According to research by the British Retail Consortium, we used notes and coins for around 56% of all payments during 2008, with cash used on 33% of occasions in shops.

Cash is still popular as a means of  budgetting of course – you’ll here many people say that they can manage their money better when they see what they actually have to spend.

Post from: MoneyRegister.co.uk

Cash Is Still Top Payment Method

The Royal Mint recently confirmed the percentage of fake pound coins in circulation has increased from 2% to 2.5%. But it has been suggested that the testing equipment is not sophisticated enough and the real percentage could be as high as 5% – or one in 20 coins. A car parking company ran it’s own tests with a sample of 2000 pounds coins withdrawn from a bank and they found that 3-4% of those coins were counterfeit.

So, how can you tell if your pound coin is a potential fake? Try these two simple methods:

1. Look at the coins edge. The lettering on a counterfeit coin is often indistinct or in the wrong typeface.
2. Hold the coin so that the Queen’s head is upright and facing you. The pattern on the reverse side should also be upright.

Post from: MoneyRegister.co.uk

Fake Pound Coins: 1 in 20 Is Counterfeit

The price of a first class stamp rises from 36p to 39p – an increase of 3p or 9.2%

The price of a second class stamp rises from 27p to 30p – an increase of 3 or 9%

Post from: MoneyRegister.co.uk

Price Of Stamps Increases Today

How’s that? I hear you ask. Well, the average person has £11.07 of foreign currency just lying around at home. My wife reckons we’ve spent all our euros so we’ve hardly got any of those left over. I’ve got a feeling I’ve got a couple of dollars at the back of a drawer somewhere!

How about you – do you always come home with a few pounds worth of foreign currency?

Post from: MoneyRegister.co.uk

You’ve Got A Tenner Lying Around