Link Mutato

There are comparison websites galore, compare car insurance, compare life insurance, compare driving lessons, compare credit cards, the list goes on and on and on and on!

Now there is a website allowing you to compare security companies! For example, if you are looking for a Coventry CCTV System, you just visit the website, fill in your details and you then get quotes from a handful of CCTV companies. Now I obviously don’t know if you can get better prices by using the website, but if you can then it should save time and effort in the search.

The next thing should be having a few testimonies available for each contractor – that would make choosing easier? But I guess on the other side of the coin can you really trust reviews that someone has written online? I have seen many times where someone has written ’5 Stars’, Brilliant service’, etc. and it all looks a little bit fishy to me.

Anyway, I hope it is as useful as a service as the idea seems.

What?! £24?!

When I was learning to drive 14 years ago, driving lessons were about £13, so they have nearly doubled in price during the last 14 years! That can’t be right.

But when I start thinking about it, most things have doubled in price during the last 14 years. I still struggle to buy a mars bar for 70 pence as, in my mind they should be about 35 pence. Maybe I’m just getting old.

There are however countless adverts around stating ‘earn £30,000 as a driving instructor, which seems quite steep at first, but is it such a great wage for all of the work involved? Lets take a look. To earn that amount of money a driving instructor has got to first pay for all his expenses which include fuel – which is pretty much at an all time high in the United Kingdom, insurance, which is pretty much at an all time high in the United Kingdom, the purchase or hire of a vehicle, road tax, servicing, wear and tear on tires etc. advertising costs and holiday income and pension. I would estimate that those costs come to about £10-15,000 per year.

If the instructor has got to earn £30,000 + £15,000 then that will be a total of about £45,000. If you divide that by £24 per hour that means they have got to work 1,875 hours a year. That works out at over 39 hours teaching a week (assuming they are working 47 weeks a year).

For an instructor to be working, teaching pupils for 39 hours a week they they would probably be in the car teaching and traveling for 50 hours in the week. This suddenly doesn’t seem like a very easy £30,000 – especially when you consider that that is only if they can get the hours of teaching.

Driving lessons are probably quite reasonable then.

One of our daughters has a touch of nappy rash at the moment.

Whether we have been a bit too lax with the nappy changes, whether she has a bit of a bug or whether there is a bit of teething going on at the moment – I have no idea. All I know is that it is very red at the moment and that she doesn’t enjoy having it wiped at the moment – might have to revert back to the original cotton wool and water for a time?

What makes it even sadder is that she can’t make up her mind whether she wants to laugh or cry when she is having it cleaned – a bit of a giggle, a bit of a cry and then a bit of a giggle… then a few more tears. It’s very sad.

GO AWAY RED BUM!

A cheap holiday or a recipe for disaster?  After not much deliberation, we took our young family camping for just 2 nights at a lovely campsite in the North of England.  I was in two minds as the weekend approached.  On the one hand, I pictured a restful idyllic weekend taking us back to basics with no option of doing chores or other pressing jobs, spending every day in the fresh air.  On the other hand, I thought about how we’d manage to keep our two girls entertained should the weather be against us, how we’d keep them warm in the night (warm enough but not overheating!) and how we’d keep ourselves warm as our one season sleeping bags suddenly seemed not up to the task.

The reality?  In all honesty, a mixed bag.  We had a very pleasant weekend, lots of unhealthy (but very tasty) food, lovely views and a short burst of good weather.  We also had, however, a lot of time in our tent and therefore slightly irritable children (and as a result, slightly irritable adults), LOTS of rain and possibly a lot of effort for not much return.  Would we go again?  The jury’s still out but while I don’t think we’ll ever be hardcore campers, nor would I want to be glamper,s and I’d like to think that the lessons learned from this weekend would stand us in good stead for a couple of fun-filled, good value camping weekends each year.  Watch this space!

Welcome to the new look site where you are sure to find bucketloads of useful  information – from driving to electrical installation and CCTV… in fact loads upon loads of stuff.

Please be patient as we get the new look site up and running! We’ll be with you shortly!