Anyone who saw last night’s Dispatches on Channel 4 may be understandably put off buying a sandwich from the high street again. Several al desko favourites Pret, Subway, and good old M&S were lined up against the wall by C4’s Alex Thomson and given a thorough dressing down. A sarnie has got to be pretty bad if it equates to two Big Macs and a bag of McDonalds fries in terms of saturated fats.

To be honest, at times the whole doc had a faint whiff of finding out what the bears get up to in the woods – everyone ought to know by now that pre-prepared food, and sandwiches bought from petrol station forecourts in particular, isn’t the healthiest option on the menu and nor is it the most cost effective.

The great British sandwich industry is reportedly worth a hefty £5bn, and it’s easy to see why. Say your average lunchtime sandwich bought from a high street vendor costs £2.50. If you were to eat out for lunch every working day of the week, then this equates to £50 a month alone in sandwiches, or £600 a year. And this is even before you take crisps and smoothies into consideration. The solution? Read on…

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Despite whatever Jeremy Clarkson might think (he was spotted earlier this year apparently talking on his mobile whilst swanning around in his Mercedes – see below), using a mobile phone whilst driving isn’t a good idea, no matter how skilled a driver you think you are.

OK, so I know I myself can’t actually drive yet (legally, at any rate) but in the same way that you don’t have to be a fully qualified apiarist to know that smothering yourself in honey and running around in a bee farm isn’t very clever, you don’t have to have been driving for 20 years to realise that talking on your phone whilst behind the wheel isn’t sensible.

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As Bruce Forsyth, CBE, said on The Price is Right, Points Make Prizes. The same rationale applies to the many supermarket-branded credit cards now available to the cash-savvy shoppers. Not only do these cards come with some pretty neat features, such as 0% on transfers and purchases, they also can help you rack up a fair few Brucie Bonuses as part of your weekly shop on the essentials (that’s two ITV gameshows invoked within the space of 96 words including the title of this blog and the opening paragraph – result!).

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This new-ish card from Capital One is ideal for those who simply want to consolidate existing credit card balances. It is a fairly standard, no-frills card which comes with a low rate of 8.5% APR typical variable, and has no handling fees for balance transfers, putting and end to balance juggling.

Obviously you’ll have to pay the standard APR of the card, but on the flipside, with the Capital One Low Rate card, there are no flash-in-the-pan 6 month introductory offers. The rate stays the same, there will never ever be any balance transfers fees. No sting in the tail, no sudden increase in rates after a set period of time, just a low rate and no transfer fees for the life of the card.

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All owners will be aware of the costs of feeding, grooming and generally looking after their pets – and that’s before vets fees have been taken into consideration. That vets fees are to continue to rise wont be news to owners, who have managed to save small fortunes by taking out the right pet insurance plan for their four legged friends. However, what isn’t common knowledge to some owners is that premiums for pet insurance traditionally rise over the summer.

This is because the number of potential accidents that can happen involving a pet are generally higher – kids are back from school for the holidays, and rising temperatures will see pets wanting to spend more time outside, and so are more likely to be involved in road accidents.

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More and more gym users are instead opting to work out in the home in order to cut down on expensive membership fees as inflation continues to rise. The launch of the Wii Fit platform on the ubiquitous Nintendo console has seen thousands of women across the UK swap the gym for their living rooms, in order to cut down on expensive membership fees. Whilst the Wii is a whole lot of fun and a good compliment to (and not a replacement of) regular exercise, it turns out that really cutting loose on the wireless white wonder could cause your home insurance premiums to creep up, which pretty much defeats the point of skipping out on gym sessions to save money!

A Sheila’s Wheels survey notes a rise in personal injuries and damages to household items sustained as a result of home workout sessions, and the leading ladies’ insurers point the finger at the Wii.

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