Rupert Jones takes a sideways look at the news

Rupert Jones takes a sideways look at the news

Shop 'til you name-drop: It's happened to quite a few of us - though not many of us would be able to call on a millionaire to bail us out.

Coleen McLoughlin, the shopaholic girlfriend of Wayne Rooney, reportedly this week suffered the humiliation of having her credit card rejected when she tried to buy a £1,343 Chanel belt in Madrid. The Mirror told how the 19-year-old had to call the England footballer to pay the bill. It quotes a "source" at the store saying Rooney was sitting outside in a chauffeur-driven Mercedes, got out "looking furious," and went in to settle up (his card was accepted first time).

Easy-pay: Staying with celebrities and shopping, actor Amanda Holden this week helped the Office of Fair Trading launch a scheme aimed at making it easier for people to buy with confidence (Coleen would have done it, but she was too busy shopping).

Shops and businesses can proudly display a logo once they've signed up to an OFT-approved code of practice. Among other things, it ensures there is a proper complaints process and that consumers can get their money back if the firm goes out of business after they've paid a deposit.

Whether it will be extended to Madrid boutiques remains to be seen. To find out more go to Codes.oft.gov.uk

Poor track record: The average home has seen almost £7,000 lopped off its value in 15 months, according to property website.....continued below

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Hometrack. At the end of September the national average house was £160,900 - down from £167,700 in June 2004. Biggest price falls last month were in Brighton (-2%), Plymouth (-1.9%) and Milton Keynes (-1.7%). Meanwhile, the typical length of time it takes to sell a house has increased from 5.8 weeks last autumn to 8.1 now.

Silly survey finding No. 1: Brits waste £1.7bn a year on unused toiletries, according to new research from Churchill Home Insurance. It reveals that "Christmas and birthdays" are the peak times for unwanted health and beauty gifts. Well, that's a surprise - I thought it would be Halloween or Shrove Tuesday. Doh! However, there is a sensible message lurking: people can accumulate a lot of stuff over the years without realising it, so you should regularly check replacement values to make sure you have enough insurance cover.

Silly survey finding No. 2: More than one in five people (22%) would be put off buying a property that was otherwise perfect if there was an "unusual smell," according to Yorkshire Bank's latest housebuyers' survey. And around 34% would think twice about a property if the house next door was scruffy, or had an overgrown garden. Buyers in south-west England "are the nation's fussiest", it says.

Not sure of the name: It sounds like it should be a women's taxi service in the Australian outback, but in fact Sheilas' Wheels is the ghastly name chosen for a car insurance product launched today by esure. The multi-million-pound advertising campaign will be hard to avoid.