Start Planning for Christmas and Everything Else Too?

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Listening to the Radio on  the way into work this morning, and it turns out that nearly half of us have used some form of debt to pay for Christmas this year.

According to the BBC, the average amount put on credit cards, overdrafts and the like is just over £300.

Combined with this, the news also told me that several retailers had record sales figures on Boxing Day as well this year.

What's going on?

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Your finances as a Couple

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A lot of this post is deeply personal, but I've decided to share my feelings for a couple of reasons.

 

1. When you and your partner are pulling in different directions financially, it causes huge problems in your relationship.

 

2. All the other posts I have read on couples and money have been from a reasonable point of view.

 

So what happens, or what should you do, if your partner doesn't respond to reason?

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Coming to the End of My Mobile Phone Contract

This is currently how I have to recharge my mobile phone...

Turns out my "trusty" Samsung Galaxy S1, is probably more "rusty" than trusty. For a while now, it's had it's problems, and then 2 weeks ago I dropped it in the bath...

It's those damn breast pockets. Ideal placement for your mobile until you bend over like I did getting my son out of the bath. Doh!

I fished it out quickly, took the battery out and left it near a radiator to dry out overnight. Thing is, it wasn't very well before I did this, so I've been oggling new phones and trying not to fall for any hype over any NBT (Next Big Thing).

So what am I doing about it?

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More About Money and Happiness

After writing a post recently called What is Happiness and Can I Afford It? I had a few more thoughts about how money and happiness (or contentedness) are inter-related.

There's the old saying that money doesn't buy you happiness, which can be further extended: but it does make being miserable more comfortable.

 

On the other hand, let's not forget that wealthy people are still the same as the rest of us. Their hormones work in the same way, and so do their nerve endings. They still have the same feelings. 

It's all a question of your perspective and attitude. For example:

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Make Your Car More Efficient

Fuel is soooo expensive these days, or rather the huge amount of tax on it is. It's the major price of car ownership, and if you're like me living in the country, it may well be a necessity too.

Fortunately today, the UK's chancellor decided once again to put off the 3p rise in fuel duty he had planned to introduce next month, but that won't happen forever. As sure as eggs is eggs, fuel prices are going to go up again some time soon.

On the plus side, modern cars get ever more efficient, but if you can't afford to change your car right now, what do you do?

You can actually make your car more efficient without having to learn one end of a spanner from the other. Here are a few very basic tips to help you save.

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Reaching My Target

Well, a couple of weeks ago I finally reached 40.

Am I happy about this? No not really, no one wants to get old, and the "old" jokes from my colleagues in the office have got "old" really fast...

So why this post?

Basically, because I had a target to be debt free, (apart from the mortgage), by then.

Did I make it?