Mrgig.com & kentgigs.com Mrgig is an interactive gig guide covering the East Kent, Maidstone and Medway patch. You can search for gigs in your local area or if you know who you want to see, then you can search for the artist or band and find out where they are playing in the next month, find out more about them, (including a link to their website if there is one) and even rate how good you think a band is. There's a venue search as well so you can search pub and then an area for discussion where you can sing the praises of your favourite venues, gigs or bands. Kent gigs.com has been going from the early 80s. They gather gig listings for a fee (mostly from pubs) and then publish the listings on the website. So although it is a rather unsophisticated listings website - does what it says on the tin - it covers the entire Kent county and bit of East Sussex too. Oxfamunwrapped.co.uk If you think Christmas is a little materialistic these days and you'd prefer to spend your money on something that might benefit others, then look no further. At Oxfam Unwrapped you can give a gift from £5 to over £500 to a friend or relation and in doing so, could build a classroom for £1700 but more realistically, you could pay for a toilet to be built for £30 or buy a goat for £24 or buy two mosquito nets for £15 or pay for a midwife or farmer to be trained. So how does it work? Well all the items you buy are sourced from the country where they will be used…
You buy the gift, Oxfam uses the money to buy the gift locally and in the country that needs it most. An interactive map helps illustrate which countries will be helped and how. You can either buy it for yourself or buy it on behalf of a friend. They get sent a giftcard to tell them how their present will help people in need overseas. And if you're one of those people who really doesn't like material things then you can create a wishlist of presents from Oxfam that your friends and family can then browse and buy for you. So instead of socks this year you could help buy a village first aid kit. petrolprices.com A nice site cos it's practical and educational! Tap in your postcode or town or village - hit return and the website will present you with 3 results - the highest priced petrol, average and lowest. Now if you want more detail you have to register but I did that and it took two minutes to fill the form in, receive an activation code in my email box and then get back onto the site fully registered. - It's free of course. The features you then have access to are lists of the cheapest garages in your area - how much the petrol is, the exact distance to each petrol station from your village and a zoomable map so you can see exactly where they all are. And you can change the search from within 5 miles to up to 20 miles away if you';re prepared to travel for your cheap petrol! Other site features include general motoring info and interestingly info on fuel tax and how much it's gone up in the past 10 years, info and history about all the major fuel companies and a v simple breakdown of who's getting what when you buy a litre of petrol. The prices are based on fuel card data, how up to date they are depends on how often the fuel cards are used in the petrol station. It's a very good tool, and should usually work, but there will be inaccuracies, so don't drive too far for cheaper petrol. thedoghouse.co.uk Lacking inspiration. Look no further. Now there are lots of present finder websites out there but I do like this one in particular because it has a nice Gifts by Personality feature which is especially good for those mate and family members who have distinctive passions or interests… For instance… there's a section called travel bug which lots of great ideas for the friend who likes travelling. Then you've got Gourmet Lover so a great selection of hampers, wines, fondue sets and cookery classes. And Oddbod which I like a lot… with gifts like The Spy Academy - where you learn how to be a secret agent for the day!! Apart from the gift ideas nice features include an SMS service where you receive texts to remind you of important dates coming up that need presents! And sections on anniversary gifts, personlised gifts and wedding gifts. Ebay.co.uk Just a reminder about the site that most people will probably have heard of by now. It's an auction website where you can buy and sell your junk or treasures! It's easy and free to register although it does cost to place an item up for auction. All based on feedback from other sellers and buyers, you can get a pretty good idea about the person you are buying or selling to. It's always worth checking out what people have said about them. So... get bidding!
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