Competition: win our credit crunch book

It's in the shops and already flown off the online shelves but we've managed to bag a few copies of the entertaining How to survive the credit crunch book to offer as prizes.

>> Enter now

Is our Chris the new Brill Bryson?

Now then, almost immediately after publishing yesterday's missive about buying in America it seems the arguments that the dollar is about to plunge are growing in support. So it may be worth holding fire on that one. It's a tricky one. Because today it has been announced that online spending across the pond has fallen for the first time ever, which inevitably means lower prices.

If you want to go the whole groundhog and visit the States, I urge you to check out Chris Leadbeater's blog on our sister website, TravelMail. Is he the new Bill Bryson? No. Nothing is the new something else. But you wouldn't have clicked on the headline. He is however very entertaining and insightful and spent his honeymoon touring the USA with a laptop filing regular updates for heaven's sake.

Read Chris's travel blog (warning, it may involve a long read)

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Last day to order from Amazon US

The pound / dollar exchange rate may have slipped into the gutter and begun its slippery route into and down the drain but so has the US economy. If you are in any doubt, watch this video for a full-on doomsday scenario with more than an element of plausibility..

It means there are discounts to be had for anyone prepared to buy from stores in online America. Not everything can be delivered here and there are customs considerations but if you have time it's worth a look. Time, though, is running out for delivery in time for Christmas.

>> Last delivery dates to Europe for Amazon.com

>> Delivery charges for Europe from Amazon.com

>> Black Friday deals from Amazon.com

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Please note if you are ordering my book, How to survive the Credit Crunch, Amazon.co.uk currently cannot guarantee Christmas delivery. It sold out what we sent them. But try your local High Street bookstore or check out the list of other online outlets.

Richard Browning

Glasses Direct sale now on

If it wasn't cheap enough already as it shifts prescription glasses for £15, Glasses Direct now has a sale with decent designer frames and lenses for around fifty quid. Check it out here:

http://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/products/designer-glasses-sale/

Even if you don't buy, it's worth a having a go of the virtual mirror.

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15% off snowchains

To celebrate the arrival of proper weather over the weekend - a story that bizarrely attracted more than 100 comments - and to make official my loathing of discount vouchers, here is an offer worthy of mention. Discount snow chains.

Quite why companies' marketing departments are going out of their way to target only those people whose lives are so empty that they have hours to waste tracking down money-off coupons when they could hand the discounts to all their customers is a mystery to me. Presumably it's yet another clever ruse to get people hyped up to buy stuff they don't want.

So in celebration of the weather and of companies prepared to honour all customers with a discount, I present this 15%-er on snow chains. Niche maybe but tell that to people in Aberdeen.

>> 15% off Goodyear snowchains

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Free Spanish lessons

I should preface today's "what you can do in your lunch hour without spending money" tip with a warning. I once did a BBC TV-based Spanish course but wasn't nearly far enough into it before I went to Spain to try out my new skills. Finding myself in a pleasant little restaurant in the environs of L'Ampolla, the waitress looked rather forlorn. So I asked her sympathetically: 'Are you all right?' Only I didn't say that, I found out later. What I had said apparently was a rather aggressive: 'What's the matter with you!' And the poor girl ran off in tears. That was seven years ago and I still feel bad.

But if you're feeling courageous - and now that everybody has done their Christmas shopping - why not learn Spanish this lunchtime? It's online, it's free and it's courtesy of the BBC.

>> BBC Learn Spanish course

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In memory of William Wharton

It's desperation day today at Marks & Spencer (20% off). And Debenhams (up to 25% off). And Threshers and Wine Rack (40% off). Not forgetting Gap (30% off) Download gap_30_off_voucher.pdf

I don't know about you but I'm tired of this retail nonsense.

One, because a lot of special offers 'are bogus'.

And two, because there are more important things in life than shopping.

This morning I learned that my favourite author, William Wharton, has died aged 82. Having just written a book myself I know how hard it can be not only to get the words in the right order but to make those words appear as though they were written without effort. Wharton, who penned Birdy, Dad and A Midnight Clear, which were turned into big-time movies, as well as several other modern fables such as Franky Furbo and Tidings, was a master of turning the most complex ideas into simple prose and I for one will miss him immensely. He was an incredibly private person and in spite of the proliferation of information online it has been hard to find details of his life. It's a lesson that many of us might want to doff a cap to as time progresses.

If you're interested, there is a fine obituary of William Wharton in the New York Times.

If not, well, it's desperation day today at Marks & Spencer (20% off). And Debenhams (up to 25% off). And Threshers and Wine Rack (40% off). Not forgetting Gap (30% off) Download gap_30_off_voucher.pdf

Richard Browning

Cure depression without meds or (much) money

The last taboo apart from death - and I can't see us ever overcoming that one - is mental illness. Which is odd. Because in the same way everyone suffers from physical maladies we all suffer from mental ones. I don't care what the official statistics suggest - we're all nutters in one way or another. And that's the problem. We can't talk about it for fear of ridicule. Conversely it's a massive business for the drug companies. It's time to grow up.

As the economic downturn takes its toll on the job count in Britain so more people are likely to fall under the dark spell of depression. But there are, according to a fascinating documentary I happened across the other day on an obscure TV channel, three simple ways we can combat the blues: two often cited and one I'd never heard of.

First you should try to have a 20 minute jog three times a week to release the natural chemicals a healthy body and mind craves. Second, eat the right food heavy on vitamin B such as bananas and omega 3 fats found in salmon, mackerel and sardines. And third, the one I'd not heard about, get a rope.

No, it's not what you're thinking. Slacklines as they're called have garnered a whole new sport. The idea is that by tying one of these ropes between a couple of trees 30-odd-cm off the ground, the combination of physical and mental exercise required to stay upright releases all kinds of healing juices that you'd otherwise pay your chemist for.

>> You can get a kit for less than £40 from firetoys.co.uk

Or search for slackline on Google to see what all the fuss is about. Got to be worth a try?

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Three-day Debenhams sale

As retail turmoil spreads, the 'Up to' monsters have been visiting the High Street again with their vague promises of price reductions of 'up to 25%'.

But this one looks like it may be worth checking out, especially if Debenhams is your department store of choice. Starting tomorrow and for three days until Friday, it is offering 'up to 25% off everything'. Now, that does mean some things will have no money off at all, for that is how 'up to' works, but it looks like there's some decent offers in the clothing departments, online and in store.

>> Debenhams 3-day sale

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USB turntable for less than £60 (perfect for old punks)

As a former fanatical collector of vinyl 7" singles I fully understand the appeal and the addiction of collecting, however irrational and expensive a past-time it may be.

Sadly, my desire for gatefold and other rare sleeves and dodgy picture discs and colour vinyl isn't matched by anyone these days who is prepared to pay money for it. So I console myself with the knowledge that my great, great, great grandchildren and their grandchildren will one day be proud owners of Public Image Ltd by Public Image with original newspaper sleeve, the Undertones' Teenage Kicks with original fold-out poster sleeve and, one strictly for other John Peel (right) fans of a certain age, the Shapes EP (pictured above).

It's not the same for everyone, however, as our new section on collecting shows. Some of these people manage to hoard a fortune.

Me on the other hand will be spending dark the winter evenings this year converting my beloved collection into faceless electronic files on the computer. This is being made possible because finally the prices of USB turntables are tumbling. And while I know you can do it with the right cables from any old hi-fi, mine's out of action and in the loft - about to be joined by a couple of thousand singles.

>> USB turntable for less than £60 - from Maplin (also enables the transfer of music from cassette).

Richard Browning

2 for 1 powerboat try out

Sad news yesterday for anyone keen to escape this sceptred Isle was that low-cost ferry operator Speedferries has called in the administrators.

Better news, maybe, for sealubbers is the 2for1 offer from Virgin Experiences for a 3hr session on the Zapcat speedboat. It's £50 each rather than £99 at the moment for use up to the end of May next year.

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Composting bins from £4

According to a survey by some Government department or other we throw away a third of all the food we buy. However dismissive we want to be about surveys in which 2,000 people are supposed to represent the whole population, even a rough estimate that we chuck out one in every three bananas is a sorry state of affairs.

In fact, the statistic comes from the Government's Waste & Resources Action Programme (Wrap) and although it is slightly misleading because it includes all the peelings, teabags, egg shells -and banana skins, we are in an age where if we don't recycle we'll start having to pay. And compost bins are cheap.

If you want to do your bit you can get a subsidised bin for a few quid.

>> Order a low-cost recycling bin

Warning: Some of these garden bins are enormous. Check the measurements before ordering.

Waterstones' free delivery

While it was looking like Amazon was going to walk away with the online Christmas prize this year by offering free delivery on items over £5, Waterstones, the bookshop, is fighting back with free delivery on everything (until the end of November)!

http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/navigate.do?pPageID=1362

That means you can buy my amusing little book on surviving the crunch for £6.99 all in from both Amazon and Waterstones. 

www.thisismoney.co.uk/book

Stocks should be replenished this week.

25% of Family & Friends Railcard

It appears to be pretty much official: Britain is in the grip of Discount Code Mania.

You can't buy anything at 'best price' now without having to waste hours searching for the the relevant 10p-off voucher. Maybe it's all part of a master plan to return the country to the traditional values of hunter gatherer. Whatever happened to going into a shop and buying something if you wanted it and the price was right and not buying it if it wasn't?

This one is particularly complicated.

To get 25% off a Family and Friends Railcard, which then gives adults 33% and children 60% off rail tickets, plus you can buy a voucher book of £2,000 worth of days out discounts for another £4.95 simply enter the code: FAMILY18

http://www.familyandfriends-railcard.co.uk/

Presumably, to get the full value out of your voucher book you need spend a couple of billion quid. But if you do go out by train with the family it may be worth a look. Offer valid to the end of the month.

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Get the calendar of despair

It's Monday, it's raining, the economy is sluicing into the sewer and yet motivational gurus are still being paid to talk the kind of blue-sky made-up bovine drivel that was at the heart of the causes of the credit crunch. However...

"Wouldn't it be good if there was a calendar to counter all this optimistic thigh-slapping drivel; a calendar filled with demotivating images and utterly demoralising words of wisdom. Well, guess what? There is, and it's called the Best of Demotivators Calendar 2009."

Enjoy:

http://www.firebox.com/product/1261/Despair-Calendar

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Free music for children

Seeing how the internet works from the inside and how some of the biggest names cheat and scam the search engines to win traffic and how much illegal material is changing hands every second it's not hard to sit and here and wonder what miniscule percentage of the Web is above-board legal.

Six million Brits are suspected of illegally downloading material every year.

But yesterday there was finally some good news for those of us keen to find legal music - a new logo for legimate websites. It is being adopted by 7digital, Digitalstores, HMV, Play.com, Tesco, Tunetribe and Woolworths.

For people who can't wait, here's a site where musicians upload tracks in the hope that you'll like it so much you'll buy it. What makes it stand out from the others is that, apart from being legal, all the music is for children.

Free music for children

(I particularly like Boogers)

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Travelodge: £19 rooms

Those clever marketing people at Travelodge have come up with another £19 rooms offer aimed at enticing people to stay random nights in random places for the price of a Bosch Aero Twin Blade Set 928S 21/19 (no idea what this is. It's random.) If that's your thing we found the odd Sunday night available at this price at places dotted around the country. If that's your thing check out:

http://www.travelodge.co.uk/saver_rooms/

Check out also Premier Inn, which has a 'Good night guarantee'. If you don't get a decent kip, you get your money back no questions asked.

>> Premier Inn

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Save 40% off the Philips Wake UP Light

Greetings fans of the tenuous. After last night's historic election victory across the pond and we find ourselves waking up to the promise of a new dawn - you can have one too. In your bedroom. In the form of a wake up light. An alarm-clock-cum-bedside-lamp that slowly recreates dawn in your bedroom in winter.

Everyone I have spoken to who has one says how much better they feel at the start of the day as a result. Online critics are horrified by the price: £100 for a clock, bulb and a plastic cover. But it's coming down.

Argos is selling the The Philips Wake Up Light for £66.59

Amazon, meanwhile, has it for £59.99, a saving of 40%

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Special offers for naturists

To celebrate an end to two years of intense boredom - that is the interminable race to choose someone to watch over the collapsing American economy from an oval-shaped room in the White House - I've gone out of my way to find something refreshing. And they don't come more refreshing than this.

(Note: some of these links show naked people on holiday.)

Subscribers to Naturist Life, the 'lively magazine aimed at all naturists', can save 30 euros for bookings at two France 4 Naturisme centres made before 30 January 2009. They are at Domaine de la Sabliere in Ceze gorge and Arnaoutchot, on the Atlantic Coast.

This offer is only open to Naturist Life subscribers and the booking must be made through Suzanne Piper. Telephone 0870 777 6837 or email suzanne@shabden.co.uk

Holiday special offers for Naturist Life subscribers

You can also get a free copy of the magazine by sending your name and address and 6x27p stamps to: Magazine Offer, Shabden Leisure Ltd, Magnolia Cottage, 49A Spielplatz, Lye Lane, St Albans, AL2 3TD.

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Half-price car rental

What is it with drivers and the indicator lever? Having tried to cross a road this morning where the traffic lights were out because of an unexpected glut of weather I quickly realised that only two in ten drivers bother to indicate. In other words, eight out of ten drivers shouldn't, I don't think, be allowed to have cars.

If the economic forecasts are to be believed, this eventuality is not so far fetched. If your car is costing £500 a month there comes a time when you have to ask: Do I really need my car? It is a decision that could be made easier by the plunging cost of car hire. For instance Europcar has a half-price offer at the moment - including half term - where you can get a runaround for £10 a day. Check it out:

>> Half-price car rental

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Richard Browning