The Jewel of the Thames

I spent last week exploring the River Thames as it meanders through Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. Of course, this should have meant a sunny holiday on its leafy banks. But instead, I found myself beside a raging torrent of grey and white foaming water.

I could only sip my coffee, wrap myself in a car blanket, and muse upon what a wonderful beauty spot must be the gorgeous Boulter’s Lock at Maidenhead in gentler climes.

I am afraid, with the river in full flood, many of the early swan, duck and moorhen hatchlings were cruelly washed away with the tide, and the riverbanks were home to some very sad and forlorn looking feathered parents. (Fingers crossed there’s time, as I am advised, for a second brood this season!)

I am definitely going back there for the quintessential British summer lunch one day very soon! It really must be one of the prettiest spots in Britain – if you have foreign friends coming over for the Olympics or the Jubilee, it’s definitely worth a visit.

It used to be known as the ‘Jewel of the Thames’ with uninterrupted views downstream towards Maidenhead bridge – and was once the meeting point of VIPs and glitterati at the turn of the last century.

Pay for your day out by cashing in some of your old, unwanted gold or silver jewelry. Don’t forget, cash for gold prices are still at an all-time high.

So sell gold and make use of Postgoldforcash.com by popping those trinkets into a PGFC bag, sending it off, and waiting to see how much you're offered. It could be enough for a lazy day on the river!

Payday Loans

I did a really astonishing interview the other day with one of my favourite financial experts, who warned about the hidden hazards of taking out one of those short-term, high interest loans called "payday loans".

He gave the amazing example that, if you took out a payday loan for £100, you'd owe approx £340 by the end of the month, since most of them attract an interest rate of about 4000 per cent APR. After a year, you'd owe over four thousand pounds. After five years, and after accumulating interest upon interest upon interest, you'd actually owe a debt of £11,585,620,000. That's over 11 billion pounds. 

I know those sorts of loan are not meant for the long term, but I can just imagine some people finding them almost impossible to pay back after just one month, and so letting it roll over into another. Beware, is all I can say, lest you end up owing enough to bail out a Eurozone country out of debt!

It's worth remembering, if you are hard up, particularly as you face the New Year, that you may have hidden money in your jewellery drawer. Have you considered the financial benefits gained when you sell gold?

Unwanted, old, broken or just tired bits of gold could fetch you a tidy little sum if you pop it into a Postgoldforcash.com envelope and send it off for a quote.

It's as easy as that. Within a day or so, you'll have a PGFC expert on the line making you an offer. You don't have to accept it, but you'll undoubtedly find it's the best price. Within hours, you could have cash in hand.

Far better than a loan of any sort!

Winning the lottery!

Everyone around me is checking their handbags, down the back of their sofas and inside every pocket because we've all heard that someone in our local area has won the lottery but failed to pick up their winnings because, presumably, they've lost that precious piece of paper.

I do that all the time - buy a ticket when I'm at the corner shop, then totally forget all about it. Months later, I find it all screwed up on the floor of the car, and wonder, if it were still legible, whether it would prove to be my passport to a new life.

So is it me this time? I fear not. But my entire production team at my radio station and I are happily dreaming of what we'd do with an instant million quid. Not turning up at work tomorrow would be first move, I reckon!

 If you fancy a smaller, but much more attainable, sum of money - try looking down the back of your sofa for any old piece of gold jewellery (like lone single earrings!) and sending them off to Postgoldforcash.com instead.

They'll give you a cash for gold quote on gold, silver or other precious metals and stones, and it's a quick, simple process that could give you a handy fistful of notes instead of just lying uselessly around!

You shouldn't believe everything you read in the papers

It’s been an extraordinary time for me over the past few weeks, what with my appearance at The Leveson inquiry – which is looking into the ethics and practices of the press, in the wake of the phone hacking scandal.

It has meant me appearing on all sorts of radio and tv programmes, including Sky News, Newsnight, BBC Breakfast and the new ITV breakfast show, Daybreak.

Highlights have been the inquiry itself, where I met Charlotte Church, who gave evidence just before me. Now I don’t think I have met Charlotte since she was a tiny little girl – the ten year old with the Voice of An Angel – do you remember? She has matured into a lovely young mum, very smart and elegant, and almost surprisingly eloquent and articulate.

I say “almost surprising” because sadly, if you only knew Charlotte through her press (in other words, by the things that are said about her in the daily papers) you might not believe so well of her. It just brought home to me how we all make up our minds about people through the papers (unless they appear on TV and radio when you get a clearer idea of their true personality) – yet perhaps we should all remind ourselves of that old adage “you shouldn’t believe everything you read in the papers”!

Other highlights have been appearing on Newsnight with Jeremy Paxman, who was charming and bumping into my old friend, John Stapleton on Daybreak. Last time we sat together on a breakfast TV sofa was more years ago than I care to remember, during the golden days of TVam!

And, if you want to buy yourself a few golden days, how about looking out any scrap gold or other unwanted pieces of jewellery and cashing them in for handy money with Postgoldforcash.com?

It’s still a great time for gold prices per gram, and the nice friendly chaps at Post Gold For Cash will offer you a competitive price. After all, what’s the point of leaving those bits and pieces shuffling about in the back of your drawers?

The true meaning of Christmas

Lest anyone remember the true meaning of Christmas, I heartily recommend you go to at least a couple of musical concerts over the next couple of weeks. Even if you’re not particularly religious, try a gig that gets you out somewhere where the lights are bright and people are determined to be merry.

You can’t help but it puts a smile on your face. I started early this year because I was asked to host a big double event for the Salvation Army – and presented their annual carol services, two of them. It was a glorious festival of tambourines, big brass band, first class singing and little children acting out the nativity story complete with fluffy sheep and a large wooden camel on wheels.

No-one left without a big smile on their faces, and also a reminder of the fact that, no matter how down in the dumps you might feel during this recession, amid political predictions that its going to actually get worse before it gets better, there are always many less fortunate than yourself.

So while you’re doing the Post Gold For Cash thing – and perhaps you’ll have a lot of unwanted gold, silver, and other jewellery after Christmas (I hate to say it – but you just might end up with unwanted gifts), also think of recycling some other stuff – like unwanted coats, hats, scarves, and body warmers. Take them along to the Salvation Army wherever you live. At this time of year, they really need extra items of clothing to simply hand, as a gift, to the distressed, cold and homeless.

Just like I always remind people that they’ve always got spare bits of old gold jewellery that can be turned into cash the Post Gold For Cash way, I just want to nudge you to also look into your clothing cupboards, into that under-the-stairs nook, or into the back of your wardrobe for those extra, unwanted and unloved woollies. Someone, perhaps sitting in a doorway just around the corner from where you live, could well love your beanie hat, muffler or nice, warm anorak. The Salvation Army will know.

As for yourself, Postgoldforcash.com makes it so easy for you to cash in your old gold – simply get a Post Gold For Cash envelope (all the information you need is on this website), pop in your old bits and pieces of unwanted scrap gold and send it off.  Their selling gold experts will deal with it quickly and efficiently, and make you an offer that could really help you this Christmas. Smiles all round!