Give a few moments of your time to feed the hungry for free. This US charity site has a button that you click which then exposes you to some adverts; The advertisers then make a contribution to the charity. It was investigated by a BBC radio programme, which confirmed that it was genuine and did exactly what it promised. I have put it on my favourites and made a resolution to visit it every day, I urge you to consider doing the same

I believe that one of the best ways to help those less fortunate than myself is to help them to help themselves.  To give children an education and open their eyes and minds to knowledge and opportunity is, one way of doing this.  This site provides information on registered charities and the differences between their child sponsorship programmes.  How much does a bar of chocolate or a cup of coffee cost these days?

MOBILE PHONE LINKS

Looking to buy a mobile phone? Searched the internet and got loads of different deals but still unsure? Here's a site that I use, it contains up-to-date deals from loads of UK internet retailers, it gets updated regularly and has sections for both contract and Pay As You Go.

My favourites are the cash back, 12 months free, deals that appear from time to time.  For the last five years I have effectively had free mobile phones, inclusive free calls and texts and free line rental.  Of course there is a bit of a catch but its not a big one as long as you are organised.  The cash back deals usually come with a free minutes package and require you to sign up for 1 year contract with a monthly line rental,  then each quarter you have to send a recent bill in to get your cash back.  After 1 year this equates to free rental.  Take heed though, you have a restricted window to ask for your cash back, usually 14 days, and the cash back only lasts for the first year of the contract, Usually, at month 11, you will need to give 1 months notice to terminate the contract .

Now this might sound a load of hassle but if you organise yourself it saves you loads of dosh, terminate your contract at the 1 year and check out another deal, quite often you can keep your number but this can't be guaranteed.  Some people I know having received a new phone and, being happy with the one they currently have, sell their new phones on e-bay further increasing their savings.  This, I reckon is as close as you can get to a free lunch.

What's in it for you?  Less leg work for a mobile phone package of your choice.

What's in it for me?   If you purchase from this link I get a small referral commission.

Note: Why not use the Free Reminder Service to make sure that you don't miss the cash back cut off dates.

PHONE UNLOCKING

Want to unlock your mobile phone?  It is perfectly legal to disable the locks that networks put on your mobile so that you can use the phone with other networks, the sites below offer an on line unlocking capability for many common phones.  I have unlocked phones loads of times without any problem using these sites, but it is done at your own risk.  Having said that if you do mess it up you can recover the phone by finding somebody to do a cable unlock, the will charge around £10 depending on your phone type.

What's in it for you?  Well most people charge you a Tenner for this service.

What's in it for me?   Nothing but glad to help.

GET CASH FOR YOUR UNWANTED PHONE

So you've kept your old mobile in a drawer hoping it would come in useful one day, don't worry we've all done it.  Well this company will give you an online quote for your phone, they make the transaction nice and simple and even pay the postage.  To be fair they do expect the phone to be in working condition, it must power up but it does not need a valid simcard, make sure you read their not unreasonable terms and conditions before sending anything off and consider using registered post.

SOFTWARE LINKS

uk insurance insurance quotes buy to let mortgage home insurance

I use both the following to help protect my PC, they are available free from these links.

Ad-Ware is designed to provide advanced protection from known Data-mining, aggressive advertising, Parasites, Scumware, selected traditional Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser hijackers, and tracking components. 

Another goodie is Spybot Search and Destroy, often gets good reviews from the experts and I like to use both of these as sometimes one catches what another might miss.

All-in-One SECRETMAKER combines several powerful tools including a Spam Fighter, Pop-Up Killer, Cookie Eraser, History Cleaner, Privacy Protector, Banner Blocker and Worm Hunter.

What's in it for you? Helps to protect your machine from all the spyware.

What's in it for me? Nothing but glad to help.

If you haven't got any anti virus software installed then you can get AVG free for personal use from here.  You also need a firewall, not many free ones about but the firewall link is a useful start, it has a link to a firewall tester, but I prefer the Sygate one.  Trojans may evade your virus checker, Windows Security have an on line Trojan Checker.

What's in it for you?  Helps to protect your machine from the baddies

What's in it for me?   Nothing but glad to help.

Need some software but a bit short of coin?  Microsoft is not the the only source of software that meets the needs of the home user or the small office there are many free versions around.

Freebyte is a site that collects together a stack of free useful applications and is well worth a visit.

Open office is a well respected product, it will meet most peoples needs for databases, spreadsheets and word processing.  It is usually compatible with the applications that you use at work.

What's in it for you? Potentially a stack of quality applications.
What's in it for me? Nothing but glad to help.

WEB SITE HOSTING

There are many ways to announce your presence on the world wide web, usually your ISP will provide you with some free web space as part of your contract, though it may have quite a long address that includes the ISP name.  Additionally their are companies that will host your site for free but will probably place adverts on your web page.  

One solution is to use the free ISP web space in combination with a a free domain name, you can then redirect traffic to your website with a more meaningful address.  It sounds complicated but isn't, these site offers free domain registration, the address is of the form www.yourname.uk.tt  or www.yourname.co.nr the instructions on how it works are on the site.

I wanted to have a more conventional domain name so searched around for a suitable host.  I settled on Site Ground, based on price and the good reviews it received, it seemed to offer a value for money package and to date I have been very pleased with the service.  They have a helpful help desk that has been responsive to my questions, (even if some of them were a bit numpty), and I have never noticed any down time, others who took this recommendation have given me only positive feedback.

What's in it for you?  Not much unless you want to acquire a domain name or get your webpage hosted.  There are plenty of free web hosters available, but if you need to pay this is good value, reliable and offers quality support.

What's in it for me?   I get a credit to my account if you join via this link.

INTERNET CONNECTION SPEED

The ISPs all offer high speed downloads but the actual speed is dependent on many things, if you have ever wondered what your actual connection speed is then try this version, it is easy to use, just click on the icon and follow any instructions..

What's in it for you? Check that you are getting the speed you are paying for.
What's in it for me? Nothing but glad to help.

ISP

You probably already have an ISP but how much does it cost?  I use broadband at home and a

 roaming dial up when traveling.  The packages from V21 are among the most competitive on the UK market.

What's in it for you?  A well established and competitive ISP option. 

E-BOOKS

Thinking of setting up a home network but confused by all the jargon,?  A perusal of this book might help.

What's in it for you?  A free book which is full of good information. 

AUTO AID

One of my favourite sites is run by Martin Lewis, a freelance journalist who champions the cause of the consumer, I have often heeded the advice that he and his team offer and I encourage people to visit his site and hopefully you too can save some money.  Check out his chat forum for topical tips.

What's in it for you? Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.
What's in it for me? Nothing but glad to help. the aa rac

CAR TYRES

Tyres seem to cost a small fortune and as its all that keeps the tin can that we ride in stuck safely to the road it doesn't make sense to scrimp on quality.  However the tyre fitting market is a competitive one, I used to phone round locally for quotes on the tyre of my choice and then go to the place that offers the cheapest price.  Recently I have started using Black Circles, you choose from a wide range of tyres on line and they quote an all inclusive price with a local company.  You pay as you order, book an appointment a couple of days ahead, turn up, have a cup of coffee, drive away.  For the tyres I use they were £15 each cheaper!  As an aside the garage told me that they got a fair fee for providing the fitting service so win win.

What's in it for you? Tyres of your choice, fitted locally, good service and an additional 5% discount from this link.

What's in it for me? A small commission if you buy from this link.

Another company that has been recommended to me and also does on line all inclusive pricing is etyres.co.uk, they are mobile so can come to your home or workplace to fit the rubber.  Its also worth looking at their further info page. 

What's in it for you? A chance to compare prices and maybe a good deal.
What's in it for me? Nothing but glad to help.

CASH BACK SITES

Here is a link to some cash back sites, its a simple concept, they act as a referral site to many UK on line retailers.  If you buy a product from the referral they get a commission, they agree to split this commission with you, all the details are on their web sites.  The sensible thing to do is search for the best price for the product that you want, then check to see if the retailer that you found is an affiliate of the cash back site, if so log on into the website and use their link to take you the retailer thus building up your rebate.

What's in it for you?  A free bonus when you join, then accumulate savings as you use the site.

FREE REMINDER SERVICE

This is one of those useful sites that once you have started using it you wonder how you ever managed without it, of course you could just use your diary or calendar to remind you of things but I prefer this.  For example, I'm sure that its not only me who has forgotten until the last minute that the MOT is due, not anymore!  Set up an email for 1 month prior to the test date with further reminders every couple of days, now I do the once over in plenty of time and don't get stung for those overpriced wiper blades and bulbs.  Similarly for insurance, call for quotes in plenty of time, the list is endless, birthdays, anniversary's, credit card and phone bills, dental appointments....

What's in it for you? Maybe a thank you and "Aw you remembered" from the other half.
What's in it for me? Nothing but glad to help.

EARN MONEY FROM YOUR WEBSITE

For putting 3 adverts around my web page for Better Than Banners, I get a small monthly payment that helps to pay for the upkeep of this site.  If you would like to do something similar on your website click here.  If accepted you will get a welcome bonus and a monthly payment, I will get a referral fee. 

A company called Matched.co.uk pays to put some of the adverts on the right hand side, you are welcome to follow this link to their page, if you have a website that they can use and join from here then I will get a referral fee, thanks.