A quickie today to let you know about a special promotion that is currently being run by the online payment platform Circle.
Anyone is welcome to enter their Education or Every Nation promo, whether or not they have an account with Circle already (if you don’t, you will need to sign up for free).
Everyone entering goes into a draw for a prize of a round-the-world trip or getting their university fees paid off – your choice. Luckily for me, I went to uni in the days students got grants rather than loans, so I asked for the world trip đ
But in addition, you get a guaranteed mystery cash prize of anywhere from 50p to ÂŁ50 credited to your account. I got ÂŁ0.61, but a colleague received ÂŁ2.67. You can also introduce friends and relatives to this promotion (once you have entered yourself). For each one who signs up via your referral link – which is provided once you enter – you will get an extra prize draw entry and another mystery cash prize.
If you are a member of Prolific Academic – one of my favourite sideline earning opportunities – you may well have a Circle account already. It is a bit like PayPal, except the fees are lower!
Finally, please note that this is a limited-term promotion. I will aim to update this post as soon I know that it has closed, but to avoid disappointment I recommend entering as soon as possible.
Today I want to share a sideline-earning opportunity that may be of interest if you have a bit of time available during the week or at weekends.
A company called Viewber is recruiting people to conduct property viewings on behalf of local estate agents who donât have any staff free to do it themselves.
As a Viewber (the name is also used by the company to describe its viewing agents) you will be asked to attend a property at a specified date and time to show a potential buyer or tenant round.
You will therefore need to obtain the key beforehand (or get it from a key safe), welcome viewers when they arrive, and let them in. You then follow at a discreet distance while they look round, answer any questions they may have (or refer them to the estate agent), show them out, and secure the property again.
You are also asked to report in writing to the estate agent afterwards with any information you have gleaned about the viewers that might be useful to them, e.g. if they are cash buyers or have looked at a lot of other properties already.
Who Can Do It?
In principle anyone can be a Viewber. You need to be reasonably smart and professional looking (as with estate agents generally). And, of course, you will need a polite and friendly manner and good communication skills.
The job is popular with retired and semi-retired individuals (like many readers of this blog) who are looking to supplement their income. It also attracts quite a few people who are ex-military or police, as well as former teachers, estate agents and other professionals. But any experience working with the public will be relevant and should assist your application.
Having your own transport is clearly desirable (though you can specify how far from home you are willing to travel). You will also need a mobile phone to contact the estate agents when required.
Although this asks about experience and qualifications in the property field, this is definitely not a requirement (I had neither but was accepted without quibble).
You are also required to upload a photograph of yourself so that the company can see you donât look like an escaped convict.
You can expect to receive a reply to your application within a few days. Mine came by email. I was accepted on the basis of my application and photo, without any need for an interview.
You will then have to go through the companyâs vetting procedure. This involves providing a copy of your driving licence or passport and a recent utility bill or bank statement showing your name and address. You will also need to provide bank details, so they can pay you.
Once you’re fully approved, you will be able to log in to your personal dashboard on the Viewber website. Here you will be able to view a range of information, including details of any jobs you have completed so far. You can also enter on a calendar any periods you are unavailable (e.g. on holiday).
Then itâs simply a matter of waiting for invitations to arrive by email. You arenât under any obligation to accept these if youâre otherwise engaged â but if you do want to accept, you will need to do so quickly, before the job gets taken by someone else.
What It Pays
The basic pay is ÂŁ20 for a single viewing of up to 30 minutes. Additionally if you have to travel by car there is a mileage allowance of 25p a mile, or ÂŁ4 travel allowance in London.
If you are conducting multiple viewings at the same time or an âopen houseâ you will be paid more, up to ÂŁ135 for a full day.
Additional fees are payable for taking (non-professional) photos of the property if requested and other services such as performing a property inspection.
Top Tips
Here are a few more tips on making the most of this opportunity.
Both viewers and agents can rate Viewbers, and this can affect the type and number of opportunities you are offered. Itâs important to provide the best service you possibly can, therefore.
You will be sent information about the property concerned beforehand, so read this carefully and make a note of any particular things a viewer might want to know about.
There is also an online manual for Viewbers, so again read this carefully. Itâs only a few pages long but covers most of the things you need to be aware of.
Greet viewers by name and be prepared to answer any general questions they may have, e.g. about the area if youâre familiar with it. For more detailed questions about the property, though, refer them to the estate agent. If possible, phone the agent there and then on the number provided.
Viewber is still new, which means there are currently more opportunities in some areas than in others. However, that does mean now is a great time to apply and start gaining experience, with the prospect of more work in the coming months as the service gains traction among estate agents.
In my view, if you want an interesting and varied sideline income stream â and enjoy meeting people and looking round houses â applying to be a Viewber has a lot to recommend it!
If you own an Android smartphone, here’s a great risk-free opportunity to win cash and prizes from it.
Lucky Leftovers is an Android app that takes advantage of your monthly text allowance. Nowadays most people get ‘unlimited’ texts on their mobile contracts, but unless perhaps they are teenagers they may only send a few texts a month. Lucky Leftovers allows you to put this mostly wasted allowance to good use.
Once you are signed up with Lucky Leftovers – which is free – you can enter any of the giveaways listed. You can enter just once or (better) daily. Once you have chosen the contests you want to enter, the app (in conjunction with your phone) will submit entries for you every day, with no other input required from you.
Just to make clear, these are not the type of contest where you are charged a fee per text (which I don’t recommend at all). So long as you have an inclusive monthly or prepaid contract and stay within your allowance, you will not be charged anything for entering these contests.
If you are lucky you will win a prize, but even if not you will get a point for every entry. The points can be converted to Amazon vouchers or cash in your PayPal account once you have earned ÂŁ5 or more (see What Are Points Worth? below).
The prizes aren’t spectacular, but they aren’t bad either. Here is a screen capture showing some of them…
Other prizes on offer at the time of writing include Bluetooth speakers, headphones, a trip up the London Shard, two Lion King tickets, a remote-controlled drone, a PlayStation 4, and plain old cash. If you win a prize but don’t want it, you can usually request a cash equivalent.
As you may have noticed, many of the giveaways are also raising money for charities.
Table of Contents
What are points worth?
I’ll resist the temptation to say “What do Points Make? Prizes!” (rest in peace, Sir Bruce).
Each point on Lucky Leftovers is worth ÂŁ0.001p. In other words, 10 points are worth a penny, 100 are 10p, 1000 are ÂŁ1, and 5000 are ÂŁ5.00.
ÂŁ5 is the minimum threshold to request a payment. You might think it will take a long time to accumulate 5000 points, but actually if you submit 5000 prize-draw entries a month, that would give you ÂŁ5 every month (plus any prizes you win, of course).
That’s not the whole of it, though…
Extra ways to earn points
As mentioned, you get one point for every entry, including automated entries.
There are other ways to earn points as well, though. You can do so by watching short videos (typically promoting games) via the app. You seem to get anywhere between 10 and 30 points per video you watch, so this can boost your total quite quickly.
In addition, you can earn points by purchasing via selected retailers listed on the app (see screen capture below). You get ‘cashback’ on these purchases, which is paid to you in the form of points.
Finally, you can get extra points by referring other people or joining via someone else’s referral link. More about this below!
Watch your limits
I said earlier that most people nowadays have an ‘unlimited’ texts allowance, but that doesn’t apply to everyone. If you are on a cheap deal there may be an upper limit every month, and you don’t want to exceed this or you will start being charged extra. You should also to allow for the fact that you may want to send some text messages to friends and relatives yourself, so you need to leave a few in reserve!
Even if you do have an ‘unlimited’ allowance, so-called fair usage restrictions typically apply. A common one is an upper limit of 5000 texts a month. Again, you don’t want to exceed this. Check with your provider if you are unsure what your monthly limits are.
The good news is that Lucky Leftovers allows you to set maximum daily and monthly texting limits on your Settings page. You can start low to test the water if you like, and increase the numbers as you gain confidence. That’s what I did, incidentally.
Will you be spammed?
This is obviously a concern with any app of this nature, but my experience so far has been entirely positive. I have not received a single spam text or phone call as a result of using the app. This has also been the experience of others using the app longer than I have.
Get 500 points through me!
As mentioned earlier, Lucky Leftovers has a referral scheme that lets you earn points by referring others. So here is my referral link. If you click through this and install the app, you will be credited with 500 points (worth 50p), and so will I. That’s a nice little bonus to start you on the way to your first ÂŁ5!
Good luck if you do decide to join up with Lucky Leftovers. I hope you win lots of points and prizes.
If you have any comments or questions, as always, please do leave them below.
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Today I’m bringing you an infographic created by I Will, a firm of solicitors who specialize in will writing.
I thought this summed up very well the importance of making a will and having it done properly, so I wanted to share it with readers of this blog. It’s quite a long graphic, so please take a little time to scroll down it, and I’ll see you at the other end!
Thanks again to I Will Solicitors (not an affiliate link) for permission to use their graphic. There are some valuable tips in it, not least the advice to use a properly qualified solicitor. In the last few years I have had a couple of experiences when failing to do this has caused problems..
One actually concerned the will of my late partner. We had created mirror wills some years before, using a well-known postal will-writing service. At their suggestion we named the will-writing company as joint executors, as their representative said this meant they would be able to step in and help if required.
Sadly my partner passed away and I then discovered that having the company as a named executor meant I couldn’t have the local solicitor I wanted handle the estate on my behalf. It took several months (and a lot of hassle I could really have done without) to get them to renounce their interest in the will so that my preferred legal firm could take over.
Another instance concerned a family member who passed away earlier this year. I don’t want to go into detail about this, for obvious reasons, but he had used a family friend who ran a will-writing service to create his will. The will was poorly drafted and did not make clear exactly how the estate should be divided up. The result was a bitter dispute between two of the main beneficiaries, which ended with an outcome that was probably far from what he had intended.
So my top tips with wills would be (a) make sure you have one, (b) have it drawn up by a qualified solicitor, and (c) give careful thought to whom you name as executor. For other advice, please refer to the infographic above!
If you have any comments or questions, as ever, please do post them below.
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Today I’m delighted to bring you a guest post from my UK money blogging colleague Fiona Hawkes.
Fiona’s post covers a subject I am sure many readers of this blog will be able to relate to – how to have a great day out with the grandchildren without spending a fortune.
Over to Fiona, then…
There are currently around 14 million grandparents in the UK and more and more of them are taking on the role of childminder for their grandchildren, as growing costs mean that more families need both parents to work to make ends meet.
One in three over-fifties in the UK are grandparents and they help families cut the costs of more formal childcare arrangements – especially during the long six-week summer holidays.
But some grandparents may find that the continual extra mouths to feed and days of entertaining the little darlings are having an impact on their own finances. While the older generation of course love their children and grandchildren and want to help out however they can, it shouldn’t come at the expense of their own financial health.
While this generation of grandparents may be the ones who know how to be thrifty and make do and mend, they may not be quite so savvy when it comes to saving money online, for example.
I realise most grandparents may already have plenty of thrifty ideas for days out – picnics in the park, feeding the ducks, museums, etc – so in this post I am going to discuss ways to save money on the more expensive days out, e.g. to theme parks and attractions.
While they may not be the sort of thing you want to (or could afford to!) do every day, I do think children and adults alike look forward to days out doing something fun and different, such as country farms, zoos and trips to the cinema.
Saving on Trips To Adventure Parks, Zoos and Farms
Down here in Somerset there are several local attractions that we usually try and make a visit to during the summer holidays. These include Crealy Adventure Park, Woodlands, Longleat Safari Park and Bristol Zoo. I know there are similar parks dotted all over the country and there are bound to be similar ones near you. Wherever you are based, though, there is bound to be one thing in common – entry is not cheap.
Here are my tips for saving on adventurous days out with your grandchildren.
Book online. Most places offer discounts of between 10% and 20% if you pre-book tickets up to 48 hours in advance.
Check out sites like Groupon and Living Social for discounted tickets and cheaper entry special events. Bristol Zoo, for example, has special evening events throughout the year.
Some places offer a ‘return in the next 7 days for free’ – plan in advance to ensure you are able to take up this offer and get two days out for the price of one.
Most pubs, shopping centres, etc, have leaflets offering discount vouchers – look out for these and pick a few up when you see them.
Use OAP discounts and Family tickets wherever you can.
Annual membership could save hundreds if you live close to a popular attraction and plan to go there often. If you’ve already bought tickets for that day they will often be deducted from the cost of an annual pass.
Look out for free open days â I recently attended one that offered free tractor rides and animal petting at a local farm.
Saving on Trips to The Cinema
Trips to the cinema can soon start adding up – tickets alone can be as much as ÂŁ10 each (I’m looking at you, Odeon!) and that’s before adding in drinks, sweets and popcorn!
If you’ve used Compare the Market in the last year and opted in then you should be entitled to 2 for 1 cinema tickets at participating cinemas on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. You can download the app, apply the code when booking online or print it out to show at the cinema. If you haven’t used Compare the Market before buy inexpensive travel insurance once and get 2 for 1 tickets for a year. Valid for two people. Don’t forget to check this is cheaper than a family ticket. Plus, this offer can be used when you don’t have the grandchildren too!
During the school holidays and most Saturdays and Sundays many cinemas have cheap kids’ movies being screened. These films tend to be older ones that have been around a while but tickets are much cheaper and usually the same price for adults and children. Showings are usually in the morning, around 10am, and will be called something like âKids AMâ or âKids Clubâ.
Take you own (well hidden) drinks and snacks. Wilko’s is our favorite for pick ‘n’ mix and Poundland is great for 2 for ÂŁ1 bottles of fizzy drink and ÂŁ1 bags of chocolates.
Saving on Eating out in the Holidays
Eating out in the holidays with grandchildren can be tricky. Places like McDonald’s offer a quick fix but aren’t really what can be considered a ‘nice’ dining experience. Go to somewhere ‘family friendly’ like Harvester and the cost soon starts to creep up. Try these tips for saving on eating out with grandchildren.
Loads of places offer ‘Kids eat free’ or ‘Kids eat for ÂŁ1’ during the holidays. Find a list online and plan your days around where it’s cheap (but nice!) to eat.
Tastecard offers 2 for 1 meals at lots of chain restaurants including Prezzo, Zizzi and Ask as well as many local eateries too. If you can’t save on the kids’ meals at least you can save on the grown ups! Tastecard is around ÂŁ30 for a year but we usually make that back after two meals out. [Note from Nick: You can get the similar Gourmet Society discount card for just ÂŁ3.99 if you get an NUS Extra card, as described in this recent post.]
Wherever you plan to eat, always check for vouchers online before you go or download a vouchers app such as vouchercloud.
With older children and teens who have a big appetite, something like Pizza Hut’s Pizza buffet is a great choice as they can eat as much as they like for one set price. It can also be great for fussy eaters as if they don’t like something they can choose something different without it costing any more money.
I hope you find these tips helpful in planning some cheaper days out with your grandchildren!
Byline: Fiona Hawkes (pictured, right) is a personal finance blogger who loves saving money almost as much as she loves spending it. She saves hard to be able to live better, afford a few small luxuries and see a bit more of the world. Fiona blogs at www.savvyinsomerset.com. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Many thanks to Fiona for an enjoyable and thought-provoking article. Do you have any additional tips to share for having a great day out with the grandchildren (or children) without it breaking the bank? If so, please do post them below!
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According to a recent story in The Telegraph, Britain is in the middle of a laziness epidemic. This applies especially to over-40s, with four in ten failing to manage even one 10 minute brisk walk a month.
The effect of all this inactivity can be devastating. It is estimated that physical inactivity directly contributes to one in six deaths in the UK. On the other hand, Public Health England (PHE) say that one brisk walk a day is enough to cut the risk of early death by as much as 15 per cent. It can also prevent or delay the onset of disability, and further reduce the risk of serious health conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, dementia and some cancers.
To encourage middle-aged and older people to get more active, PHE has launched a free smartphone app called Active 10. As the name suggests, this aims to encourage adults to do at least 10 minutes’ brisk walk every day.
The app is available for both Apple and Android phones, and is quick and easy to install. Using sensors in your phone, the app measures when youâve reached a target speed (about 3 miles an hour) and when you keep that going for 10 minutes.
The app allows for the fact that you might have to stop at traffic lights or for some other reason, so you can slow down for up to 2 minutes of any 10 minute period and this will still count as an Active 10.
You can set your own targets, maybe starting with just one Active 10 a day and going up to two or more as you build your fitness. You can also do longer walks – Active 20, say – for even greater health benefits.
Active 10 is aimed at those in the 40 to 60 age group, but in my view many people over 60 could benefit equally (or even more) by using it. I like the fact that 10 minutes a day isn’t too daunting to start off with, even for couch potatoes like me, but can still bring you considerable health benefits.
I am already enjoying using the app and there is a surprising amount of satisfaction in achieving your daily goals and seeing them recorded on the app.
As they say at the end of the Active 10 homepage, stop scrolling and start strolling đ
Or if you prefer cycling to walking, you can get bike discounts here!
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I saw a great blog post by my fellow money blogger Andy Webb this week that I wanted to share with my own readers.
Andy runs a popular blog called Be Clever With Your Cash. In his latest blog post he reveals a way anyone can quite legitimately get their hands on an NUS Extra card, whether or not they are a student. As far as I know there are no age limits either.
Once you have your NUS Extra card – which if you use the method Andy describes will cost you ÂŁ13.50 – you will qualify for student discounts on a huge range of products and services. Some of the best discounts mentioned by Andy include:
Apple student discount – If youâre going to buy an iMac, iPad or Macbook then having an NUS card means you can get the Education Discount. Itâs worth up to 10% off, and if you buy in August and September Andy says you can usually get some free Beats headphones thrown in.
Spotify student discount – Spotify Premium normally costs ÂŁ9.99. Students can get it for just ÂŁ5 a month. Apple Music has a similar deal.
Cinema student discounts – Most cinemas will have a discount for students, but Andy says the best is Odeon, which offers an extra 25% off student prices Monday to Thursday.
Amazon Prime student discount – Students get six-months free with Amazon Prime, then pay just ÂŁ39 a year for three years. That’s an amazing deal and makes paying ÂŁ13.50 for an NUS card well worth doing on its own.
STA Travel student flights – Andy says he and his partner have used their ISICs (which now come as standard on one-year NUS cards) to get huge discounts on flights. “This year though Iâve noticed a few additional restrictions. Virgin and British Airways have added an age limit of around 30 or 32 years old. I donât know about other airlines, but itâs ruled me out! However if you can get these, the savings can be massive.”
The full method is described in Andy’s blog post, which I urge you to click through and read. But briefly it involves signing up for a distance learning course with an NUS-approved institution such as Shaw Academy. The latter offers a wide range of inexpensive courses on subjects ranging from Photo Shop to financial trading. But if you don’t want to pay anything at all, you can cancel before their 30 days’ free-trial period is up. You will still be able to apply for an NUS Extra card, costing ÂŁ12 a year plus ÂŁ1.50 post and packing.
A further benefit is that as an NUS member you can get a Gourmet Society card for just ÂŁ3.99 a year (a considerable discount on the normal price). If you enjoy dining out at restaurants, you could save a lot of money using this card (up to 50% on food and drinks), even if you do get the odd snarky comment about being a bit old to be a student (just tell them you believe in life-long learning!).
Thank you to Andy for a valuable and eye-opening post. If you have any comments or questions about this, as always, please do post them below.
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As a home-based worker of a certain age, I must admit I was slow to see the benefit of mobile phones, but wouldn’t be without mine now. I have a mid-range Samsung J5 smartphone and use it all the time at home and when I’m out.
And, of course, for older people generally, having a phone with you is a reassurance in case of accident or emergency, and lets you stay in touch with family and friends wherever you are.
Nowadays the mobile phone market is hugely competitive and you can choose from a vast range of handsets and tariffs. But I’ll start with a word about the most basic choice of all…
Smartphones vs Dumbphones
The first decision you have to make is between a simple mobile phone that just does voice and texts (sometimes called a dumbphone) and a smartphone that allows you to receive emails, browse the internet, and much more.
If all you want is a phone for staying in touch with family and/or emergency use, a dumbphone may be sufficient. They do have the advantage of very long battery life, and they are obviously cheaper.
On the other hand, if you want to be able to receive emails, Facebook updates, WhatsApp messages and more, only a smartphone will do. And only a smartphone will let you look up recipes, watch online video, check bus and train timetables, read maps and weather forecasts, buy things on Amazon and other online stores, and much more.
There is, of course, no objection to having a cheap dumbphone (e.g. in the car in case you break down) and a smartphone as well for all the extra features it can offer.
Choosing Your Phone
If you want a smartphone especially there are many considerations to take into account, including brand, operating system, screen size, memory, camera, SIM (network card), cost, contract length, and so on.
All very well if you’re a mobile phone fanatic, but what if you’re an ordinary individual who simply wants to get the right phone for their needs without paying over the odds for it?
If that sounds like you, a new website called mobilephonechecker is well worth a look. It’s been set up by the same person who made the tools on the well-known Moneysaving Expert website, which is a good recommendation in itself. The site is free to use, and can save you an awful lot of time, hassle and – most importantly! – money.
Mobilephonechecker has a simple, uncluttered design (see below) and is very easy to use. As you will see, the main menu runs across the top of the screen.
The main sections are as follows:
Contracts – This lets you compare contract deals (handset and SIM) from a wide range of providers. If you’re starting from scratch – and you want a smartphone with all the features they offer – this is a great place to start.
Build Your Own – On this page you can specify exactly what handset and SIM you want and compare quotes from a range of providers. This is brilliant if you know exactly what phone and network services you require.
PAYG Sims – Pay As You Go SIM cards are a very popular option among occasional mobile phone users in particular. If you have a handset already and just want a PAYG SIM card to go in it, this is the page to look.
PAYG Phones – And if you want a Pay As You Go phone, here’s the place to find one. I was amazed by how cheap some of these models were. If you’re not bothered about looking cool and trendy, you can find a basic PAYG phone here for under a tenner.
SIM Only – If you already have a smartphone and just need a SIM card for it, this page shows you the options. You can search here for a deal that includes the right mix of calls, data and texts for your needs. Contracts range from a month to a year and over.
SIM Free – Here you can compare handsets that are sold unlocked with no SIM card, so you can use a PAYG SIM or SIM-only deal, as you prefer. Hundreds of handsets are listed here, costing from ÂŁ10 upwards.
Other Tools – This section has links to special offers on phones, e.g. Amazon Warehouse deals, which are well worth checking out. There is also a free text reminder service, which you can set to notify you when your current contract is close to expiring. There is a page listing refurbished phones and also one you can use to find out about upgrades if you are with EE, O2 or Vodafone (for other networks, you’ll need to use their own website or contact their customer services team directly).
Guides – Finally, in this section you can read articles about a variety of mobile-phone related matters, including cashback deals, network coverage, number porting, what is 4G, and so on.
If you need a new mobile or are reaching the end of your current contract, it’s important to spend some time assessing your options carefully. This way you can ensure that whatever you get meets your personal requirements and doesn’t cost a penny more than it has to. In my view, the Mobilephonechecker website is an invaluable resource for doing this.
As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post, please do leave them below,.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for which I am receiving a fee. I am not employed by mobilephonechecker and have no other financial interest in the site.
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Some older folk have a modest income but are lucky enough to have a decent-sized garden (and yes, that includes me).
If that applies to you too, there are a few ways you could profit from your garden, either directly or indirectly. One possibility would be to rent all or part of it as an allotment.
There is a big demand for allotments in many areas, a situation which has been exacerbated by councils selling off land to developers. Of course, that then creates demand from people who would otherwise have to wait years for a plot to come up.
You wonât make a fortune this way. On average, council allotments in Britain cost around ÂŁ30 a year, so you wonât be able to charge much more than that. Nevertheless, if you can divide your garden into three or four plots, that would be ÂŁ90 a year or more for no effort. Whatâs more, your garden will be tended on your behalf, and youâre quite likely to be offered produce your tenants canât consume themselves.
If youâre not bothered about making money directly but would be willing to let someone grow crops on your land in exchange for a share of the produce (and maybe doing a few chores), the non-profit Lend and Tend organization may be able to help you. They put people with land in touch with others who might like to grow fruit and vegetables on it. They donât allow landowners to charge fees, but plenty of other arrangements are possible. Hereâs what they say on their site:
Got space to spare? Canât garden? Find out who can!
Is your garden going to waste? 1000s of people are on waiting lists for an allotment and many people live in flats without a garden who are keen to garden. So, if your garden is looking unloved and youâve no time or canât garden,  let someone else love it instead.
Share your garden so a Tender can grow some produce, you may end up with an abundance of edibles where weeds are currently thriving. Share your skills with a keen garden Tender and teach them how to get your garden blooming again. Share the burden of garden work with a Tender so they can benefit from enjoying a garden too. Lend and Tend, make gardening friends.
It sounds a great idea and you can register as a would-be garden lender (or tender) via the website. There is no charge for using the service, but as they have some operating costs, the organization does say that donations are appreciated. If money is tight, however, they are happy to accept help publicizing the service as well!
Another possibility if you live in an area attractive to tourists â or near festival sites, racecourses, and so on â is offering your garden as a campsite.
Campinmygarden.com claims to be the worldâs first website advertising private gardens as âmicro-campsitesâ. They operate world-wide. You can advertise your garden for free on the site, including pictures and a description. You can also set a fee of your choice. Around ÂŁ10 a night is typical, though if you can offer additional services (e.g. bed and breakfast) you could charge more.
The website has various interactive features, including a link allowing would-be campers to ask landowners any questions they may have. There is also an eBay-style reviews and ratings system.
Here’s an example listing for ‘Vic’s Place’ in Camborne, Cornwall:
We live between Camborne and Helston in a peaceful rural location. Our camping area is rustic and basic, in a lovely secluded setting which has a magnetic, soothing quality! A standard camper van can access our place but the gates are not wide so best check the width if you plan to come in a van.
Well behaved dogs and children are welcome. There are several water sources on the property so families with younger children must take extreme care. We only accept parties of four or fewer, in the interests of peace.
Just up the road there is a natural spring from which you can get water (or we will supply tap water) and there is a shared composting toilet available. A delightful stream runs by the camping ground. There is a fire pit and you are welcome to collect kindling and small amounts of wood from around and about.
The nearest pub is a mile and a half away by road or a twenty-five minute walk across fields. There is a small shop selling basic supplies in the same location.
In this post a few weeks ago I revealed that Pounds and Sense had been nominated in the ‘Best Money Making Blog’ category of the 2017 SHOMO awards.
The SHOMO awards (it stands for Show Me the Money Bloggers) are given out every year to UK-based independent money bloggers. The main sponsor is the cashback site Quidco.
There are various categories, from Best Frugal Food Blog to Best Personal Finance Blog. Pounds and Sense has been nominated in the Best Money Making Blog category.
Pounds & Sense is also eligible for the People’s Choice Award, which any blog reader can vote for. If you enjoy reading Pounds and Sense, therefore, I warmly invite you to vote for it for this award.
Voting is open from now until the end of August 2017. All you have to do is visit this page of the UK Money Bloggers website and vote for Pounds and Sense from the drop-down list of blogs provided.
The winners of the SHOMO awards will be announced at the Show Me the Money Bloggers 3 Conference in London on 23 September 2017. For more information about the conference, and booking information (for UK finance bloggers only), please click here.
Finally, I should like to express my gratitude to the unknown person or persons who nominated Pounds and Sense for an award..
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