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The Watchdog blog

• Share your thrifty hints
  

  It's easy to spend too much money at Christmas time and be strapped for cash in January. But there are plenty of ways to keep your finances in rude health.

  According to a YouGov charity survey, adults are turning to sex as a cheap way to pass the time, ahead of window shopping and gossiping.

  Read the article Britons saving money with sex.

  This series on Watchdog we looked at ways to save money on petrol. Or you can use services such as Petrol prices.com, which tells you where the cheapest petrol stations are in your area.

  Or why not be cheeky and save money by giving away unwanted Christmas presents as birthday presents in the coming year. Just remember to make a note of who gave you which gift in the first place.

  This January would be a good time to start to tackle some financial planning. But what action are you most likely to take? Fill in our short financial health check questionnaire and tell us what you anticipate you'll be spending and saving in the coming months.

  Personal advice
  In 2009 we'll be filming a 'Watchdog financial health check report'. If you'd like to take part and are free for filming in January, then email us. We want to hear what your particular financial problems are, and what you'd most like advice about.

  In the meantime, from reducing household bills to tips for haggling on the high street, share your tried-and-tested ways of saving money in the comments section below.

• Dickensian Christmas party disappointment
  

  The holiday season is a time for friends, family and, of course, the office Christmas party. But some unlucky workers found themselves all dressed up with nowhere to go.

  One business that has been affected is Ian Williams Carpentry, a kitchen-fitting company based outside Cardiff.

  Jane Llewellyn and Loredana Williams had the job of delivering a cracker of a staff party this year, so they booked tickets for A Dickens of a Christmas, an event run by Surrey-based Amazing Events Ltd which offered a "once in a lifetime adventure".

  It sounded so good that the office paid £3,000 for 18 tickets and travelled 160 miles to London for its big night. But once staff arrived at the party, they discovered a note on the door saying that the party had been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.

  What the Dickens?
  After running successfully for just one night the previous evening, A Dickens of a Christmas was cancelled for its two-week run, meaning 7,000 guests would not get their party. To date, Ian Williams Carpentry Ltd has not had any of its money back.

  Also looking forward to the same Dickens of a Christmas, at a later date, were the office staff from MAP Partnership, an accountancy firm. Unlike the Dickensian accountants Scrooge and Marley, the company felt it would be money well spent to reward its staff for all their hard work this year.

  Joanna Carr bought tickets costing the company £1,800, but before the big night she got an unwelcome Christmas message. Joanna received an email from Amazing Events Ltd saying that the Christmas party had been cancelled and that more information would be sent at a future date.

  Joanna's firm had paid upfront for its tickets, by cheque, so had no idea if it would get its money back.

  Who's to blame?
  Amazing Events Ltd told us it's down to a licensing issue and blamed the nightclub venue, Shunt at London Bridge. However, Shunt told us it's down to a licensing issue and blamed the organiser, Amazing Events Ltd.

  With the cancellation of A Dickens of a Christmas, Amazing Events Ltd has now gone into liquidation.

  Lucy Corrie of Surrey Trading Standards has received complaints about the event, and is far from full of Christmas cheer. She explained that if there are any people who are creditors of Amazing Events Ltd, they will unfortunately have to go into a big pot of other creditors. Lucy explained how the taxman gets a cut first, then secured loans and then you just have to wait with everyone else to see if you can get your money back.

  As a result, Lucy isn't hopeful that everyone will get a full refund.

  Scrooged
  In this sorry tale it's not just the party goers who have lost out. Amazing Events Ltd hired 48 actors to play the parts of well known Dickensian characters such as Bill Sykes, Scrooge and Fagan. Sadly, although the Dickensian actors have rehearsed their performances, no one is going to see them. They haven't been paid for the show they were going to perform which means that they are owed nearly £60,000 between them. Money they desperately needed just before Christmas.

  Amazing Events Ltd promised the "best Christmas Past, Present and Future". Instead they have left many of their customers feeling well and truly Scrooged.

  Amazing Events Ltd told Watchdog:
  "Amazing Events Ltd places the blame for this failure fairly and squarely on the shoulders of Shunt Events Ltd who failed to obtain a licence for a suitable number of people causing the events to be cancelled. The directors make it clear that they will do everything in their power to try and recover the sums due to the creditors."

  Meanwhile Shunt Events Ltd told Watchdog:
  "We have sought assurances from Amazing Events that they would keep the occupancy of the building within this limit [of 400 people]. We further asked for confirmed booking numbers. We never received such assurances.

  "As Amazing Events Ltd was unable to manage the situation on Friday 5 December in compliance with the licensed capacity, Shunt Events Ltd insisted on a written undertaking from them that the licensed capacity would not be exceeded at any time for future events. No such undertaking was received. On Saturday 6 December 2008 Amazing Events Ltd chose to cancel the event."

• Diabetic 'treats' not so sweet
  

  Chocolate is the perfect gift for Christmas but for 2.5 million diabetics in the UK, it's not that simple. They have to carefully manage how much sweet food they eat, not just at Christmas but all year round. That's why two high street stores, Thorntons and Boots offer a range of chocolate labelled specially for diabetics.

  The diabetic ranges offered by these shops may seem ideal but many diabetics steer well clear of them.

  Lucy and her five-year-old son Miles are one example. Miles was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes three years ago. If he has too many chocolates or sweets his blood glucose levels go very high and he has to have extra insulin. Christmas time means that mum Lucy needs to be especially careful because there is chocolate everywhere.

  Laxative effect
  So what about special diabetic chocolate - surely that's ok? Lucy explained that she doesn't give her son diabetic chocolate because, as she discovered, it can have a laxative effect. If it is known to have a laxative effect on an adult, a child like Miles only needs a small amount of diabetic chocolate before its laxative properties take effect.

  Ian Day was diagnosed with diabetes back in 2000 and last Christmas his friend gave him Thorntons diabetic chocolates as a gift. Ian only had three pieces but that was all he needed to spoil the rest of his day. He too suffered from the laxative effects of diabetic chocolate.

  Excessive
  When Ian checked the Thorntons box he saw that it said "excessive consumption may produce a laxative effect." But can three pieces of chocolate really be "excessive"?

  Most of the people Julia spoke to on the streets of central London had different of responses to how much chocolate they would eat - but what they all agreed on was that three chocolates are not excessive.

  Azmina Govindji, spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association explained that the cause of the laxative effect was largely due to an ingredient in diabetic chocolate called polyols. Polyols are a nutritive sweetener, or a sugar replacement, and they are used commonly in sweets and chocolates that are created for diabetics. When Azmina saw that Thorntons line of diabetic chocolates contained 6.2 grams of polyols each she was shocked. Considering that you shouldn't have more than 20g of polyols per day that means you can eat no more than three chocolates.

  No benefit
  Both the Food Standards Agency and Diabetes UK agree that diabetic chocolate has no benefit to people with diabetes. The major supermarkets have followed their advice and do not stock diabetic chocolate. Where it is sold, diabetic chocolate is also more expensive than standard chocolate.

  Watchdog contacted Boots and Thorntons who responded as follows:

  Boots
  "Boots takes the opinion of customers very seriously. In 2002, on the advice of Diabetes UK we removed our Diabetic Food Range. However, we received significant, sustained customer complaints about the lack of a specifically labelled Diabetic Food range at Boots and we always