Author Archives: Toby White

About Toby White

I'm a doer!

What’s wrong with online dating?

Many people seem to have a ‘thing’ about online dating, seem to think that it’s a bit of a joke… but the fact is it’s very popular and funnily enough we are in the 21st Century and if you think about it it’s a very logical idea.

This is the Internet-enabled age. We’re all using ‘i’ devices and nearly all of us are connected when on the go so it makes a lot of sense to use online dating, not necessarily instead of going out and meeting people, and socialising, but as an aid. It certainly and most probably gets you talking to people you wouldn’t necessarily meet or who are outside of your friendship groups.

Online dating growth

Online dating growth

I, for one, have used Plenty of Fish (POF) for a while and to some success in that I was dating someone for a while … and as that is a 100% success rate for me personally, why not give it a go. I have tried other sites, but without paying for it (which I refuse to do) this is probably the best free site. Check it out at www.pof.com

Hopefully, this may change your mind about online dating. It’s certainly used by a lot more people than you think, and I wouldn’t put it past a lot of your friends to have used online dating as an alternative in the past or something they are using now. As a result of me using it, I’ve also got a few of my friends using it with success.

 

 

Saving Money – It’s not difficult, really!

One Pound Coins

I’m not sure what it is – but people seem to laugh at you when you’re serious about saving money. You’re chatting to someone and, quite often, they will remark as to why you’re not out every weekend or not always willing to drive a million miles to see them.

I started saving money as soon as I got a job, I set up an e-ISA account which gives you better savings rates, and started putting in a lump each month shortly after pay day. This way I would see the money go before I had a chance to A) spend it and B) budget for the remaining month without this money in my main Current account.

I have three accounts with NatWest as it stands. Partially for convenience sake, and partially because so far I’ve not had any problems with them.

I have a Current account with Debit Card – my salary goes into this and this is used for every day spending.

I then have an e-Saving account which is a ‘virtual’ account. I also deposit money in here each month. This is used for cars, and ‘toys’. If I want to get something that’s a little more expensive I will save money in this account for that purpose.

Then, as mentioned above, I have the e-ISA.

Anything I don’t spend or have left over at the end of the month / at pay day I then deposit in my e-ISA. So far I’m 3/4 of the way down to putting a 10% deposit on a house to the value of £100,000. I’ve been saving since 2008. It’s not hard….

I could be getting a better interest rate, if I shopped around. To get started take a look here: http://bit.ly/startsavingnow. It’s important to find a bank or building society that will let you open the account with a minimum of £1.

Cruising to Southend

Marshes at Leigh-on-sea

Marshes at Leigh-on-sea

Why Southend you may ask? Well, it’s the nearest place I could think of along the coast that I hadn’t been to and seemed like an easy place to cruise to in the Audi. Fair game then…

I had also wanted to check out Essex Mustang Centre (which I soon found was shut on a Sunday).

So the Audi drove down nice and smooth, a very comfy drive taking around an hour and a half. This, compared to three to Norfolk, makes this a do-able alternative.

I had some fun mucking around with a Corsa B slammed to the ground and kickdown (obviously the Corsa had no chance unless it was a redtop, unlikely).

Chevy Nova

Nice Chevy Nova spotted

I spent the day walking – probably did around 5 or 6 miles – and finished off with cod and chips and completing my Eric Clapton autobiography. A Bank Holiday weekend put to good use!

 

Being an auto the drive back was effortless and could be enjoyed even with a fair amount of heavy traffic 🙂