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Tired of those constant intruders in your home?
Do people ring you, trying to sell you something, just as you've settled down to dinner or a favourite TV programme? Is your doormat constantly covered in post you don't want?
You can stop junk mail being delivered to your home by registering with the Mailing Preference Service. Here are the contact details: Mailing Preference Service, DMA House, 70 Margaret Street, London W1W 8SS. MPS registration line - 0845 703 4599. Enquiries: 020 7291 3310. E-mail mps@dma.org.uk or visit: www.mpsonline.org.uk
You can stop unwanted phonecalls by registering with the Telephone Preference Service at: TPS, DMA House, 70 Margaret Street, London W1W 8SS. TPS registration line 0845 070 0707. Enquiries: 020 7291 3320. E-mail tps@dma.org.uk or visit: www.tpsonline.org.uk
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How to fight those rising prices
Petrol prices soaring, food prices up, and education costs spiralling out of sight... while incomes are growing at the slowest rate for a quarter of a century. No wonder we are all feeling the pinch. So here are ten ways to save some money:
1. Switch to supermarket own brands... it could reduce your bills by a third over four months.
2. Buy your fruit and veg at your local market... where prices are about 30 per cent cheaper than a supermarket.
3. Switch off your TV set at night, and lights when you leave a room. You could cut your electricity bill by 19 per cent.
4. Go shopping for food after 7pm, when you will find that perishable goods are cut by as much as 70 per cent. Buy them - and freeze them until needed.
5. Beware expensive branded medication. For example, own brand paracetamol costs 39p, as opposed to the cheapest branded alternative - at £1.59.
6. Change all your light bulbs to energy-efficient ones. Each one reduces your electricity by £7 over a year. So ten bulbs could save you £20 in four months.
7. Only EVER boil as much water in the kettle as you will need. Kettles use a large amount of electricity.
8. Never buy your favourite magazine off the shelf. Take out a subscription - and save up to 80%!
9. Cancel your credit card's payment protection plan, and take out cheaper protection, which you can find on paymentcentre.co.uk
10. Keep your tyres properly inflated. Lower tyre pressure means higher petrol consumption.
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Rush hour drowns out dawn chorus
If you don't like the noise of heavy traffic, you are not alone. Neither do the birds. These days they are struggling to make themselves heard above the racket.
They are doing their best: many robins in Sheffield now sing more at night than at dawn. A study of nightingales has found that the birds of Berlin sing up to 14 decibels louder than their cousins in the forest. Great tits in some European cities sing at a higher frequency than birds in the country, so that they can be heard above the low-frequency rumble of cars, lorries and industry.
Birds sing to warn of danger, to attract a mate, and to mark out their territory. Sadly, some of them can't communicate above the urban clamour. Perhaps this explains the drop in the number of orioles, cuckoos, great reed warblers and even the house sparrow. |
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Why you should talk to yourself
Do you talk to yourself? Do you worry that you talk to yourself? Well, don't. Apparently it is NOT the first sign of madness, but is actually very good for your brain and mental well-being.
New studies published in Early Childhood Research Quarterly have found that 'self-talking' can aid concentration, help solve problems and lift depressive moods. 78 per cent of children performed simple tasks better when they spoke to themselves than when they were silent.
And a year-long study of 500 people by Nottingham Trent University has found that talking to yourself ranks in the top three methods of coping with the stress of commuting to work - along with singing to yourself and humming to yourself.
But while talking to yourself is good - be careful what you say! Don't discourage yourself or say things like: 'I can't.' 'I won't.' 'I'm not.' It won't help anyone - least of all - you! |
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