Cash, Cars and Babes

Quite a lot of places encourage this system each Christmas - the Secret Santa method of making sure everyone gets a gift. The idea? Something along the lines of putting names into a hat, everyone pulls out a name and secretly buys a present for them.

Whilst the idea is all well and good, there are a few issues involved with the concept:

• What if you pick a name of somebody you don't know very well? Or you don't even like?!
• What if you draw the boss?!
• Do you choose the joke present or just play it safe?
• What should the price limit be? Esepcially in the current climate?

Or...you could just forget the whole idea, and save yourself some money!

More and more parents with kids over 25 are helping them when it comes to paying for their mortgages. New research by Engage Mutual Assurance found that nearly half of parents, who do provide financial support, help with the cost of moving or buying a new home – and that includes keeping on top of mortgage repayments.

It found that more than a quarter if parents with over-25s were helping – 31% were still giving pocket money.  

As the property market dwindles, we are seeing more and more homes being added to the rental market until they can be sold. This has resulted in massive pressure on rental yields and pushed rental income lower and lower - a potentially serious problem if buy-to-let owners are relying on rental income to remain financially stable.

There is also concern that more homes will be added to the rental market for the short to medium term, placing even more pressure on a market that will suffer further.

Rumours are growing regarding Gordon Brown and the UK government issuing tax cuts to many UK taxpayers, to the value of at least £15billion. Can the UK really afford this though?

There is already the concern that UK debt is getting out of control, as government debt is now nearing £600bn. Surely, adding to this will only make the situation worse? The value will already take decades to pay back.

Gordon seems to be taking risks with the economy - the outcome is yet to be seen.

The sale of payment protection insurance alongside secured loans and other credit agreements is to be reduced, by banning lenders from selling the product at the time when the loan is taken out. Instead, they have to wait 14 days before contacting borrowers about the PPI option.

This is to try and prevent the amount of PPI policies which are being mis-sold to consumers, by giving the consumers more time to assess whether they need it or not and give them the option to shop around for cheaper alternatives.

The watchdog are also considering temporary price cap on PPI policies, to reduce the cost of cover. It will also allow for better information for customers, to allow them to make an informed decision on what they need, if they need one at all.

Food bills are predicted to be higher this year, as an increasing budget will go on food and groceries over the festive season - and not because people are buying more, but because inflation will add to their budgets.

People are being more picky about what they spend their money on - the main prioritiy being the basics.

According to some research, UK consumers will spend over £80bn with retailers in the last quarter of the year, with 38% of shoppers' spending over Christmas being for food and groceries. The sale of electrical goods is also ecpected to rise by 4.6%, to £8.3bn.

UK mortgage lenders have recently been reshuffling their deals, as news of the Bank of England cutting rates to 3%, hits home.

Three major lenders are re-launching their tracker deals, but are widening the margin between the rate they offer and the Bank's rate.

Lloyds TSB, Cheltenham & Gloucester and Abbey & Alliance & Leicester have all started to market new tracker deals for new customers. However, buyers will have to face biger deposit requirements for some of the deals.

Abbey are offering a 2-year tracker deal for those borrowers with a 25% deposit at a rate of 4.99% - 1.99% above the Bank's rate.

The amount of credit cards which are now avaiable with 0% balance transfers are reducing in numbers.

According to moneyexpert.com, there has been a 7% fall in the number of firms offering such a deal, with 75% offering them, instead of 82% this time last year.

This means that customers who have been managing their debt by surfing their credit cards won't be able to do it for much longer.

The introductory period for 0% balance transfer deals is also dropping - the average now being 9.5months.

The amount of bullying which occurs in the workplace could increase due to the credit crunch. According to research, job insecurity could lead to more bullying.

It is also feared that people will be less likely to complain about bullying, because of concerns they could lose their job.

Apparently methods of workplace bullying vary between genders. Men are more verbal - bullying via shouting and swearing, as well as finger pointing and pushing in some cases. Women are more subtle, such as excluding people.

The Ulster Bank believes that Northern Ireland will be hit the hardest in the recession, in comparison to the rest of the UK.

The bank predicts Northern Ireland employment could peak at 50,000 next year and has said that the NI economy is particularly exposed to the economic downturn in the housing and retail sectors. Their economists also belive that Northern Ireland have been exposed to a much more rapid downturn in their economy in comparison to the rest of the UK, and believe they will be hit harder as the recession looms.

The new James Bond film was released to the general public on Friday 31st October, and has broken box office records in its opening weekend in the UK, by taking £15.5m in 3 days.

Quantum of Solace took a further £14.2m in France and Sweden and has beat the previous record of £14.9m, held by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.