Sale Calls

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Kirsty

I personally hate these especially when you have told them you are not interested but they wont take a hint. I am in marketing but I wouldn’t dream of using this method. Not only because of the annoyance it generates with the general public but there are plenty of more effective methods out there.

Before the internet became popular sale calls were considered popular by businesses however, to my knowledge they have always been seen as a nuisance by the majority of the general public.

I would seriously urge businesses to evaluate their marketing practices and see if there is another way in which they are able to gain the information that they need without cold call and the irritating sales calls.

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Sweet Potato Pancakes

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Kirsty

Here is a great recipe to make sweet potato pancakes and they are really tasty:

3/4 pound sweet potatoes
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

Place sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan of boiling water, and cook until tender but firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, and immediately immerse in cold water to loosen skins. Drain, remove skins, chop, and mash.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Mix mashed sweet potatoes, eggs, milk and butter in a separate medium bowl. Blend sweet potato mixture into the flour mixture to form a batter.
Preheat a lightly greased griddle over medium-high heat. Drop batter mixture onto the prepared griddle by heaping tablespoonfuls, and cook until golden brown, turning once with a spatula when the surface begins to bubble.

You can serve them with anything I had them as part of a roast dinner and really enjoyed them.

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Pub Quizzes

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Kirsty

Every other Sunday there is a general knowledge quiz at The Bowling Green pub in Ashbourne. I have only recently started going to these and am glad I did not only does it provide a change of scenery and allow me to see different people but it is good fun.

The theme of last night’s quiz was Scotland in honour of the fact that the landlord’s family were down from Scotland, whilst admittedly I don’t know all that much about Scotland which meant that I did struggle with the questions; good job was in a team otherwise I think I would probably have had a rather poor score. Our team came 2nd which is an improvement from the last time where we came 4th. The perks of the team I joined was that they don’t take it too seriously which was great as sometimes when people get really competitive it sucks the fun out of it and makes it seem more like 1 of the tests you do at school.

In addition to the general knowledge quiz there is a music quiz every 4 weeks, the way they have organised it, it always falls on a week where there is no general knowledge quiz. I haven’t managed to make it to the music quiz yet but am hoping to go to the next 1 so will let you know what it is like.

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Setting up Love Film on the XBox

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Kirsty

Ok, so decided to sign up for Love Film Instants but in order to that it required me to spend over an hour filling in online forms to get an XBox Live account and install the Love Film app and log in. What a pain!

Am hoping it is worth it although so far between that and Netflix it looking good; definitely looking like better value for money than Sky. Plenty of movies to watch as well as TV series. It actually works better for me as the stuff is there when I want to watch it. Some people would ask why not just use Sky plus and my response is that this option is a lot cheaper for the amount I use.

I would seriously encourage those of you who either want to save money or don’t really watch that much TV to look into other options such as combining various subscription packages. If you are one of the many that watch the soaps you are able to watch them on Terrestrial TV which is FREE.

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Reclaim your PPI for Free!

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Kirsty

I was browsing through the articles on Money Saving Expert (www.moneysavingexpert.com) and was amazed that I can claim back my PPI without having to go through an agency which would mean me giving away at least 10% of the money to them. The website provides a step by step guide to reclaiming the PPI which I intend to try as I wasn’t even aware I was paying for PPI on my credit card until I looked at the recent transactions and found that I was paying £12 per month so in total had paid £576 without even knowing it.

What could I have done with that money?

  • Put it towards a holiday
  • New Clothes
  • Bought new furniture
  • Paid for a complete module for my university course
  • New carpet in the living room
  • Rent for a month

….and the list goes on.

The point is that you shouldn’t feel like the only way to get your money back is through agencies who are going to take a cut of the money. The best advice I can give not just with reclaiming PPI but with debt management or anything else for that matter look into all options and where possible if you can deal with them directly instead of getting another institution to act on your behalf 9 times out of 10 you will save money as the “middleman” isn’t taking a cut and because you have come to them directly and been honest they are willing to work with you to resolve the issue

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Little and often

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Kirsty

I have started using this theory to help with juggling all my commitments. I aim to clean at least 1 room of the house every day, I study in small chunks as it is easier to retain the information even with work and exercise I break it down into small chunks. This is because it is easier to maintain focus on the task in hand thus enabling me to achieve better results.

Some people may say that this approach is wrong and I should devote large chunks of time to each task, my thinking is as I previously mentioned doing little and often has enabled me to achieve better results as I am more focused. The other thing is that spending large chunks of time makes it harder for me juggle everything in my life and so I get less done, plus it means that I have time to just relax.

The main thing is being organised in my case being organised doesn’t come naturally to me so having to do lists that were created with the help of a friend who is highly organised has helped a lot.

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Warehouse 13

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Kirsty

I had heard that this series was good but had missed the start of the series so didn’t really follow what was going on so when I found out it was on Netflix which is a subscription service that allows you to stream movies and TV. I decided to start watching it from the beginning and am starting to really enjoy it. Most of the TV I enjoy watching tends to be a little quirky.

I can’t stand the soaps and things like that – way too much drama for my taste. I tend to like things like:

  • Bones
  • Big Bang Theory
  • Warehouse 13
  • House
  • Sanctuary

Some people say that I am an oddball because the stuff I like does not all fit into the same genre. People need to realise that we don’t all fit into neat little boxes and we are not all sheep who like the same thing. We are unique individuals.

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The Railway’s new menu

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Kirsty

The Railway at Matlock has got a new menu! I can’t fault this place the standard of food is always great, not only in terms of quality but also in terms of value for money. I often take my daughters to Matlock during school holidays and have found that I am able to take them into the pub without any problems.

Matlock is a popular tourist destination in Derbyshire, with plenty of attractions nearby; The Heights of Abraham and Gulliver’s Kingdom are just 2 of the many around this area. The Railway is situated in an ideal location as it is just across the road from the bus station and within 5 minutes walking distance of the train station and the park is really close too.

Whilst I have never experienced the night life in Matlock personally I have great reports about it especially about the discos and kinect nights that take place in the Railway.

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Netflix vs Love Film

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Kirsty

I have just recently signed up for Netflix and already am noticing that it is really good as I can watch whatever I want when I want to watch it. Before signing up I was a little skeptical as I figured that for the price (£6 per month) that there was bound to be a catch when it said unlimited, however I am pleasantly surprised. There is a wide selection of films and TV series to watch the only negative I have come across so far is that there isn’t much in the way of current stuff on there. This is due to the fact that the UK version was only launched in January 2012 and various licensing issues.

Love Film is limited by the fact that you have the delay with having to post the discs unless you have Love Film Instants. The main reason that I have been looking into these various packages is because I am considering cancelling Sky as I am spending a load of money for Sky and only watch a few TV shows on a few channels so it is not really worth it.

If anyone is considering Netflix or Love Film the best advice is to take advantage of the promotions available and try them out see which you like. With Love Film there are a number of options available: whether you want games or movies or both.

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Never Enough Hours in the day

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Kirsty

Everyone says this at some point. In my case I always find this to be a problem because I’m juggling the responsibilities of being a parent, student and a business owner. All of these things require a large amount of time to be invested in them. I have been asked why I don’t put 1 of these on hold, well the honest answer is I can’t. Obviously I can’t just stop being a parent, if I put the business on hold then I lose my existing clients which also means that I lose my income, if I stop studying then I can’t progress from where I am now. I have already cut as much as I can from my life in order to manage these commitments.

The key to managing a hectic lifestyle is organisation, my life is becoming more and more organised. We have a timetable that lists the jobs that need to be done each day, I also have structure in that 5 days of the week I have to take and fetch my eldest to and from school. Most of the work and studying take place in the evening or when I have spare time during the day.

The other things that help are support from family and friends, when I’m having a day where I feel overwhelmed they motivate me, they also join in the joy when things are going well. You do have to be willing to make sacrifices, in my case my social life is not as active as it was however I do make time for the important people in my life.

I know that my current lifestyle is only temporary as I will not be a student forever, yes I will continue learning from experience but I will not be studying in an academic sense. Also as the children get older then my role will change.

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