As previous mentioned, Important Job #1 for 2011 was 'buy a new car'.
Today, I have done just that - waved goodbye to my little green polo (bit sad to see it go, actually), and driven away in a very clean and shiny Skoda Fabia. Of the estate variety. So basically, a newer bigger polo with a different badge on.
54 Plate, diesel, and only 37,000 miles on the clock It's also got all sorts of fun things like heated seats and a trip computer so I can obsess over how many miles per gallon I'm getting. Gadgets, yay
So, all this new student loan bollocks (the Browne review, aka last week's news - but I was busy in Germany so yeah)...
higher fees. probably £7k a year (so, er, nearly 7 times what it was when I was an undergrad, ouch)
raise the earning threshold for paying the money back
charge a 'real' interest rate
I see obvious problems with this:
more debt overall. I left uni with 11k of loan debt. That'll now just be one year's worth.
paying back less each month
it'll take much longer to pay back
So, what happens when people get to 65 (68, 70, whatever it'll be by then),... continue reading »
I am ill Now on day 7 of some horrible tummy bug that may or may not have been caused by taking a little swim in the River Taff... (although feeling much better today, which is good )
Anyway, Friday morning I got a phone call from the bank. After going through the usual "can you confirm your address?" "yes, but first can you confirm you're actually the bank?" and phoning them back malarkey, it turns out they'd flagged up some fraudulent transactions
On the one hand, I'm very pleased they spotted it and acted so fast (card cancelled immediately,... continue reading »
March can easily be summed up in one word: expensive.
As if buying a kayak wasn't bad enough, I've also been spending not insignficant amounts on things like deposits for holidays (French Alps in June, woo!), a shorty cag, car MOT, etc etc.
And when I popped into Halfords to get a bulb for the car, I managed to come out with a bike. Oops.
The bike does not have a name, and is a greeny colour, which this photo does not show very well.
Fitting it in my car was a right pain in the arse - first off, 'quick release' wheels is... continue reading »
It's also got all sorts of fun things like heated seats and a trip computer so I can obsess over how many miles per gallon I'm getting. Gadgets, yay
Now on day 7 of some horrible tummy bug that may or may not have been caused by taking a little swim in the River Taff... (although feeling much better today, which is good 