Fun The lighter side of life; and more great PQ giveaways

Here’s the ultimate pub quiz question for you: where do the Walton family beat the Bezos family? The answer is in the latest Sunday Times Rich List 2021. The Walton family own Walmart and are worth an estimated £166.8 billion. Poor old Jeff Bezos, who is shooting into space with his brother, is worth a mere £128.3 billion. No one from the UK is among the top 50 richest people in the world, with the US dominating the top 10. They are all there – Musk, Gates, Zuckerberg, and Ellison. That said, this year’s Rich List identifies a record 171 billionaires living in the UK – 24 more than in 2020. That is the biggest jump in the 33 years the Sunday Times has been tracking the fortunes of the UK’s most affluent people. A news website recently claimed it had received leaked details of just how little income tax US billionaires pay. ProPublica says it has seen tax returns for Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Warren Buffett, and that Bezos paid no tax in 2007 and 2011, and Musk paid nothing in 2018. The leak has been called ‘illegal’ and is now being investigated by FBI and the tax authorities. ProPublica’s Jesse Eisinger said: “Ultra-wealthy people can sidestep the system in an entirely legal way. So, while the value of their wealth grows enormously through their ownership of shares in their company, that’s not recorded as income. They also take aggressive tax deductions, often because they have borrowed to fund their lifestyles.”

Homeworkers are starting to look more lovingly at their sheds, imagining how they can convert them into their new WFH office space. An Aviva ‘How we live’ study discovered that WFH isn’t the panacea many make it out to be. In fact, one in five (19%) of home workers admit WFH is stressful, as they have to compete for space with lots of other people. And, while a third of those surveyed have a home office, one in 10 are now using a converted shed, summerhouse or outbuilding. However, there are many more are making do from tables, sofas and even beds! Almost a third (31%) of home-workers aged under 25 admit that they work from their beds on some occasions

The website addicts How long have you spent online today? According to Ofcom, adults in the UK have been spending longer online than in any other European country. On average, British adults are online for three hours and 37 minutes a day. That is up from two hours 57 minutes in 2017. This figure doesn’t include online streaming of Netflix and the BBC iPlayer – you can add another one hour 21 minutes. There are two countries ahead of us on the web addiction league – the US and Canada. The average daily internet use in the US was four hours and 38 minutes.

world has change in one short year! The UK’s cost of living calculator is also changing to reflect this – it will now include hand sanitisers and men’s jogging bottoms to help work out inflation. The annual review by the Office for National Statistics has added electric cars, hand weights and smartwatches to the basket of goods. Out goes white chocolate, ground coffee, canteen sandwiches and lamb shoulder on the bone. In all, the ONS has added 17 items, removed 10 and left 729 unchanged. Some 180,000 prices are looked at across thousands of outlets to calculate inflation, which is then used as a benchmark for our finance decisions.

Want to know your carbon footprint? If so then you must read Sarah Bridle’s book, ‘Food and Climate Change: Without the Hot Air’, which is free as an ebook. She explains down to the gram how your food and drink choices are affecting the planet. For instance, a Latte is 10 times worse for the planet than a regular coffee. That’s down to the milk being used, and drinking a Latte pushes your emissions to nearly half your daily food emissions budget of 3kg. Bridle thinks we need to halve our daily emissions from 6kg down to 3kgs. Anything to do with cows seems bad – we are talking cheese, butter and of course the meat itself. Bridle explains that your favourite cheese sandwich may not as good for the planet as you think. It takes 10 litres of milk to make a kilo of cheese and every litre of milk involves one methane and carbon-dioxide burping cow eating 4kg of grass. Bridle also puts a different perspective on organic, as this often increases emissions.

We have three copies of Dr Gareth Moore’s ‘The Mindfulness Puzzle Book’ up for grabs this month. These relaxing puzzles will really help you to de-stress and unwind. This is the first puzzle book designed specifically around mindfulness. Moore says that you should feel the tension release as you focus on each achievable and fun task, and experience the endorphin reward buzz as you successfully finish each puzzle. I may keep one for myself! To enter this giveaway send your name and address to giveaways@ pqmagazine.com. Head up the email ‘Mindfulness’ and we will enter you in the prize draw.

A top man who occasionally plays football, Marcus Rashford has joined forces with Carl Anka and Katie Warriner, in this new book ‘You are a Champion: how to be the best you can’. Packed full of stories from Marcus’s life, you will discover how to dream big, use your voice and never stop learning. As Marcus says: “You already are a champion – you just might not know it yet.” You can read our review of this book on page 39. To be in with a chance of winning one of three copies send your name and address to giveaways@pqmagazine.com. Head up your email ‘You are a champion’ and we will do the rest.

Terms and conditions: One entry per giveaway please. You must send your name and address to be entered for the draw. All giveaway entries must be received by Friday 6 August. The main draw will take place on Monday 9 August 2021. TO ENTER THESE GIVEAWAYS EMAIL GIVEAWAYS@PQMAGAZINE.COM