Pricewatch »

• The year of living cheaply

  September 29, 2008 @ 1:24 pm | by Conor Pope

  Kath Kelly doesn’t sound daft, but after reading her recently published adventures in extreme saving it’s hard to escape the notion that there isn’t a side to her that is very slightly bonkers.

  One evening in June 2006, the 47-year-old from Bristol was out with some friends and, as the wine flowed expensively, the conversation turned to how skint they all were. As a part-time English language teacher earning little more than £10,000 a year, Kelly was probably the poorest of her peers and spent much of the drunken evening moaning about how difficult it was going to be to afford a nice wedding present for her soon-to-be-married brother.

  It was while slightly maudlin and slightly drunk that she had a notion which would change her life. She decided that, rather than scrimp and save a little bit and buy the couple some nice towels or a Le Creuset casserole dish as most sane people would have done, she would live on just a £1 (€1.26) a day – excluding rent and utilities – for a whole year and use the money she saved to buy them something really special.

  So she did, and she’s just published a book documenting her experiences. How I Lived A Year on Just a Pound a Day has touched a chord in the UK where it has been flying off the shelves since the beginning of the month as the global economy stumbles and people look for tips on getting by on less.
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• O2 changes upgrade policy – people very unhappy

  @ 1:21 pm | by Conor Pope

  A listener to the Ray Darcy show got in touch with me after being offered an upgrade by O2 in May which was subsequently withdrawn. After the first offer he was told that seeing as how there were no phones he particularly fancied he could hold off. But when he called them last week he was told his entitlement had disappeared. Turns out he is not alone in being very, very unhappy with O2 right now. Not long after I got his mail I started to get others from other equally annoyed customers.

  Another person who was entitled to a Gold upgrade – O2 offer silver, gold and platinum upgrades depending on what class of customer you are – but wen he went online last week to choose a new phone he found his upgrade had disappeared.

  And online discussion forums are hopping with people who have effectively lost their upgrades. What 02 have done is just a little sneaky. They have changed their policy significantly and it has become much more difficult to qualify for an upgrade.
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• A very good Apprentice

  @ 12:29 pm | by Conor Pope

  I’ve long been a big fan of The Apprentice on the BBC and was more than a bit worried when I heard that an Irish version was being made by TV3 with Bill Cullen in Suralan’s role. As the credits rolled on the opening programme last week, there I was on the couch, watching it through my fingers, terrified they’d make a pigs ear of it. Imagine my delight when it turned out that the makers had done an excellent job. It’s great!

  Although, I have to say, I was gobsmacked when I saw the amounts punters were prepared to pay for fruit on Moore St where the teams had set up stalls as part of the first task. A euro for a banana! One hundred euro for a box of mixed fruit which wouldn’t cost half that price in Mark & Spencer (which has the most expensive fruit in the country)! Shocking stuff – if anyone deserves a recession it’s those people, frankly!

  It’s on again tonight – watch it.

• You couldn’t make it up

  September 27, 2008 @ 2:57 pm | by Conor Pope

  Sorry, I’ve not been posting all that much (or at all) recently – a two-week old girl has been commanding my full attention. But reading the Irish Times breaking news this morning, I happened upon this sorry tale which might just be the most ridiculous story I have read all year. As if it wasn’t bad enough to learn that your tap water is contaminated with lead, now people in Galway have been told that the Council has suspended deliveries of water to affected areas of the city after it emerged that the deliveries themselves were also contaminated.

• Value for Money: Mash

  September 15, 2008 @ 3:15 pm | by Conor Pope

  This week (well.., last week) I tasted tastes five varieties of mashed potato.

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• A bitter pill to swallow

  @ 3:12 pm | by Conor Pope

  When people complain about higher prices in Ireland, they tend to focus on groceries and clothes and, while the discrepancies in the cost of identical products between this jurisdiction and others in these areas can be pretty hefty, there are, at least, some ways to economise.

  By shopping in the Aldis and Penneys of the retail world, consumers can undoubtedly cut costs and by swapping overpriced but instantly recognisable brands in favour of generic own-brand alternatives, a packet can be saved. There are, however, other areas where the price gaps between here and almost everywhere else is as great, if not greater, but consumer choice is significantly reduced and the ability to shop around almost non-existent.

  While it won’t come as a shock to many people to learn that Irish consumers pay considerably more than those living in other jurisdictions for many medicines – both over the counter and prescription – the extent of some of the price differences are truly shocking.
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• Bigger, better cheaper?

  September 10, 2008 @ 6:59 pm | by Conor Pope

  A common sense report from the Competition Authority was published today, calling for the cap on the size of supermarkets to be lifted in order to encourage new players to enter the market, increasing competition and driving down prices. It’ll be interesting to see if anything happens as a result of the report or if the Authority is just shouting into the wind. Incidentally the latest National Consumer Agency report on grocery prices is due out tomorrow morning.

  Be still my beating heart!

• On the Fringe. . .

  September 9, 2008 @ 10:51 pm | by Conor Pope

  The irrepressible dancing queen that is Fiona McCann has joined our little blogging world. You should stop buy and say hello.

  Immediately,

• Lazy, lazy council workers

  September 7, 2008 @ 2:08 pm | by Conor Pope

  I woke up this morning and, incredibly, the sky was blue so I took my little girl to Griffith Park off Botanic Avenue to have a run around in the small but perfectly formed little playground. We arrived at 9.45am, hardly early by anyone’s standards (except, maybe, my own five years ago) and were surprised to see the gate to the side entrance locked. So I pushed the buggy around to the main entrance much to the annoyance of my daughter who had got all excited at the sight of the swings and climbing frame and see-saw (the only three things she has any interest in). The main entrance was also chained shut. I asked a man in his fifties who was pushing his chubby, and less than impressed, dog through the railings and preparing to scale them himself what the story was and he explained that the park doesn’t open until 10.

  Sorry what? A public park, paid for by all of us, doesn’t open until 10 on a Sunday because the Dublin City Council wants to give its staff a little weekend lie in! It’s not like the signs at the entrance were of any help as they just carry the closing times, no mention at all of what time the place opens which seems very, very stupid to me. Anyways, I patrolled the perimeter of the park, like an angry bear, for a full half an hour before, eventually, the park and the playground opened.

  Bah!

  Mind you at least the playground in that park is safe and well maintained. A couple of weeks ago, we stopped off at the almost completely empty playground in Fairview Park. Scattered through the wood chippings that are supposed to make the place safer were huge shards of broken glass that would have a small child in casualty gushing blood before you could say ‘sort it out council people”.

  We didn’t stay long and haven’t been back.

• Kudos to the NCA

  September 5, 2008 @ 3:03 pm | by Conor Pope

  Say what you like about the National Consumer Agency, but I have just been on to their helpline and they have the Buena Vista Social Club soundtrack as their hold music.

• Sony recalls Vaios

  September 4, 2008 @ 3:41 pm | by Conor Pope

  News off the wires:

  Japan’s Sony is recalling thousands of its Vaio portable computers, citing a potential hazard that could cause them to overheat or short circuit. The US Consumer Products Safety Commission said on Thursday the recall is for 74,000 machines in the United States, after Sony received 15 reports of overheating, including one consumer who suffered a minor burn.

  The Kyodo news agency said the recall was for 440,000 units worldwide. Sony said on its website that “the issue involves a small number of units which may overheat due to a wiring problem.

  “Sony has initiated a voluntary program to perform a free inspection and, if necessary, a repair to ensure these units meet our high quality standards.” The company said the recall is for its VGN-TZ100, VGN-TZ200, VGN-TZ300 and VGN-TZ2000 series.

  Sony has been dogged in recent years by recalls of laptop computer batteries, amid concerns they would overheat and catch fire. In 2006, Dell Inc, Apple Inc, Lenovo Group Ltd, Toshiba Corp and some other PC makers recalled more than 8 million Sony batteries.

  I’ve long complained – to myself, mainly – about my own Vaio overheating, I wonder how many Irish computers will be hit by the recall? Am off to find out now…

• The nicest staff in the country?

  @ 10:29 am | by Conor Pope

  Walking into work today I was struck (for the thousandth time) by how incredibly friendly, good natured and upbeat the people who hand out the Metro and Herald AM freesheets are. Even the ones who are off duty smile and salute you on the street. I can’t imagine it is a particularly engaging job to stand on street corners in the rain handing newspapers to grumpy commuters. And while I can’t be certain, I’d imagine it probably doesn’t pay a whole lot and definitely involves very early starts. So why are they all so pleasant all the time and why aren’t they being headhunted to work in our retailers, call centres, airlines and civil service?

• Great news about the Budget

  September 3, 2008 @ 4:23 pm | by Conor Pope

  The Government is to bring forward the budget by two months, it has just been announced. I wonder what sort of delights we can look forward to? Tax breaks for all? Billions invested in the health system to bring it up to scratch? Some ingenious plan to kick start the property market and stop retailers ripping us off?

  Sigh.

• An unhealthy stealth tax?

  September 1, 2008 @ 3:44 pm | by Conor Pope

  Irish patients and their visitors could have been forgiven for casting an envious look across the Irish Sea earlier this year, when the Welsh Assembly voted to make car-parking free at most NHS hospitals.
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