Supermarkets, one of the main places where we spend our money, well we do all have to eat (supposedly) but which are the best value for money, well actually none of them, every one of them is out to make a profit out of you the consumer.

The difference between the different supermarkets is the competition, so depending on where you live and how many are in your area will dictate the 'bargains' that you can acquire.

Make no bones about it, when it costs only 5p to produce a tin of beans and they are being sold for 35p then someone somewhere is making a tidy profit, of course they will tell you that you have to take in to consideration the cost of transport and the labour for filling the shelf, we did, it cost 5p to produce and deliver the beans to the supermarket.

But beans apart (As not everyone eats these creepy little orange things) Supermarkets in some towns do hold a monopoly on what you buy and where you shop, take my town for instance, we have two main supermarkets, Sainsburys and Morrisons, (they froze out the Co-operative and all that remains of that is a couple of estate mini-markets) we do have a Marks -you have to take out a second mortgage to shop here- and Spencers, but the difference between the three can be marked by a saturday afternoon where both Sainsburys and Morrisons are heaving and Marks & Spencers is all but empty!

They are in the process of building an Asda right across the train tracks from Sainsburys (There are two roads that go over them as well so we do not run the risk of being swept away by the carlisle train whisking Mama off to Appleby!) That is going to be fun, let battle commence.

Of course the more supermarkets you have the more 'Bargains' you can obtain, as they are constanly in competition for your hard earned wages, and we must not forget everyones favourite bargain stores Netto and Aldi (no cringing in the back please, you can always take Morrisons carrier bags with you!) Stores that aim to bring you the same brands at bargain prices (except for the labels of course) did you know that Netto and Aldi beans are actually made by Heinz who also make the bettabuy beans that Morrisons sell?

People believe that these cut price stores are only for those that cannot afford to shop elsewhere, well actually they are selling the same products that you buy at the big supermarkets but because they dont carry a brand name you can buy them cheaper, all they have done is cut their profits, but in doing so they have actually increased them as they sell more. Clever aren't they? Did you know that the owners of Netto and Aldi used to be in business together, they opened the very first Netto store together and then fell out and became rivals?

Anyway, the name of the game is profit, the more people shop at a place the more they make the better bargains you get, erm, no, not quite. Bargains are what you get when you shop around for shoes and things, what Supermarkets do is surveys, they find the best selling item and put it's price up, then take the worst selling item and place it on a Bogoff or buy one get one half price scheme, thereby turning the worst selling item into a good sell because it is a 'Bargain'

90% of your bogoffs and get one half price are things you would not normally buy in an average shop, they will always throw in something you buy on a regular basis like margarine, to make it appear that normal household shopping is a bargain. So in fact rather than saving ex amount of pounds on your 'free' items you have spent ex amount of pounds on food you would not normally buy anyway!

Supermarkets will always be around, because we all have to shop, the trick is to look closely at the 'offers' in there will be some genuine ones that you can actually save money on, just dont be drawn in to the bogoffs and half prices unless you actually use the stuff, all you are doing is giving them what they want, a profit.

So the great white explorer Mr Richard Branson has been ousted or outbid or just plain told no, by the British Government.

Now I dont see the sense in the taxpayer, that is you and me folks, owning a bank that we dont actually own? Our money will run it and pay the wages of its workers and even go towards the lending of money from within its coffers that comes from, oh yes, the British taxpayer!

Does it make sense that we would take a failing bank that runs on high risk lending and try (I use the word optimistacally) to turn it around? Well apparently it does, though I have looked hard for it I cannot seem to find it. As much as I do not like our Mr Branson at least he would have used half his own money and borrowed the rest, which of course would have again come from us the taxpayer, but with the difference of he (or rather the Bank) would have had to pay it back.

So now we prepare for another hike in interest rates, taxes, and anything else they can think of to raise to accrue the money for this new 'Endeavour' .

All the rest of the high street banks and building societies have now decided to make life even harder for the poor beleagured first time buyer, they will no longer offer 125% mortgages and are even stopping the 100% ones, now you will have to find a hefty deposit before you can get your foot on the first rung of the property ladder, this is the result of the scare of The Northern Rock fiasco.

What a lot of people dont know is that Northern Rock have been making life that little bit more hellish for the people that it lent money to, thanks to a little known Government ruling Banks and Building societies can now take that unsecured loan/Credit Card/Debt to court and secure it on your property through a piece of paper called a charging Order, they can then go back to court for a force of Sale, most of the Banks have not carried out force of sales, until Northern Rock started floundering, within weeks it was taking people to court and making them sell their homes even though the debt itself may have been no more than six or seven thousand pounds!

Be careful when looking at that unsecured loan that looks really tempting, it may just cost you more than you realise!