Fig tree

It has not been a good winter in the UK for trees that are used to warmer climes, even in the areas where you can usually grow them. We have had a palm in our garden for about 8 or 9 years, but I fear it has flowered for the last time.
We have new neighbours who decided to 'spruce' up the front of the house with new newly purchased palms - these two appear to have expired, I hope they were insured!
Any thoughts of purchasing a fig tree, or other exotic delights must now be shelved until this current ice age has passed methinks...
I have seen quote a few recipes recently that made good use of figs, so it would have been an interesting addition to my home-grown produce which currently consists of potatoes, rather stunted shallots, and some wildly growing strawberries.

Home Automation Software

Applying the power of your computer to a real practical task is often as elusive now as it was when computers first appeared. They are great at communication and information-seeking now that the internet is widely available, but the idea that computers will take over running the household has not really taken shape. However, with affordable home automation software, that could all be about to change.

You can control lights and thermostats from portable devices via the internet and have video streamed too, not only does this type of system offer excellent security measures, energy-efficiency is also at the heart of it. No more waiting for the central heating to kick in, you can start warming up your home before you get there, you can turn the lights on to give the impression that you are home. Even better, you can switch off the central heating or control the thermostats when you are out of the house.

New Blogger Templates

I finally took the plunge and have converted two more blogs to the new templates...
Three of my 'blogspot' hosted blogs are now using the new templates. I have taken the "if it ain't broken..." approach, and as 'munny4hunny' is the blog I do the most work on, I have left the design side of it alone..for now...

I have given a facelift to the following sites:

Beckham News - in time for the start of the new MLS season
The Credit Cruncher
Travel Blog

I have been inspired to put up some new posts too, so the whole exercise has worked out quite well. There is another blog that could do with some new content and a facelift too, but it is quite tricky to keep five blogs updated on anything other than a very sporadic basis.
I have found that the new templates are not always directly compatible, so some widgets may need to be rearranged, but on the whole the experience has been smooth and very effective. Making design changes is much easier and the scope of elements that can be incoporated into the design is considerably expanded.
There is still the danger that your blog may look very similar to someone elses, but with a bit of work, you can still exercise your own creative flair - and the combinations are certainly more varied than before. Thumbs up to blogger (still going to seriously explore WP one day though!)

iPhone

I am resisting the nagging from my brain "buy iphone!", "buy iPad!" and all those lovely gadgets that issue forth from the house of Apple. Apple products have become far more than functional items, they say a lot about personal choice, aspirations and persona of their owners.

Apple have gone out of their way to make products that are desirable for more than their functionality alone. There are alternative products widely available, many of which represent better value and better functionality, but because they are market leaders, you may well find yourself saying "Well it may be better than the iPhone, but it's NOT an iPhone, and therefore I won't buy it!"

Liftmaster door opener

The internet is a wonderful thing, of that, there is little doubt - however, I find that although most of my internet purchases, although certifiable bargains, lead me to spend even more money when I realise the full range of options available.

For example, I was looking into liftmaster garage door opener parts, and when I started browsing through the online product catalogue, I found a whole load of other stuff I wanted to buy. The Liftmaster range includes not only remote transmitters to open your doors for you, but intercoms, parking aids, remote control lighting.. the list goes on. I can't help feeling that although most online purchases are saving me money...I am still spending MORE money!

Some thoughts on Google

Every good blogger should have an opinion on Google, and I do...and it's not all bad! On the one hand I LOVE Google, they set out to be the best search engine - and there is no question that they are exactly that. However Google are a lot of other things, and most of them are good: Google Maps, Google Groups, Google Sites, Google Mail, Google Docs - it's all great stuff, and largely free which is no bad thing.
I especially love Google Adsense which gives me a bit of spare cash in my pocket, but here's the thing... because (via Google search) Google controls the internet, I have a problem with some of the hypocrisy... How come it is fine for me to advertise with Google Adwords, and make money with Google Adsense, but if Google discover that you have paid someone else to promote your site, or find that you have charged someone for a blog-post... they manipulate rankings in an attempt to reduce your earning potential?
I understand their desire to keep the search results 'organic', but I have to take issue with some of the apparent duality of their moral high-ground. If you want 'pure' search results, why would you put paid adverts right at the top of the results? On the other hand, if you feel that the paid results are legitimate (I happen to think they are OK) - what gives you the right to manipulate the rankings of sites that sell their own advertising space? If advertising is bad, why do it? If it is good, why punish others who do it?
The truth is that it just makes people more resourceful, in fact better at what they do when it comes to being paid for advertising. Although it is not possible to make as much through paid blogging now than when it was at it's peak, it is still possible to make a nice little second income, and I am sure that if you 'went at it' full pelt, you could actually do very well indeed despite Google's best efforts to hold you back...

Oxyelite Pro side effects

The latest in a long line of weight-loss medications, Oxyelite Pro has a 'recipe' that has some unique ingredients. Like many products however, the oxyelite pro side effects are not so well publicised. My simple argument is that the more effective (or 'aggressive') a product is in this arena, the more likely it is to have serious long-term consequences.

One of the problems is that there is as much misinformation out there as there is genuine information when it comes to weight-loss medication. My advice, as always, is to enlist the help of a health-care professional if you are considering medication to help you lose weight. It is also worth noting, that medication alone cannot help you, some healthy lifestyle choices are going to need to be made, and who knows? maybe those changes alone will be more effective than any medication in the long run...

Pureprofile pays out

Finally, I have been able to collect from one of the two remaining survey companies that I use. Pureprofile actually paid me the day after I last wrote about them - they said to allow 30 days for payout, but actually only took about 10.
I won't recommend survey as a good way to earn online, they do give you an additional string to your earnings 'bow', but are only just a bit more profitable than paid to read or paid to click as far as I can see.
It would be easier and more fun to reach payout in MyLot, which is another scheme that I no longer participate in. Having said that some surveys pay reasonably well, and sometimes there are other benefits such as vouchers etc..
When compared with time spent writing paid posts, I can get $5 for 60 words with PayU2Blog, so there is no real comparison...
On another track, I have been doing more cassette conversions lately and expect a few more jobs in this line of work over the coming weeks. I have some definite plans to develop these earnings, but am finding that there is little time to devote to development.

Diet pills that work

I must state right now, that I don't have the type of body-shape that calls for dieting... So for me personally, I have never been concerned with diet pills. I firmly believe that healthy living and plenty of physical exercise is the key to staying trim (plus being lucky enough to have a metabolism like a steam-train...).
If you are not lucky enough to have a metabolism like mine, you may well be interested in diet pills that work... But this type of treatment should only really be embarked upon as a short-term solution. The problem with diet pills per se, is that they don't really prepare you for a life without diet pills, so unless you plan to take them for the rest of your life (NOT recommended..), you are going to have to make some lifestyle changes sooner or later....

Does Alli work

Well you might say 'Who's Alli' if you have had your head under a rock, but as this fat-fighter grows in reputation, plenty of people as asking the question: does alli work?
In fact, I notice now, that other mainstream branded products are starting to state that they have alli in their ingredients, adding to the reputation of alli itself.
However, it is worth noting that any product that may have a significant effect on your body, even a positive one like weight-loss, can also be detrimental. It is always advisable to seek as much information about products like this before you think about embarking on a course of treatment.
Conversely if a product has few 'side-effects', it is probably fairly ineffective...

Reached survey payout!

At last I have reached payout in one of my two remaining survey schemes... I am looking forward to getting £25.55 paid directly to my bank in the next few weeks. I have been doing PureProfile suerveys for nearly four years! This is very much a 'long game' - I have parted company with plenty of other survey schemes, but have kept true to this one and YouGov - YouGov have a higher payout, but I seem to be making money faster with YouGov.

My view is that in general, surveys are not a great way to earn online, but of all those that I have used, YouGov are probably the best - assuming they will pay out...
I will post on the blog to let you know when the payment from Pure Profile comes in - rather annoyingly, after 4 years of doing surveys - have to wait another 30 days for payment....

Laser Inkjet Cartridges

Printing equipment is a great example of where running costs should be considered above the capital cost of the instrument itself. After all, we are all familiar with the costs of laserjet ink cartridges. At one point a few years back, retailers were literally giving away printers in the knowledge that they would take far more money from selling the consumable ink cartridges than they will from selling the printer.
Nowadays, printers are sold very cheaply - and it is only recently that I have noticed manufacturers starting to advertise printers by empahsising the low running costs. For those of us not willing to make a further investment, we are left scouring the market-place for the best prices for replacement cartridges. Although some may advocate the use of re-fill catridges to keep costs low, I have to say I have tried home refill kits, and unbranded replacement cartridges, and I would never try either of these again...

Cheap Car Insurance

As one of my money-saving ideas, I have been thinking for a while about handing back my company car and saving a load of income tax. I have a little saved and have been getting quite excited about what car I might buy. However there appears to be a problem... even though I have been searching for the cheapest car insurance, I can't afford fully comprehensive cover. If I were to spend my nest-egg on a car, I wouldn't want to risk losing it by insuring only third party.

I have come up with a compromise, I won't spend my savings, I will get a super-cheap car that someone wants to off-load (there are always cars that people are glad to get rid of if you know the right people..). It will need to be a car that is cheap to insure, so it won't need to be top of the range - I will insure that for a couple of years on third party to see if I can build up some no claims bonus, then maybe I will be in a position (hopefully with more eggs added to the nest!) to purchase something a bit flashier... Actually, I have never really gone out and bought a car that I liked for myself, I have always 'made do' with cars that friends or relatives were selling on... It would be really nice one day to actually buy a car that I wanted!

January 2011

A slow month this month, which is normal for January... Nonetheless, money has come in and more will follow next month as a result of this months activities. I spent £21 renewing a couple of dot com domains, otherwise profit would have been a more respectable £80. I am within a few pence of reaching payout for one of the survey companies that I use, but I expect that I will 'resign' once I have the money in my hand. Surveys are easy to do, but I believe I could spend the time more profitably...

I am determined to push forward some web projects next month, another birthday is coming along which always serves as a good reminder in terms of what I want to achieve. I am not getting any younger and I want to see some of my projects taking off a bit and generating some respectable income. As ever...I will keep you 'posted'.

Overshoes

The weather in the UK has hit unprecedented levels recently. In previous years, I used to think it was cold when the car external temperature gauge alarm 'pinged' at 4 degrees C to warn me that driving conditions could be affected by the weather. However, for weeks at a time recently, we have endured below zero temperatures this winter, and I have started to think of 4 degrees as being quite mild....

This has led many people to consider winter strategies. Items such as gloves, scarves, car screen scrapers, overshoes and hand warmers are piled up by the door. Winter tyres, snow socks, grit and a shovel in the back of the car are now considered normal rather than 'over the top' reactions to a 'bit of snow'...

We have seen some spectacular snow scenes whilst driving around the country, but while acknowledging the power of winter, and it's undoubted beauty, I would still rather it wasn't so darned cold!