February 8, 2012

Find a New Flatmate or House Share

Find a new flatmateFor many people renting somewhere to live is the only option, particularly if they are taking a job in a new city or town and don’t know how it will go so we thought we’d put together a review of one of the best flatmate and house share websites available, called Spareroom.co.uk we’ve taken a bit of time to look at the site and also checked out feedback from users.

About The Website

Spareroom has been specifically designed to put renters in touch with each other, the one thing you notice about the site is that it is about people rather than places which we liked. Users can either advertise a room or post a room request by simply registering on the site. The profiles for each let you set preferences such as pets etc as well as tell accommodation hunters what the costs are.

Searching the website is really easy and you can do it without registering (which is free anyway!!), just put in what you are looking for and where and hey presto the right sort of places come up.

The added advantage to using the site rather than just going to a traditional letting agency is that it gives you a chance to check out your potential housemates.

What We Thought

We liked the spareroom.co.uk website as it was very easy to use and has thousands (if not millions of users) so the choice is endless. The searches are pretty easy to use and the amount of information you can access is spot on which means no more endless wandering from rental agent to rental agent. We’ve made the website one of top rated and it’s the first for 2011 !!!

If you are looking for a new place to live and want to hook up with people who share your ideals take a look at spareroom.co.uk.

 

Get Fit and Eat Right

Fitness training programmes onlineNew Year’s resolutions are great, give up smoking, get fit, do more for charity, even decorate the house but let’s be honest without some sort of support by the end of January most of these are out of the window especially the get fit one. Therefore we’ve taken a look at a new website which helps you meet your fitness and weight goals, called Iexerci.se (yes that is the address !!!) we’ve signed up and given the website a quick go for our readers.

About The Website
Iexcerci.se is a subscription based website that provides customised personal training and diet plans for users. To try out the website they have a full access 21 day trial so you can give it a go first before you subscribe and it is fairly simple and easy to follow.

When you first register on the website you put in some of your personal details, such as age, height, weight, and if you are super keen add other things such as your body mass index (BMI), blood pressure etc. These are all used in the next step which is setting your goal. We decided weight loss was a good one (too much Xmas pudding!!) and then set the target date to achieve your new weight by.

The system then works out what exercise you need to do and sets up your personal training programme for you to take along to the gym or do at home. The website also has loads of other function such as diary to track food and booze intake as well as offers handy diet recipes. We’ve not had time to use all the bits and pieces yet but it is fairly comprehensive and the more you use the site the better the benefit.

What We Thought
We liked Iexcerci.se as it pretty much had everything you’d want. It still takes personal motivation to meet your target but unlike other websites everthing is under one roof. We think the web address Iexcerci.se may put people off at first as it is an unfamiliar format but it’s totally safe to use.

The annual subscription of £35.99 is nice and low so there really is no excuse not to at least give it a go. If you would like more information visit Iexerci.se

Save Time On Your Menu Planning

 Online Menu Planning

 We all know that there are now loads of recipe websites where you can download some really tasty options but many of them rely on you knowing what you want to eat and what ingredients you have. One website which is slightly different is 1click2cook.co.uk which offers users a range of menus designed for their tastes rather than them trawling through endless lists so we thought we’d give their website a review.

About The Website

The first thing to note about 1click2cook.co.uk is that it is a subscription site although they offer a one month free trial initially. The website itself is well laid out and your first step is to create an account. Once you have the account you set your preferences from the number of meals you want through to how many people are eating and any likes or dislikes. The site then generates the menus which are pretty easy to follow.

In addition the site also produces the shopping list so there is no need to hunt around the cupboard looking for the ingredients or find you haven’t got something. In the trial we set up we found this was quite a time saving especially as once we had the list we simply cut and paste into our online grocery shopping site.

 

What We Thought

We liked 1click2cook.co.uk as it was pretty easy to use and we found pretty much everything we wanted. The downside is obviously the subscription but at less than £2 per week it’s not that expensive and they do claim to help save up to 30% on shopping bills which in a year can rapidly add up.

 

The recipes are easy to follow and we thought the concept behind the website was very useful especially as it is both a time and money saver. If you’d like to know more take a look at their website at 1click2cook.co.uk

Something to say ……

Gifts of love This time of year means that everyone is inthe shops trying to hunt down the right gift for that special person but just because it’s Christmas does not mean that you can’t be on the look out for something for a present or Valentines day or an anniversary. So when we were asked earlier this week to review a new website called Blackroselove.com we thought some of our readers may be interested in the website. It’s too late to order for Christmas but you may want to bookmark the site for the future.

About The Website
According to the owners of Blackroselove.com the deeper and darker the colour of the rose the deeper the love so they have put together a range of gifts to really show you care. From fragranced handmade candles through to some really nice jewellery the website offers a range of gifts that are a little bit more exclusive than you would get on a standard gift website.

We took a little bit of time on the website and found that although the range is limited at the moment they are continually adding to what they can offer. Everything is hand picked and is spot on for early valentines day shopping.

What We Thought
The team at Blackroselove.com have taken a great deal of care to make the site as user friendly as possible and they have not just crammed the website with loads of cheap gift ideas. We thought the website was well presented and as they are continually adding to their range may be of interest to our readers in the future.

If you are looking for gifts that say that little bit more take a look at Blackroselove.com

Rent Out Your Parking Space

Rent out your parking spaceFor many people who work in towns and cities finding a parking space close to where they work is becoming a bit of a problem but if you have a spare parking space you can not only help out commuters but at the same time earn your self a little extra money. A website called parkatmyhouse.co.uk aims to bring together parking space owners and people wanting somewhere to park so we’ve put together a quick review of the website for our readers.

About The Website
There are two sides to Parkatmyhouse.co.uk as you would expect. The first is for those people who have a parking space to rent. All you do is simply sign up and register your space. It could be that you have somewhere available to park during the day whilst you are at work, long term as you don’t have a car of your own, or just a spare space available on match days. The sign up process is pretty simple and all you do is complete your details and the space gets listed on the website. You even set the price.

For those people who are looking for a parking space all you do is enter the postcode or address in the search engine and the website will give you a list of potential parking spaces. It’s that easy. You then use the website to contact the owner and negotiate the deal.

Parkatmyhouse.co.uk charges a commission of 15% for setting up the deal but the users set (or negotiate) the prices between themselves and there are loads of useful FAQs on the website that answer most questions.

What We Thought
Parkatmyhouse.co.uk is ideal for anyone who is looking at renting out a parking space either long term or just for a few hours and gives some very good parking alternatives to people looking for a space. The website is mainly aimed at larger towns and cities where parking is at a premium as you would expect and we found it very easy to use.

If you are looking for a parking space or just ant to make a bit of extra money we’d suggest you take a look at Parkatmyhouse.co.uk

Out And About In London

It doesn’t matter if you are off on a night out with friends or heading to town for your works Christmas party you want to know the best places to go and be seen so there is a new website aimed at promoting great nightlife in and around London for all those city dwellers. Called Swisticming.com (sorry no idea why!!) we’ve taken a look at their website for our London readers.

About The Website
Swisticming.com is a new independent online guide aimed at people in London. They point users towards the best entertainment the city has to offer and as part of their unique features they have introduced the Swisticming Card which allows members to save cash in some of the top nightlife venues in London, such as The Dublin Castle, Jazz Cafe and Club 414.

The website host a whole range of information including details of all the top bars and clubs, where to see bands and even buy gig tickets but the section we really liked was what they call “Different”. Here they have some strange and odd things to do if you are looking for that sort of thing from watching physical theatre through to Christmas cabaret.

What We Thought
We liked Swisticming.com as it was pretty comprehensive and they keep adding to it and at the moment they are giving away free membership cards for all the discounts so if you are looking for a night out in London take a look at Swisticming.com