Mighty Money Savers

I have been inundated with naff press releases and such associated with the birth of the new prince, but thought that this one might actually save people some money. So if you are under 11 and are called George then you get £5 entry in to Drayton Manor on Friday 2 August.  Y oung Georges must provide valid proof of ID in the form of a passport, before being granted entry into the park We adore Drayton Manor and have been a number of times.  If it great for all the family, with Thomas Land for younger children.  

There are a lot of advantages to buying a used car.  The outlay is less than if you were purchasing new.  Also, you are not having to carry the costs of depreciation, which can be significant – the average car loses 60% of its value in the first three years of its life.   But as with every major purchase, there can also be pitfalls to buying a used vehicle.  Taking the time to run through some simple checks before you take the plunge can avoid a costly mistake.  Allianz Your Cover ( www.yourcoverinsurance.co.uk ) provides you with the following tips for when you are purchasing a used car: Check your budget :  many people just look at whether they can afford the initial price of the car that they want and then find themselves shocked by on-going running costs.  If you have identified several models that you are interested in, consult some of the on-line sites such as Autocar for an estimate of fuel consumption and running costs.  Some cars are well-known to need cam-belt or c

I am a big fan of free printables.  We use them for all sorts of things and I think they are great. So I wanted to share with you my favorite sites at the moment and find out what yours are too. Mr Printables is my go to site for all things printable.  It is the first place I look.  It is there attention to detail that makes their work so amazing.  The boys both love their printable weather station .  They have really thought of everything from 21 printable descriptive cards for the weather to the fact that they also give you the opportunity to print it out on A4 sized paper (perfect for the UK market). We are also going to print out their world flag bunting for Maxi's bedroom makeover. Mr Printables thinks of everything and they have printables for crafts, learning tools and colouring too.  Plus tutorials when required. Daily Colouring Pages is full of printables to colour.  I am a particular fan of their animal alphabet , which is a little more involved

The summer holidays can be expensive. especially if you have day trips and outings planned.  It can be hard to say no to children who want things and easy to give in to avoid the nagging. My children are learning that I do not give in to pester power. So I want to share with you my tips for trying to keep summer spending under control.  It does involve planning, but I think that most saving does involve planning and a little time, but they are more than worth the effort. The ice cream van - I detest the ice cream van, it is the scourge of hot summer days.  Initially I told the boys the music was to say that it had run out of lollies!   Now I make sure I have a stock of lollies, ice cream and cones in the freezer and when they here the van I let them have one from me.  Initially they were reluctant, but when I gave them pocket money and let them make the choice between buying from the van and me, they soon realised that Mummy can make their money go further. Picnics

As a mum I much prefer to give my boys home made ice lollies, however, over the years I have tried every lolly mould going.  They have all had their own flaws ranging from dripping everywhere, a nightmare to free the lolly and falling off the stick. However, a couple of year ago I discovered these fab lolly moulds in Matalan and they have stood the test of time.  They are Spearmark Housewares Twistix Ice Lolly Makers, Pack of 4 and are great.  Easy to clean as I just put them in the dishwasher. They are brilliant as they are individual, so take up a little space in the freezer.  Instead of pulling off the cover, you twist up the lolly, therefore, no drips and they do not tick.  You do not lose the lolly sticks as the lid becomes the base. I do not say it lightly but they are the BEST lolly moulds ever. We freeze all sorts of things to make lollies including: Yogurt Smoothies Squash Fresh juice Sodastream syrup mixed with water I would love to know if you

Trying to keep your house presentable, clean and tidy can be difficult with young ones running around, and many of us don’t want to spend lots of money on nice pieces of furniture or household items that won’t survive small children. Furniture that isn’t child friendly is sadly often a waste of money. It may look chic and stylish but if it isn’t compatible with sticky hands and toys then it can prove a costly investment that will just need replacing when it gets broken or damaged.  Many of us tend to go down the other route and buy cheap furniture that can be replaced easily. But is this really the best option when it comes to choosing furniture for a room? Redecorating can be very stressful and expensive, it’s important to make the right decisions when buying furniture, painting and decorating, as your ultimate aim is to make them last as long as possible. Also, when choosing furniture, it is important to find the right pieces to suit your family and your lifestyle. Her

MoneySupermarket currently have a competition about bucket lists.  Seen as I had just done a post about our summer activity ideas, I thought I would do my summer bucket list.  This is for me and not the boys though! My budget bucket list: MadDad is working most of the summer, so it will just be the  three of us during the weeks.  He really struggles to get time off as he is super busy at this time of the year with some of his largest clients.  So my budget ideas revolve around is being together as a family.  Evening  picnics after meeting him from work.  But to make things easier for me I would like to be able to have a picnic fairy who makes it and packs it for me!   I think that sometimes as a mum we get stuck in a rout trying to make out budgets make sense and get the best out of everything for everyone else. A babysitter - MadDad and I haven't had a night out since my mum died.  It would be wonderful to have a babysitter so we could have a night out together.  Nothi

Over on The Mad House, I am trying to ensure that the boys have a #freerangesummer .  We are trying to limit screen time and focus on good old fashioned fun. Days out etc can all add up, so I wanted to provide you all with a list of low cost or no cost activities. If you have any more I would love to add them.  Just leave me a comment.

I really feel that some things need to be taken with a pinch of salt and this is one of those headlines. Yes it is a headline - Government going to ban packed lunches . But take a further look and it is just a suggestion, just someone looking at getting people to react.  And it is certainly working. I heard a very sensible Head Teacher on the radio this morning saying that banning packed lunches just wouldn't be practical and that that the government could not get away with doing so. Actually what has happened is a report commissioned by the government has made a recommendation based on information and research that the authors had conducted showing that packed lunches are nearly always less healthy than packed lunches.  I know many people whose children have packed lunches for a number of reasons including Pippa's BB who has Diabetes and this make sure that Pippa is aware of his carbohydrate levels for medical reasons.  Other people chose to give their children pack

Having children can be the most rewarding thing people ever do, but raising a family is not without its problems. For example, bringing youngsters up these days isn’t cheap and mums and dads can quickly start to feel the financial strain. Highlighting some of the expenses associated with having children, Aviva has revealed that many expectant parents shell out thousands even before their babies are born. According to the firm, mums and dads-to-be spend an average of £1,370 preparing for their babies. Items like cots, clothes, pushchairs, bedding and nappies all featured on shopping lists. Commenting on the findings, Aviva’s Louise Colley said: “Every parent wants to splash out to prepare for the exciting arrival of a baby, so it’s no surprise that the costs can stack up.” However, there are ways in which new parents can minimise their spending. For example, by being savvy when shopping for household essentials like disinfectant , they can save themselves a tidy sum.

Wouldn’t holidays be more fun if you could just skip straight to the part where the trip begins? Unfortunately, there’s a lot of consideration and preparation to be invested before you embark on your trip. And travelling with the entire family makes your holiday prep a bit more complicated. Book your travel and accommodations. If you can afford a travel agent, planning your holiday is destined to be a stress-free experience. But if you’re like most families, you would rather pocket that money by making all the plans yourself. This doesn’t have to take a toll on your holiday excitement, however. Just research web sites that specialise in offering low hotel rates, cheap plane tickets and package deals when it comes to combining the two. Check out holiday insurance. Your greatest hope is that everything about your holiday is splendid. But just in case you run into trouble, it’s a good idea to look into getting a holiday insurance plan. Insurance claims and compensation can be

Today I asked Maxi to make a new baby card for the new royal baby and as we have been busy with the stamp kits, he decided to use some that he has been to make a unisex card.  He was very specific that we couldn't have a blue or pink card as we do not know what the new baby is yet!  I have to say I was really proud of him as he did all the stamping, cutting out and colouring himself.  He even found some grey and white paper to make the card out of.   We are joining in with  with  Adobe’s Royal Baby Card .  Adobe are attempting to reach 50,000 signatures to say congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the birth of their baby and set a world record. We have added our names to the card.

Staying in, is the new going out doncha know!  So when MoneySupermarket asked me to enter their big night in competition we were really up for it. However, we are parents and have two boys aged eight and seven and nights in on our own are few and far between and to be perfectly honest we actually really enjoy the boys company at the moment (well most of the time)! We decided to hold a movie night with the boys.  Popcorn, pizza, drinks, treats and a good family DVD. So I made us pizza and got some lovely popcorn containers from ebay.  Along with a DVD for the evening and then some LEGO for the boys too. I also took the opportunity to get a letter banner from The Kid Who , which is perfect for celebrations.

I love books, therefore, the boys love books.  Summer holidays are nearly upon us, so it seemed like the perfect time to take a look at The Book People and stock up. Thankfully the wonderful people at Savoo (who have fab voucher codes) has some great deals on with them at the moment. I saved over £5 with my order and got free delivery just by checking out their Book People Voucher Codes . It was worth taking the 2 minutes it took me to check and even better I only ordered on Wednesday and they arrived today, PS, this isn't a sponsored post - I really did use the vouchers and save the money off my own bat! 

We do not go to the pictures (cinema) very often at all.  It can be an expensive couple of ours. However, this summer Cineworld are offering a 20% discount on family tickets booked in advance online.  This means a saving of over £5 for us a family of four. A family ticket also means that you are entitles to a family combo snack pack , which is 2 large soft drinks, a large popcorn and two children snack packs (popcorn, drink, fruit (or chocolate) for just £9.99, which is a saving of over 40%. We decided to take up an offer to trial this special and went to see Despicable Me 2 at out local and I have to say we had a blast.  The seats are comfortable with extra room in front, so there is no getting up to allow people to pass and better still they are fixed so no chance of falling flat on your bum. The boys had great fun and it was a real treat as it is something we do so infrequently. Plus Despicable Me 2 is a great film and we all laughed our way though it.  A perfect fa

I have a wishlist of things we need for the house.  If money was no object that I would go out and buy them, however, pennies are tight, so I sit and look and wait and watch for them. Our conservatory is the playroom and had a train table in it.  It has served us well.  Children have fallen asleep on it, made jigsaws on it and of course built train tracks on it, but it was falling apart.  So I have been keeping an eye out for a nice, sturdy and large coffee table to put in its place. I have been looking for six long months, but I spotted one on ebay.  It had no bids.  Possibly as it had a starting price of £50.  But this was for a solid oak coffee table with 2 drawers that was not a flat pack piece of furniture. I put in a bid and was delighted to win it for that £50! Perfect!