When hell freezes over? Regularly and often? Don’t ask me about what your political ideas should be. Read the manifestos, listen to the words they say, use your head and your heart and decide for yourselves.
However whoever you decide to vote for, you really should vote. Too many people died to get you the right to vote for you to throw it away. 99% of us were not rich and happy. We (our ancestors) were almost all the poor and oppressed. But our great great grandparents fought for the right to have a say in how the country is run and as a result we are immeasurably richer. No matter how opressed and powerless you might feel, just compare your life to one in a land where the people cannot choose their leaders and you will see how much better off you are.
Too many times we make big decisions based on trust. If the ‘other party’ is a close friend or family member then asking them to sign something can seem mean spirited. However with other people we shouldn’t give it a moment’s thought.
In business the costs of not being able to prove that a colleague has followed procedures can be huge when things go wrong. There is a whole document management industry based around ensuring staff read, understand and sign key documentation.
A bit closer to home the temptation is not to make a fuss. However, most people will be glad to see you making the effort to ensure everything is kept above board.
If things go wrong and you have to prove that what you say is the truth, without evidence to back you up, you are unlikely to win, and even if you do, your legal fees are going to be far far higher.
You wouldn’t buy a television or computer and walk out of the store without a receipt would you? No, of course you wouldn’t. Apply the same logic to any agreements you make in daily life.
Obviously if the value of the agreement is only worth a few pennies then you can afford to lose them without problems and so can afford to ignore this advice. However once you are talking about any sort of agreement that you can stick a decent value on, get it in writing. 99 times out of 100 you will never need to produce the written agreement again, but one time in 100 you will and that is when the rewards will show themselves.
Even if you never need to use the written evidence again, you will gain a priceless reputation for being contientious, honest, trustworthy and someone that others can do business with.
A two week holiday is not a right, but if you can afford to take a vacation you should do it. The question of when to go is more pressing when you have kids. School holidays are your only option and during those periods the prices skyrocket. However, if you don’t follow the herd, there will still be cheap vacations to be had in less touristy spots. If everyone else heads south, consider heading north (and visa versa).
For great money saving holiday advice and the latest cheap flights you can look around the internet or ask your travel agent. Be very friendly to your local agent. If they like you they will work harder to find you a great deal.
About 60% of the way through a contract is a great time to ask for an upgrade. A good reason for not signing long contracts is that the company won’t upgrade you so often.
Do remember to be polite when asking for an upgrade and don’t get angry if they say no. Just leave it a few days and politely phone again. Usually on the 5th or 6th call they will upgrade you just to shut you up.
Good quality chocolate eggs will keep for a year if stored correctly, so if you have a larder that says relatively cool and stable all year round, the best time to buy an easter egg is the day after easter when prices get slashed. Up to 75% off is a common post easter discount and many stores are happy to haggle.
Poor quality eggs contain lots of vegetable oil which will go stale in 6 months, so make sure you buy high quality eggs with a high cocoa content. Also, be careful of added ingredients which you know have a short shelf life.
Then next year you can give top quality chocolate eggs to friends. Of course, it might be difficult for you or your family to avoid the temptation in the larder for a whole year.
When should you quit your job? The easy answer is ‘as soon as you can’. However, the ‘can’ is full of worms. Can you afford to quit. Can you imagine what life will be like after you have quit. I believe you need a game plan with goals before quitting your job. The plan needs to be in place before you even consider telling anyone that you might be thinking about quitting your job.
Manufacturers have a vested interest in claiming that a new car is a good thing. The planet tends to disagree. Even when a new car uses less fuel, emits less waste etc, keeping your old car is usually a greener option since the environmental cost of new car production (and old car scrappage) needs to be added to the calculations.
Check with trusted green websites who have no interest in giving you false information on this topic.
So, the short answer to when you should buy a car is ‘when you have to, and not before’.
When should you buy a house?
Good, you are thinking about asking for a raise. This is a great idea since most requests are actually the start of a process that does end with a bigger wage packet. Yes, read that again. Most people who ask for a raise get one. So, as long as the boss is in a good mood and the company isn’t currently going down the pan, then tomorrow will be a great day to ask for a raise. Why tomorrow rather than today? Because you will need to spend some time writing down a reasoned case for why you deserve a raise and how much it should be. Bosses respond so much better to reasoned arguement than whinging.
Let them know what you have done to merit the raise, what the going rate for your role is and whay exciting plans you have to improve your productivity in future. Make a raise sound like an investment that will bring them greater rewards.
When should you sell stocks?
