How much more expensive is organic food?

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Organic food is produce that is farmed without the use of pesticides and man-made fertilisers. Put simply, organic food is the most natural food you can buy. Research shows that organic food can be better for us (since it contains higher levels of certain nutrients), and organic farming better for the environment. The benefits of eating organic may go even further. One study has shown that individuals eating a diet of mostly organic food have a lower risk of developing cancer.

Whilst the appetite for organic food is on the rise (64% of British people purchased organic vegetables in an average month according to this 2017 study), with the UK market for organic food now worth £2.3bn, many people feel like they simply can’t afford to buy organic. So is the perception that buying organic groceries is far more expensive than non-organic food a myth, or is there truth in it?

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How to save money on software

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Whether we like it or not, our lives are becoming increasingly digital. As a result, our dependency on software is growing by the day. No wonder both consumers and businesses are increasingly looking at how to save money on software. Meanwhile, software companies are reaping the rewards of this burgeoning market (expected to be worth $650bn by 2025). Make no mistake, the software market is growing at a rate of knots and that’s partly thanks to the rise of subscriptions.

Years ago, you could buy a perpetual license for a piece of software and own it forever. If you wanted to upgrade to a new version, that was up to you. Nowadays, most modern software providers don’t offer lifetime licenses at all. Subscriptions are the new, preferred billing model for which to sell software. This is the new age of “software as a service” (SaaS), pioneered by the likes of Adobe about a decade ago now.

SaaS has become the new norm and, with it, both consumers’ and businesses’ software spends have increased. But are there ways to cut your software costs?

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How to find cheap car insurance

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When I was 19 (back in 2010), my Grandad past away and left me his Peugeot 106 in his will. I had passed my driving test a year prior and was really pleased to own my first car! Imagine my disappointment therefore when I entered my local insurance brokerage (insurance comparison sites were not so big back then) and got told it would cost £3,000 to insure my £500 car for the year. I simply couldn’t afford that! So I opted instead to insure my Peugeot for a month, used it as much as I could that summer and, sadly, had to sell my wheels after that. I haven’t checked but I hope that insurance companies have found cheaper ways to insure teenage drivers these days.

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Appliances in new build properties

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We’ve been living in our new build flat for 10 months now and our Hotpoint integrated washer / dryer has already broken down. An engineer just came out today and confirmed the barrel is completely broken and will need replacing. I spoke to him for a little while and here are few interesting things I learnt…

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How to choose a good, affordable red wine

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How many times have you been to a restaurant and been handed a wine list full of wines that you are totally unfamiliar with? Or splashed out on expensive wine, only to be left disappointed by the taste? A couple of years ago, I visited Bordeaux, a region renowned for producing some of the world’s best wines. Whilst there, I went on a wine tour of one of Bordeaux’s 6,000 chateaux. Here I learnt a lot about the wine production process and what makes a good red wine.

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Which Gower beaches have the best parking?

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I decided to write this post off the back of a recent trip to the Gower. If you’ve never been, it’s a fabulous place for a holiday and I highly recommend it. However, parking is a bit of an issue there, especially when visiting certain beaches. Google searches for this topic weren’t particularly useful hence I thought I would share my findings.

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Four real life examples of how Monzo makes life easier

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I have been a Monzo customer since February 2017, shortly before they officially became a bank. I initially joined Monzo partly to understand what the hype was all about (several people in my office were brandishing these bright orange cards). And partly to benefit from their low foreign exchange fees when going abroad.

Monzo’s pace of development appears to have slowed in recent months. However, a recent experience reminded me of why I love banking with Monzo, and why I will never go back to one of the incumbent banks. 

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Why I’m on course for a miserable retirement

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My Dad is 52 and works as a Sales Director. His job is more than just demanding, it’s psychologically and physically draining. On the plus side, he earns a very good salary. Meaning, when he reaches 55 (pension drawing age), he could potentially retire early. Which is what I’d like to see him do for the good of his health. A recent conversation with him on this subject sparked me to think about my own retirement.

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