With all the talk of the nation’s finances creaking (or crashing depending on where you read it) it’s easy to think everyone is mired in debt. This week’s site poll belies that though, with 54% net savers, to 41% net debtors (and 5% in the middle). Now some may be shocked at this, especially as it’s a...

I’m receiving a growing creep of messages like, ‘if people are stupid enough to (insert issue) it’s their own fault’. But is it? If people are genuinely stupid, is it really their fault – should they not be protected too? And what about dyslexics, those with mental health issues, those suffering with senility, the blind and more...

There was an elephant in the room at yesterday’s energy summit. So when I got my chance to look in the whites of David Cameron’s eyes I mentioned it: "Prime Minister, if bills don’t come down this winter, the public will see this summit as a failure." He nodded like a man who knows he’ll bear the...

I’m never slow to berate when service is bad, so it’s important to applaud when it’s superb – and the service I’ve just had from Amazon is just that… In May Mrs MSE bought me a Kindle for my birthday, and I must admit I adore it (and her), I’ll never go back to paper books again...

Update: November 2013: Beware – payday loans can kill mortgage applications I’ve just noticed this old blog still sitting here. While it’s technically still correct, things have moved on since it was originally written. Mortgage underwriters will often reject people who’ve had past payday loans outright. So the general stance is still to AVOID them. For full...