I think I'm going to get an iPhone 3G (the new version includes a GPS receiver and 3G support).
The main questions are:
1) 8GB or 16GB. The latter costs an extra £60. I'm currently favouring the 16GB.
2) Black or White? You can only get White with the 16GB option, not 8GB. What do you think?
3) Contract or Pay and Go?
My average spend is about 50p/month as I very rarely make calls or text, although I do normally carry it with me.
a) Contract : £160 for phone, then 18*£30 = £700. This includes 75 minutes and 125 texts.
b) Pay and Go : £360 for phone (which includes 6 months data), then 12*£10 (for unlimited data) + PAYG=£30 = £510 ish.
Note: the Pay and Go rates are not finalised - they were temporarily visible and hastily removed.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Prescription sun glasses
I've been looking in to prescription sunglasses recently.
I'd really like some sports wraparound glasses but the curved lenses can't be made prescriptive so you end up with normal sunglasses with prescription lenses in a simple frame that is inserted behind the sunglasses. So they look cool from the outside but a bit silly on the inside. You'd also be looking through 2 sets of lenses.
But the biggest drawback is that they cost £200+. £100+ for the frame and tinted lens, £40 for the insert frame and £60 for the lenses.
I was killing time in Southampton whilst Emma and the kids were in Lush, and went in to Vision Express. They have an offer at the moment where you get tinted, UV protecting lenses for £39. You pay full price for frame which range from £20 to £150+.
My prescription is -3.5 and -3.0 which meant that I couldn't get the Hackett shades I wanted as they were too curved. I found another pair, Studio 123 WEH01, that were good (not as good but they were also £20 not £60).
I needed an eye test (£25) to get a current prescription and, asking at 2:40, they had one appointment left which was at 3:10 so that was perfect. By 4-ish we were leaving the store having ordered the glasses and arranging free delivery.
The receipt shows that the lenses normally cost £82 so getting them for £39 seems like a genuinely good deal.
I'd really like some sports wraparound glasses but the curved lenses can't be made prescriptive so you end up with normal sunglasses with prescription lenses in a simple frame that is inserted behind the sunglasses. So they look cool from the outside but a bit silly on the inside. You'd also be looking through 2 sets of lenses.
But the biggest drawback is that they cost £200+. £100+ for the frame and tinted lens, £40 for the insert frame and £60 for the lenses.
I was killing time in Southampton whilst Emma and the kids were in Lush, and went in to Vision Express. They have an offer at the moment where you get tinted, UV protecting lenses for £39. You pay full price for frame which range from £20 to £150+.
My prescription is -3.5 and -3.0 which meant that I couldn't get the Hackett shades I wanted as they were too curved. I found another pair, Studio 123 WEH01, that were good (not as good but they were also £20 not £60).
I needed an eye test (£25) to get a current prescription and, asking at 2:40, they had one appointment left which was at 3:10 so that was perfect. By 4-ish we were leaving the store having ordered the glasses and arranging free delivery.
The receipt shows that the lenses normally cost £82 so getting them for £39 seems like a genuinely good deal.
Anyone for table tennis?
I've just ordered an outdoor table tennis table. I spent a couple of hours researching the options, mostly these in the £280-£375 price range:
I ordered the Hobby First from Millet Sports, priced £297.99. This is better than sweatband.com who want £325. This table comes with 4 bats, 6 balls and a cover.
I chose them over tabletennispro.co.uk who have the same list price because I should get up to 6% cashback from Millet Sports as I ordered via Quidco.com. They also accept American Express so that's another 1% cashback.
Hopefully it'll be here within a week or so - I can't wait.
- BUTTERFLY Easyfold Outdoor Table Tennis Table
- Cornilleau Hobby First Outdoor Rollaway Table Tennis Table
- Cornilleau Sport 140 Outdoor Rollaway Table Tennis Table
- KETTLER Stockholm Outdoor Table Tennis Table
- Cornilleau Sport 240 Outdoor Rollaway Table Tennis Table
I ordered the Hobby First from Millet Sports, priced £297.99. This is better than sweatband.com who want £325. This table comes with 4 bats, 6 balls and a cover.
I chose them over tabletennispro.co.uk who have the same list price because I should get up to 6% cashback from Millet Sports as I ordered via Quidco.com. They also accept American Express so that's another 1% cashback.
Hopefully it'll be here within a week or so - I can't wait.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Orbea Orca - how I got my bike
Here's the full (you may fall asleep) story about how I acquired a bike worth £2300-ish for £1100-ish. More photos here
At IBM we have a flexible benefits scheme. We can opt to take some of our pay in a variety of forms other than cash, typically without paying (as much) tax.
For example, we can get paid in food vouchers for use at work without paying any income tax on them whatsoever. So an 88p latte (mmmmm...) really only costs 52p for a higher rate tax payer. There's also tax free Child Care Vouchers which are great as people insist on being paid lots of money to look after my kids.
One of the options is to hire a bike for a year. Technically it is not a bike purchase scheme but in practice you always get the option to buy the bike at the end of year for 5%+VAT of its purchase price. You pay in 12 monthly installments so you also effectively get an interest
free loan.
We can choose to spend anything from £100 to £1500 on a bike and bike-related accessories each year.
So I started out thinking I'd spend about £600 post-tax = £1000 pre-tax on a bike. I found the Trek 1.9 for £1000 which is a nice looking bike, with fancy wheels.
Then Rob Smyth and I joined forces and looked at bikes together as we had the same requirements. We went to the Peter Hansford in Winchester to look at the Trek 1.9 but they didn't have one in the shop. Looking at the Trek, BMC and LeMond bikes they had (with lots of helpful advice from Richard who works at the shop) we left having decided that we now both wanted a Trek Madone 4.5 (£1400), leaving £100 for shoes, pedals, pumps etc.
Then we went to the Peter Hansford in Chandlers Ford and left there being very happy with the help from their road bike guy, Adam, and we were leaning towards getting an Orbea Onix. This bike seemed like a better overall package than the Madone, but it was close.
After some web research we finally decided to order 2 Orbea Onix bikes. Peter Hansford do an excellent bike fitting session where you get measured for height, leg length, shoulder width, arm length and get to try the different "clipless" pedal technologies. We compared Shimano SPD and Look and decided on the Look system. I had thought that I'd choose SPD so that I could walk around a town after cycling there but trying the shoes made me realise that there's no way I'd choose to walk for more than a couple of minutes in SPDs - I'd take a spare pair of shoes instead.
We were originally told that the bikes would take about 3 weeks to be ready. But after 3 weeks we were told that Orbea were struggling to source the Shimano Ultegra groupset for the bikes and there'd be a delay. After a while Adam persuaded Orbea that he would source the groupset in the UK and invoice Orbea, which they agreed to. But then after another week or two we were told that Orbea had said that they didn't actually have any Onix frames and that it would be another 3 or 4 weeks before they'd be built. Aaargggh.
BUT, they did have one top of the range Orca frame that they could let us have instead of one of the Onix frames at no extra cost. This is a frame that costs about £1800. It was used by the Orbea racing team during 2007/2008 - a serious piece of kit.
But there's 2 of us and only one frame. We agreed that we had to get the Orca - we weren't going to turn down their top of the range bike. But who'd get it? We considered tossing a coin, but neither of us were willing to risk losing the toss. We worked out that if £186 was to
be given from Orca-buyer to the cheaper-bike-buyer then the percentage discount we'd be getting would be the same. But we both said that we'd definitely give the other £187 to have the Orca. But we also agreed that if the other offered £250 then we'd let the other have it.
We finally agreed that if I gave Rob £210 then we'd both be happy. Rob chose Madone 4.5 and it would only take 2 days to be built. The Orca was shipped from Spain and built in about the same time so we both had our bikes by the start of the next week.
So Rob's got a bike worth £1460 (he got Look Keo Sprint pedals thrown in for free for the inconvenience) for about £650 and I'd got a bike worth about £2300 for about about £1100. Both bikes are beautiful frames to look at: full carbon frame and fork, decent groupsets and pretty wheels.
When my bike turned up I realised that I had also been given the top of the range Orbea seat post and handle bars (Zeus Cat III) so that's another ~£100? of value which I hadn't been expecting.
And yes, it rides like a dream. Worth every penny.
At IBM we have a flexible benefits scheme. We can opt to take some of our pay in a variety of forms other than cash, typically without paying (as much) tax.
For example, we can get paid in food vouchers for use at work without paying any income tax on them whatsoever. So an 88p latte (mmmmm...) really only costs 52p for a higher rate tax payer. There's also tax free Child Care Vouchers which are great as people insist on being paid lots of money to look after my kids.
One of the options is to hire a bike for a year. Technically it is not a bike purchase scheme but in practice you always get the option to buy the bike at the end of year for 5%+VAT of its purchase price. You pay in 12 monthly installments so you also effectively get an interest
free loan.
We can choose to spend anything from £100 to £1500 on a bike and bike-related accessories each year.
So I started out thinking I'd spend about £600 post-tax = £1000 pre-tax on a bike. I found the Trek 1.9 for £1000 which is a nice looking bike, with fancy wheels.
Then Rob Smyth and I joined forces and looked at bikes together as we had the same requirements. We went to the Peter Hansford in Winchester to look at the Trek 1.9 but they didn't have one in the shop. Looking at the Trek, BMC and LeMond bikes they had (with lots of helpful advice from Richard who works at the shop) we left having decided that we now both wanted a Trek Madone 4.5 (£1400), leaving £100 for shoes, pedals, pumps etc.
Then we went to the Peter Hansford in Chandlers Ford and left there being very happy with the help from their road bike guy, Adam, and we were leaning towards getting an Orbea Onix. This bike seemed like a better overall package than the Madone, but it was close.
After some web research we finally decided to order 2 Orbea Onix bikes. Peter Hansford do an excellent bike fitting session where you get measured for height, leg length, shoulder width, arm length and get to try the different "clipless" pedal technologies. We compared Shimano SPD and Look and decided on the Look system. I had thought that I'd choose SPD so that I could walk around a town after cycling there but trying the shoes made me realise that there's no way I'd choose to walk for more than a couple of minutes in SPDs - I'd take a spare pair of shoes instead.
We were originally told that the bikes would take about 3 weeks to be ready. But after 3 weeks we were told that Orbea were struggling to source the Shimano Ultegra groupset for the bikes and there'd be a delay. After a while Adam persuaded Orbea that he would source the groupset in the UK and invoice Orbea, which they agreed to. But then after another week or two we were told that Orbea had said that they didn't actually have any Onix frames and that it would be another 3 or 4 weeks before they'd be built. Aaargggh.
BUT, they did have one top of the range Orca frame that they could let us have instead of one of the Onix frames at no extra cost. This is a frame that costs about £1800. It was used by the Orbea racing team during 2007/2008 - a serious piece of kit.
But there's 2 of us and only one frame. We agreed that we had to get the Orca - we weren't going to turn down their top of the range bike. But who'd get it? We considered tossing a coin, but neither of us were willing to risk losing the toss. We worked out that if £186 was to
be given from Orca-buyer to the cheaper-bike-buyer then the percentage discount we'd be getting would be the same. But we both said that we'd definitely give the other £187 to have the Orca. But we also agreed that if the other offered £250 then we'd let the other have it.
We finally agreed that if I gave Rob £210 then we'd both be happy. Rob chose Madone 4.5 and it would only take 2 days to be built. The Orca was shipped from Spain and built in about the same time so we both had our bikes by the start of the next week.
So Rob's got a bike worth £1460 (he got Look Keo Sprint pedals thrown in for free for the inconvenience) for about £650 and I'd got a bike worth about £2300 for about about £1100. Both bikes are beautiful frames to look at: full carbon frame and fork, decent groupsets and pretty wheels.
When my bike turned up I realised that I had also been given the top of the range Orbea seat post and handle bars (Zeus Cat III) so that's another ~£100? of value which I hadn't been expecting.
And yes, it rides like a dream. Worth every penny.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Cashback card - one year in
I just got my first annual cashback from the American Express. As expected, I seem to have received 3% cashback for about the first 3 months, then 0.5% for the remaining balance up to £3500 then 1% for the remainder up to £10000.
I didn't quite reach £10000 this year so I didn't break in to the 1.5% band - mostly because I also got an Abbey card that paid 5% cashback on supermarket purchases.
Total cashback from Amex for the year = £131.05
I didn't quite reach £10000 this year so I didn't break in to the 1.5% band - mostly because I also got an Abbey card that paid 5% cashback on supermarket purchases.
Total cashback from Amex for the year = £131.05
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Switching Gas and Electricity
About 3 years ago I used an online Gas and Electric switching service to move from Southern Electric and British Gas - the default local suppliers which is the generally the most expensive option - to a dual fuel scheme from Powergen (now called EON). I'm sure it saved money but I forget how much. I got £20 cashback by switching using a link from Mutual Points
So time's moved on and there's more money to be saved, and cashback to be reaped.
The best place to start is with Martin Lewis' excellent site, MoneySavingExpert.com, specifically the switching article.
I used a recent bill and today's meter reading to work out how much gas and electric I've used since December to give me an idea of my annual use (about 14600 kWh gas and 6800 kWh electric).
I then used MoneySuperMarket to get started. My current estimated annual bill is £1084.
Switching to a dual fuel option with British Gas would save me about £68.50/year (6.3%) and get me £30 cashback.
Switching just the Electric to the same British Gas option would reduce that part of my bill by £62.60 to £602.73 and get me £17.50 (or £20 according to QuidCo - UPDATE It has tracked as £20 so hopefully that will be the pay out in a few months).
Switching just the Gas to Atlantic would reduce that part of my bill by £23.50 to £395.33 but not get me any cashback (other providers had cashback but not Atlantic).
So dual fuel is an annual bill of £1,015.61 with £30 cashback
Gas and Electric sourced separately is an annual bill of £998 with £17.50 cashback.
So doing thing separately is a little cheaper, but I'd really like 2 lots of cashback. So I put my Gas details in to EnergyHelpLine.com who seem to offer £15 cashback for all providers.
So I've switched using MoneySuperMarket for my electric and EnergyHelpLine for my gas and should net an annual bill of £998 and get £35 cashback.
So time's moved on and there's more money to be saved, and cashback to be reaped.
The best place to start is with Martin Lewis' excellent site, MoneySavingExpert.com, specifically the switching article.
I used a recent bill and today's meter reading to work out how much gas and electric I've used since December to give me an idea of my annual use (about 14600 kWh gas and 6800 kWh electric).
I then used MoneySuperMarket to get started. My current estimated annual bill is £1084.
Switching to a dual fuel option with British Gas would save me about £68.50/year (6.3%) and get me £30 cashback.
Switching just the Electric to the same British Gas option would reduce that part of my bill by £62.60 to £602.73 and get me £17.50 (or £20 according to QuidCo - UPDATE It has tracked as £20 so hopefully that will be the pay out in a few months).
Switching just the Gas to Atlantic would reduce that part of my bill by £23.50 to £395.33 but not get me any cashback (other providers had cashback but not Atlantic).
So dual fuel is an annual bill of £1,015.61 with £30 cashback
Gas and Electric sourced separately is an annual bill of £998 with £17.50 cashback.
So doing thing separately is a little cheaper, but I'd really like 2 lots of cashback. So I put my Gas details in to EnergyHelpLine.com who seem to offer £15 cashback for all providers.
So I've switched using MoneySuperMarket for my electric and EnergyHelpLine for my gas and should net an annual bill of £998 and get £35 cashback.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Helicopter downdraft
Today an air ambulance came to Hursley in case it was needed to transfer a man who was having severe heart pains (it wasn't used in the end).
We went outside to see it take off. It made a lot of noise whilst spinning up, and then when it actually started to take off there was an impressive amount of force in the downdraft. A nice bit of excitement at the end of a working day.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Deer just over the road
This morning we saw deer in a neighbour's front garden. The kids got very excited and after getting a photo and looking at them through binoculars they eventually got spooked and ran when Jenny waved at them.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
The Hour, by Michael Hutchinson
Last weekend I read a great book that I heartily recommend (isn't the library great?)
It is about Michael Hutchinson's attempt to cycle further in one hour than anyone else ever has - although of course it isn't that simple.
He covers the history of "The Hour": the riders, technology, drugs, and how it has now become the anti-technology Athlete's Hour.
He talks about how he got in to cycling quite late in life, his training, racing, creating the bike for the attempt, the attempt itself and much more.
He has a writing style that is easy to read and addictive - I read the book over one weekend. There are lots of funny bits and his descriptions and opinions of the people involved are refreshingly honest - especially of himself.
I'd recommend this book if you're at all interested in cycling, record attempts or the mind of professional athletes - great stuff.
It is about Michael Hutchinson's attempt to cycle further in one hour than anyone else ever has - although of course it isn't that simple.
He covers the history of "The Hour": the riders, technology, drugs, and how it has now become the anti-technology Athlete's Hour.
He talks about how he got in to cycling quite late in life, his training, racing, creating the bike for the attempt, the attempt itself and much more.
He has a writing style that is easy to read and addictive - I read the book over one weekend. There are lots of funny bits and his descriptions and opinions of the people involved are refreshingly honest - especially of himself.
I'd recommend this book if you're at all interested in cycling, record attempts or the mind of professional athletes - great stuff.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
How I got this years home contents and buildings insurance for free
Now that I've been paid I'm happy to write up my home insurance story...
1) I don't live in the biggest house
2) I don't tend to make claims on my home insurance so I am happy to accept a slightly higher excess on insurance policies, eg £150 instead of the default £75/100.
Looking at the cashback on offer at Quidco it seemed that the fixed amount of cashback is comparable to what I pay for my insurance. So when it came to renewal time I got quotes from all the insurance companies that offered a decent amount of cashback.
For each site, I worked out (quote) - (cashback), and made a note of the excess. I was also slightly wary of sites with higher quotes and higher cashback amounts, in case the cashback didn't come through and I ended up with only the higher quote.
I decided on:
Contents - Co-operative - £56 quote - £70 cashback
Buildings - Prudential - £93 quote - £85 cashback
The transactions "tracked" immediately so I could tell that I should get the cashback. The funds cleared about 2 months later and I got paid via a BACS transfer on December 1st.
Overall, I got paid about £5 to have my home insured for a year. T'is a crazy old world.
PS You should also use Quidco for purchases you make online whenever possible, eg Comet, HMV, Tesco, GAME, Woolworths, Asda, Waterstones, Hilton Hotels.
PPS I also got £10 when I applied for and was accepted for an American Express Platinum credit card that gives 1% cashback on purchases. I used this card when I paid for my home insurance so it was actually even cheaper :)
1) I don't live in the biggest house
2) I don't tend to make claims on my home insurance so I am happy to accept a slightly higher excess on insurance policies, eg £150 instead of the default £75/100.
Looking at the cashback on offer at Quidco it seemed that the fixed amount of cashback is comparable to what I pay for my insurance. So when it came to renewal time I got quotes from all the insurance companies that offered a decent amount of cashback.
For each site, I worked out (quote) - (cashback), and made a note of the excess. I was also slightly wary of sites with higher quotes and higher cashback amounts, in case the cashback didn't come through and I ended up with only the higher quote.
I decided on:
Contents - Co-operative - £56 quote - £70 cashback
Buildings - Prudential - £93 quote - £85 cashback
The transactions "tracked" immediately so I could tell that I should get the cashback. The funds cleared about 2 months later and I got paid via a BACS transfer on December 1st.
Overall, I got paid about £5 to have my home insured for a year. T'is a crazy old world.
PS You should also use Quidco for purchases you make online whenever possible, eg Comet, HMV, Tesco, GAME, Woolworths, Asda, Waterstones, Hilton Hotels.
PPS I also got £10 when I applied for and was accepted for an American Express Platinum credit card that gives 1% cashback on purchases. I used this card when I paid for my home insurance so it was actually even cheaper :)
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Running home from Winchester
After an enjoyable night out in Winchester with some guys from work (meal at Ask pizza then beers in the Exchange and Old Gaolhouse), I went to the train station. The next train wasn't for 25 minutes and it was a bit cold.
I didn't fancy waiting around so I decided to jog home, figuring it was about 6 miles so only 60ish minutes. This is comparable to a 25 min wait, a 15 min train ride and a 15 min jog home from Eastleigh train station.
It turns out the route I took home wasn't the shortest - by about 3/4 of a mile - so it was actually more like 7 miles which is 3 miles more than I'd normally run. And it took 1 hour and 15 minutes :( The shorter route has a couple of sizeable climbs though which this route doesn't.
Was it worth it? Yeees. I guess. I must have burned 700 calories, improved my cardio vascular fitness, avoided spending £2.70 and listened to some interesting Logically Critical podcasts.
I didn't fancy waiting around so I decided to jog home, figuring it was about 6 miles so only 60ish minutes. This is comparable to a 25 min wait, a 15 min train ride and a 15 min jog home from Eastleigh train station.
It turns out the route I took home wasn't the shortest - by about 3/4 of a mile - so it was actually more like 7 miles which is 3 miles more than I'd normally run. And it took 1 hour and 15 minutes :( The shorter route has a couple of sizeable climbs though which this route doesn't.
Was it worth it? Yeees. I guess. I must have burned 700 calories, improved my cardio vascular fitness, avoided spending £2.70 and listened to some interesting Logically Critical podcasts.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Crash update
I cycled in to work today so I'm clearly not that injured. My grazes are healing nicely but the thing that's most impressive is the blackness of my hip bruise. It scares the children nicely :)
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Free beer from Threshers
I just picked up my free beer from Threshers. Looks like I'm going to have a nice evening.
Find your local Threshers here
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Bike crash
I had a bit of an incident on Tuesday lunchtime's trip to Otterbourne Jumps. I came down a little bit sideways and parted company with my steed. I then used my back to slow myself down. Nothing's broken but I'm a bit stiff and sore. The bike's fine though.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Minehead birthday cycle ride
I got to tackle some stupidly steep hills around Minehead on my birthday this year. The photo is taken from the high point (I didn't go all the way to the Dunkerry beacon as I had to be back in time for tea). Excepting a possible flight from somewhere like Taiwan, this is the highest that my bike has been.
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