Glitz and glamour at Royal Ascot

June 19th, 2008

I love a bit of glitz and glamour and this time of year is a fantastic time for it. The warmer weather always seems to bring the more daring side of us out as we dare to bare a bit more flesh and wear bolder, brighter colours.

Ladies day at Ascot is one of those events that you can be as outlandish and daring as you possibly can - at least as far as hats and colours are concerned as you can see from the picture above. But I wonder just how much betting takes place at this event. Do people have much money to gamble away?

We all know about the growing cost of petrol and the decreasing value of property but now Malcom Wicks, Energy Minister, has warned that a significant increase in gas and electricity prices is ‘very likely’. He blames the increased cost of oil, gas and coal, and estimated that the increase could be as much as 40%.

The one area that seemed to buck the trend was that retail sales in May unexpectedly surged with sales up by 3.5%. According to The Times this is the fastest pace of growth since the 1986. However, this may prompt The Bank of England to raise the UK interest rate in an attempt to control inflation.

So it looks like we all need to continue to keep those belts well and truly tight, but it doesn’t mean we can’t try and enjoy ourselves at the same time. As long as we plan and budget how to spend our money carefully we should all be able to enjoy a little flutter on the horses.

Entry Filed under: Finances, shopping, advice, fashion