT postal service a few weeks ago went well and I had high hopes that I would claim my place in the…
The single biggest challenge to investors: the three faces of investing
Couple of months ago I was invited by TD Direct Investing to take part in a debate on investor confidence. Of course, I accepted; after all following our hunter’s focus on debt our sight has moved to how to invest money. Having said that, we do believe that the principles…