Simonne says....Second-hand’s not second rate

Did you hear that the car scrappage scheme has been so successful that the scheme is being extended to fund an extra 100,000 car and van purchases?
Don’t we just love it when the government gives away money!
But, if you’re tempted by this offer, just remember that the £2,000 contribution towards a new vehicle will be wiped out in depreciation after just a few short months. It’s still far better value to buy a slightly older car, especially if the new car is being paid for via expensive credit.

More Sheconomics research

I'm doing some more research - this time into the fascinating world of behavioural economics.

The survey poses some interesting financial dilemmas and is aimed at demystifying some of the irrational behaviours we all have around money.

It only takes about 10 minutes and there's a £25 cash prize and a signed copy of Sheconomics for the person who recruits the most respondents (so fill it in and send the link to a friend).

Click Here to take survey
And I'll post the results on www.sheconomics.com so keep a lookout! Thanks.

Please, Sir, can I have some more?

Stories about sexism in the city have cropped up everywhere this week. Women, it seems, earns far less than men in the city and encounter sexual discrimination more befitting of a Victorian workhouse than the 21^st century finance world.

A thought struck me. Yes, there is sexism out there but women also have to guard against another enemy – self-sabotage. If women undervalue themselves, the world will undervalue them. Many women still confess to being uncomfortable with the concept of success. And we live in a society that still sees thrift and 'making do' as a highly prized female trait.

Women, research has shown, are twice as likely as men to volunteer (it’s good to give to others but also important to value your time) and two and a half times more likely to dread asking for a salary increase.

How should the modern woman knock down the barriers set up by society and her own self-limiting beliefs? Here’s the Sheconomical way to succeed in those negotiations:

• · Recognise your true value
• · Make the first move (be proactive)
• · Prepare your case
• · Aim realistically high
• · Don’t settle for less

More on this is our chapter on self-limiting beliefs in Sheconomics.

Pay it forward

Good to see the concept of paying it forward taking off. An innovative broadband company has, apparently, recruited ex-pickpockets to creep around London and slip fivers, tenners and twenty pound notes into people’s unguarded bags and pockets. It’s their way of helping people beat the blues caused by the recession.

Yet psychological research shows that it’ll be the ones giving away the money who get the biggest boost in their happiness.

In one study in the US, students were given $10 each, then half were told to buy themselves something and the other half to spend it one somebody else. Their happiness levels were measured before and after. The group who’d spent the money on another person were happier than those who’d spent it on themselves.

So if you want to cheer yourself up, Do Something Different and spend some money on another person.