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Top Ten Most Expensive Countries for Petrol: England Hits the List

By Jessie Wilkens on April 17, 2012 in

Anyone who owns a car, or a newspaper for that matter, knows that gas prices are a hot topic of conversation these days. England has had its share of petrol panic lately, with motorists running to fill up their tanks and fighting over gasoline. The latest figures coming from petrolprices.com has the litre price at 142p at the moment.

This is Money, together with commercial insurance specialist Staveley Head recently took a look at the top ten most expensive places in the world for gasoline. They also took a look at average monthly salaries in each of these places and analyzed just how much of a normal monthly salary goes to petrol.
Here’s the top ten list of places where you don’t want to be buying your gas.

10. Belgium: one litre of unleaded in pence is 140.8p and the percentage of income spent on petrol is 8.7%.

9. Eritrea: one litre of unleaded in pence is 141p and the percentage of income spent on petrol is 61.1%.

8. Sweden: one litre of unleaded in pence is 141.3p and the percentage of income spent on petrol is 7.7%.

7. Britain: one litre of unleaded in pence is 142p and the percentage of income spent on petrol is 10.3%.

6. Denmark: one litre of unleaded in pence is 143p and the percentage of income spent on petrol is 8.1%.

5. Greece: one litre of unleaded in pence is 145p and the percentage of income spent on petrol is 25.4%.

4. Italy: one litre of unleaded in pence is 146p and the percentage of income spent on petrol is 10%.

3. Netherlands: one litre of unleaded in pence is 148p and the percentage of income spent on petrol is 10%.

2. Turkey: one litre of unleaded in pence is 162p and the percentage of income spent on petrol is 34.2%.

1. Norway: one litre of unleaded in pence is 164p and the percentage of income spent on petrol is 7.4%.

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Alcohol Companies Up in Arms Over Cameron’s New Tax

By Jessie Wilkens on March 25, 2012 in

Alcohol distributors and manufacturers are up in arms in Britain. That’s because Prime Minister David Cameron, in a move that appears to be highly motivated to hide the “granny tax” on pensioners, just unveiled a new strategy on alcohol tax.

In order to tackle the difficult issue of binge-drinking, the Prime Minister is imposing a minimum price of approximately 40p per until on alcoholic drinks. Drink firms, however, are claiming that the proposal is illegal under EU competition law.

Labour’s former Home Secretary Alan Johnson actually said recently that he had considered such a plan when he was in office, but that he had been told many times by government legal advisers that it would be illegal both by British and by European laws.

The idea behind the current plan would be to increase the price of super-strength ciders, cheap vodkas and special brew lagers to try to keep binge-drinking down.
Critics argue that the plan will punish responsible drinkers who are on low incomes. Gavin Partington from the Wine and Spirit Trade Association threatens that the government should expect court battles. As he said,

“We think this is going to lead ultimately to legal challenges. Minimum pricing is illegal under European laws. It would be a drinks company taking the case, or perhaps a group of drinks companies. It is too early to say at the moment… but looking at case law, there is every reason to believe it is illegal.”

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Recession Leading to Drop in Obesity Rates

By Jessie Wilkens on March 5, 2012 in

Perhaps there is one good thing that has come out of the recent recession – weight loss.  Since the financial crisis of 2007, obesity rates in the US have, apparently, been slashed in half.  Most studies find that when people have less money to spend, they actually tend to gain weight as a result of purchasing cheaper, more high caloric meals.

Academics at the Arizona State University, however, have found the opposite. The study looked at the BMI rates of 350,000 adults across the United States.  As the researchers said, “In all but the poorest income group the annual increase in BMI decelerated substantially during the recession. There is little evidence that the economic downturn has exacerbated obesity by causing people to consume cheaper foods.”

In the UK, as in the US, obesity rates have been steadily rising for 20 years.  Approximately 25% of Britons are now classified as being overweight and the UK women are the fattest in Europe.

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Exorbitant Prices at the Gas Pump

By Jessie Wilkens on February 28, 2012 in

Motorists in the UK should be screaming just about now. That's because they have the highest tax burden in the entire EU, according to official figures that were recently released.  In England, 60% of the price of gas and 58% of that for diesel comes from duties and VAT.  Only in Italy are the figures remotely similar, with 53% of the cost being accounted for by taxes and duties.

Luxembourg, at the other end of the spectrum, for instance, has only 38% of its gas price from taxes and duties and France and Germany have 47% and 48%.

These taxes have created a situation where the diesel prices in England are the highest of any place in the EU, and the unleaded gas prices are the 8th highest.  Disgruntled citizens met with Treasury Minister Chloe Smith recently to discuss these figures and to demand action for UK citizens.

To add fuel to the fire, these figures come just after Chancellor George Osborne refused to cut the fuel duty for the budge in the coming month. He explained that, as far as he was concerned, he had already helped rivers enough that that "the British government has run out of money."

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Commemorative Coins as an Investment Vehicle

By Jessie Wilkens on February 13, 2012 in ,

Commemorative coins have always been a very popular item, both for sentimental reasons and for their potential investment opportunities. With the Royal Wedding, for instance, the country was flooded with commemorative items. The Royal Mint issued the Alderney coin in honor of the engagement and others in honor of their wedding. The Royal Canadian Mint issues a pure silver $20 coin that bears a striking image of the couple.
While certainly most of these modern-day coins are not worth a great deal at the moment, there is always a chance, with time, that they will become valuable. Companies like APMEX, R. Ingram Coins and others purchase commemorative coins from private owners, collectors and organizations. APMEX, for instance, focuses on American commemorative coins including those issued from the 1892-1893 World’s Columbian Exposition to modern day. R. Ingram Coins, in contrast, focuses on UK coins and commemoratives.
Certainly, there is a wealth of opportunity to purchase commemorative coins, as they are issued for everything from the Olympics to the Queen’s birthday. The key is in finding coins that are issued only in a small distribution so that they may become more valuable with time; owning a complete set of commemorative coins is also far more valuable than is owning a random coin from a set here or there. Unlike other investment opportunities, commemorative coin investing tends to offer an opportunity for decorative enjoyment in the present, and potential profits in the future.

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Shaking Up the Energy Market with Which?

By Jessie Wilkens on February 13, 2012 in

Which? is creating a revolution – and it appears to be working. More than 75,000 consumers who are all sick of the rising gas and electricity bills hitting them in the UK, are fighting back with their collective consumer power.  Which? has created a “Big Switch” campaign that wants to harness the power of the people to cut bills and wake up the market.

Creating Consumer Power

Which? is hoping to follow in the footsteps of  the Netherlands, which used the power of the people to change energy prices, and Australia, which used similar tools to help with mortgages.  Which? said that consumers could save money by switching their energy bills to a cheaper deal or a cheaper company.  60% of consumers don’t do so, they report, because switching is a confusing process with so many tariffs from which to select.

Their Simple Plan

The plan is quite simple.  Which? is asking people to sign up for its campaign, run by executive director Richard Lloyd.  At the end of March Which? then plans to invite all energy companies to submit their proposals and to participate in a reverse auction. The winning deal will then be offered to all consumers who signed up with Which? and Which? will handle all of the switching process issues.

As Lloyd explained,

“People are angry with the energy companies. This is our way of helping them fight back.”

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Free Bus Fair Falls on Deaf Ears

By Jessie Wilkens on February 8, 2012 in

While perhaps not the most profound study of all times, the research company Ice recently tested out an interesting theory. Arming a collection of lovely ladies with sandwich boards that read, “Ask me to pay your bus fare and I will,” they circulated at bus stations in Newcastle, Medway, Manchester, Perth and Leicester.

The experiment was done during rush hour every day for an entire week. Most travelers, who undoubtedly could use the assistance in a tight economy, were too skeptical to stop and inquire.  Only 38 people total – out of thousands who passed by – actually took up the offer and got home for free that day.

Most of those who stopped, incidentally, were teenagers. Perhaps showing that the young haven’t yet been tainted by the assumption that there is no free lunch, and no such thing as something for nothing.

As Jude Thorne, chief executive officer of Ice, reported, “Our experiment shows that as a nation, we simply don't accept the notion of genuine bargains, discounts and offers with no catch, despite admitting that difficult times are forcing us to seek them out actively.”

In total, on 23% of people actually took up the offer.

Watch Ice in action here:

 

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Dr. Martens Up For Sale

By Jessie Wilkens on February 6, 2012 in

Dr. Martens are a household name around the world now, after first being invented in April of 1960. While they were originally a sign of youthful rebellion and protest, they quickly became more accepted as Peter Townshend of The Who wore a pair of black 1460s on stage.

Now, the British boot and shoemaker company has been put on the market.  Owned for over fifty years by R. Griggs Group, they are now about to become a free agent.  Rumor has it that they could be sold for as much as £120m.

Dr. Martens lovers will have to hold their breath – and hope that the new makers keep things as they are for all of those Dr. Martens fans out there.

 

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Mortgage Price War Takes Off

By Jessie Wilkens on February 1, 2012 in

If you can afford to do so – now may be the time to lock in a great mortgage rate.  A mortgage price war has just started in the UK, with rates hitting record lows.  This is being done as an effort to jump-start England’s housing market.

Just this week rates on both five-year and ten-year fixes have dipped to the lowest levels that they’ve ever seen.

These new rates appear as the Land Registry showed that housing prices fell by 1.3% in 2011. There is an expectation that housing prices will continue to fall.

Michael Ossei, a personal finance expert at uSwitch said, “Although it may be a year or more before the Bank of England base rate rises, the only way for mortgage rates to go in the long term is up. Consumers can protect themselves by fixing now.”

It just might be time to head over to the bank and reap the benefits.

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Turning to Grandma for Home-Buying Help

By Jessie Wilkens on January 30, 2012 in

Turning to the parents for a bit of financial assistance as always been done – turning to the grandparents, however, is becoming more and more popular these days. Research from the housebuilder Taylor Wimpey shows that, out of the 1000 young people interviewed, 10% were turning to their grandparents for help in buying a home.

This information seems to indicate that, not only are young people having a difficult time affording their first home, but that mom and dad aren’t able to help them out.

Staying at Home Longer

The research also showed that more grown-up children are resorting to remaining in their parents’ homes, creating tension in their family relationships.  Paul Smee, from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, has said that owning a home is simply an “unrealistic assumption” for many and that many people will have to continue renting far longer than they assumed that they would.

Housing Stagnation

Another report that was just published by HSBC shows that England is having a “housing stagnation” issue since so many people can’t afford to buy. Bank of England reports that many property sales have been falling through lately, as one of the parties gets cold feet.

According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, 69% of first-time buyers bought their homes on their own in 2005 – today that number is only at 35%.

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