Credit unions are marvellous institutions, doing all the things (or most) that high street banks do but in a better and nicer way.

Consumer Focus’s research found that a third of consumers would be interested in joining a credit union, but two-thirds of these say they cannot because they don’t think there is one nearby.

Actually there are more and more credit unions around. Now is definitely their time as people are actively seeking an alternative to the traditional banks. I also know that the Coalition is very much in favour of credit unions and is doing their best to help them forward. Good!

The report from Consumer Focus – called  Credit where credit’s due – argues that offering credit union services through the Post Office would significantly increase their potential to provide a long-term alternative to High Street banks, especially for people on low incomes. This could help plug a credit gap for low income consumers who turn to high interest, short-term loans, such as payday loans, as they can’t access affordable credit through banks. It could also provide low income consumers who do not always trust High Street banks, with transactional accounts offered through a trusted provider.

Some of the key findings in Consumer Focus’s research include:

·         46% of consumers said that the post office would be a convenient way for them to access credit union services. This increased to 57% for the poorest social groups

·         Almost half of consumers (46%) said they would trust credit unions more if they were available at the Post Office, including more than half of those on low incomes.

·         Four out of 10 low income consumers say they would be more likely to open a credit union account, or consider applying for a small loan, if they could do so at a Post Office

·         Only 19% of those on low-to-middle incomes and 28 per cent of low income groups said they were fully satisfied with High Street banks and would therefore be unwilling to consider other options to them.

If you’re sick of your bank, or you’re worried you won’t be able to get small amounts of credit, I recommend looking up your local credit union. We show you how to do it in this article about alternative ways to borrow.

However, there are ways around it – there always are!

For a start, have you checked out the new social travel sites yet?

If you’re planning on going away anywhere in the world, and certainly if you want to go somewhere in the UK, you really should compare prices of staying in private homes with cheap hotels and B&Bs.

Go to Wimdu.com and you will find a room to rent cheaply in someone’s home or even whole flats and houses that you can have from one day to a few weeks if you want.

For example, I stayed in Vienna for a couple of nights care of Wimdu.com. My studio flat, just outside of the centre, was 35 Euros a night. A whole family could stay there as there was an extra bed for kids. Other friends stayed in nice studio flats and rooms in some amazing homes.

I love the new fashion for collaborative living, as you know, and I’m certainly a big fan of house-swapping. If you can’t swap houses with someone, though, you can at least get a cut-price night or two away in someone else’s home. You could even get breakfast thrown in too.

I’ll tell you more about Vienna later, but I just wanted to get this out to you now because it can be so depressing to look around even at supposedly cheap packages and find they’re twice the price they used to be.

You can get away!

However, it has now got to the point where the housing market – even in London, potentially – could dry up completely because people with assets and decent incomes can’t get mortgages. Buy-to-let mortgages are becoming scarcer and even the usual Standard Variable Rate (SVR) mortgages are now rarer than hen’s teeth.

Business lending is also at rock bottom. This means that genuinely good businesses, or genuinely good business ideas coming from people with experience, are being starved at source.

I don’t think that austerity measures are causing the economy to founder. I do think that banking stupidity and fear are.

Not only that but I am seeing a very worrying trend of big business not paying their bills or not paying their bills on time (like 6 months late!) which is also destroying small businesses…the lifeblood of our economy.

I’ll be writing more on this later but a concerted campaign is needed on both these issues, mainly at government level.

What do you think?

First up, NETTLES. At this time of year most have flowered (see pic) although if they’re in a shady place they may not have. I don’t mean ‘dead nettles’ which have large white flowers on – more of these later. Nettle flowers are tiny, near the top and are an indication that the plant is no longer young. Apparently older leaves can be harmful to the kidneys (see the PfaF website  and the edible wild plants website for more info). If they’ve got to this stage, then take only the top few leaves, which are tender. Or hack the whole plant back to within a few cm of the ground, and this’ll encourage new growth. Just pick off the top 5cm (with gloves!) and wash, steam or boil briefly to eat like spinach. Cooking kills the sting.

You may notice DOCK LEAVES growing near nettles. This is handy because if you get stung, rub a dock leaf over it until the juice comes out. This neutralises the pain. These can be used to wrap food that you’re steaming (fish for example) or like a plate if you’re having a picnic. They’re edible but are an acquired taste – Josef thought “they just taste like leaf”.

We also noticed Japanese knotweed, which spreads like wildfire. You’re not even allowed to put cuttings in your compost because it seeds and takes over so quickly – it’s classed as controlled waste and as such must be disposed of safely at a licensed landfill site. The very young shoots can be picked and used like rhubarb, stewed with sugar or jam and eaten as a compote or filling for tarts.

We all know DANDELIONS and can identify them at 20 paces. The leaves are good in a salad, if you like a slightly bitter, peppery taste (they’re no worse than chicory, radicchio or rocket though). The young leaves are best and wash them well in case any dogs have been passing. The yellow flowers are edible too - in fact I understand the whole of the dandelion plant is edible, but the petals are tastier. Pull them off in one clump and discard the stem with any green bits. Scatter over salads for a pretty effect or add to a batter to make dandelion fritters (a lovely sweetish taste and a deep yellow colour).

Incidentally BUTTERCUPS are NOT edible, neither the leaves nor the flowers.

GOOSE GRASS, with its distinctive long, thin leaves (a bit like rosemary leaves in appearance)  tastes like young peas or pea pods raw, but Gemma said some people are put off by its slightly hairy texture (it’s the little hooks that make the plant stick like glue to your clothing). Brief cooking will destroy this odd mouthfeel and you can use it, again, like spinach. A honey dressing would bring out the sweetness.

We spotted WOODAVENS (also called Herb Bennet) which, again, can be eaten raw in a salad or  fried in butter (for a crispy seaweed-type dish).

Next up GARLIC MUSTARD, which has a two year cycle and looks totally different between the two years, just to fox you. In the first year the leaves are roundish (see picture right) and can be used in salads although they veer towards the bitter. In the second year the leaves are more pointed but there are also delicate white flowers which can be used to pretty-up salads.

The photo on the left is of Garlic Mustard in the second year of its cycle. See how different the leaves are? I’m told there’s a massive patch just on the Well Walk entrance to Hampstead Heath. Not for much longer! Incidentally, I didn’t take a photo but we also spotted HOPS (which is unusual to find growing wild, especially in London). The shoots – just the very tips of the tendrils – can be eaten raw in, you’ve guessed it, salads or lightly cooked as a green vegetable.

ELDERFLOWERS are around at the moment and are good picked off the stems (a bit fiddly) and scattered over salads or used to garnish homemade dips/hummous, or even a fruit fool or mousse. For an elderflower vinegar, steep in cider vinegar or white wine vinegar, leave for a few weeks and then strain.

BLACKBERRIES or BRAMBLES are also pretty recognisable by most of us, even the most confirmed townies. But did you know the leaves can be used to make blackberry tea (which doesn’t taste like blackberries). Dry the leaves or use fresh (although fresh can be “a bit spinachey”, according to Gemma). hang a bunch of the leaves upside down to dry, then crumble or leave whole, and store in a jar.

Now on to DEAD NETTLES which are actually NOT nettles! They have a stem which is square in cross-section. Put the flowers in a salad and cook the rest like spinach. The flowers grow off the stem, not just the top, so you must pick about the top 15cm of the plant, but leave the woody part. Gemma says, “The great thing about foraging is, unlike a supermarket or a greengrocers, you can take only the food you’re planning to eat, the very tips of the nettle or hawthorn for instance. Leave the rest! You can’t cut off the outer leaves of, say, a cauliflower in a shop and just pay just for what you’ll eat.”

HOGWEED (the photo on the left shows the leaves and on the right the spears or shoots we picked) is considered by some to be the Number 1, fantastic  foraged veg that we have in the UK. Gemma wouldn’t go quite that far, but we picked, lightly boiled and ate the inner shoots, which are rather like asparagus, although with a more delicate flavour. The shoots are found right in the middle of the plant and look a bit like furled bracken. A lemony hollandaise or olive oil, salt and pepper will bring out the best in it. Gemma said, “The name isn’t doing it any favours – it could do with rebranding.”

CHICKWEED is a good salad plant, but because it grows close to the ground, some people worry about dogs, again. It coats the forest floor in shady areas. Wash it well and you’ll be fine. Sorry the photo’s a bit blurry but we were rushing to get onto the next find, which was…

WILD GARLIC – the leaves, white flowers and even the young seeds are edible and can be used in salads. The seeds don’t need to be dried but just scatter over fresh veg or use like onion seeds when making your own bread or bagels.  Remember it’s illegal to dig up any plants in the wild but you can pick the leaves and flowers , unless otherwise stated.

Speaking of bread, in the olden days (no, not my childhood, as my kids think) people used to place bread rolls on an upside-down SYCAMORE  leaf, so the imprint would be baked into the base of the dough. A nice idea, and a good way to ensure it didn’t stick, pre greaseproof paper.

I know GROUND ELDER (right) from my own childhood, when mum sent us out to pick it in time for Sunday lunch. The leaves look like those of the elder tree (which isn’t edible) and it grows like a carpet close to the ground, hence the name. It cooks like spinach, tastes a bit lemony, and is also fine raw in salads.

We were looking for wild onions, the THREE CORNERED LEEK (see photo, left) to be precise, and we found it on the way back to base (where were were going to descend on one of Gemma’s friends to cook our haul). The stem of this plant is triangular in cross-section, hence the name, and, from a distance,  it looks quite like a white bluebell. It’s quite invasive and you can eat both the long, green leaves and flowers, which we munched on the spot. They tasted very delicate, like spring onion or chives, and not too overpowering at all.

LIME LEAVES formed the base of our salad (from the Linden tree – Tilleul in French). It’s not the tree that produces lime fruits, but a very common ‘street tree’ in Britain. Gemma called it “the iceberg lettuce of the foraging world”. The photo shows us picking off the leaves, once we were back in the kitchen. The flowers are also dried for Lime Flower Tea. Josef added that Linden wood is often used to make guitars, plus it’s also very good for carving and was used by the famous wood sculptor Grinling Gibbons (who I had actually heard of – see, I can be erudite). Who knew?

Back at Gemma’s friend’s house, we raided the garden for purple HONESTY flowers (left), which went into the salad. It’s more commonly used in flower arranging where the flat, transparent, papery seed pods are distinctive.

Gemma produced a few delicious extras from her bag of tricks. There was hemp oil and apple balsamic vinegar to dress the leaves (both made in Britain), plus some flatbreads and lemon balm. Nasturtium buds she’d pickled with a bay leaf in vinegar, very like capers, plus black olives she’d picked (in London!) and preserved in salt – which tasted more olivey and less briney than the ones I usually buy. She’d made yellow split pea hummous with tahini and wild garlic – better than using chick peas because they’re grown in the UK, and therefore reduce food miles (split peas are sold by www.ecogreenstore.co.uk £1.70/kg).   She’d also sprouted dried marrowfat peas (the mushy peas type ) because they’re also grown here (£1.40/kg), unlike some other sprouting pulses.

I looked at the things people spend payday loans on in this payday loans blog. Research there found that people were spending them on tickets, clothes, presents and all sorts of other non-essentials too.

Which?s figures do show people getting trapped in a downward spiral of debt caught by exorbitant penalty charges because they cannot afford to pay back the loan on time. A quarter who had taken out loans said they had been hit with hidden charges such as high fees for reminder letters, and one in five were not able to pay back their loan on time. A third of people experienced greater financial problems as a result of taking out a payday loan, 45% of them were hit with unexpected charges.

The debt trap is compounded with 57% being encouraged to take out further loans, and 45% rolling over their loans at least once. A third of people were bombarded with unsolicited calls, texts and emails before they had even signed an agreement.

A Which? investigation of 34 payday loans companies’ websites also found that people could face a £150 charge by one company, Quid24.com, if they repaid their loan 10 days late. Most of the companies failed to show clearly their charges or charged excessive amounts for defaulting.

People were also potentially being allowed to take on credit they couldn’t afford – eight out of 34 companies don’t carry out any credit checks as part of their approval procedure, and nearly two-thirds surveyed were not asked about any aspect of their financial situation apart from their salary. Some payday loan company websites also failed to provide any terms and conditions and many of those that did had little or no information about a borrower’s rights and obligations or references to free debt advice – 14 out of 34 lenders failed to inform consumers about the complaints procedure.

Which? is calling on the OFT to properly enforce existing consumer credit and lending rules that already apply to payday loans firms, and to go further without delay to protect consumers by restricting the default charges that payday loans companies can charge. Which? also wants the Government to review other options to protect consumers, including Australian-style proposals for sensible limits on the total cost of credit coupled with measures to increase the supply of affordable alternatives.

I think these are all very good proposals and I hope the Government puts them into practice quickly. Too many people are being caught in the payday loans trap.

There are around 4 million veggies in the UK, according to The Vegetarian Society, and even if you’re not one of them, a veggie meal is healthy and provides a change from the usual meat/carbs/veg combo.

Halloumi is one of my favourites, just sliced and fried, served with a well-dressed, interesting salad (a vinaigrette of lemon juice, honey and herbs?) and/or couscous studded with chopped apricots, fresh parsley and mint, diced cherry tomatoes and cucumber etc. Blob some hummous on top, or mayo for extra moisture.

A simple pasta-pesto does it for me too. I am growing my own basil in the kitchen so it couldn’t be simpler to whizz up some of that with cheese and nuts plus garlic, salt and pepper and olive oil. It doesn’t have to be pine nuts (which I hardly ever have in). I am threatening to make  nettle pesto too (almost free, because it’s foraged), after a friend ate it in a restaurant. Watch this space!

Quiche (see my blog “One of my Pies”) is also a favourite with my family. These main course dishes usually involve me using up the contents of my fridge. So long as you have 4 or 5 eggs and slather it in enough cheese, it’ll set properly AND taste great (so true of so many of my dishes).

Those are my thoughts so far…

• Getting started
• How much can you earn?

The potential market for oven cleaning is huge, as almost every UK household has at least one oven.

Getting started

You need to first decide what route you want to go down.  There are three main ways to get work as an oven cleaner:

• Set up your own business 
• Work for a company 
• Run a franchise

Set up your own business

Becoming self-employed in any field is a big move, but it could be the best one you ever make. Just imagine – no boss to answer to, no going to the same old workplace every day and no more office politics! However, being self-employed requires a lot of hard work and commitment. You’ll need to sort out your own tax payments, which means putting money aside ready for when your tax return is due.

Visit the Directgov website for full details about becoming self-employed.

If you do decide to go it alone, consider getting some polo shirts made with your company logo printed on to give you a professional look.

Becoming a member of The Association of Approved Oven Cleaners is worth considering. Being a member certainly won’t hurt when it comes to marketing your business, and will give customers reassurance that you’re professional and reliable.

Pros

• Freedom and flexibility
• Potential to expand
• No boss to answer to!

Cons

• You have to find all your own work
• No sick pay
• No regular income

Work for a company

Working for a company gives you security in knowing how much you’ll be getting paid each month, whereas with self-employment your income can vary significantly. Here’s a list of oven cleaning companies you may want to approach about finding work.

• Ovencleaninglondon.co.uk
• Ovencleaningspecialist.com
• Ovensabove.co.uk
• Ovensheen.com
• Theovencleaningcompany.co.uk – Scotland
• Ovenglo.com
• Londonovencleaning.com

Pros

• Finding work for you is their responsibility
• Equipment and materials provided
• Set working hours

Cons

• The company reap the full rewards of your efforts
• Risk of job loss through redundancy or downsizing
• Limited number of holidays

Run a franchise

"Franchise"

This is when an established company allows others to use its business model, marketing and trademark to sell their service or product for profit.  This is in exchange for a start-up payment and ongoing fees.  ’Avon ladies’ are one example of a franchise business model.

With an oven-cleaning franchise, you’ll receive a van and all the proper cleaning materials. Decent companies will also provide a dedicated sales team who will pass work on to you.  A franchise normally opens up opportunities in the commercial as well as domestic sector (so you could also find work cleaning restaurant as well as home ovens).

Although a franchise can be great once you’re up and running, you’ll need a hefty lump sum to get started.  Ovenclean charge a start-up fee of £16,995 plus VAT.  They also recommend a minimum personal investment of £10,000 to cover working capital and VAT.  If you’ve got the money to get your franchise off the ground, it can be a very satisfying and profitable way of running a business.

Here’s a list of oven cleaning franchises:

• Ovenclean.com
• Theovencleaningco.com
• Ovenu.co.uk
• Ovengleam.com
• Sparkleoven.co.uk
• Cookerburra.co.uk
• Dirtbustersovencleaningnetwork.co.uk

Pros

• Low overheads
• Domestic and commercial opportunities
• Vehicle and materials provided

Cons

• High initial outlay
• Regular fees to pay
• You’ll be tied down to a contract

How much can you earn?

Self-employed

The sky’s the limit when you work for yourself.  You dictate how much work you do and therefore how much you earn.

Here’s a list of ‘going rates’ for different types of oven.  Be aware that this may differ depending on the area where you’ll be operating, so make sure you do your research and make your prices competitive.

Standard oven:

• Single oven: £50
• Double oven: £65
• Microwave: £12
• Gas hob: £16
• Ceramic hob: £10
• Extractor: £12

Range size:

• Single oven: £58
• Hob: £20
• Complete range (small): £75
• Complete range (large): £90

AGA:

• Two-oven size: £75
• Four-oven size: £100

For an extra stream of income, you could replace light bulbs in cooker hoods and ovens.  Buy them in bulk and make sure you offer them when doing a normal clean.

As you can see, doing 2–3 ovens each day would see you earn a good living.  Plus, once you’re established there should be plenty of repeat business and a good reputation will result in lots more work.

Franchise

Franchise Direct claim that their Ovenclean business can help you earn more than £1,000 a week.  However, you’ll have to take into account your initial outlay and regular fees.

Employee

Some companies will start you off on minimum wage for a trial period of a few months.  After that you can expect to earn around £14,000 a year, although many companies offer a starting salary of £16,000 and above.  In London wages can be around the £20,000 a year mark.

A conscientious company will want to maintain their reputation so will pay well for the right staff.  If you can demonstrate that you’re hard working, thorough and efficient you’ll do well.

Useful links

• The Association of Approved Oven Cleaners
• Freelance finances
• Directgov – self-employment

Similar ways to make money

• Make money ironing
• Make money by answering the phone
• Make up to £80 an hour as a private tutor
• 10 easy ways to make quick cash

If you’re considering starting an oven-cleaning business and have questions or ideas, leave a comment below – we love hearing from you!

I went to try it with my friend, the Seasoned Luncher (SL) at the Baker St branch. You can grab salads/wraps/fruit salads/juices etc from the fridges but much more popular  (at least when I was there) was having your salad or wrap made up before your eyes, customised the way you like it. It’s also lightening quick and efficient.

You choose a base (salad, brown rice, noodles or wholewheat cous cous) then add a protein (I went for falafel but there’s crayfish, bacon, chicken breast, tuna etc – £1.10 each). Then add deli ingredients (avocado, roast peppers etc – 75p each) and dairy (feta, cheddar, egg etc – 65p) then veg or fruit (beansprouts, olives, red onion, sultanas, wasabi peas, tortilla chips etc – 55p each) and a dressing (honey-lemon, balsamic vinaigrette, ranch etc). They toss it in front of you and pile it into a takeaway, lidded tub. Mine was vast and only about £6. SL had the best-seller, Chipotle Chicken in a wrap (£5.95) – which was even more vast, but she packed it away. To wash it down we sampled the smoothies (£2.95). Mine was the Peanut Butter Protein Smoothie, which was, as the founder Vincent McKevitt told me, more of a meal replacement (perhaps if you can’t face a full breakfast, or need to eat on the run) and SL went for the Passionista (dairy-free with mango, strawberries, passion fruit, banana and OJ)  - “yummy” and really refreshing. I thought I wouldn’t finished my smoothie as it was super peanutty and like drinking liquid Snickers Bars (without the chocolate) but guess what? It all went.

You can also order online from your desk and pick up 15 minutes later. Check out all the calorie contents as well.

I can’t believe I’ve never noticed Tossed – they’re fantastic and I would definitely choose this over other lunchtime sandwich-type chains. They’ve been going 7 years, since 2005. At least I’ve discovered them now.

They also do a  ‘Better Breakfast’ from 7.30-10am  Monday to Friday, including Smuesli -  a cross between a smoothie and muesli, eaten with a spoon, not a straw. Flavours include Strawberry Start, Berry Boost andPineapple Pickup, made to order (£2.95) and containing only natural ingredients: fresh fruit, skimmed milk and fat-free frozen yoghurt, plus Tossed’s own muesli blend. There are also Wholewheat Croissants (95p) and the Hot & Healthier Wholewheat Muffin range, with Trimmed Bacon & Egg (271 cals), Sausage & Egg (338 cals) or Egg, Roasted Tomatoes & Italian cheese (322 cals) – £1.95.

You can eat-in at Mortimer Street, Baker Street, Paddington, Leadenhall Street and take-away only at Copthall  Avenue in the City and St Martin’s Lane in the West End. Plus they’re at both Westfields. They had a promotion running at the Baker St branch – hand in your business card and get a free veg (I went for red onion) 0r join the Tosser Club (hahaha) and get a free breakfast item (toastie, porridge etc) when you buy any hot drink (offer ends 31st July).

Recipe: Free Rhubarb & Ginger Mousse

Ingredients (makes 6):

About 15 sticks rhubarb (depending on how thick)

150g creme fraiche

150g plain yoghurt (or cream, or a mixture)

100g sugar or agave nectar

100ml water or apple juice (in which case, reduce sugar)

2cm piece root ginger, peeled and finely diced

Method:  Wash and de-leaf the rhubarb and cut into 2cm lengths. Put in a microwave-proof bowl with water/juice, ginger and sugar. Microwave on full for about 10 minutes, stirring halfway through, until the rhubarb is soft. Meanwhile, add the gelatine powder to half a cup of boiled water (never the other way round!) and stir until the granules have dissolved. Add the gelatine mix to the fruit and stir. Leave to cool a little, then add the creme fraiche and yogurt or cream. Mix well and pour into ramekin dishes or pretty glasses. Refrigerate till set (a few hours). Serve as they are or with piped/squeezy cream or crystalised ginger, diced. Or some crystalised rose petals would look Spring-like, or crystalised violets, which you can buy. 

A word on root ginger: Whenever I buy this I peel it and cut it into matchsticks (or very fine dice) and freeze it. It keeps for months/years. It freezes well and you’ll always have it there when you need it for stir fries, desserts and jams that need a little kick.

Recipe: Roasted Asparagus with Chorizo

Ingredients: (serves 4)

1 bunch fresh asparagus

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

few flakes dried chilli (optional)

200g chorizo slices, julienned

100g shaved parmesan/mature cheddar or similar

Method:  Cut off about the bottom inch of the asparagus (or do the cheffy thing of bending it and seeing where it breaks – this is the bit that’s too woody to eat). Stand upright in a small saucepan of cold water and bring to the boil. Once it’s boiling, give it 2 minutes then drain.  Spread out on a baking tray you’ve already scattered with the oil, salt and pepper and chilli, if using. Pop under a hot grill for 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile julienne (or cut into matchsticks) the chorizo (or other spicy salami) and scatter over. Grill again for another 2 minutes till the chorizo is crispy, slightly charred and has given up its oil onto the asparagus. Scatter with the cheese either on the tray, and serve. Or let everyone add their own, as I did. To make this go further using mostly storecupboard ingredients (Ocado is coming tonight but the cupboard is a bit bare till then): drain a tin of cannellini beans, add a few chopped/torn salad leaves (I had rocket) and quartered cherry tomatoes (or sundried tomatoes). Make a dressing out of:

1 tsp mustard

1 tsp pesto

1 tsp chutney

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)

Mix around and serve with the asparagus. Mmm. Even the kids wolfed it. Followed by my experiemental Rhubarb Mousse using rhubarb grown by my own fair hand! Recipe next time.