Martin’s Blog…

For a year and a half, my little sister, Talya, has been saving up to buy a laptop, it’s been her dream. She’s doing very well and already has over £200, not bad for an 11 and 3/4 year old! Last night we talked about which one she wanted to buy, yet having saved diligently, actually she didn’t know. Like most people the vagaries of what a 1500Mhz Celeron processor is, or the difference between RAM and the hard-drive are lost on her.

Don’t think I’m being harsh, but it’s actually quite important she does understand. In her life, this is by far and away the biggest consumer decision she’ll ever make, akin to an adult getting a mortgage. She’s had a focused, disciplined, admirable determination to save, and once she spends the money a bad decision will send all of that down the drain.

So I came up with a deal, “When you’re ready, I’ll send you a newspaper ad for a computer, and we’ll discuss it together. If you can explain to me what all the technical stuff is, and how it fits in with what you should be looking for, I’ll give you £50 towards the laptop.”

As Tal knows, I’m very strict. When I say ‘talk and explain’ this means she has to understand it and be able to explain properly in detail or there’s no cash being doled out - much tougher than a teacher, or our Dad, for example. So I gave her a warning; to hold off on her impulse to do a quick read on the web and call me the next day. She needs to learn properly and only have the test when she’s ready.

Thankfully the prospect of a huge £50 was very exciting, so she’s into the Deal, importantly giving me the chance to explain to her why I’m doing it. I told her “the most important thing people can learn about money or buying things, is to do some research and make a rational decision. The reason I want you to learn about the laptop, isn’t to learn about the technology in itself, but so you can learn how important it is to understand what you’re buying and how it works, and realise that if you make a mistake through a lack of info, you’re the only one who’ll pay, not the company you buy the laptop from.”

If the lesson works, £50 is very cheap!

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I would like to officially confirm that I am not, nor have I ever been a member of the mafia. Nor for that matter have I ever been an insurance salesman.

Those who watched “The Real Goodfella” on Channel 4 this week, about Henry Hill, the Mafioso-turned-stoolpigeon whose testimony convicted over fifty Mafia members, and on whose life the Martin Scorsese film “Goodfellas” is based will have heard the following fact:

Henry Hill entered the US Federal Witness Protection Program, which moved him to Omaha, Nebraska to start a new life. His new identity was….

…Martin Lewis, insurance salesman!

I would like to point out that I am far too young to be the said Martin Lewis and if anyone doesn’t believe me, you can speak to……. my family!

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Every Monday morning on the website ‘Headline Money’ a journalist does a review of the weekend’s money pages. Headline Money is a special website which only personal finance journalists get to use. It includes lots of useful resources and a system of distributing press releases.

This week’s review included the following note about the Guardian (kindly reproduced with Headline Money’s permission):

“Ticket to ride roughshod over passengers
Miles Brignall gets his teeth into train companies that are bullying passengers into paying expensive penalty fares for being on the wrong train, even though in many cases the mistake is down to their own staff. Hmmm…I’m not too sure this sits very comfortably on the personal finance pages now that markets have recovered sufficiently to actually give us something to write about again. To my mind the same criticism could also be levelled at other pieces in this week’s Guardian Money on the costs of barbecue equipment and on opportunities to sell your old mobile phone.”

I was quite angry when I read this. The review is by a journalist, who I must admit I’ve never heard of, called Edmund Tirbett, described as a part-time freelance journalist and a director of copywriting company Crossfield Communications Ltd.

The specific bit that vented my spleen was, “not sure this sits very comfortably on the personal finance pages now that markets have recovered sufficiently to actually give us something to write about again”.

You see, I thought we were finally laying to rest the view that ‘the markets’ is what personal finance is about. More people buy DVD players than shares, more people have contact lenses than investment funds. Our job as journalists should be to educate, inform, instruct, entertain and protect consumers’ pockets and help provide info to enable them to look after their personal finances. For many in society debt, not markets, is the biggest money issue.

This site, which doesn’t touch the markets in any real way, is the biggest money site in the UK. Why? Sadly not because my own shiny photo stands out on every page! It’s because it’s about the finances that impact the majority of people - mortgages, shopping, credit cards, digital TV and childcare vouchers.

When I look at the pieces criticised I find it ridiculous. Miles’ article on train companies was interesting and campaigning, the barbecue piece a nice lighter shade for the paper. My own column on ‘How To Sell Your Old Mobile Phone‘ was based on serious detailed research on a new marketplace. By doing it properly many will add roughly £100 per person to their pockets - or to put it the way Mr. Tirbett would probably prefer, ’similar returns to £1,000 invested for two years on a mid performing stock market investment after tax’.

If personal finance newspaper journalists continue to think this way, perhaps the breed will die out. I commend the Guardian and its money editor for its changed stance, which it admits moved partly to reflect the popularity of this site; it’s one of the reasons I’m proud to have my column there. Perhaps rather than harping on, others should embrace what real people really want!

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I went to a comedy night tonight. Among the acts was Milton Jones, a comedian I last saw on the circuit about 8 years ago. Weird hair, staccato jokes and just very, very funny from the bizarre “I was upset when I saw a dead baby ghost on the side of the road tonight…… either that or it was an old hanky” to “I was detained without trial, forced to wear bright orange, continually asked stupid questions…. I really wish I’d never worked in Homebase!”

OK they’re not even a fraction as good in writing as hearing them, so do go see him.

Sadly whilst out we realised the Audience with Coronation Street that the MSG and I had been to was on the TV (see past blog) so there was no chance to watch. However the MoMSG (mother of the MSG) called her afterwards to say we’d been on together at the beginning, which the MSG is very excited about as it’s very romantic so I’m told……

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I had an amazing year at 21. I was General Secretary (President) of LSE Students’ Union, and was invited to the United Nations World Youth Conference in Seoul as one of the UK representatives. It was an amazing time, but whilst there I did something I’ve regretted ever since.

The conference was held in the Olympic village (at the same time as the Miss World Universities conference, and there are some stories about that too… but I digress) and was an amazing experience, debating with people from all over the world, being treated like diplomats, incredible! Afterwards I joined a group of Europeans, Australians, North and South Americans to take a few days in Seoul. One evening everyone decided to have traditional Korean fare, yet being a picky eater, disgracefully I avoided it and went and found a KFC instead, waiting ’till the others had finished their’s.

The worst bit is these days Asian cuisine is my favourite. Sushi and Sashimi are a staple food for me, I eat them probably two or three nights a week and give me a Thai Pad See Eiw (I hope I’ve spelt it right) any day. So last night, while looking for a place to eat for a night out with the MSG, we spotted a Korean restaurant in central London and I decided to repent my culinary sins.

The starters were a bit rough. Kimchi is the famous dish (spicy pickled cabbage in what looked like a chilli sauce), but it was too much for me; as the MSG commented “it looks like something out of the bodyworks exhibition!â€? However the main courses were different, the mix of flavours fantastic. The Sweet and Sour much more vinegary than a Chinese version and the better for it. The honey sauce for the BBQ was wonderful, and the noodles clean and crisp.

Overall it was yum, and the price wasn’t too bad either, much cheaper than getting on the plane to Seoul again anyway.

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I’ve just read this on the forums, by poster Mountain of Debt, “What amazes me though is that I’ve been telling my mum about the tips I’ve picked up from this site but it was only when she saw Martin on the TV show at tea time did she listen. Obviously Martin on the flesh has more influence than I do telling her the same things in the flesh!”

You think that’s bad… let me tell you a story about my Dad. I remember about six months after starting my Sunday Express column (I’d already been an MSE for 2 years at Simply Money, and a money journalist for 4 years before that but that was my first newspaper column) I’d just done a mammoth piece of research into Healthcare Cashback Plans, and I called my dad up to suggest he got one (and which one to get) for him, my step-mum and little (currently 11 years old) sister.

He couldn’t be bothered. About two months later he calls me and asks “do you know anything about these healthcare cashback plans, one of my friends has just been suggesting I should get one?” His friend was suggesting exactly the same as me, and I knew I was the only person who’d done a full cross market comparison. So I asked Dad to find out where his friend had heard about it…. and…. well you’ve guessed….. yep she’d read my Sunday Express column.

So telling Dad directly - not interested, but one of his friends reads it, and suddenly it’s real.

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So who is this bad review from? A literary critic, a newspaper money section, a radio book review programme? Nope it’s one book review on the Amazon website. After scores of positive reviews all with either four or five stars, the latest reviewer gave the Money Diet just one star. Now normally this wouldn’t matter, but unfortunately it’s the most recent review, the one that people most read, and even though it was completely counter to every other review, since it appeared the book has dropped from the top 20 down to position 245.

Now to be honest I’m fairly sanguine about criticism. However in this case, I’m not even sure the person has read the book. Let me reprint this one-star’ review here in full. “Although I agree with the central tenure of this book is that it is easier to save money than earn more, this book is full of padding. Review your mortgage regularly and try to pay it off as soon as possible, try an all-in-one account, where your monthly pay cheque is offset against the mortgage, don’t impulse buy, rarely buy new and take a pack-up to work is all it amounts to. Very disappointing. “

I must admit it sounds suspiciously to me like the reviewer has read another book currently on the market, which I’ve seen moots all that. To start with “try an all-in-one account, where your monthly pay cheque is offset against the mortgage” is almost the opposite of what I say in the book - I warn against off-set mortgages, not encourage them. I don’t remember anywhere in the book where I say “Although I agree with the central tenure of this book is that it is easier to save money than earn more,” for me it isn’t an either or - it is simply a different approach. I am rather flummoxed by the whole thing.

What’s frustrating is how this review compares to all the others (check them all out here) and yet it has such a big impact. I do hope Morgan Trading is happy with himself. Fingers crossed there will be more reviews up there soon!

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I’ve been doing the Wright stuff all this week (barring Thursday), which for those who don’t know is Matthew Wright’s current affairs panel-led discussion on Five every morning from 9 until 10.15. It’s great fun to do, and nice for me to get away from talking about money. Not, I hasten to add that I don’t love my job, but a change is always rather refreshing, and I’m even allowed to be funny - if only I was able!

Thought I’d let you in on the process behind it. When you’re on the panel (there are four guests, two are panellists for the week, one is the day guest and the other is there to do the ‘clinic’ bit at the end) you get a call the day before to tell you the subjects for discussion the next morning. I know some people then gen up at that point, personally I don’t. Often the subjects have changed by the time I arrive the next morning, so there’s little point. I cross my fingers and decide to leave it to lady luck.

The car comes to pick me up from home at 7.30am to be at the studio at 7.45. From there we sit in the Green Room with the Exec Producer Michelle and she hands out the ‘paper stories’ each of us will talk about in the first section and a briefing pack on them. These packs contain the raw factual notes on each story, to make sure everyone knows what they’re about. They don’t contain any opinion which is what the programme is more about.

That’s why, at this point, I leaf through the notes on the papers, then usually take about a minute to have a mull. It’s not that easy as the Green Room is busy, with all the guests often talking through various subjects. Great fun though as they’re usually people I’ve watched on the TV, so it’s fun to meet them. Matthew normally comes in and says hello at some point, though he has other responsibilities so Michelle is his voice in the Green Room. Then it’s into make-up (early in the morning, thank heavens, it’s amazing how the bags aren’t as visible) and then on to the set.

And if you know the programme, you’ve watched the rest!

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I went to ‘An Audience With Coronation Street’ yesterday, having rather luckily been invited by ITV. On arrival there’s a red carpet. When I’ve done it before I’ve normally walked round the back, yet as I was with the MSG, they all started shouting her name to ask for a picture; something she’s much more used to than me. There were about ten paparazzi either side (think a cut down version of leaving the Big Brother house).

We stood there together and had our shots taken, me grimacing uncomfortably while trying to work out how to smile (give me a TV camera and I’m comfortable, but still pictures…. horrid) and the MSG looking gorgeous, polished and professional. Then they wanted ‘fashion pics’ of her on the way in, something we weren’t that keen on, we just wanted to go in. So as they call out “let’s ‘ave her by herself”, my reply was “sorry guys, we’re going in now”. After that I felt like I’d just told them to go screw themselves. A couple made not nice comments with one even shouting out, “Jon wasn’t like that.”

Let me put that comment in context. Jon is Jon Culshaw, the impressionist, a lovely chap and a friend of the MSG’s. They used to go to events together, much like I did with my friend Barbara, the former Five newsreader. Obviously this photographer had assumed he was the MSG’s ex-boyfriend and had decided this should therefore be thrown in my face as we’d had the temerity not to do more photos. Actually it wasn’t a problem, but what had we done to deserve such nastiness? We’d stood there, posed for pictures when they asked, and then walked in.

Anyway, enough of that, the event itself was lots of fun. I had the MSG on my right and the hilarious Alison Hammond who I used to work with on This Morning on my left (remind me to write one day about what she did to me on a plane!) The row behind was full of former Coronation Street cast members. It was eye opening to hear their reactions to things. The funniest moment was when the chap who plays Les Battersby was asked, “what do you like to do after a hard day’s filming?â€? His first answer was “drink”, but then went on to explain how the real answer was write and garden. The people behind were wetting themselves during that, so I turned and asked why….. let’s just say they believed his original answer to be much nearer the mark!

Then onto the after show party. Lots of celebs, which is rather strange when you’re a F-lister like me in the corner. So we did what I always do, huddled together at the side with all the newsy people I know best. This time it was Nina (Hossain) from ITV news, looking very glam. She’d brought one of the Directors from ITV news to treat him as he’s Coronation Street obsessed (it’s he who kindly took the photo on my phone of the three of us (below)). The only strange thing was seeing all the cast of Corrie with their children, there as real parents not pretend ones.

Was there any gossip? No not really, it was a Sunday night, and I left relatively early to get a good night’s sleep before the Wright Stuff, having got a goodie bag (from a MoneySaver working there who loves the email Tip!) as you do at these things.

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The MSG, me and Nina Hossain

I’ve just got back from Radio 2, and if I’m honest, not feeling like it was one of my better days on the radio. I love doing Vine, it’s one of my favourite programmes to do. Today though it was tough to get the information out clearly, and I ran out of time before going through the travel insurance best buys, something I know is crucial to many people.

The start was a bit frustrating too. For some reason an email was read out from a viewer saying “can you ask Martin not to shout today as I have a headache, and I like to listen to his stuff?”

I must admit I find this type of comment a little hard to take. I talk about money. And, ignoring the unique research that goes into MoneySaving, if I sat there with the same bland delivery most money talkers have, then I wouldn’t be doing an hour’s radio.

It’s because I’m passionate about what I do so I get excited. It’s important to evangelise about saving people money and make them understand that manifest change is possible. I deliberately don’t constrain myself within calm collected limits - we shouldn’t be calm and collected. Sometimes we should be passionate, annoyed, moved, and determined to redress the consumer company misbalance in the UK.

The way I deliver has got me noticed, it’s different, it has a message. I’ve been amused to hear myself described as a ‘cold shower’ or a ‘tornado of information’. Better that, if it gets the message across, than people not listening. Just because it’s about money doesn’t mean you need to be low key - it’s hugely important.

So I’ll be honest with you, when that question came up my answer was to discuss where to get cheap headache tablets. What I really wanted to say was “couldn’t you just turn your radio down?”

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I went to a screening of the new Ant and Dec film ‘Alien Autopsy’ on Tuesday. As I’d read nothing about it and noting the title, I was expecting a pile of pants, poor quality slap-stick sci-fi. Totally wrong, I enjoyed it, a good seven out of ten. The film is based on a true story, though after some later web-reading it’s been changed quite a bit.

The genius is the casting of Ant and Dec…. the role isn’t too difficult for them really, they’re two best friends who work together to defraud the world over ‘ET does exist type alien autopsy’.

The added piquancy is the fact that Jonathan Frakes (Commander William Riker from Star Trek The Next Generation) presented the original show that aired in the USA in the Nineties about proving the faked scenes were real. As someone who loved Next Gen (though I’m not a trekkie! there aren’t any Klingon suits in my cupboard) this was fab.

Don’t worry I’m not going to turn this blog into a film review, I’ll leave that to the professionals, but as this film was so much better than I was expecting, I thought it worth a mention.

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Is it just me? When the Sunday Papers arrive do you just grab those little advertising magazine inserts with all the strange and ‘innovative’ products. I can’t help it, there’s just a fascination behind it and it’s very useful reading in the ‘boys library room’.

I must admit, even as the MSE, I’m strangely drawn to exciting sounding stuff which I’d never use. I’ve never succumbed to such instincts I hasten to add, but it sure does sound sexy….

My favourites this weekend were the “Hanoptik 12-36 x 70 Super Zoom Binoculars for a very special £39.99″….thirty six time zoom…WOW! Except what would I use them for, I live in central London, don’t want to stalk my neighbours and bird watching doesn’t interest me?….but still, 36 times zoom! Wow!

Next I read how to brighten up my garden with the chirpy looking cricket band, each one plays a musical instrument…these were slightly easier to resist as a.) I don’t have a garden and b.) well, they were insect ornaments. I then bypassed the shower radio (I’ve just been given a great one enabling me to listen to Radio 5 in the mornings) and scanned through the rest, neatly sidestepping the laser level tape measure (I never measure things…but what a great gadget) until reaching the end of the mag.

Sadly this week I didn’t manage to spot any ’stand up urinating devices for women’ (though I found one on the web for those who want to see it). However I’m sure they’ll be there to greet me another day.

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