The Stamped Passbook That Made Britain Save
These were high street buildings that were not banks, though they felt like one – wooden counters, hushed atmosphere, the…
Posts by Sophie Kendrick
The Beetle That Invented Your Mortgage
It’s in Alabama in 1915 that a small grey insect about the size of a pea is quietly eating its…
What Five-Year-Olds Know About Buying Houses That You’ve Already Forgotten
You can learn more about negotiation by watching a child at a market stall for 10 minutes than a weekend…
The Words You Sign Your Life Away With
"Mortgage" – a word you say so often during the buying process that it becomes wallpaper and stops meaning anything.…
The Invisible Constitution Your House Already Lives Under
That document which decides more about your future home than the seller, estate agent and surveyor ever will is a…
What You Actually Buy When You Buy a House (It’s Not What You Think)
Most people, if you asked them when they became a homeowner, would point to the moment the estate agent handed…
The Year Saving Money Stopped Being a Wish and Became a Mechanism
Before 1975, if you wanted to protect your savings against inflation, you had one strategy available to you: hope. Not…
The Language That Proves You’ve Never Really Bought Anything Calmly
Every time you spend money, you are – technically – paying a penalty. That's not a metaphor. The word ‘buy’…
The Banknote That Was Designed for Someone Else’s Eyes
Pull a five-pound note out of your wallet right now. The thing you notice first – before the serial number,…
The Telephone Is the Most Expensive Thing a Deaf Person Owns
There is one piece of money-saving advice that appears in every personal finance column, every MSE forum thread, every well-meaning…