05/06/2011 by JohnB.

The cost of going bankrupt rose by £75 to £525 at the beginning of June 2011 and with the court fee added on, the total upfront cost of going bankrupt is now about £700. The Insolvency Service has said this increase was to cover the cost of administration.

I actually think that this is a good thing because I know of people who go bankrupt at the drop of a hat. Some I know have done this three times now.

When I was younger my mother made sure that I knew how important it was to pay my debts and how that reflected upon me as a person to trust. I have struggled to pay off debts at times in the past but at present I don’t owe anybody anything and would never dream of having debts “written off”, I always take pride in paying my way.

I am convinced that some people borrow money clearly intent on not paying it back and using “bankruptcy” to achieve this.

Posted in Finance | 2 Comments »

22/01/2011 by JohnB.

Facebook, the world’s most popular social networking site, has just been valued at about $50bn. We hear often of the advantages of this website but what of the drawbacks:

• Advertising is targeted totally to you, how do the advertisers know about you and your likes/dislikes?
• Some people spend hours a day, searching for friends and updating their profile, it is addictive.
• Depending upon your privacy settings (most people don’t know how to change them) your entire profile is there to be read by anyone with a generic Facebook account.
• Potential employers and abusers look at Facebook to see what you are doing or have been up to. They can even check out your friends and family.
• How far are we detaching ourselves from real contact, in the real world some “Facebookers” would not have have any friends. Some claim to have a thousand friends plus, these types have definitely built up a psychological problem.
• Cyber bullying is rife at the moment and it is also so easy for someone to go off the deep end and insult a whole family group in one go. Or to threaten to kill.

Facebook should keep their money safe because I feel that maybe in the future someone will try to take them to court for allowing threatening and abusive behaviour and for giving “facetime” to those that have lost the plot.

Posted in Finance | 3 Comments »

13/11/2010 by JohnB.

Iain Duncan Smith is planning to bring in a single Universal Credit to replace work-related benefits and claimants moving into work will keep more of their income than now, but they will face losing benefits if they refuse a job. He said 70 per cent of the four million new jobs created  recently had gone to foreign workers, while 4.5 million British people continued to draw benefits. What is not realised is that foreign workers are prepared to live in overcrowded and sometimes squalid conditions to pay the rent. I see housing costs as a major drawback to taking on low paid work, or is it that the torries want all the poor people to live in an out of the way village in Wales. In theory Iain Duncan Smiths ideas seem great but in practice I think he will save very little money and more people will move from job seekers allowance to some sort of sickness benefit due to the extra stress that they are put under. This is such a complicated issue and each individual has his own story of why they can’t or won’t work, and of course they are being told by a bunch of millionaires to pull their socks up!

Posted in Finance | 3 Comments »

05/09/2010 by JohnB.

The well that spilled 206 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico looks like it poses no more risk.  Adm Thad Allen told reporters after engineers had replaced a damaged valve on the sea bed. That faulty valve has been brought to the surface and will be examined as part of an enquiry. Engineers are going to pump concrete from a second relief well to seal the ruptured well for good. The oil leak was stopped more than four weeks ago, but there had always been fears the leak would start again under pressure. Let’s hope that oils well that ends well!

Posted in Finance | 3 Comments »

21/07/2010 by JohnB.

The consequences of England underperforming in the world cup rumbles on. After 11 years Nationwide have pulled out of sponsoring all football in the UK. The Football Association (rather stupidly) turned down a £20m 4-year partnership offer from Nationwide to sponsor England because they thought that England would do better at the world cup and therefore would encourage more lucrative offers. Once again the FA have been found incompetent. Is there any way some unemployed people could take over this decaying institution then possibly it would have a reason to exist!

Posted in Finance | 3 Comments »