Carrot or stickK?

Last month I wrote about how only 12% of us are able to maintain our new years resolutions and how Professor Richard Wiseman suggests defining exactly what you will do, where you will do it and when you’ll do it as key to whether you are successful or not.

Now economists Ian Ayres and Dean Karlan have taken it a step further by launching a new website StickK.com. The theory is that good old-fashioned financial incentives are the most effective tool for motivating people to meet their goals, in this case it’s the risk of losing substantial amounts of money if you fail. StickK.com is a free to join website where you choose your goal, choose your stake and even select who you want as a third-party referee to rule on whether you have succeeded or failed.

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The high price of power

I received the winter electricity bill today and it was a shocker at over £260 for the quarter. Whilst it may seem quite low in comparison to other bills I only have a small 2 bed apartment and rarely use the heaters opting instead for an extra layer of clothing.

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Cheers Virgin Wines

Emergency rationing has been in place the last couple of weeks as I have been running dangerously low on red wine. Ok, so I admit there are bigger crises in the world right now but in my flat this has been quickly escalating into a major issue, thankfully Virgin Wines came to my rescue!

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50p bet wins £1million

One lucky punter staked 50p on the winners of 8 races this week at odds of around 2.8 million to one to win £1 million.  His first pick was a horse called ‘Isn’t That Lucky’ and the last selection was ‘A Dream Come True’. The hunt is now on for the lucky punter as he has not come forward to claim his winnings.

Loyalty pays off

Continuing my search for hidden wealth I turned my attention today to my wallet full of loyalty cards. I regularly cash in the points on my Tesco clubcard and my Game loyalty card so there is nothing to claim there, but I have never bothered with my Nectar card as I only ever collect a few points per transaction. However all those small transactions have built up over two and a half years to give me a total points value of 8,500!

Martin Lewis recommends spending Nectar points on DVD boxsets or Theme park vouchers but I don’t think either of these offer good value. DVDs can be found much cheaper by searching the net for the best deals and I have used half price theme park vouchers the last 2 years anyway. So I have opted to claim money off my shopping at Sainsburys as this gets me £42.50 of free food, let the feast commence!