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05/11/08

*Changes to Play The System*

Dear Subscriber/Visitor,

Play The System is about to change:

We will be going after the big money, not the small.

There will be a shift away from one-off deals and small quick wins. No more 7 days 7 deals and no more PTS Daily. Mailouts henceforth will be ad hoc and varied.

We will focus on a sustainable system of money making and money saving, and an overarching strategy for the next 25 years.

PTS will become more holistic, incorporating lifestyles, diet, philosophy and more.

The site will become 100% not-for-profit, assuring you of no commercial bias.

Changes will be made gradually, so keep checking back.

Thanks for your custom, and hope you enjoy the new PTS. If you are not on our mailing list and wish to join, please use our Contact Us page, stating Subscribe.

Changes to Play The System

04/11/08

The Daily Telegraph is running an offer with Shop4Online whereby you can get kids xmas goody bags worth £30 for just the cost of delivery: £4. You don't need to buy the newspaper.

Go here and add Telegraph Christmas Goody Bag Boy or Girl or both to your basket, then when prompted for a promotional code enter GDYB. That will bring the price to zero, meaning you only pay postage.

You can see from the picture that the contents include poster, toy, book, DVD, CD and more. Maybe not worth £30, but certainly more than the postage.

Free kids xmas goody bags - just pay postage

03/11/08

From the end of 2009 Ryanair is going to offer budget flying to the USA. By buying planes on the cheap from struggling carriers, it will expand its operations to include trans-Atlantic flights.

The flight prices will begin at an amazing £8. Airport taxes will then need to be added in to get the overall cost. But prices will undercut all current flights to the USA by a massive margin.

From late 2009 fly to the USA for as little as £8 plus taxes

02/11/08

Check out the latest car fuel tables here. The two tables towards the bottom of the page reveal the the petrol and diesel cars which produce the lowest emmissions and the cheapest running costs. If you buy a model that features in these tables then there is a twin win: cut your monthly fuel costs and benefit the environment. As these tables are ordered by emmissions, here are the top cars for each fuel type by fuel efficiency, or the total fuel cost of driving 12,000 miles:

Petrol:

Toyota Prius Hybrid: £880

Citroen C1/Toyota Aygo/Peugeot 107 (shared core build): £942

Diesel:

Ford Fiesta 2009 model onwards: £808

Seat Ibiza: £830

VW Polo: £830

Mini Hatchback R56: £851

Choose a car with the cheapest fuel costs and lowest emmissions

01/11/08

Take the Jung Typolology personality test here for free, and see what your dominant personality types are. Then click on the Jung Career indicator link to see what careers fit with your personality.

Find a career that suit your personality type

31/10/08

Green Home Electronics aim to reduce landfill by repairing, refurbishing and putting back to use quality used hi fi and audio equipment.

All equipment is fully tested and comes with a 28 day warranty. You can pick up quality equipment for much less than if bought new, whilst also doing your bit for the environment.

Audio equipment for less

30/10/08

When and where will house prices bottom? Here is the latest report from Nationwide. Take a look at the graph on page 1 dating back to the 1950s, and note the patterns of house price booms followed by house price busts, oscillating around a long term trend line. All asset classes follow such boom-bust patterns. Greed and fear make for extremes in both directions, and typically the size or ferocity of the boom will be mirrored in the bust. We are headed under the long term trend line for a rounded bottoming pattern where the average house price is just 50% of what it was at the peak. How long will this take? House prices globally follow similar patterns of 12 years of rises followed by 4 years of declines (at a steeper rate than the rises). We could be looking at 2012 for a bottom and 2013 for prices to start rising in earnest again.

Of course history and price patterns are only a guide, but the correlations make for good indicators, and the economic cycling is an on-going reliable phenomenon. We think the caveat in this instance would be that the UK, with its consumer, corporate and public debt mountain, enters a deep and prolonged recession thereby depressing house prices for longer and lower than the norm. We don't see reasons for the opposing scenario of house prices recovering quicker than outlined.

So, we will be looking for a bottom in house prices around 2012-2013 at around 50% of the price levels hit at the peak. That will be the best window of opportunity to either (1) upgrade your primary residence (as the rungs of the property ladder will be at their most compressed) or (2) invest in properties (a buy to let empire or renovating homes for profit). Both options require as much cash as possible, so where could you make your money in the meantime? We foresee great gains in commodities (gold, oil, metals, grains, meat etc) ahead - from 2009/10 through to 2015/6 - which you can access through share or fund brokers or financial spreadbetting.

Pin down the house price bottom and make the maximum from the next cycle

29/10/08

It's yet another excellent Ryanair flight sale: this time 1 million seats being given away for just £1, inclusive of taxes, for travel in November through to January. Book by the end of Thursday.

See PTS Daily entry 02/10/08 for details on how to avoid all Ryanair's extra costs that they hope you will take out, enabling them to offer such cheap flights.

Use MSE's Flightchecker facility to find the fares. Simply enter your nearest airport, a broad band of dates (in this case 1 Nov to 17 Dec), 'I'll Go Anywhere' and a price limit of £6. That will bring back all the £5 flights available.

Fly for just £1

28/10/08

The latest 90-day free trial code from Lovefilm is VPSUM811. This gives you 3 months' free DVD rentals by post, with nothing to pay and no commitment as long as you cancel your account and send back your last DVDs before the 3 months are up.

See PTS Daily entry 12/09/08 for how to set yourself up - just switch the code to the new one. In that post we advised that Lovefilm had clamped down on the loophole of being able to repeatedly reactivate your account with these 3-month codes to get an endless supply of free rentals. However if you or your partner have not been members previously then you can open an account using that code.

NB: Other users have pointed out that it is possible for previous customers to create a new account when such a new code is available by entering your postcode and your house number but adding a character to your house number. For example, if you live at number 12, but enter 12a, the Lovefilm system does not recognize you as a previous customer, and the postman will deliver the mail to your house, matching up the number and your name. We are not endorsing this, but it appears Lovefilm have not managed to close the loophole entirely...

3 months free DVD rentals with Lovefilm

27/10/08

In PTS Daily 18/10/08 we outlined how to get your music legally free over the net. Invest in a decent set of PC speakers and you can say goodbye to buying CDs, a format which will soon be dead. Upload your existing CDs to your PC, sell them, and get your music on-line thereafter. Music Magpie is a site that will help you with stage 2 of that process -  paying you for those CDs that you own, and making the process of offloading them for cash painless.

The rate they pay for a typical CD is 60p to £1. Go to their site, enter the barcodes of your CDs one at a time and they will come back with an instant offer. You need to be offering up at least 5 CDs but you can get rid of as many as you like. They will then send you packaging, into which you pop your CDs. They inspect the CDs on receipt and will pay you less than quoted if the quality isn't OK, such as the CD is scratched or the casing broken. Once your CDs have gone through inspection, they then send you a cheque.

Sell your CD collection to Music Magpie

26/10/08

Over the past year, oil heating has worked out at 6.5p per kilowatt hour, electric heating 12p and natural gas 4.2p. Over the next few years we foresee prices for all three rising exponentially.

So, you could consider installing a boiler that runs on logs or wood pellets instead. Logs work out at 1.6p per kwh or wood pellets at 2.9p, both if bought in bulk. That's a significant saving on the mainstream alternatives. However, there is the cost of the new boiler to factor in plus the 'labour' involved in having the wood delivered and getting the logs or pellets into the boiler.

Euroheat specialise in log, pellets or woodchip boilers. Their 25kw HDG Pelletmaster PM25, for example, costs around £9000 and feeds itself the wood pellets as it needs them. It also self-cleans. You need to source a local pellet supplier who can deliver them at an agreed frequency to your door.

If you have your own woodland or if you have access to waste wood, then you could go for a log boiler and pay nothing for your fuel. You would need to confortable with the labour involved in loading and monitoring the boiler wood.

Save money on your fuel bills by switching to wood

25/10/08

In PTS Daily 17/10/08 we outlined a bleak economic picture for the UK and the US, that have both enjoyed a debt fuelled (rather than genuine growth led) boom and are now in trouble as a result. This week negative economic growth stats for the UK were worse than expected and sterling was sold off heavily. We foresee further declines for sterling against the world's currencies, and suggested diversifying cash and assets at least partially out of sterling if you can.

The US dollar faces a similar rout, and indeed since 2001 it has been in a steady decline against most currencies. However over the last 6 months, despite the country's ferocious economic unravelling, the dollar has bucked its trend and shot up 20%. This is because global money has moved out of stocks and commodities and into US goverment bonds (buying into dollars), and US money that had gone overseas over the last few years (for the stellar returns in emerging markets) has come home (back into dollars). US government bonds, as a safe haven, have been in such demand that they are now paying a yield of just 1%. As soon as there is a hint of things picking up in the global economy and an easing of the credit crunch, money will flow out of that market back to better yielding investments globally, meaning the dollar will be sold out of again.

The United States labours under a heavy and growing debt burden. It has enjoyed 2 decades of a shift away from savings into massive consumer, corporate and public debt. In response to the last bear market of 2000-2003 it borrowed more and injected yet more cash, storing up the problems for later. It is now fighting the credit crisis with another tidal wave of capital injections and has an ever-expanding debt-to-GDP ratio of incredible proportions.

Imagine a man with a £25,000 a year income and a £40,000 a year lifestyle. Now imagine the man’s income-lifestyle gap is financed by credit cards. This can work for a while, but not forever. As more and more credit card debt piles up, the possibility of paying off the cards becomes ever more remote. He is reliant on being able to take out new and bigger debt to keep it going, and in doing so the debt servicing costs may simply overcome him. If you had lent to this man you'd probably want to get your money back and run. As an investor, you probably wouldn't want to invest in this man. For this man, read the US - and likewise the UK which copied the US model. If the global creditors to the US decide to pull the plug, it's game over for the US, and the bottom would fall out of the dollar. If there is a more orderly resolution for the US then it will be reflating itself out of the mess with yet more debt, at the expense of the dollar. Either way, the fundamentals are bad for the dollar.

So, the anomaly that is the dollar's meteoric rise over the last 6 months against pretty much all currencies bar the yen, creates a great opportunity. It should not only resume its bear market, but has a 20% spike to retrace too. The Euro is the only real alternative to the world as the reserve currency, if not the US dollar. Meanwhile gold is the anti-dollar, rising as it falls and falling as it rises. We see great opportunities in gold over the next few years, and also the Euro versus the US dollar starting the end of this year. You can get at these opportunities through either spreadbetting, ETFs or funds.

Profit from the fortunes of the US dollar

24/10/08

Check out the Micro Compact Home dwelling that is a 'short stay smart living' solution. This Austrian-based company has designed a contemporary pre-fab home that measures just 2.6m cubed. It can be delivered to the UK within 8-10 weeks of order at a price between 25k - 34k Euros. Plug in the unit to an electricity supply, water supply and drainage and it's ready for 'cosy' living. Because of its size, it isn't a permanent living solution, but what it could be is a weekend retreat in a part of the country that you love, or a separate living space in your garden for a teenager. You could also squeeze a bunch of them onto a plot near a university or college for students to rent during term time.

A micro-home for around 30k Euros

23/10/08

Sign up to CarbonCreditz and enter codes that were printed in the Independent newspaper to get 750 points free which can instantly be exchanged for free products for you or contributions to eco-projects.

Register on the site. Await a fairly instant email with your password. Log in to the site and complete your personal details. Now go to Enter Codes and put in JXPHJX then 'enter more codes' and put in C7444F. You will now have 750 creditz. Now go to Spend Creditz and choose from the following:

Buy Products:
2x Energy Saving Light Bulbs 399 creditz
Eco Stapler 500 creditz
PowerPlus Penguin Torch 500 creditz
Solar Powered Pedometer 500 creditz
Dynamo Calculator 600 creditz
Dynamo Torch 600 creditz
5x Energy Saving Light Bulbs 749 creditz
Solar Powered Desk Clock 750 creditz
Water Powered Calculator 750 creditz

Buy Offsets (charity):
Efficient Home Heating ~ South Africa. VER Project. 740 creditz
Indian Wind Power VCS 745 creditz
Small Hydro Dam. VCS 750 creditz

If you select a product for yourself it is also delivered free.

NB: Codes expire 25/10

Free eco-product or donation to eco-project

22/10/08

What is the best deal out there on car breakdown cover currently?

Cashback sites such as Quido, Topcashback, Getpoundsback and Cashback Kings all offer cashback for taking out breakdown cover through the likes of RAC and the AA. For instance, currently Quidco are offering an improved £17 cashback for an AA policy under £75 or £40 cashback for an AA policy over £75.

However, having compared them all in terms of net cash outlay (policy cost minus cashback) and cover provided, none beat Autoaid, the cheapest pay and claim breakdown cover provider.

You get 12 months Rescue, Onward Transport and Home Start cover for £36 through Autoaid's Pay-And-Claim service, which works out far cheaper than the comprehensive policies offered by the likes of the AA and the RAC. The difference is that you pay for your breakdown costs up front, then Autoaid reimburse you within 14 days - but the reimbursement typically takes just a couple of days. The breakdown policy covers the person, rather than the vehicle, and spouses are added to the policy for free. That means it costs just £36 for full breakdown cover for a typical 2 car 2 driver family.

Get 12 months comprehensive car breakdown cover for a husband wife and 2 cars for just £36

21/10/08

It's pretty much one a week at the moment, but Ryanair have another flight sale on: 1 million seats available at just £5, inclusive of taxes, for travel in November through to 17 December.

See PTS Daily entry 02/10/08 for details on how to avoid all Ryanair's extra costs that they hope you will take out, enabling them to offer such cheap flights.

Use MSE's Flightchecker facility to find the fares. Simply enter your nearest airport, a broad band of dates (in this case 1 Nov to 17 Dec), 'I'll Go Anywhere' and a price limit of £6. That will bring back all the £5 flights available.

Flights for just £5 inclusive of taxes

20/10/08

Here are two useful articles on dongles from Motley Fool. Dongles are plug-ins for your laptop that give you mobile broadband over the 3G network.

The first article looks at the possibility of doing away with a fixed landline phone and wired broadband package at home and going just with the dongle. And the second compares the six service providers offering dongle packages.

The beauty of a dongle is that you can make money and save money - in the PTS way - through your laptop whilst you are on the move. But, it also allows you to do away with a landline phone package. Combine it with a 12-month free mobile phone and contract deal - like we feature on our site - and you have a cheap and high flexible set-up. But pay attention to these things when choosing your dongle deal: What is the signal coverage like where you are or where you will travel? What is the broadband speed going to be; What is the download allowance and if you exceed it what are the charges? You need to make sure all these things work for your specific needs.

Sign up to a dongle package for mobile broadband on the move and do away with a landline package.

19/10/08

Another useful page added to MSE: coach, train and bus travel deals updated weekly. All the latest promotions, discounts and special offers listed here - if you are a regular on public transport then check in here before you book.

Coach, train and bus travel deals updated weekly

18/10/08

You may have heard on the news this week that a campdown on illegal file sharing has resulted in a significant shift to payable music download sites amongst internet users.

You don't need to download illegally, but nor do you need to pay for it.

Youtube is the answer. Get some decent speakers for your PC and away you go. Although known as the ultimate video vault, its audio library is equally huge. Songs are uploaded with a still image if no video accompanies the track, and by opening a Youtube account (for free) you are able to create (and share) playlists, thereby building up your own organised library of music on-line. Think of an artist you want to hear - they will be there on Youtube. There is a range of quality in the audio, so often users distinguish the superior stuff for listening by adding "high quality" or "HQ" to the clip title, so search for those.

Now, if you download the latest version of RealPlayer video media player (get the free version here), you are able to download the videos from Youtube and store them locally on your PC. That means you don't need to be on-line to listen, and you no longer will get any problems from buffering or broadband signal (if either affect you). Whatsmore, you can transfer your music from there onto an MP4 player. As you'd expect, on RealPlayer you can organise your music into playlists and rank tracks and so on. Once you have downloaded the RealPlayer you will automatically see the download option pop up if you hover over the top right of the video playing on Youtube. Just click and it will be downloaded to your RealPlayer library before the track has finished playing.

Is it legal? Real says it is. Here's the thing: the programme will not download programs prohibited by digital rights management software. That 'DRM' is built into the track/video so you are prevented from downloading anything that would be illegal. The good news is the vast majority of the music on Youtube does not have DRM. Furthermore, "the technology we have enabled is for personal use, and that is within copyright laws," says Real. That's the 2nd key issue. If you are only downloading for your own personal pleasure you are in the clear.

What we have found is that songs are continually uploaded on to Youtube by users and Youtube periodically purge those where they believe there may be copyright infringement. If you have downloaded them to Real Player in the meantime then you have got the track for good. We have found hardly any tracks have the inbuilt DRM to prevent downloading. Were there to be any clampdown on these failings, then the authorities would take action against Real, Youtube or the Youtube users uploading tracks that break copyright, whilst you are protected by the T&Cs of Youtube and Real.

Get all your music legally for free

17/10/08

Things look pretty bleak for the UK and the US. The US adopted a debt-driven model and the UK copied. Over the last 15 years or so the Government, corporations and consumers in both countries made a landmark shift from savings to debt. The result was growth, because a gradual spending of the savings then taking out debt and spending the borrowings was a great generator. But once they had set off down that route, the only way to continue the growth was to keep borrowing more. Now it's unravelling in dramatic fashion.

The amount of debt owed by UK consumers has now outstripped the UK's gross domestic product (GDP). In the US the amount of debt the Nasdaq constituent companies have is more than the companies are worth themselves - buying the Nasdaq is like taking on a mortgage for more than the house is worth. Now take a look at this table and see how much public and private debt the UK and US owe to the rest of the world - far greater than any other countries. In the UK it is equivalent to £100k debt on each person living here.

Now as the UK enters recession, what can be done to pull us out? Stimulation is required. But with consumers and businesses at maximum borrowings and banks unwilling to lend, we are looking to the Government. However, the Government of the UK can only keep borrowing and spending to shore up the economy as long as other countries and foreign investors are prepared to buy the debt, and the Government is able to service that debt. The level of that debt is so high that no large fiscal stimulus is possible.

So what does this mean for us? The UK may face a long and painful recession, whilst neighbouring countries such as Germany who did not go down the excessive money supply route emerge quickly stronger. Sterling is likely to be sold heavily, and a forthcoming 1-to-1 parity with the Euro is a distinct possibility. Look at Iceland now - they too took on excessive public and corporate debt and no longer able to service the debt the country is effectively bankrupt. The result is the currency has plummeted, as has the stock market, and the way out is unknown at this stage. The citizens of Iceland are in for a long painful hangover following the debt fuelled boom.

Suggestions then. Tighten your belt, pay off any debts. If you have significant sterling savings, then consider switching part of those savings to Euros. If you have all your assets concentrated in the UK then consider selling some assets here and buying abroad. If you hold stock market funds then consider switching to European or Asian funds that will benefit from the currency uplift against sterling. Any of these will help spread the risk.

Beware a potential long UK recession and a major fall in Sterling

16/10/08

In the PTS Daily entry dated 08/09/08 we linked to Solar Gorilla from PowerTraveller, the new portable solar charger for laptops, which was awaiting pricing. Now it's priced: £140 - certainly within reach for most. However, reviews of it have found its capability as a charger is not good enough. In short, you would need to leave the charger out in full summer sunshine all day to get the requisite charge - which isn't going to be practical.

We have found an alternative: the Voltaic Generator laptop bag - which also has the necessary spec solar panel on it to charge your laptop. It is priced at around £300. Again, reviews suggest it will suffice as a top up charger but to use it as your sole means of power whilst on the move would require a full day's summer sunshine, repeated each day.

This is the first generation of solar laptop chargers to market it though, and it is expected that, as the technology is improved, they will achieve their potential. Currently, less power hungry devices can be powered on the move in this way using solar technology - use control + F to search PTS Daily and Hotspots for "solar".

Harnessing free solar power

15/10/08

Ryanair are offering every seat, every flight on 250 routes for just £10 inclusive of taxes, for travel between 3 Nov and 17 Dec 2008. Book before midnight Sunday.

See PTS Daily entry 02/10/08 for details on how to avoid all Ryanair's extra costs that they hope you will take out, enabling them to offer such cheap flights.

Note that MSE's Flightchecker facility once again covers Ryanair - for a while Ryanair had put a halt on all 'scraper' sites, meaning you could only search for fares on Ryanair's site itself. Now re-instated on Flightchecker, you can simply enter your nearest airport, a broad band of dates (in this case 3 Nov to 17 Dec), 'I'll Go Anywhere' and a price limit of £11. That will bring back all the £10 flights available.

Flights for just £10, and how to find them

14/10/08

Open Office 3.0 launched yesterday. Open Office is collectively designed software that does a similar job to Microsoft Office, and version 3.0 is the best yet. So instead of buying Microsoft Office software at £125, download the free open-source suite from OpenOffice. It contains equivalents to Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Access and they are compatible with documents prepared on Microsoft Office.

You can kit out your PC completely for free. Rather than Windows, choose Ubuntu, which is a linux based operating system that comes complete with the F-Spot photo editing tool - all for free. Instead of buying anti-virus software from Symantec or Norton at £50 a year, download Grisoft's AVG, or Avast's software, both of which are free to non-commercial users. Instead of buying anti-adware (against unwanted popups) and anti-spyware (against covert data gathering from your PC) download the free offering from Lavasoft. Get yourself a free customisable firewall from Comodo or Zonealarm for all round protection against identity theft hackers, Trojans, scripts and other unknown threats while on-line. Download the award-winning free Firefox internet browser from Mozilla. Finally acquire your own e-mail, domain and website for free through Microsoft Office Live Small Business - nb: requires Internet Explorer which is free to download here). You get a free genuine domain of your choice, free hosting, easy design tools and upload, free email. No fees until the domain is up for renewal.

Save £125 and get the new Open Office rather than Microsoft Office

13/10/08

Get 12 issues of the Radio Times delivered to your door for just £1 in total - a saving of £11. Simply cancel the subscription before the 12th issue to prevent direct debit payment at the regular rate and an ongoing subscription. If you use on-line banking you can cancel the direct debit yourself once the £1 has been taken.

12 issues of the Radio Times for just £1

12/10/08

Experian have increased the cashback on Quidco to £7 for a one month free trial of their credit report currently. What this gives you is access to your credit record so you can check if there is anything you weren't aware of on there (such as defaults on credit facilities unknowingly still registered at previous addresses, or credit facilities outstanding that you were unaware of, etc) or just how your credit record looks overall to lenders. You can then cancel with Experian before the 1 month free trial is up and that's that - no commitment and no money taken - but you get the added bonus of £7 cashback through Quidco. If you are unfamiliar with Quidco see our Cashback page.

Free credit report and £7 cash 

11/10/08

Get a free 12 month digital magazine subscription - choose from Popular Science, PC Magazine, Reader's Digest, Penthouse and more popular titles - and read the magazine on-line rather than buying the physical magazine. This is the Read Green initiative, aiming to help the planet by saving paper. All you need to supply is your email address (no payment details) to get your chosen magazine monthly for free for 12 months.

Get a free 12 month digital magazine subscription

10/10/08

Stay in a Hilton hotel for a weekend between now and 31st January and get it for 50% off. See the promotional page here. Just search for a 2-3 night stay over any weekend in that period for a location of your choice (UK or abroad) but make sure the promo code is populated as P78EXO, P82EXO or PR09SW (this field is at the bottom of the search facility). You are looking for rates described as "Exclusive Offer: Rate includes buffet breakfast. Full credit card prepayment required on booking. Non-refundable, non-changeable". NB: You have to book before 31/10/08.

Half-price weekend breaks at Hilton hotels until 31st January.

09/10/08

Iceland's economic troubles have snowballed of late, and the banking crisis has hit it hard, with the Government having to seize control of the main banks. The currency, the Icelandic Krona, has suffered dramatically and against Sterling it has almost halved in value over the last 12 months. Here's a chart for the last 6 months. NB: if you choose to go next year rather than this then check on inflation as it is predicted to rise.

So if you wanted to visit Iceland for the hot springs, glaciers, active volcanoes, geysers and northern lights, now is the time to go, as accommodation, food, drink and activities are half the price they were 12 months ago.

Visit Iceland as the currency has fallen against Sterling by 50%

08/10/08

Events are unfolding across the global economy with ferocious pace at the moment and there is to a large extent indiscriminate selling across the financial markets as banks and hedge funds are forced to sell positions good and bad to cover losses. But as things settle we see the following investments as the most potentially lucrative:

Gold - already taking off again as people seek the ultimate safe haven, plus as an alternative to the US dollar which is being relentlessly weakend by the US's money supply expansion.

Soft commodities - the most recession proof of investments, and also in a secular bull cycle. As global population growth is 75 million a year and China continues to expand rapidly, softs such as coffee, cotton, hogs and cattle will be the new fought over assets. The era of cheap food is over.

The Euro, the Swiss Franc and the Japanese Yen - all the central banks behind these currencies have carefully controlled money supply, unlike the UK and US who have created fake growth based on excessive borrowing and money supply - making the dollar and sterling very vulnerable.

Asian stock indices - right now no stock market is immune from the global sell off, but it is the West, particularly the US and UK, that are entering recession and face a long unwinding of problems built up during years of excessive consumer, corporate and public borrowing. Meanwhile China's growth is expected to slow from 10-11% to 8-9%, brought about by the Western slowdown but this is still breakneck. And other Asian countries such as India are developing and emerging at a similar pace. We may well see a prolonged slump in the West and the economic batton passed - for good - to the East, and a new world order. You can't invest directly in the Chinese stock market because it is not open to outsiders, however you can invest in the Hong Kong Hang Seng index which also lists many of the Chinese blue chip companies.

Where to invest, in the new current economic environment

07/10/08

We are advocates of financial spreadbetting. The gains are tax free, you can trade up or down (rather than just 'up' as with traditional share buying) and you get live charts (rather than 15 minutes delayed as with share broker sites). It is especially useful to be able to trade in both directions in the current volatile climate where the majority of stocks are sinking, and sinking in dramatic fashion.

If you have no experience of financial spreadbetting you can take up the introductory offers and do the minimum required to get the cash bonuses, as detailed on our Financial Spreadbetting page. However, if you are a novice or someone not interested in learning the ways of the markets, but have a reasonable pot of cash, then you could make larger, sustained gains by simply copying the Naked Trader, Robbie Burns. 

Robbie posts up his trades on his website when he opens them, gives all the necessary details of what and at what price, and then details when he closes them. You can see instantly that his track record speaks for itself. He doesn't get every trade right - no trader does - but his profits far outweigh his losses.

You need to open up a spreadbetting account - there are many detailed on our spreadbetting page linked above. You need to put in a lump sum, ideally £10k or more. You then need to check in daily, or twice daily, on Robbie's site and await his next trade, then copy it. Open it when he does (as long as the price hasn't moved drastically in the minutes/hours since he placed it) and close it when he does. Keep doing this ad infinitum...

NB1: Beware copying the AMOUNT Robbie bets or buys - your trade size needs to reflect your capital, and his is large. We would recommend putting on the minimum trade size that the platform allows, and then you can see to what extent you can cope with more (for each trade the platform will set aside a deposit amount and as the trade P/L moves you can see how to what degree - in relation to your capital).

NB2: The spreadbet platform may apply an automatic stop-loss - a level at which the trade will close out to stop you losing more than you intended. You may wish to move this stop further away in case the trade initially goes against you, but Robbie keeps it open expecting an upturn.

NB3: There are different 'contracts' to choose from in spreadbetting. If you, say, want to trade Barclays shares, then there may be options for Barclays daily, Barclays Dec 2008, Barclays Mar 2009 and Barclays June 2009. The latter three have a finite time span, and will close at that date regardless of how you are doing. So go for the daily (sometimes called rolling - it will stay open for as long as you have cash in the account to cover it), then you can close when Robbie does and not when the system closes it.

Clearly there are no guarantees here, and Robbie could decide to no longer publish his trades at a moment's notice. However, he's doing rather well out of his site and spin off books, so expect it to continue, and his skill as a trader is not in doubt.

Make money copying a successful trader's trades, without knowing anything about the markets yourself

06/10/08

Get a 3 pay-as-you-go SIM card with £30 pre-loaded on it for just £19.99 from Woolworths currently. That's £30's worth of calls and texts for just £20, giving you £10 free, and you can order on-line for free delivery to your local Woolworths store. Just check your handset is compatible with a 3 SIM.

PAYG SIM with £30 loaded, for just £20

05/10/08

You don't need to wait for the Westfalia Verdier Camper to get solar power on your motorhome. If you have a decent sized motorhome - or boat - you can get a kit from Solar Technology that comprises a 150-watt panel and fixings that will power your lights, water pump, television, laptop and other appliances. This kit will enable you to live away from campsites - as without it you will typically need to plug into a mains point on a site every few days. They also offer smaller kits for smaller live-in vehicles that will power lights and water pump only.

Solar Technology have two other products of interest. Firstly: a Globetotter kit that gives you solar charging on your rucksack or saddle packs that will power most handheld devices (PDA, mobile phone, mp3 player - but not laptop) together with all the connections. This kit allows you to explore the world on foot or by bicycle, without needing stay within reach of mains electricity or stores selling batteries.

And secondly: Solar Mates, which are solar panel lighting kits, specifically to provide lighting in or on buildings. You could combine a Solar Mate lighting system that lights up to 6 rooms(£460) with a Helsinki 5-room log cabin (£11k), a wood burning cooker stove (£2385) for heat and cooking, a compost toilet and a hand-pumped well bored down to the water table, for a get-away-from-it-all simple retreat for less than £15,000.

Affordable solar power for to slash your energy costs and dependencies permanently 

04/10/08

The Westfalia Verdier Camper is a motorhome concept that does not currently have a definitive production date, but is expected to be priced around £35,000. Not only is it cool, but it is a fuel-hybrid vehicle and has a solar panel on the roof. It can run on petrol/diesel or electric and can power 12 volt devices from the solar panel. That makes it cheap to travel around in, and cheap to power devices when standing. Add a laptop with a mobile broadband dongle and you can earn money the Play The System way as you live a life on the road.

You can sign up for their newsletter or ask for info in the post, pending news on production.

A motorhome with hybrid fuel and solar power for a sustainable life on the road

03/10/08

For October, lost of new Tesco discount codes for on-line grocery shopping to take you right through to November without having to pay for delivery - see our Groceries page.

Plus, Littlewoods casino have migrated to new software and a new welcome bonus - up from £50 to £100. See our Beat The House page for how you can play perfect Blackjack at low risk and turn that bonus into a profit, with average luck.

Tesco codes for free grocery delivery and a £100 welcome bonus at Littlewoods casino

02/10/08

Ryanair have extended their £1 flight sale to include flights until mid-December. But NB: they have also increased the costs of their 'extras':

Check-in and Luggage:

If you carry hand luggage only (no case to go in the hold) then you can check in on-line and this costs £0. If you carry hand luggae only but choose to check in at the airport then this costs £8 per person per return flight. However, if you take a bag for the hold then you are obliged to check in at the arport and the combined cost for this is £24 per person per return flight - more if you exceed their 15kg allowance. Therefore, where possible carry hand luggage only and check in on-line to keep these costs at zero.

Priority boarding:

If you choose speedy boarding / priority boarding this costs £8 per person per return flight. It's free if you don't - so deselect this.

Travel Insurance:

"Confirm Country of Residence to purchase Travel and Medical Insurance" is their bid to get you to sign up for costly travel insurance at approx £2.50 per day's stay per person. Scroll to the top of the drop down menu and select "No travel insurance required" to deselect this and pay zero. NB: If you take out Alliance and Leicester's Premier Current Account you get free annual (it is renewed each year) travel insurance for Europe. There are no fees for the account but you need to be over 21 and pay in at least £500 each month (can be transferred straight out again if you choose to actively bank elsewhere).

Payment:

If you pay for your flights by any kind of credit or debit card other than a Visa Electron then it costs £4 per person per flight.

Apply for a Co-op Cashminder current account, which comes with a Visa Electron. The account has no charges, no requirements for pay in to it, but no interest. Just keep a small amount of cash in there and use the Visa Electron facility to get your Ryanair flights. You have to phone to apply for the account or pop into your local branch. If phoning, don't use their advertised premium rate number - instead call them on this freephone number which takes you straight through to someone to take your application: 0800 247 365.

In summary, Ryanair can only keep offering these £1 deals because most people get sucked into all these extra costs. However, you CAN pay no more than £1 per person per flight, if you just follow the above and travel light. 

Ryanair flights for £1 - beware the increased 'extras' and avoid them

01/10/08

Since 2000, commodities such as oil and metals have been enjoying a bull run. Commodity supplies are tight after years of under investment and demand is growing fast thanks to China and other emerging countries. Commodities and stocks operate in 'long valuation cycles' and it is expected that commodities will continue their up-trend until around 2017 (whilst stocks continue to struggle). The current slowdown in the global economy will not resolve the demand-supply inbalance. 

Earlier this year commodities experienced their biggest upleg of the bull run to date, and have since fallen sharply, as is the norm following a large upleg. They will come again, and now is an opportunity to buy in cheap, before they put in their next upleg.

To date, oil and metals have led the secular bull run, but more recently soft commodities (coffee, wheat, cattle, etc) joined the party, and it is in soft commodities that the biggest relative gains ahead are expected.

The problem is that global food supplies simply can’t cope with the demands of a world population rising by 75 million people per year, containing more and more emerging-market consumers adopting increasingly Westernised, meat-heavy diets. On top of that are biofuel targets imposed by the EU and US, which demand that foodstuffs such as grain be turned into energy-inefficient fuel – rather than food.

You can invest in soft commodities through ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds). These funds essentially track the underlying commodity's price, without you needing to actually take ownership of a bunch of wheat or cattle, etc, and you can trade them just like shares. You can pick ETFs that just track one specific commodity (e.g. corn) or that track a basket of commodities (e.g. all grains: corn, wheat, soybeans). You can buy and sell them either through on-line share brokers or through financial spreadbetting accounts. This site lists all the ETFS and gives you all the info you need about them.

So which soft commodities are going to be hottest next?

Grain prices have led the way so far, putting in some massive gains, as ethanol and bio-fuel usage have pushed up the price of corn which has encouraged more famers to plant corn at the expense of other grains - which in turn has driven up wheat and soybeans.

Now it takes around 7kg of corn to produce just one kilo of beef – so rising grain prices make rearing animals an expensive business. Farmers are therefore rearing fewer animals and slaughtering them younger – total meat production has fallen by around 1.7lb per person. Farmers rushing to dump their high maintenance animals has kept the price of meat down - but if farmers are killing their livestock off young and favouring growing more crops over raising more animals, that adds up to two things: too much grain and not enough meat. By 2009, a pig and cattle shortfall looms as inventories come under pressure. And while supply is under threat, demand just keeps increasing. Growth in meat consumption in developing countries has averaged 4.8% a year over the past decade, plus emerging countries such as China are seeing consumers starting to get a taste for more meat in their diet like in the West.

With all those expensive grains around (attractive to grow for farmers), no one wants to grow cotton. Cotton plantings at around 9.5 million acres are the lowest in 25 years. Next year should see the lowest crop in ten years, at which point cotton could undergo a price surge - as on the demand side increasingly wealthy consumers in China, India and Latin America join the West in boosting sales of cotton T-shirts and jeans.

Coffee also looks attractive. Again, consumers in developing countries are getting a taste for it, causing surging demand.

In summary, we'd suggest ETFs in cattle, live hogs, cotton and coffee. Alternatively you could go for an ETF covering a basket of all commodities, for lower risk.

Invest in soft commodities and make handsome returns over the next few years

30/09/08

Great flight offers currently:

Stansted to Stuttgart with Germanwings, £13.99 inc. tax, in Dec 2008

Leeds to Amsterdam with Jet 2, £13.99 inc. tax, varied dates

Newcastle to Belfast with Easyjet, £18.99 inc. tax, varied dates

Birmingham to Knock with BMI Baby, £18.99 inc. tax, varied dates

Plus:

Ryanair are offering another 1 million seats at £1 inclusive of taxes for travel in October and November 2008 for many different departure airport / destination combinations.

Fly for under £20

29/09/08

Here's a system for travelling Europe at almost zero cost, combining previous PTS Daily deals.

Get the Wandertec travel system for your bike. If you don't have a bike, buy one.

Buy a tent that folds up small and can be packed onto the Wandertec trailer.

Wait for Ryanair's free (or £1 flight) deals. You'll need to pay £10 to check in your luggage (the Wandertec case containing your bike) but all other costs can be avoided - search for Ryanair on this page (Control + F) for how to avoid the extra costs. Book flights from your nearest UK airport to anywhere you fancy.

If you live cycling distance from your nearest airport then you can cycle there and pack the bike into the case (converting the trailer) on arrival. Otherwise, use The Trainline's Best Fare Finder to find cheap railway tickets to get you and your bike the bulk of the journey.

At your arrival airport in Europe, convert the cycle case back into the trailer and cycle away, touring by bike and camping along your route.

In summary, flights and taxes are free - just £10 for the luggage. Airport parking costs are zero. Transportation costs to and from the UK airport are zero or cheap (if involving the train). Transportation costs to and from the destination airport are zero, as you cycle directly from and to it. Accommodation costs in Europe are either zero (if camping in nature) or no more than £5 per night (on campsites). Once you have paid for the intial outlay on the cycle, trailer and tent (you may have cycle and tent already) this is a sustainable way to see most of Europe for next to nothing.

Travel Europe for next to nothing

28/09/08

Tesco have moved into the house insulation business. In keeping with certain other insulation programmes, Tesco is offering cavity-wall and/or loft insulation free to the over 70s and those on benefits. Everyone else though is entitled to a discounted flat-fee of £199. If your house is lacking cavity or loft insulation (or only has partial insulation) then be aware that the average household can save £275 every year in heating costs with proper insulation. That meas it would repay within one year and then keep paying every year after that. See here for Tesco's new insulation site.

Save £275 every year with proper house insulation

27/09/08

Stay at a Britannia hotel over the next 3 weeks for just £18 per room per night. See here for the offer and the matrix of where and when these £18 tariffs are available. NB: Certain Britannia Hotels aren't up to scratch, so check customer reviews on-line to ensure you stay at a good one.

Hotel rooms for just £18 per night

26/09/08

Thetrainline, the comprehensive website for rail travel bookings, has launched a new feature called Best Fare Finder. Rather than asking you to state specific preferences for your journey (dates, times), it requires just rough details of your travel plans, and then returns the lowest fares over that week or month. How it works: when someone finds a cheap ticket through Thetrainline, the site tracks this and loads it into Best Fare Finder, so it is an amalgamation of great deals found by customers.

Travel by train for less

25/09/08

Latest codes added for on-line grocery shopping at Tesco.com on our Groceries page. Get your food shopping on-line and apply a discount code of £9 for a spend of over £60 or £12 for a spend of over £80, by simply adding the code at checkout for orders to be delivered before 5th October.

Delivery is around £5 so you can get typically free delivery AND make a saving too. If you are new to home supermarket shopping, then go through Topcashback and you will get £5 cashback for setting up an account with Tesco for home groceries delivery and making your first order. Once you have made an order, all your chosen items are stored to your favourites, meaning it is quick and simple to re-order your shopping next time, and you will save on the transport costs of getting to the supermarket too. There are almost always discount codes available for Tesco meaning the delivery charge is covered.

Save money and time by shopping for groceries on-line with Tesco

24/09/08

Until Tuesday 30 Sept you can get a half price mobile broadband contract from 3 through Quidco - giving you wireless internet through your laptop at broadband speed whilst on the move. The packages are for 18 months and include a dongle for free (worth £50).

Get the lite user package for just £5 per month (that's £90 over the contract term) - if you won't download over 1GB per month.

Or go for the 5GB download limit package for £7.50 per month. To monitor your usage so that you do not exceed the download limits use My3.

Both these deals are half their normal price, and make it even more cost effective to make money and save money through your laptop whilst out and about, in the ways advocated on PTS. You will also get £1.50 or £12.50 cashback from Quidco depending on which deal you go for.

Mobile broadband for as little as £5 per month

23/09/08

Ryanair have another FREE flight sale on - 3 million seats for £0 for travel October to 15th November, on days Mon-Thu and Sat (subject to availability).

Ryanair are able to offer these exceptional promotions by adding default high-rate travel insurance, charging per suitcase checked in (£6 if less than 15kg, otherwise £12), and charging to check in at the airport (£3). To avoid all these costs, choose 'no travel insurance required' (note you can get free annual travel insurance on one of the Alliance and Leicester current accounts), check in on-line before you depart, and only carry hand luggage. Avoid paying with a credit card or debit card as there is a £4 charge per person per flight - a Visa Electron carries no charge so see our PTS Daily entry dated 09/07/08 for details on how to get one. Do all this and you pay literally nothing per person per flight.

Free flights from Ryanair

22/09/08

Philips Energy Saving Light Bulbs 11 Watt (60 Watt equivalent) in-store at Morrisons currently: 5 bulbs for an amazing 50p.

Each regular light bulb that you replace with an energy saving light bulb can save up to £9 off your annual electricity bill - and they last up to 12 times longer than regular bulbs. Note that an energy-saving lightbulb starts to make savings after it has been on for 15 minutes - so they are most effective where lights are left on for long periods.

Replace 5 regular bulbs with these 5 for 50p, and cut your bill by around £45 a year.

5 energy saving lightbulbs for just 50p

21/09/08

Matter, the company behind a box of free stuff delivered to your door, that we featured at launch, has been delivering on its promises. Matter is a Royal Mail company, so reputable. Sign up to Matter and periodically receive a box of freebies from companies wanting to introduce themselves or promote something. Take a look at the contents of the first box to go out here - a pretty interesting and useful collection of items. Due to demand, October's limited box run is all taken. However, you can sign up here to be eligible for the next (note they pick select boxes for select demographics so you are unlikely to get one from each run.

Free boxes of stuff delivered to your door

20/09/08

For plants and bulbs for your garden, J Parkers mail-order service offers regular great-value deals. Typically they have a range of plants and bulbs on offer at 50-80% off, combined with a free pack of bulbs or plants for every order. See this page for their current offers and note the free gifts advertised down the right of the page.

Get plants and bulbs for up to 80% and free

19/09/08

UK house prices are still declining and based on historical precedent may continue to do so until 2014.

The UK stock market is falling and based on long valuation wave cycles may do no better than a large sideways grind until 2017.

Sterling is in decline against most currencies. As the UK flirts with recession it will struggle to regain ground.

UK inflation is around 5%, making most savings accounts returns negative in real terms.

So what to do?

1. Consider putting your money into commodity investment funds rather than savings accounts. Commodities (gold, oil, copper, grains etc) are in a bull run that is expected to last until around 2017. See our Shares and Funds page for more information. Any money that you do put in a savings account - ensure it is within an ISA tax-free wrapper where possible.

2. Consider financial spreadbetting rather than investing in shares. Spreadbetting is tax-free and allows you to bet on stocks or indices to decline as well as go up. Shares have neither of these advantages. See our Financial Spreadbetting page for more information.

3. Pay off a chunk of your mortgage if you can (whilst the common investments are offering poor returns) - interest rates may be dropped a little if economic growth slows much more, but inflation through higher food and fuel prices will support.

4. Holiday in the UK - going abroad, especially Euro-land, is now much more expensive due to sterling's drop.

Commodity investments, spreadbetting, paying off your mortgage and holidaying in the UK: ways to cope with the current economic climate

18/09/08

Apply on-line for a Premier Current Account with Alliance and Leicester through Cashback Kings (using the A&L Switching service to move your direct debits from your existing current account) and get the following:

£50 cashback through Cashback Kings

£100 cash from Alliance and Leicester

Free annual multi-trip European travel insurance worth up to £60 (upper age limit of 65 applies) - this is renewed each year, so is an on-going benefit

The account only pays 1% interest but there are no fees. You need to pay in at least £500 each month. You do not need to use it as your main current account - you could just take it out for the annual travel insurance cover and the one-off £150. If you wish to do this, then set up a standing payment from your main current account to transfer in £500 and then out again £500, and shift your direct debits away from the A&L account.

If you are unfamiliar with cashback sites like Cashback Kings see our Cashback page for more info.

£150 cash and free annual multi-trip European travel insurance

17/09/08

Get the Guardian and Observer half price for a month. Just go to the Guardian site here and get the vouchers sent to you. You will get:

40p off for Mondays to Fridays
80p off Saturdays
£1 off Sundays (for The Observer)

So worth over £15 to a regular reader. But even if you only occasionally purchase their paper, these vouchers will cut the cost in half, valid until 31/10/08.

Half price Guardian and Observer for a month

16/09/08

Get a year's life assurance for free - from Legal & General through Quidco's link here.

Here's the deal. Quidco are paying a currently increased £80 cashback for taking out a policy. The lowest monthly premium that Legal & General allow is £6. 12 months at £6 is £72. If you are new to Quidco they take an annual fee out of your first earnings of £5. You are still paying less out than you are getting back in cashback.

So what do you get for £6 a month? Click through from Quidco to Legal & General without being logged in to Quidco. Click on Get A Quote then Start Online Quote. For term put 5 years and then try a cover level of £80,000. Click Get A Quote and the monthly premium is presented. Now go fiddle with the cover level and keep recalcuating until you get as close to £6 monthly premium as possible. £80,000's worth of cover is quite possible, which means if you die at any point during the policy term they pay out £80,000.

NB: The policy 'term' is irrelevant because at no point do life assurance policies have a cash-in value. When the policy matures or expires you get nothing. And there is no penalty for stopping the policy early. You are simply covered for a fixed lump sum for as long as you keep the policy going and you can stop or cancel whenever you want.

When you are happy with your quote close down, clear cookies and log into Quidco. Click through again and complete the quote then the on-line application. Put the start date for 1-2 weeks ahead, so that you can ensure tracking on Quidco. If you have any medical conditions they may contact you for further info, otherwise you will get a pack in the post which you need to sign and return. Once the cashback is received at Quidco (normally 2 months) you are then free to close the policy at any point. Close after 12 months for a year's cover for free. Close earlier for a cash profit. Or keep the policy running for the term to get it at discount.

If you are unfamiliar with Quidco and cashback sites, see our Cashback page for more details.

Get a year's free life assurance

15/09/08

Fruit is well known to good for you. 5 portions of fruit or veg a day are recommended for your physical and mental health. So what is a fruit portion considered to be?

1 apple, banana, pear, orange or other similar sized fruit

2 plums, satsumas, kiwi fruit or other similar sized fruit

1⁄2 a grapefruit

1 large slice of melon or fresh pineapple

1 heaped tablespoon of raisins or sultanas

3 dried apricots

1 cupful of grapes, cherries or berries

1 small glass (150ml) of pure fruit juice

So what we're interested in is how these measure up price wise against one another. Checking at Tesco (so that they are compared at the same consistent pricing 'level') - here's how they look (note there will be seasonal variations):

Apple: Golden Delicious: 16p (other apples more)

Banana: 14p

Orange: 23p

2 plums: 40p

2 kiwis: 40p

1/2 a grapefruit: 10p

Large slice of Melon: Honeydew: 25p (others more)

Large slice of Pineapple: 35p

1 heaped spoonful of raisins: 8p

3 dried apricots: 6p

1 cup full of grapes: 40p

1 cup full of strawberries: 50p

1 cup full of raspberries: 60p

1 small glass 150ml pure squeezed organge juice: 20p

So, a daily 5-portion fruit diet of orange juice, grapefruit, Golden Delicious, dried apricots and a banana would come in at 66p. Meanwhile, a 5-a-day comprising orange juice, grapes, plums, strawberries and kiwis would come in at £1.90 - 3 times the cost. Over a year, the first diet would work out at £241, whilst the second would be £694 - a massive saving of £453 per person just through careful fruit selection. As a rule of thumb when shopping, look for fruit portions that work out at 30p or less: eat healthily for less.

Eat healthily, eat cheaply: the relative costs of fruits

14/09/08

You can still get mobile phone and contract deals for free, but they are not as common or as generous as previously. If you are unfamiliar with these deals, then you pay monthly for a normal contract of, say, 12 months (with a free handset and certain amount of texts and calls included in the monthly price), but by sending in select airtime bills (as dictated by the T&Cs) you get cashback, of an amount up to 100%. 100% cashback means the phone and 12 month contract become free. No catches - but usually if you mess up on sending in one or more of the airtime bills, your cashback is invalidated. The companies in question are simply hoping that you will mess up in that way, or that you continue your contract beyond the 12 months and start paying - there is no obiligation to do this - just call 1 month before you contract expires to cancel. Sending in the airtime bills therefore requires some organisation, but fairly easy organisation - as the bills come in, number them and put them in a pile where you can see them. Send the bills in (usually 3 or 4 bills are requested) by registered post for safety, and await confirmation of your cashback. That's it.

So what's available right now? This page on SayNoTo0870 lists the best deals. Stick to the reputable companies (as there have been a few dodgy companies that have gone bust) - that means Carphone Warehouse and its offspring e2save and Phones4U and its sister site Mobiles2YourDoor - no-one else. At the time of writing (the deals come and go quickly) there are 2 deals at the top of the list with 100% cashback but they have no inclusive texts and only off peak calls. However, there are then 5 offers from MobilesToYourDoor for 12 month contracts with Vodaphone at £40 per month (includes handset (Samsung J700 or Sony Ericsson T303), 600/700 anytime minutes and 250/500 texts per month) with 11 months free. That means you will be refunded by cashback for 11 months payments out of 12 (by sending in 4 airtime bills as detailed in the T&Cs), leaving you with a net cost of just £40 for the year. But - start your order through a cashback site such as Getpoundsback (type Mobiles2YourDoor into the Search) and can get £45 cashback for a contract purchase through Mobiles2YourDoor. That means a net profit of £5 for the year.

If you are unfamiliar with cashback sites such as Getpoundsback see our Cashback page for more details.

Get a 12 month mobile phone contract and handset for free, plus £5 profit, through cashback

13/09/08

Get a free eye test currently from Dolland and Aitchison through the voucher on their site found here. There is a second voucher for £50 off a pair of glasses if you spend over £100. The two vouchers are independent and if you only choose the free eye test there is no obligation to purchase anything.

Free eye test from D&A

12/09/08

The latest 90-day free trial code from Lovefilm is 86MCXHD8D. This gives you 3 months' free DVD rentals by post, with nothing to pay and no commitment as long as you cancel your account and send back your last DVDs before the 3 months are up.

We have posted such codes several times before and it has always been possible to keep re-activating your old account with a new code to get 3-month free trials again and again. However, this time they appear to have tightened up on this. So, if your partner hasn't had an account with Lovefilm, get them to sign up and apply the code.

Go to Lovefilm, click on Start Free Trial, then ensure you enter 86MCXHD8D in the Promotion or Gift Code field (to replace the 2 weeks free trial with a 90 days free trial). You will be offered different packages - go for unlimited 3 (or combination 3 if you want games) to be able to have 3 DVDs at once at home. You will then be asked for card details and advised that you will not pay anything until the free trial ends. Enter your current account debit card if possible, then you can have the security of being able cancel the direct debit if it appears pending on your account - but this is extra security is not required. You just need to make sure they have your last DVDs back before the 3 months are up - so cancel your account a week before that date (you will be advised what the date is when you complete registration), and send back the DVDs, ensuring there are a few days to allow for the post.

Never done on-line DVD rental before? You first need to put together a list of DVDs that you want to watch by searching their catalogue (around 20 should ensure a constant supply), and then assign priorities. Lovefilm will send you DVDs as they become available, three at a time, first class, in special envelopes. When you've finished watching one, send back using the envelope it arrived in, which is first class and free. Lovefilm will post your next DVD(s), and so it continues until you reach the end of your 90 day free trial. Keep adding new films to your on-line list to maintain the flow of DVDs to your door.

3 months free DVD rentals from Lovefilm

11/09/08

*Update 17/9: Seats now available for £5*

Ryanair have another FREE flight sale on - 3 million seats at just £1 (their system can't handle £0) for travel in September to October, or October to December (depending on destination)and on days Mon-Thu and Sat (subject to availability).

Ryanair are able to offer these exceptional promotions by adding default high-rate travel insurance, charging per suitcase checked in (£6 if less than 15kg, otherwise £12), and charging to check in at the airport (£3). To avoid all these costs, choose 'no travel insurance required' (note you can get free annual travel insurance on one of the Alliance and Leicester current accounts), check in on-line before you depart, and only carry hand luggage. Avoid paying with a credit card or debit card as there is a £4 charge per person per flight - a Visa Electron carries no charge so see our PTS Daily entry dated 09/07/08 for details on how to get one. Do all this and you will pay no more than £1 per person per flight.

Fly for £1/£5 with Ryanair

10/09/08

When you dial your bank, utility, phone operator or other, needing specifically to speak to someone, there is usually a series of laborious automated touchtone menus that you have to go through before you are offered the option of speaking to a representative. To bypass these menus, and thereby save time, try pressing 0, 0#, #0, 0* or *0. Most companies have one of these combinations set as their bypass rule. Alernatively from the outset just hold, and don't press anything, pretending you have an old rotary phone with a dial and no touchtone. Again, most companies will have rule whereby this non-action will bypass the menus and go straight to an agent.

Save time when you need to speak to an agent for phone banking or similar 

09/09/08

Following on from the entry below, armed with your laptop, handset and solar power charger, you could take to the road with pedal power and portable accommodation and enjoy a high-tech low-cost set-up for sustainable travel: income through the laptop, zero fuel costs and negligible accommodation costs. Here are the cycle trailer options:

The nomad bicycle tent trailer from Tony's Trailers

The German Speedlobster tent trailer

Or you could pick up the excellent Bob Ibex trailer and carry a regular tent. See here and click on Where To Buy to find the UK distributors.

Or if you'd rather cycle but stay in B&Bs or hotels, then Koga-Myata offer a trailer that unfolds into a chair, table, telescopic stand (to be used for camera, lamp, safety flag etc.) and daypack with solar cells to charge a GPS or mobile phone: see here.

If you want to cycle globally, then consider the Wandertec system which is a trailer to carry cargo whilst cycling, but converts to a case in which to pack your bike as protected luggage whilst flying: see here.

Take to the road with a cycle and tent trailer or cargo trailer: zero fuel costs and negligible accommodation costs

08/09/08

In our PTS Daily entry dated 14/06/08 we linked to solar power devices to charge your mobile phone, PDA, camcorder, and the ultimate: a solar-powered charger for your laptop. The latter from Uni-pac was pretty expensive, designed for military use. We are therefore interested to see the imminent arrival of Solargorilla, another solar charger for laptops (plus all smaller devices such as mobiles), this time from Powertraveller, a firm based in the UK (see the Arriving Soon section). They have a range of solar chargers for the smaller devices that are available now, and they are very keenly priced. We therefore have hope for the Solargorilla, which will be available for purchase Q4 this year.

Solar chargers allow you to reduce your dependency on the National Grid (a one-off outlay for ongoing free power), or they can enable a life on the move. Our Make Money pages demonstrate how to make a good income just through your laptop. A laptop and a portable power station therefore make for a fairly potent combination. Just add a mobile phone or a VOIP handset, and a dongle for mobile broadband, and a life permanently on the road can become a reality. 

Charge your laptop and devices by solar power

07/09/08

Marks and Spencer on-line: get free delivery, products on offer, and a total of 20% off on top of these currently.

Marks and Spencer are currently offering free delivery for on-line purchases.

T&Cs: Free standard delivery is available on all clothing, home and wine orders. The delivery charge for flowers, fruit baskets and Made to Measure shirts is included in the price. Gift card and lunchtogo orders are excluded from this offer.

To make use of this free delivery, go to their Offers page to pick up one of their current deals - items that are reduced or on 2-for-1.

Once you've decided what to buy, don't buy yet. Go through Quidco<