Saving, but pennies must still be spent

PROBLEMS caused by the lack of public toilets in Longridge could be solved by a local or 
council takeover of the Berry Lane facility.

Longridge town councillors are considering this as one option to answer local criticisms and concerns about the closure of this central public convenience.

Visitors and regular 
shoppers had complained there was “nowhere to go” particularly at the weekends.

Councillors had learnt public knowledge of the Community Toilet Scheme was scant and information about it was not prominent enough to enable people to find out who was taking part.

The community scheme was launched throughout the Ribble Valley to cut costs for the borough amounting to £140,000. 

The Berry Lane facility had been fully closed as it had high turn-out costs to maintain it and was also very run down.

The Stonebridge toilet has been kept open and independently maintained and the Market Place convenience mothballed to be opened and used on public occasions.

But Terry Longden, head of engineering for Ribble Valley council who attended last week’s meeting of the council to help thrash out the problem and determine the future of the borough’s facilities in the town, said his visit was timely.

He was in the process of 
conducting a review of the 
community scheme operation, find an answer to the problems and report back to the Community Services Committee in November.

The new scheme had been slow to take off, but he said that it seemed to be gaining more use throughout the borough, while public convenience use was lessening.

Better signage to shops and businesses in Longridge in the scheme, including Sainsbury’s and Booths supermarkets, would help visitors and shoppers,

He said he would also look at the demand and needs in Longridge, and find out the costs of running the Berry Lane facility independently and, as requested by Longridge council, whether it would be worth it.

Source  http://www.longridgenews.co.uk/news/local/saving-but-pennies-must-still-be-spent-1-4939568

Black Friday Year Round? How Penny Auctions Save You Money.

For so many of us in today's economic climate, saving money... a lot of money, is becoming more important with each passing day. As the cost of living continues to grow under the current American political spectrum, nothing is safe from rampant price increases. Food items, for example have risen by as much as 30% for wheat since last April through July. Factor in the rapidly increasing cost of fuel for not only your car but for home and office as well and you'll quickly understand: Americans are looking to save each and every penny earned.

So then how can people still save money on the items that, while not mandatory, are still on peoples shopping lists in order to maintain their accustomed standard of living?

A few months ago I stumbled across an ad that touted electronics like Macs and iPads for pennies on the dollar. Choosing to be "wise", I initially dismissed these ads as some kind of come on.

"Just another scam" on the internet, befitting of my (until then) unknown rich uncle in Nigeria who died leaving me trillions of dollars in hidden bank accounts.

Oh how foolish I was. But I can rest assured that indeed hindsight is 20/20.

So how can I save money? How do I get the electronics at blow out prices and maintain my standard of living and technology? Penny Auctions.

Penny auctions have been around for a few years now and after an initial teething period where some scammers came and went it appears that now is the time that the true and honest penny auctions come to power and legitimize the entire industry. But be mindful, there are only a handful that I myself trust: QuiBids.com & PennyGrab.com

While each of these three differ significantly in their business models, they all offer the same idea: virtually anything you want to buy can be "won" for literally pennies on the dollar in a safe, secure environment.

PennyGrab.com for example, has several different styles of penny auctions. The traditional penny auction where there is a timer and once that timer reaches zero, the final bidder wins. But Pennygrab also has what's called the random reserve (or hidden reserve price) auction where the final ending price is randomly selected and "hidden" until the final price is met. Sometimes it's pennies, other times it's (still) at a significant discount. But what is truly unique about PennyGrab is that within most of the auctions are Bonus Prizes of anything from free bonus credits that you can use to place subsequent bids... to items like gift cards, electronics and more.

While not as "giving" as PennyGrab.com, QuiBids and Beezid both also offer items at substantial savings, but nowhere approaching the near 50% off retail pricing that you quickly fall in love with at PennyGrab. PennyGrab offers Black Friday pricing 365 days per year and that's no small feat!

What's equally impressive is PennyGrab's commitment to customer service, quality and fair play. Not only do they hold themselves accountable, but they expect each PennyGrab Member to be fair and friendly and every bit as honest as they hold themselves. 

But does it work? In a word, YES!

During my investigative time using PennyGrab, I logged intotheir chat room and met some of the other Members. Not only did they give this newcomer to all that is penny auctions plenty of advice and tips, but they also hand walked with me and helped me to actually win my first few items! How is that for community involvement?

Need more? How about the 27" iMac I won for $423. Or the (near) $400 in various gift cards (that I was allowed to exchange in equal dollars for other items and gift cards that I truly wanted? Now this folks is customer care in its purest form.

If you're looking to save money, you should give penny auction sites a look. With all else in the world seemingly increasing in cost each and every day, it is an amazing thing to find value in a world fraught within a vicious cycle of increasing costs.

Source  http://www.itnewsonline.com/showprnstory.php?storyid=232806