Easyjet flights: half-price sale

The word on the floor of airport arrivals halls suggests that more flights these days are arriving earlier than scheduled. As more routes are being axed, I surmise, it is making it easier for flights still operating to leave on time and to find an elusive air traffic slot. Dare I say? Flying is becoming more pleasurable as recession bites.

Another knock-on effect of the current malaise (and of the falling oil price) is the availability of lower fares.

Return flights to Australia are being touted for less than £500 return - that's all the way round the world for the amount you could be overpaying for your phone bill. And if you book before the end of the month (tomorrow) you could nab 50% off your flight to a selection of destinations with Easyjet.

Remember, the shorter your trip, the cheaper it will be. This is one for a short early summer getaway.

Easyjet half-price sale

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Joseph and dinner for £21

If you haven't seen Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat yet [where have you been for the last 41 years?] here's an offer worth checking out.

You can see the show - starring Gareth Gates - and get dinner thrown in for just £21 a head. And if you're quick there's still one day available during the Easter school holidays. Tickets are midweek only and for the upper circle (normal price £29, without food).

Joseph and dinner for £21

If this doesn't appeal there are plenty of other similar offers on Lastminute.com worth checking out.

As ever, don't forget the half-price theatre ticket booth in Leicester Square - and online - where you can get half-price top-price seats for the show for £25.38.

 

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The £10 Squishtie pillow phenomenon

That a bright coloured squidgy pillow can spawn nearly 100 positive reviews and prompt a series of photo opportunities and videos suggests either the country is in a sorrier state than previously imagined or it's a pretty good pillow. It's a tenner, which isn't bad in the scheme of things; this one is £2,000, oh, and it's a pretty good travel pillow. I bought one.  

>> Check out the Squishtie and see for yourself what the fuss is about

 

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PS. You have to admire a company that advertises a pillow with a homage to the great band, Cornershop, pictured below: 'Everybody needs a Squishtie for a pillow...'

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The Sun £15 holidays vs Daily Mail Chelsea Flower Show offers

Anyone who has walked the coast of Britain will have been astounded at the sheer number of caravan parks packed into some of our most attractive coves and crannies. OK, so I'm not talking to a big walking-round-the-coast-of-Britain audience here but take it from me, there are loads of these sites. And if you've ever fancied staying in one of them (along with legions of Sun readers for just 'From £15') today is your big chance. 

You'll need to buy a copy of The Sun newspaper today to get the booking form, then buy it again for six more days to get enough vouchers.

The catch is that you need to select a range of alternative locations and five alternative dates so you could end up anywhere at any time but there are camps in Europe available as part of the offer. The other potential catch is you could end up at at one of the site's sales events and end up buying a caravan that you never use and end up renting it out to Sun readers. But I went on one of these breaks last year and for a late summer weekend in a suburb of Weymouth had a fine time.

Chelsea flower show

For a more refined holiday experience - possibly without the children - the Daily Mail has a couple of offers today for the Chelsea Flower Show and the Hampton Court Flower Show. You'll know when you're going and where. For Chelsea, for £139 per person you get a night's hotel with dinner, breakfast, show tickets and coach travel from the hotel to the venue. The interesting thing about this one, is that the hotel is near Heathrow, which makes it relatively easy to access from all parts of the country and because the show ground is a swine to get to, so a coach to drop you off is a godsend. To book this deal separately would cost around £180 a head. For a supplement you can stay in central London.

To find out more call 0845 155 6723 quoting DML, or go online here:

>> Travel Mail Chelsea offer

>> Travel Mail Hampton Court offer

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Ryanair check in changes: read this if you're flying this summer

As an international airborne bus service Ryanair is brilliant. Sadly, in my view, its brilliance is marred by the melee that ensues when you come to take your seat, which isn't allocated, and is scarred by the ever-increasing extra charges that passengers face en route through the online booking process. You have to pay a fee to pay for your ticket, is my favourite. And there's more...

If you are flying this summer, you must read this.

How to avoid the £320 sting

Airport check in is being abolished and if you're not aware you could face a rather large bill.

 

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World's best free toy for children

Of all the tips in this here book, one of my favourites is for the world's best toy. Best? Well it's free. And children love it. So what is it?

Why an iceberg of course. You get an empty ice cream tub or large yoghurt pot, fill it with water and freeze it. Come bath time when your tired children scream in your face about hating baths - and you - remove the frozen slab and drop it in the bath water. Best toy ever; up there with the wrapping paper and boxes their Christmas presents come in. They might even start loving you again.

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Sub £100 flat-screen TV, finally

I've been waiting for this for a while, a flat-screen telly with Freeview for the bedroom for under £100. And this one seem to fit the bill: a 15" TV for £90 - down from a claimed £225. It doubles as a PC monitor. Order today for delivery tomorrow.

Vistron DB15-BD 15" TV Black Digital Freeview

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Save £1bn with my dad's diet

With a UK diet industry worth £1bn and a US one worth £70bn and the revelation that only one in 100 dieters are able to keep the weight off it doesn't take a mathematician of the calibre of Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting to realise that lots of billions of pounds are being wasted on pointlessness and not many of the other kinds of pounds are being shed. So let me introduce my dad's diet: don't eat bread.

It works for him and it works for me. In a fortnight I can slim from pregnant to svelte with little effort. Take it one step further and cut out wheat - so no biscuits or cakes - and within weeks you can start looking ill if that's the look you crave. Add a bit of exercise into the mix and your rib cage will soon be visible through your chest for all to admire.

Now that bread is more expensive than fresh fruit, even in winter, the dad diet will save you money and your life. Not bad for not doing anything much at all. Please make cheques out to Richard Browning for £71bn.

Or buy my book. 

 

Comic Relief: credit where it's due

If last night's Comic Relief showed us anything at all about the British pscyhe it's that judging the talents of James Corden based on his hosting of the Brits is so wrong. He is funny after all. Seriously funny.

It also reminded me that I had a Nationwide Comic Relief credit card until they withdrew it last year. That's not so funny. 

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The 8p toasted sandwich maker

Anyone thinking about shelling out hard-earned money on George Foreman Grills and fancy panini machines would do well to check out the old fashioned alternative: the toaster bag.

Toaster whats?

You make a sandwich, bung it in a bag and bung the bag in the toaster. I worked in a pub and toaster bags made the best toasted cheese and ham sandwiches I've had.

You can buy a bag of 100 for about £8 on eBay, which works out at about 8p each. 

Ebay toaster bags

Or for reusable options check out these...

Legend Cookshop toaster bags

24 studio toaster bags

Amazon toaster bags

Akroservices toaster bags

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And now watch this

Frank Skinner's £10 Credit Crunch Cabaret

I always thought Elvis Presley was the king; the king of merchandising that is, but there is a new kid on the block.

Along with Elvis memorabilia and photos and Elvis golf clubs and playing cards and badges and mugs and uhuhuh... you can buy an Elvis Almost Anything You Can Think Of. Check out the official Elvis shop for starters. Then buy an Elvis impersonator wine bottle holder type thing.

So what is this challenger? Why, it's the credit crunch, of course.

You can buy credit crunch pizza, credit crunch sandwiches, credit crunch holidays, crappy credit books (and one brilliant one), gorge on credit crunch discount vouchers and get drunk on credit crunch beer. It is, according to the Mirror.co.uk, turning us all into Elvises.

There is however, one credit crunchy thing that looks definitely worth checking out: Frank Skinner's Credit Crunch Cabaret.

There are a variety of different comics performing each night and it's only a tenner (plus an extra not-so-credit-crunch booking fee). And five more dates have just been announced and are on sale. You'll have to be quick.

Buy now at Seetickets.com

Or at Ticketmaster

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So, economics is funny after all

As we sit back and watch the end of the Western economy as we know it there are a couple of ways to react. All right, there are loads, but here's two for starters.

1. Read the musings of the modern economic thinkers, such as Umair Haque and his User's Guide to 21st century economics

2. Laugh about it.

The idea that  long-established economic models are dead is an interesting one (especially as there's a chance that a new, more caring society may emerge). But so is watching BBC's former economics editor turned presenter of Radio 4's Today programme, Evan Davis, performing an economics-based stand up comedy routine. For the Comic Relief charity, of course.

In case you missed, may I suggest that you spend a lunchtime watching the comic efforts of four BBC luminaries, also featuring  Libby Purves, Peter White and Laurie Taylor.

Watch the preparation and the performances here

And if you want to take a leap towards our new caring society, don't forget to cast your phone vote. 

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Red Nose Day site

£0 Nice - and, no, it's not Ryanair but it's not £0 either

Anyone jaded by the cheapo flights offers from Ryanair that end up costing more than the advertised price should always check out the alternatives.

One of those alternatives advertising heavily at the moment is Aer Lingus, with a one-way fare to Nice for £9.99, including all taxes and charges. OH, BUT NOT THE HANDLING FEE!

Frankly, I'm tired of this nonsense and would rather pay more for a more straightforward approach, which is a shame because if you look at the website you can fly to Nice during the May school holidays for a reasonable amount of money. If you don't take luggage, obviously.

The £9.99 advertised fare is actually a £0 fare plus taxes. Twenty quid to Nice and back is not bad. Read the small print and you'll find there is a handling fee of £8 return for each passenger. Thirty odd quid for a return to Nice is still not bad. If that sounds like your thing, check out...

Aer Lingus

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25€ apartment hotels

Apartment hotels are great for families. If you can find one of these special offer 25€ rooms good luck, but it may be worth a try. Bizarrely, it's only available for one-night bookings.

http://www.citadines.com/en/promotions/birthday.html

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£2 Quick Reads

Now that we all seem to have the attention span of being able to look at a picture for three seconds before the onset of fatal boredom - thanks the internet - you might think this would signal the end for the humble book.

But that belies the fact that the book is possibly the cheapest form of entertainment - and the longer it takes to read a book, the cheaper it is.

Today is World Book Day. And almost as a homage to people whose concentration chromosomes have been robbed by evolution, the bods behind B-Day are promoting a series of Quick Reads, which cost but £2 each.

Quick Reads 2009

Says the puff: 'Quick Reads are short, exciting, bite-sized reads for avid readers wanting a short, fast book through to people who struggle with reading.'  They tend to be by bestselling authors. 

Loads more Quick Reads

Thousands of them to buy them on Amazon

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£22.99: is this the cheapest digital photo frame?

One of my guilty pleasures, apart from poring over the attendance statistics for lower league football matches on a Monday morning, is wasting entire evenings looking through our old photo albums.

The former frequently gives rise to moments of incredulity. Chester FC often attract barely more than 1,000 people into the ground! How do they make any money? The latter, however, is the source of a tremendous amount of pleasure. For this reason, I've not bought in to the digital photo frame phenomenon. But here's an offer that is sorely tempting.

Ebuyer has a 7" frame for just £22.99, backed with a decent number of reviews that suggest it may be good value rather than merely cheap. You can easily pay up to 100 quid for something similar. Check out...

>> Extra value photo frame £22.99

PS> Another guilty pleasure of mine is listening to Joss Stone. Why rubbish football teams get such poor crowds is perhaps understandable. But why one of our greatest ever singers gets such a bad press is a complete mystery. Here are a couple of shots that might be on my photo frame if I ever got one. And if I'd taken them, of course.  

Richard Browning

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Free currency exchange card

We're often asked what is the best way to take money abroad and with all things financial the answer takes you into a web of intrigue, commissions, opacity and, oh you know... the usual shenanigans of the money industry.

But one option that has caught our eye lately is the pre-loaded currency card that allows you to load up online when the exchange rate takes your fancy, then withdraw cash from ATMs abroad displaying the Visa, Maestro and Mastercard logos.

If this sound like it may be the way to avoiding variable charges and exchange rates then read this piece, where you'll find details of an offer to get a free one (normally a tenner).

Are currency cards any good?

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90% off at Amazon

If you've ever been to a car boot sale you'll know that almost no one is prepared to pay any more than two quid for anything. Ever.

Shoes? I'll give you two quid. Coat? Two quid, mate. TV? A 2er. Car? A capple oh kwid. A brace of oncers. Too poond. And so on.

Now of course, it's beginning to feel like no one is prepared to pay more than £2 for anything anywhere.

If that sounds like you, you may want to check out this little toy that allows you to find items on Amazon that are discounted by a certain amount.

Here you can find footwear at 90% off or more.

Or run your own searches here

Remember: Buying stuff you don't want just because it is cheap can seriously damage is stupid.

 

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