Dave Thorp's Blog » credit crunch http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk The musings of Dave Thorp Fri, 14 Oct 2011 11:53:21 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Back From The Dead http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/2009/02/03/back-from-the-dead/ http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/2009/02/03/back-from-the-dead/#comments Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:40:28 +0000 Dave http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/?p=524 Well it seems that Woolworths have been rescued from the the brink of death (after all the stores closed but hey). A quick gander at http://www.woolworths.co.uk suggests they are on the way back and are now owned by shop direct group who amonst other things own the littlewoods group of catalogues that wont give me credit!

Is this good… well that remains to be seen!

]]> http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/2009/02/03/back-from-the-dead/feed/ 0 Well done to O2 as well http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/2008/11/25/well-done-to-o2-as-well/ http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/2008/11/25/well-done-to-o2-as-well/#comments Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:48:12 +0000 Dave http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/?p=382 O2 are also passing on the VAT reduction to their customers

Thanks for emailing us about the VAT
If the VAT will be reduced from 17.5% to 15% from 01 December 2008, as per the government guideline then you’ll be charged the VAT amount at the rate of 15% for your future bills.

You were charged an advance line rental from 13 November 2008 to 12 December 2008 on your November bill. When the VAT has been reduced to 15%, please email us, we’ll credit the difference of 2.5% that you’ve been charged from 01 December 2008 to 12 December 2008 on our November bill.

I hope I’ve explained this clearly for you. For further information on your account and our products, please check our website on:

www.o2.co.uk

Important – When you email us please provide: your date of birth, postcode and mobile number as it helps us answer your query faster.

Kind regards

Rajyalakshmi Puda
O2 Customer Service

]]> http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/2008/11/25/well-done-to-o2-as-well/feed/ 0 Vat Reduction – Well done virgin media http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/2008/11/25/vat-reduction-well-done-virgin-media/ http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/2008/11/25/vat-reduction-well-done-virgin-media/#comments Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:29:11 +0000 Dave http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/?p=377 Just had a reply from my e-mail sent to the chief executive of virgin media, Neil Berkett about the reduction in VAT. I am pleased to say that they will be passing the reduction onto their customer base.

His e-mail to me was as follows:

Yes we will be reducing the VAT rate for all our customers from December 1st (per the pre budget) This may include the use of credits in the first instance as we prebill for some charges. As you can imagine this is not a trivial exercise and we are working on the exact actions as we speak!

]]> http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/2008/11/25/vat-reduction-well-done-virgin-media/feed/ 2 VAT Reduced – Make sure you get your share http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/2008/11/24/vat-reduced-make-sure-you-get-your-share/ http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/2008/11/24/vat-reduced-make-sure-you-get-your-share/#comments Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:07:30 +0000 Dave http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/?p=370 As many people will know the VAT rate is due to be cut from 17.5% to 15%. What many people might not know is that the monthly fee they pay for services like cable, telephone, sky, broadband, mobile phones and anything else but Gas and Electricty includes VAT and as such should be affected by this cut.

I will be sending the following letter off to my suppliers tomorrow

[ADDRESS]

[ACCOUNT/REFERENCE NUMBER]

[DATE]

Dear Sir/Madam,

I write regarding my service with you and my latest bill which includes a service charge for the period after 1st December 2008. As you will no doubt be aware my bills include VAT charged at 17.5% however the VAT rate is due to drop on this date to 15%.

I assume my current bill will be recalculated to include this reduction in the VAT rate and all future bills from your company will have VAT included at the new rate. Please confirm this to me in writing at your earliest opportunity

Yours Faithfully

[NAME]

]]> http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/2008/11/24/vat-reduced-make-sure-you-get-your-share/feed/ 0 Child Trust Fund http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/2008/07/04/child-trust-fund/ http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/2008/07/04/child-trust-fund/#comments Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:42:11 +0000 Dave http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/?p=341 Those with kids (or those in the know) will know the Government launched a new scheme a few years ago called the Child Trust Fund which gave a Government contribution and then allowed money to be saved into it

Both Stuart and Alex have these funds with the same provider with Stuart having £500 invested by the Government and Alex having £250 (so far… should get another £250 as well). The problem…..

The money is invested in a stakeholder fund. There are two types of fund stakeholder which is based on stocks and shares and a savings fund which is simply a savings account.

Due to the credit crunch and the various problems the economy is currently having unfortunately this means that both Stuart and Alex have lost money (Stuart has lost £90 so far and Alex in the four months of his life has lost £34).

So I guess what I’m asking is if anyone in the know could advise on whether to either

a) Keep the money where it is in hope the economy stabalises and the stakeholder funds actually start performing

b) Cut the losses and transfer the money into a savings based trust fund

Advise, or failing that stories on how other parents funds are performing appreciated

]]> http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/2008/07/04/child-trust-fund/feed/ 0 Rola food http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/2007/04/28/rola-food/ http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/2007/04/28/rola-food/#comments Sat, 28 Apr 2007 19:42:23 +0000 Dave http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/?p=187 Most supermarkets now operate a basics/economy/rola/smart price food range. These are normally a cheaper version of their mainstream products.

Normally this comes down to a more basic recipe, cheaper ingredients or some other more basic produce. However there are some products that surely cannot be more basic.

We purchased a sainsburys basics pack of eggs today for £0.54. The normal eggs are £0.80-£1.00. Now here is where the cheaper range gets interesting. An egg comes from a hens behind and once that happens it is simply a potential baby chicken in a shell. So what is the difference between the basic eggs and the normal range.

The only thing I can think of is that perhaps the basic range of eggs come from hens that cannot afford to send their children to private school. Other than that there is no real difference.

Perhaps people should consider that more when shopping and choose the cheaper version of a product when there can be no real difference between that and the more expensive version

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