The sheer wealth of information available makes it seem so big and overwhelming. But just like most things – they make it sound incredibly complicated so it makes them look clever…

Our online introductory stock trading guide has proven popular.

It won’t make you city finance whiz kid overnight. But it will introduce all the basics, and get you started. It’s also completely free, which is nice.

Everything is covered – from what shares really are, to what makes the stock markets work, right through to things like trading patterns and those buying and selling signals.

Head over to Learn Stock Trading Basics to get started.
(Don’t worry – you don’t have to sign-up or anything)

Build yourself a solid knowledge of the basics today, and you can steadily build on them and get the benefit for many more years in the future.

Stock Trading Guide is a post from: The Money Blog

And I’m talking a proper confetti cut paper shredder – not one of those pathetic battery powered ones that are no better than tearing a page up.

The kind of people who are willing to go through bins to steal documents are capable of sticking pieces of paper back together. So even a good strip cut shredder can be risky.

Quick Recap: strip cut shredders cut pages into long thin strips, cross cut shredders also cut those long strips into smaller pieces. Confetti cut are the daddy of shredders, as they blitz pages into tiny little pieces of confetti. Even the most dedicated thief is just not going to bother with confetti!

So obviously confetti cut shredders are the most expensive.

But guess what…

You Can Get Quality Confetti Cut Paper Shredders At Massive Discounts

In fact, I’ve just found 2 top models that are in stock and available to buy online now, at savings of 64%-72%.

That makes them as cheap as a decent strip cut shredder!

So please don’t buy one of those nasty £20 ones from Argos or WH Smiths – they are slow, noisy and will break in a year! And end up costing you MORE. I know because I’ve burned through TWO of them before learning my lesson!

Get one of these and you’ll thank me for it:-

1. Rexel ProStyle Shredder

Why Pay £240

Today Only £68.82

Save £171 Now!

Click Here to Find it on Amazon.co.uk

Rexel make the best quality shredders. And this Rexel Pro Style Shredder is my personal favourite. It can take 11 sheets at a time (that’s a lot – most cheap shredders struggle with 3 pages), and easily destroys old credit cards securely too.

It also has a 20 litre storage bin. This does matter – smaller bins will annoy you by getting full too often and regularly needing emptying!

Plus the motor is much quieter than most shredders which I find highly desirable, so it might matter to you too. This is well built and will last you for years. Looks pretty snazzy too.

2. ACCO Rexel Style Plus Shredder

Why Pay £109

Today Only £38.99

Save £70.25 Now!

Click Here to Find it on Amazon.co.uk

This is the little brother of the Pro Style shredder. It’s sheet capacity is reduced to 7 sheets at a time, and the storage bin is 12 litres instead of 20 litres. But it’s still a great machine, so worth considering if you’re tight on space.

Confetti Cut Paper Shredder – Save 72%! is a post from: The Money Blog

Because here’s another insane bargain.

There is no way your Bullguard renewal price is going to be cheaper than this…

Right now today on Amazon you can get the latest version of Bullguard Internet Security for just £9.99. And this is the 3 user license pack as well, which means you can install it on up to THREE computers. (Normal price is £44.99 – SAVING 78%).

This is a proper full retail product in a box from Amazon. Exactly the same as you would get for the full retail price of £45 if you walked into PC World!

And if you don’t already use Bullguard Internet Security don’t think it’s some lesser piece of software. It’s on PC Pro Magazines A-List Award Winners.

Here’s what PC Pro say

A do-it-all suite that detects an exceptional range of malware and includes online backup.

Bullguard Internet Security 8.5 Bargain – 3 User License, Save 78%! is a post from: The Money Blog

Shop around first.

But I don’t mean checking out other companies products – because chances are you can get the same software NEW at less than the renewal cost you get as a loyal customer!

Here’s how with Kaspersky Internet Security…

Right now you can get a brand new Kaspersky 3 user license from Amazon for 50% off – that’s just £24.22 for the very latest Internet Security 2010. And you can install it on 3 different computers!

How much is your Kaspersky renewal price..?

But Wait, We’re Not Done Yet…

If you have anything else you need to order – you can save another 40% off that! Because if you add other items totalling £30 or more to your basket and check carefully, you’ll notice ‘Promotion Applied’ appears in your order summary and you save another £9.69 off your 3 user license.

So all told you can buy a brand new boxed version of the latest Kaspersky 3 User Internet Security 2010 for just £15. You cannot renew that cheaply. Not even a 1 user license!

So if your Kaspersky license renewal is coming up soon – buy now from Amazon instead and get a better deal.

Kaspersky 3 User License 2010 – MASSIVE Discount is a post from: The Money Blog

Is tobogganing on police time with police equipment really that evil? Surely it just gives the UK Police a more friendly down to earth image..?

I’d consider it community policing and great public relations.

Wouldn’t you rather see a riot shield being used as a sledge than pressed in protestors faces..!?

UK Police Sledge With Riot Shields (video) is a post from: The Money Blog

All you want to do is post a letter. So when did going to the Post Office become such a ridiculous ‘hard sell’ experience?

I ask for 1st class postage. I just want my package weighed and the price. That’s it.

Is it valuable?

None of your business. I asked for 1st class postage, that’s all I want. (Which as I might remind you automatically INCLUDES compensation to the value of £39 should you lose it!)

Do you want it to get there tomorrow?

Well that would be nice. Like in the old days when 1st class meant first delivery next day, and second class meant second delivery. Oh, wait, you’re still trying to push me to buy Special Delivery at £5 a go. No, I still just want 1st class, as I already said.

Would you like to top up your mobile phone?

What? Don’t be silly, I just want to post my bloody package!

Did you know the Post Office now offer credit cards and car insurance?

Yes, I bloody do, because you bored me with them last week when I came in just to buy some stamps. And I’m still not interested because I know I can get better credit cards and car insurance elsewhere.

OK, so did you want any stamps today?

*&^%*$£*.

My THREE nearest Post Offices all now do this same stupid blind irritating ‘upsell’ process. You want a stamp, so clearly you must need a new credit card… round of applause for the idiot marketing manager responsible for that.

I now buy stamps from WH Smiths whenever possible.

Is your local Post Office this irritating?

I Just Want a Bloody Stamp..! is a post from: The Money Blog

Are the newspaper headlines screaming out the good news though? Of course not – there’s lots of other far more depressing stories they can fill our day with instead…

Economy Grows Two Months In a Row

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) says that the economy hit bottom as long ago now as March this year. There has then been modest growth in April and May.

Even the property market shows signs of recovering – with both Nationwide and Halifax reporting about 2 per cent increase in property values last month. First time buyers are still being stuffed for huge deposits, but hang in there folks as the times they are a-changin.

Break Out The Sparkling Wine

No it’s not boom time. So stick with the quality sparkling wine instead of that overpriced Champagne version.

It’s just another welcome reminder that reading the daily newspapers makes you depressed! So why not dump the Daily Drudge. Maybe we should subscribe to Positive News instead.

Shock News: UK Recession Over..? is a post from: The Money Blog

Save £27.53 On Your Kaspersky 3 User Renewal

I got a new netbook and needed internet security software for it. I already had Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 on my laptop. But it was a license for just one PC.

No problem, there are Kaspersky 3 user and 5 user (and more) licenses. That lets you put the software on more PC’s.

My existing license was due for renewal in about a month anyway so I didn’t really mind taking the hit of renewing now and upgrading to the 3 user license. It would be way cheaper than buying another new single license.

So I hit the Kaspersky renew button, and off I go to the renewal site. Just to renew my one user license would be £27.99 instead of the full £39.99 price. But I can also renew and upgrade to the Kaspersky 3 user license for £34.99. That’s what I want right..?

Now normally it would be £49.99 for the 3 user. But £35 isn’t such a massive discount so I thought, lets just check Amazon and see how much it would cost me new.

New Kaspersky 3 User License Cheaper!

Yup. And not just a little bit either. It’s £14.93. And that’s a brand new 3 user license including the actual CD in a proper case shipped direct from Amazon.

Even Cheaper Still

And I can save you 50% off that crazy cheap price too. If you spend over £30 on any other stuff from Amazon in the same order, then enter this code: KASPERSK in the Promotional Code box.

A total saving of £27.53

So if you have Kaspersky and your renewal is coming up, buy it here on Amazon instead. Or if you use something else and renewal is coming up, check out Amazon first before paying your renewal fee!

Kaspersky 3 User – New License Cheaper Than To Renew! is a post from: The Money Blog

All my search results are showing the dreaded ‘This site may harm your computer’ message.

So either Google is having a funny turn, or my laptop has been taken over by aliens, or worse!

Even Google.co.uk and Google.com are reported as potential harmful…

Aliens, Google or has Kaspersky let me down..?

UPDATE:
Oh dear, I think Google central will be rolling out some serious ass whippings… reports are coming in all over the place of the same dodgy search results… here’s just a few:-

Getting a malware warning for every site in Google search results?
Is Google Crazy? Google.com May Harm Your Computer?
How one slash stopped Google search
Google may prove harmful to your computer
How a “/” Sign CRASHED Google Search.

LATEST:
The official word from Google themselves was a technical glitch in the file of ‘bad sites’ they maintain. A tiny error of including the entry ‘/’ in the files translated to the software as meaning ‘every website’. So for a period of only 40 minutes or so, Google panicked us all by reporting every website in the world, including their own, as BAD!

Google Goes Crazy – And May Harm Your Computer..! is a post from: The Money Blog

[A] Shake your head sagely and find something more interesting to do.

The newspapers are always full of doom and gloom. The TV news is right there with them.

Is it the credit crunch or a recession…house prices are down, mortgage rates are up, gas and electric prices are up, petrol prices are up, the banks are failing…

The Sky Is Falling, The Sky Is Falling…

Sure, burying our heads in the sand and pretending nothing is happening won’t make it go away.

But maintaining some composure and a wry smile won’t hurt either!

Happy Days

The best thing you can do for the sake of your own sanity and those around you, is give up absorbing all the doom and gloom filled news. Do you feel any happier after reading a newspaper? Or watching the 9 o’clock news? No, me either!

By all means stay informed, just don’t bombard yourself – even the Dalai Lama would end up depressed after a day or two watching the UK news.

Keep things in perspective, and deal with any real problems as they affect you.

The storm will pass, and the news media will return to trying to depress us about things in other countries again before too long.

It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine…

It’s The End Of World As We Know It… is a post from: The Money Blog