Men also buy from Facebook, but it’s been found that they usually buy T-shirts that are funny or are helping charity organisations raise funds through sales. Facebook sales are growing at a rate of 20% each month and it won’t be long before people are heading to fan pages and groups to see what others are buying and reading the reviews of existing customers. As major brands have yet to provide Facebook shops as it’s more small to medium-sized businesses, there is a push to incorporate more than just fan pages for major retailers who are encouraged to use Facebook as a portal for selling their items rather than people ‘liking’ them.

The majority of Facebook sales are paid for by PayPal, the online processor, the social network giants expect people to change to Facebook credits to pay for their items in the same way as gamers do when they pay for games on the site. As Facebook takes 30% of the revenue from games and in-game features, it’s expected that vendors would not pay this high a fee for selling their products through the site.

With unemployment rates reaching close to three million in the UK, mostly 16-24 year olds, the scheme couldn’t have come at a better time. As people are much more likely to find a job willing to take someone on who has a little experience, are currently employed and want to work for that new company, or have been in a similar job, the temporary jobs scheme will help youngsters gain the confidence, skills and build their CV so it adds value to them as a potential candidate for future jobs. It also shows a willingness to get out there and do everything possible to get a job, which is something that blights many people that are out of work.

After a successful pilot, ministers are keen to roll the scheme out across Wales to help get the nation out of its huge unemployment figures. Targeting not only school-leavers but graduates as well the micro-businesses and green jobs industries will be used to help people work in a variety of different environments so they gain the life and work skills they need to enter further employment. Candidates that have already gone through the scheme have landed jobs in telecommunications roles and sales jobs.

The news comes after HMRC has already started targeting tutors and electricians who are advertising their services and taking payments through websites such as eBay to try and ‘hide’ from the tax man. There are a myriad of online marketplaces that are being targeted by HMRC and would use their power to force the names and addresses from the website owners to start their investigations and proceedings in recouping tax. It’s stated that anyone that buys and sells products for a profit would be liable to register as self-employed and file a tax return. Those that sell the odd second-hand item on eBay would not be targeted but serial traders are first on the list.

The taxman is offering those that trade online to come forward and provide income details and register as a proper business, just as any brick-and-mortar shop has to. The Inland Revenue offers a fresh start for those that are making a living from the Internet and for those that don’t come forward, harsh penalties will ensue towards the end of the year. There is huge support for tax evaders and those paying incorrect amounts of tax, so the expectation of those who are running an online business is said to be in the thousands that will ensure their taxes are sorted out.

It’s not just barley that is having trouble, hops production is also waning due to the dry weather. As 3.5% of the cost of beer is taken up by barley production and stocks are only good for 18 months stockpiling is not an option. In similar news, ministers are vying to clamp down on £1.2 billion of lost taxes from people smuggling alcohol into the UK from overseas. It’s said that around 28,000 lorries each year carry alcohol from the EU with each containing carrying around £18,000 of pure profit from not paying UK taxes. This is having a devastating effect on the Treasury’s pot after Revenue & Customs stated the figures recently, yet still the Government raise alcohol prices by 5p almost every year!

Barley and hops production in the UK, as well as other crops, are struggling due to the dry weather we are experiencing which has seen the south and southeast locked in a hosepipe ban for many months now.

Inaccurate information from the salespeople is said to be the cause of the problem. As SSE uses various agencies that provide door-to-door salespeople to sell the services, there has been a failure of the system of how to sell customers energy deals rather than being misled intentionally. There is the threat of legal action from the Trading Standards Agency if SSE doesn’t amend the problem quickly and refund their customers the money they would have missed out on. With fuel and energy bills reaching dizzy heights lately it’s another blow for the UK public who are already strapped for cash.

As energy bills are set to rise yet again, there will be a healthy amount of UK customers looking to switch to another supplier in order to save money. Contrary to popular belief door-to-door salespeople work for almost all of the major electricity and energy supplier companies through various agents and it’s one of the easiest ways to get information of the latest deals across to the public so they can actually save money, and it’s unfortunate that a mishap of this scale by SSE has caused such a huge monetary problem for itself and its customers.

Cookies are small bytes of data that remember certain things about us when we visit a website so the next visit is quicker, more enjoyable or personalised to your tastes. The cookies have to have consent from the visitor before any data can be taken now, and any site that does not abide can be slapped with a £500,000 fine. Many website owners feel that their earnings would take a huge hit if they stopped using cookies or offered a choice to their visitor, and would risk the fine! As advertisers pay huge amounts of money to list their adverts on website with large traffic streams the roadblock of asking whether cookies can be used or not will no doubt affect the earning potential of the site in question.

You can block cookies in your browser anyway, but as we’ve seen from multiple updates and policy changes from Google, their browsers also collect information and data from your emails, Google accounts and browsing tendencies to provide better search results. This invasion of data is both good and bad for consumers who should be given the best Internet experience but without having their data accessed or sold onto third party companies. However, as such the change in law from the ICO has shook website owners across the UK who will need to look at other ways to give their visitors the best browsing experience.

Many people feel that they will always be able to repay their loans no matter what, but this could be very costly in the future and many websites around the UK are trying to raise awareness that the government will no longer help out for those people that are made redundant or cannot pay their bills due to ill health. The responsibility is left with the person that took on the debt in the first place and this is why insurance policies are so important for people. A recent survey found that 15 million people would be at risk of being financially ruined if they lost their main income stream, and it was found that 15% wouldn’t be able to afford it and a further 15% don’t think income protection is that necessary.

Insurance policies on financial products can help the long-term financial problems that families would suffer if the main income source was stripped from them. Income protection is often thought to be ranked much lower than contents, building or car insurance, and yet it could help protect those payments too. Income protection is paid so that if you are unable to work then the insurance company would protect your everyday essentials, mortgage and car repayments, and therefore is one of the most important types of insurance you can buy as a full-time worker in the UK.

The news comes after the figures were collated that showed there were at least 85,000 fake coins in circulation. By 2008, that figure had reached the one million mark and last year it was two million. This has led to the Royal Mint scrapping so many counterfeit coins that the cost of destroying, reissuing and creating new designs is huge. With news of so many fake coins, we could see retailers refusing to take coin payments and prefer to take electronic payments instead so it’s not just vending machines that will refuse to take coins that aren’t the correct weight and size.

Fake coins can be spotted if they look new even though their date of issuance is old. The pound coin design is different to that of other coins from the same year. Those designs can be seen on the Royal Mint website to check. In the last 29 years, £1 coins have had their design changed every year to keep counterfeiters from getting the design perfect. If the lettering on the coin is different to the corresponding year, then it’s fake. The Queen’s head should line up with the reverse design, the ribbed edges should be clearly seen, and if the colouring is more yellow than gold, then you’ve most likely got a worthless coin in your pocket.

The last 6-8 months has seen professional shoppers resist the urge to use their normal or closest supermarket in a bid to find the best prices as money is still tight for Britons today. People that are looking to cook their meals from scratch, have a strict food budget and want to cut their weekly spend down have been choosing Morrisons to do so, and telling their friends, families and colleagues on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, which has caused a leap in new customers. With only slight growth in wages yet high fuel and energy costs, the UK public need to watch every penny.

There has been a 15% rise in petrol prices since 2010 as well as 32% for wheat products and a 15% increase on beef. This means that people who are used to paying a similar amount each week have seen their food and fuel bill rise, and therefore need to change their habits and shop at cheaper supermarkets. Morrisons has also vowed to open more convenience stores around the country as the growth is much faster than enormous supermarkets, and these are stores that can slot into spaces on the high street, which is perfect for those that live in busy cities and want a few essentials rather than needing to head to the outskirts for the hypermarkets.

The surprise budget tax from the government has shocked and angered the chief executive of Greggs. The petition could save small, independent bakers that are already under fire from large supermarket chains stealing their customers. If the rise in tax goes ahead, bakeries around the country would be forced to pass the increase onto the customers which would put even more pressure on the industry. Bakers around the country are set to emphasise their unhappiness at the tax by joining forces and marching to Downing Street.

The National Association of Master Bakers (NAMB) is looking to take legal advice to see if EU laws are being broken by the controversial ‘pasty’ tax. Many people believe that the government are being heavy-handed with less-important tax increases and changes that could well see independent bakers go out of business and that would lead to more unemployment and strain on the already difficult times for the UK workforce. The pasty tax will take the quick-fire, hot food take-away products over the price of what the majority of people would feel is a reasonable price to pay. Bakers who sell pies, cakes and savoury products would have to try and recoup their profits by using cheaper cuts of meat in the pies or taking them off the shelves completely to avoid wastage.