- January 14, 2021
- Case Studies, General
- Posted by Dave Woolf
- No comments yet
- October 28, 2020
- General
- Posted by Dave Woolf
- No comments yet
We are still coming to terms with the impact of this dreadful virus. Some business sectors are being hit harder than others and sadly some – through no fault of their own – will never come back.
I accept new jobs are being created but with respect, many of these are likely to be low paid and not particularly satisfying. Ok – half a loaf is better than none but is still going to be tough to take particularly for those in the older age groups who have experienced something more rewarding.
Having a “Service” based economy is all well and good for keeping unemployment low BUT delivering parcels – serving deep-fried chicken and flipping burgers is hardly going to create a sound long term and prosperous economy producing products the rest of the world wants to buy from us.
One side effect I did not see coming – holiday entitlements! We are now finding
- November 20, 2019
- General
- Posted by Dave Woolf
- No comments yet
- September 30, 2019
- General
- Posted by Dave Woolf
- No comments yet
- August 17, 2019
- General
- Posted by Dave Woolf
- No comments yet
A great safety net for car buyers!
(and it's FREE)- July 24, 2019
- Advice, Buyers Guides, General
- Posted by Dave Woolf
- No comments yet
For me, one of the best measures the Government has taken to help protect car buyers is their “Check the MOT history of a vehicle” website…
All you need is the Registration number of the vehicle you are thinking of buying – go to the site – press Start Now – enter the number – press Continue – this page will give you basic details of the car – then press MOT history – and there you have it. Virtually a complete history of the results of all the tests carried out. Not only does it include whether it was a Pass or a Fail – it lists the Failure and Advisory items.
This is incredibly useful – here is an example.
Checking out one of the Closed Auction sites I came across a 2005 Chevrolet Matiz SE+ – surprisingly these are very popular as a very cheap run-around. This one had all the
- May 8, 2019
- General
- Posted by Dave Woolf
- No comments yet
I recently went to collect a car from Burton on Trent a town famous for its beer making. As the Dealership was only a mile or so from the Station and it was a fine day I decided to walk – I wish I hadn’t. The aptly named Station street is what was once a thriving shopping area – Greengrocers – butchers – shoe shops – newsagents – sweetshops – hairdressers –haberdashers – ironmongers – Alas now all gone. Without exaggeration, I would guess something like 70-80% now unoccupied. It was a depressing sight – yet the truth is I am as responsible as everyone else. Their failure to survive is down to a number of factors – certainly the burden of council rates has not helped – but first and foremost is the fact too few of us supported them. Let me be clear – I understand you cannot stop progress. It is a fact that we are now the third cheapest country in the world for food – few could argue that on balance this is a good thing BUT it comes at a price.
For many reasons – some obvious –some not – as consumers we are now conditioned to expect the best quality at the lowest price. Yet surprisingly many of us realise we cannot have it!
A coupl [...]
- March 8, 2019
- General
- Posted by Dave Woolf
- No comments yet
- January 11, 2019
- General
- Posted by Dave Woolf
- No comments yet
There is no doubt that for a number of reasons feelings are running high and there is an overwhelming air of uncertainty. Sadly my Mam and Dad are no longer around – if they were I would have asked them what is was like in 1939 on the eve of war – they knew it was coming but had no real idea of what it would mean.
One experience my Mam told me about was this one…
It was the 22 nd of December 1940 – late at night – the sirens were screaming – she sat with my newly born eldest sister in a dark and damp air raid shelter in the yard at the back of the house. As the bombers flew overhead she heard a high pitched whistle which grew louder as a bomb fell – she was
- December 10, 2018
- Advice, Buyers Guides, General
- Posted by Dave Woolf
- No comments yet
Reviewing things before you buy is now a way of life for many consumers – now, I am not exactly sure what an “App” is but my wife tells me you can “upload” lots of them some will tell you all about the best products and prices and where to find them.
Good job these things didn’t exist 44 years ago when I asked her to marry me!
If buyers check on the price of an item costing a few pounds – well you would imagine the same research goes into high cost items – like cars.
Fact is, I am not sure this is always as useful as it appears. Here’s a little exercise I carried out…
I took a popular car which would be in plentiful supply – that would provide me with a number of different sellers I could then take