Mighty Money Savers

Can you believe that ti is winter - I can not.  It is so mild out there at the moment, but it will come the colder days and frozen nights.   So I have decided to take part in the Duette Blind competition as my home could seriously do with some new blinds. One the the things that I do as soon as it starts to get dark is close all the blinds and curtains in the house to keep the cold out and make sure we keep the warm in. Follow Jen Walshaw's board Keeping warm this winter on Pinterest. I have put together a Pinterest board with ways that are not only great for keeping a home warm this winter, but also look gorgeous too. A big one for us as a family is to make sure that we are appropriately dressed at home, for me this means PJ's, dressing gowns and slouchy socks and slippers. If the boys are walking round in less than that and I have the heating on then it means we have too warm a house! My other easy to implement tips are: Line your curtains - if you are not hand

Do you open your post? Did you know that 1 million UK households do not open their bills. We have been through a period of this after I was very ill when money was non existent and I was too scared to open the envelopes as I did not know how I was going to be able to pay them.   Thankfully we are in a much better place now and I make every effort to save as much money as I can and make my money work smarter. One of the ways to do this is with smart current account like the 123 Current Account from Santander , which gives you cash back on bills that you pay via it. You pay £2 a month for the account, but you it pays you cashback on bills. I worked out that annually I would get £59 back, which would be £35 profit after paying for the account. This is making my money work smarter not harder. Other ways to make your money work smarter include: Saving money on fuel Save money on holidays Collecting points on purchases Save on your water bills   How

If your house is anything like mine then your kids certainly do not need any more toys.  In fact they play with less than 10% of the toys they have and I am beginning to believe that less is more where toys are concerned. So this year we are really cutting back on the toys front and I have been giving people ideas on alternatives that they can give to the boys rather than toys this christmas Subscriptions: Magazine subscriptions Subscriptions to museums, local attractions, petting zoo, soft play,  Money to books each month Food Gifts Cooking lessons Ingredients to cook a specific meal Sweet treats Homemade cookies A Jar of ingredients Popcorn Maker Cookery book Investments Place money directly into a child's  current account Pay in to an investment account Tools: A pocket knife Art supplies Gardening stuff and tools Wind Up Dynamo Torch Binoculars Magnifying glass Microscope Kits Science kits, my boys love c

A thrifty Christmas doesn't have to mean an austere Christmas.  In fact being thrifty and frugal during the festive season can actually make for a more meaningful Christmas for everyone involved. How to have a Thrifty Christmas Plan Don't worry you have not left it to late to have Christmas on a budget.  You can accomplish this if you start planning now. Second hand is not second best By not buying new you can save a lot of money.  Think about what gifts you can purchase preloved and start looking for them now.  Ebay, local facebook pages, charity shops and friends can be great sources for quality second hand gifts. Look for the best deals Once you have a list of what you need to buy, then make sure you look for the best deal available and before you spend any money check out a cashback site such as Paidshop.com . Well actually Paidshop.com is more than a cashback site, it features flash sales, allows you to check the latest sale items with all major UK retaile