What every political conference needs...

Bring back spin!  At least it protected us from the reality of slimy infighting and governmental meltdown. Slithery Miliband couldn't hide his intentions at the Labour conference this week with any amount of gloss and Gordon's smile looked Photo-shopped. We can see through all the jaw-aching grins to the desperation of an unpopular government clinging to power... I could almost perceive Gordon's nose growing with every claim that the country's future was in confident, expert hands. That got me thinking -- just for fun, what the conference season needs is a Pinnochiometer: a tool that can measure politicians' half-truths and lies as they trip off their tongues.  

Q. When is a saving not a saving?

A.  When it's a supermarket saving...  This report in The Independent supports the view that the price-cut culture at supermarkets is just gloss. After all, how can supermarkets' savings be genuine when food inflation is rocketing? They cut some prices to grab headlines and engage in price wars with other supermarkets. But, overall prices are going up not down. And, as this story confirms, you'd be better off buying vegetables at a local market, or getting an organic box delivered, than buying at the supermarket. Oh, and buying the right quantities of food, rather than getting sucked in by two-for-one deals and chucking half of it in the bin, will help save pennies. 

Supermarket snub

I have been simmering about supermarkets for quite some time.  My husband's former home town, a market town in Norfolk, had its heart ripped out by Tesco. The third supermarket to claim a patch there, it swallowed up an expanse of land on the edge of the town and dragged custom away from the high street by offering impossibly low prices. Now the high street has become a hollow no man's land in the midst of a supermarket battleground, with little more than charity shops and banks to attract shoppers.  The problem is that people do want low prices and good value, so the lure of super saving deals is hard to argue against.  But, at what cost is the exodus from the high street to the supermarkets? And could the government and local councils do more to protect the interests of independent traders? I am lucky to have a great butcher in my street and I do my best to shop there and at other independent shops. But with a baby to feed and clothe, and prices of everyday groceries rocketing, it's sometimes hard to make good choices. Having succumbed to a daily supermarket shop, I'm starting today with a new goal to gradually cut out the big four (Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons) out of my life and find alternative outlets that won't break the bank... or batter my conscience. 

Leave that Monkee's Moobs alone!

Poor old Davy Jones committed the heinous crime of exposing his moobs (man-boobs) at a concert recently and caused an uproar. The papers reported that the once youthful heart-throb wasn't a patch on the Cheeky Monkee of the swinging sixties. The guy is 62, so I say give him a break.  I take my hat off to anyone in the limelight that dares to buck the ridiculous trend for Peter Pan celebs who never, never grow old. Frozen faces, bloated lips and crease-free pensioners... it's just so freakish. And, as for the surprise that this teen idol of forty years ago has piled on a few extra pounds with the advancing years, it would be laughable to expect otherwise. One commentator surmised:  "He has let his physique go somewhat through lack of exercise.  He may also have made a few poor food choices." Well, I don't know about anyone else, but when I get to Jones' vintage, I hope that I am enjoying life and relaxing the rules a bit... I'd rather have the odd cream cake and put my feet up now and again, than spend my life on a treadmill, running away from Old Father Time.

Where best to stash your cash?

As Lehman Brothers bites the dust, the question on everyone's lips is who will be the next Big Cheese of the banking world to succumb to the shame of bankruptcy? Lehman was the fourth largest US investment bank with a long and cherished heritage as a canny player in the money markets. But its demise makes it seem as capable of managing money as a shopaholic at Bluewater, trembling while handing over one loaded credit card after another. As the US Federal Reserve broadens its emergency lending scheme and the UK and European central banks inject almost $40 billion into the financial system, it's time to ask whether enough has been done to regulate the financial industry and protect it against several risks too many. Back on the streets, news that Goliath has fallen makes every David feel proud that they're surviving. Small businesses that are weathering the storm should be congratulating themselves for employing the simple tactics that the money men have failed to observe -- making necessary cut-backs and saving for a rainy day/monsoon season.  For my part, I wonder whether we'd be better stashing our cash under the mattress than trusting greedy banks.