Property auctions: can you bag a bargain?

My heart raced and my palms sweated as I gazed longingly at the man in front of me. Frivolous thoughts of ‘the one’ flitted in and out of my head. A first date, you ask? No – my first property auction. Having had my hopes dashed a number of times this year while looking for a bargain...

The day I bought a beer with virtual currency Bitcoin

A virtual currency might sound like the stuff of computer games, but the growth of online money such as Bitcoin is something we increasingly hear about in the mainstream media. Its enthusiasts champion it as “a force for good” and “bigger than the internet”, while critics dismiss it as dangerous and volatile. Let’s be clear. From the...

Cheap Energy Club hits 500,000 users – but switching provider should be even easier

Last week the 500,000th person joined Cheap Energy Club – not bad going in our bid to slash your energy bills. We launched in early February, and I can’t deny it’s been a big learning curve. Being able to see the detail of the switching process has revealed many systematic issues that need to be tackled. Here’s...

Lloyds and TSB split – so which bank am I with again?

I’m not at my best on a Monday morning. So the last thing I want is a bank-based panic. I was – well, I still am, it’s very confusing – a Lloyds customer. Interrupting my alarm this morning, I got a text from “Verde” telling me to make sure there was enough money to pay for any...