Author Archives: Toby White

About Toby White

I'm a doer!

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 🙂

Folk on the Pier 2013

Cromer Pier

Cromer Pier – credits www.simplonpc.co.uk

Building on my previous post (England: An ideal Holiday Destination), I thought I’d write a little about this year’s FoTP show in Cromer.

We, as a family, have been visiting Cromer on the North Norfolk coast, for some time. Mum’s friends have a chalet there that we stay in and we’ve had a dog for the last seven years and he loves the beach. It’s ideal for him as he can stay in the chalet too!

Moving on… Cromer pretty much relies on the tourist trade to keep going. It’s predominantly a fishing town, and for 6 months of the year, relies on the tourists and visitors to shows on the pier and around the town to keep it going.

Folk on the Pier has been going for 15 years and is dubbed as ‘the best gig on the North Sea‘.

As taken from the web site it is described as follows:

Folk on the Pier is a highly regarded showcase for the finest folk, rock and folk-rock acts from the UK and beyond.

The event takes place in over three days in May every year but is extremely popular so be sure to book tickets well in advance!

Whilst you’re in town be sure to check out Mary Jane’s Fish Bar and The Cliff Top Cafe

As a fan of good music and folk in particular, I love this event!