Click for charity

I have just added the click for charity link on the right under the 'Favourite Links' section. This will take you to a thread on MoneySavingExpert forums which lists a number of sites where you can click on links which generates money for charity.

Interesting BBC news feature about mobile phone cashback deals

See the BBC news feature about problems with mobile phone cashback deals here.

I have been doing cashback deals for about 5 years and never had a problem. One should always be cautious as to the reliability of the company offering the deal and always read the terms and conditions and follow them to the letter as some companies can be extremely pedantic.

If you do have a genuine problem with a company you can always go to the small claims court to reclaim your cashback as has been reported by a number of people on MoneySavingExpert forums.

Rolling coverage of reaction to Interest rate increase

thisismoney has rolling coverage of how banks and building societies are reacting to today's (11/01/2007) decision by the Bank of England to raise interest rates by 0.25% from 5% to 5.25%.

Free calls via jajah

Check out jajah which offers free calls to around 35 destinations including UK, USA, Israel.

Both users need to be active registered users with jajah and there are strict limits on free use.

New Number Range

From SayNoTo0870.com forum

NGMsGhost mentioned here that it was on page 130 of the Numbering Review statement (.pdf).
A summary as follows:-

0300:
UK-wide services at a geographic rate: to be used by public sector bodies and not-for-profit bodies, calls charged at up to the same rate the customer would pay to call to a Geographic Number, with calls to 03 numbers counting towards inclusive call minutes if the customer has remaining inclusive minutes to Geographic Numbers, and included in any discount structures that apply to Geographic Numbers

0303:
UK-wide services at a geographic rate: calls charged at up to the same rate the customer would pay to call a Geographic Number, with calls to 03 numbers counting towards inclusive call minutes if the customer has remaining inclusive minutes to Geographic Numbers, and included in any discount structures that apply to Geographic Numbers

0344/0345:
UK-wide services at a geographic rate: migrating numbers from 0844/0845, calls charged at up to the same rate the customer would pay to call a Geographic Number, with calls to 03 numbers counting towards inclusive call minutes if the customer has remaining inclusive minutes to Geographic Numbers, and included in any discount structures that apply to Geographic Numbers

0370/0371:
UK-wide services at a geographic rate: migrating numbers from 0870/0871, calls charged at up to the same rate the customer would pay to call a Geographic Number, with calls to 03 numbers counting towards inclusive call minutes if the customer has remaining inclusive minutes to Geographic Numbers, and/or included in any discount structures that apply to Geographic Numbers

Cashback Websites [Draft article]

Updated 01/01/2007 @ 17:43

Here is a quick guide to cashback websites:

Cashback websites are websites which primarily pay the user every time they shop online. They also pay the user for certain online activities including search, downloading programs/toolbars, registering for products etc.

The user process is as follows

1. Signup/Login to cashback website
2. Search for online shop/product
3. Click link to shop/product
4. Purchase item (or carry out activity) during current session
5. Purchase is tracked automatically on cashback website account
6. Cashback website pays out.

I use the following sites (in order of preference):

Quidco
Rpoints
Greasypalm
MutualPoints

Quidco pays the highest rates and are very reliable. If the merchant is not on Quidco then pick the site which offers the next highest cashback. Note that there are many other cashback websites you may want to check out (see post below) but the above ones are the ones that I have used.

[to add: easy money, bonuses, mobile phones, gambling, tips e.g. clear cookies/cache etc]

It is possible to make between £1.52 and £2.24 per day just by doing searches for the above cashback sites. It has been claimed that one can make an estimated £300/month by using multiple cashback websites as described in this post on MSE. To maximise tracking success one needs to clear ones cache before returning to a merchant.
(if you find any more daily clicks please leave a comment so I can update the list)

Quidco:
8p The High Street Web (2 per day)
10p Kelkoo (1 per day)
10p shopping.com (up to 3 per day but unreliable tracking)
4p Carsource (3 per day)

Rpoints:
10p Search Anything Credit Cards (4 per day)
5p Kelkoo (1 per day)
4p The High Street Web (3 per day)
2p Carsource (4 per day)
1p Lycos search (multiple searches possible max~8)

Greasypalm:
5p shopping.com (2 searches a day but unreliable tracking)
4p The High Street Web (2 per day)
2p Carsource (2 per day)

MutualPoints: (1point = 0.67p)
5points per email (3+ a day)*
1point for MutualPoints search's (5 per day)
8points PriceRunner (5 per day)
8points Searchtheinternet (2 per day but unreliable tracking)
10points Kelkoo (1 per day but unreliable tracking)

*Go to My account > MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTIONS
Select RewardMail
Email Frequency: Up to three per day
Opt Out as necessary

Firefox 2 [RC1] [RC3] & IE7 released

Firefox 2 and IE 7 released

Update 2 : Firefox RC3 was released on October 17th and can be downloaded from here. This will probably be the last release candidate for Firefox 2 before its launch at the end of this month.

Update: Firefox  2 RC2 was released on October 6th and can be downloaded from here. There will probably be an RC3 and then Firefox 2 will be launched around then end of the month.

Based on this blog entry it is likely that IE7 will be released before Firefox 2. IE7 is on RC1 but there is unlikely to be another release candidate.  

Firefox RC1 has been released. You can download it via tools > help > Check for Updates in Firefox though you need a Beta version for rc1 to appear. Alternatively download the full version from here and the release notes are here. [Note: The page only seems to load in Firefox currently !?]

Yahoo! Central

I just discovered Yahoo! Central, a free download from Yahoo which will let you know when updates are available for your yahoo software.

Windows Live Writer Beta

I downloaded Windows Live Writer Beta a couple of weeks ago but haven't had time to test it until I started writing this blog entry.

"Windows Live Writer is a desktop application that makes it easier to compose compelling blog posts using Windows Live Spaces or your current blog service." [Live Writer blog] 

You can download the application from here. I can't see the application on live.com as yet, but I'm sure it will be featured there soon.

Trade in your mobile for cash

I have added 2 links under the cashback sites for mopay and envirofone. Both sites will give you cash when you trade in your phone with them.

Also the Nokia 6030 deal listed in January is back on. Nokia 3120 is also available on the same deal at mobileshop.com.

Cheapest Petrol

I have added a link on right to petrolprices.com. The website allows you to search for the cheapest price for petrol in your area. Its free and you can even set up email alerts to notify you of current prices in your area.

Free phone + Free rental deals

Update: I have added a third link as I have discovered that nifty list also compare mobile phone tariffs. Unfortunatly the offer below has finished.

I have listed two websites under the heading "Free mobiles listing" on the right hand side of this page. These websites list completely free mobile phone contract deals where the user receives a free phone and free rental via cashback.

I will be highliting any particularly good mobile phone deal which I discover. The latest deal is:

Nokia 6030 Mobile Phone - O2 Nokia 6030 Contract Mobile Phone On O2 250 + 100 Texts.

Remember to go through Quidco to get an additional £25 cahback.

Sign up to Windows Live Beta

Sign up for Windows Live Messenger Beta (the new MSN messenger) here and for Windows Live Mail Beta (the new Hotmail) here.

My First Blog

Hi all, I will be posting everything on my blog, thanks to Google’s www.blogger.com. Save’s me having to manually code everything and gives you the opportunity to post comments and ask questions.