Typecast

This year has been a frugal one; lots and lots of talk about austerity.   Many moons ago I wrote about ' extreme couponing ' and how we don't embrace it enough in this country. I've also been using a lot of the advice in my ever-popular  money saving tips   blog post just so that we can save a little bit of extra cash here and there. Favourite exercises are to use cashback websites more often and save up my cashback amounts so that I have a bit of extra money towards the end of the year (I daren't mention  Christmas  the 'C' word just yet - we're only in June!).  I'm trying to be careful and I'm sharing my purchases out between in-store bargains and online offers.  I'm a huge fan of money-off round-up sites such as  My Favourite Voucher Codes  for saving on clothing and home supplies - especially for great  Debenhams discount deals . Another activity that I enjoy doing is searching for online competitions.  I love fi...

I recently ran a giveaway in conjunction with EON and a compulsory entry mechanism was to provide your best energy saving tip.   There were lots of obvious ones which I hope everyone is already putting in place (they are first on the list) h owever there were more that I believe need sharing and I have collated the best twenty-five here.    If you would like to add your favourite please share it in the comments. Unplug all electrical items when not in use, especially overnight (but not your fridge and freezer, obviously). Turn the thermostat down by one degree and add a layer of clothes instead of putting the heating on. Turn lights off when you leave the room and use energy saving bulbs. Shut doors to keep the heat in a room. Put tin foil behind radiators to reflect the heat back into the room (and if your radiator is under a window, tuck long curtains behind the radiator for a similar effect). Anything that can be charged via USB can be done when y...

Our final #AppyBitches activity was supposed to show a 30-minute discussion between a fab group of bloggers where we talked about money saving and time saving apps for busy parents.  However, I only found the big red BROADCAST button after everyone had left, as you can see... Myself and Paula were joined by: Sian from Cybher ( @geekisnewchic ) Paul ( @hooker1UK ) Di ( @superluckydi ) Amy ( @and1moremeans5 ) Emma ( @methemanandbaby ) Andy ( @ndyharmon ) and we discussed which apps work best on iPad (sometimes they are just enlarged versions of iPhone apps), how some apps are best developed rather than newer versions created and we compared apps for the iPad against apps for the (newer) android tablet. There was talk about social media apps (Twitter and Facebook featured heavily) and how shopping and banking apps are becoming more popular.  I also believe, at one point, we agreed that I was going to find out how to become ordained online and conduct ...

I bet you're all wondering how the #AppyBitches / #BGSaveTime campaign is going?  Well, first of all, Paula didn't do a runner with the iPad but she stuck to her brief and researched a number of apps to see how they could help her organise her life and maybe make it a little easier.  Her trip to Ireland to catch up with her family was the perfect place to start and she's been keeping a diary for me during her holiday and on her return home.  Let's see what she's been up to - over to Paula.

If I asked you how busy you were at the moment what would your answer be? Me?  I'm swan-like.  You all think that I'm calm and serene but under the surface I'm paddling like mad. I'm incredibly busy at work at the moment (new job role, brand new project, exciting times), my blogging life is on the up and up (fantastic) and at home the long summer holidays have just started which means trying to keep a 13 year old occupied without it costing the Earth (impossible)! As you all know, I'm a little bit addicted to my online life and keep tabs on everything via my laptop, my new android tablet or my phone.  I've got apps for everything and I'm always trying to find the shortest and cheapest route from A to B, whether that be connecting with friends, paying the bills or being entertained. British Gas have approached me and asked if I could take part in their online campaign.  They want to showcase their brand new app that allows you to ...

I've been working with My Family Club for a while now and they are great at helping you to stretch your money a little bit further. We all know how exciting a trip to the flicks can be. But we also know that visiting the  cinema can be a pricey business. To help you get the best out of your summer, Diana from My Family Club  has rounded up the very best cinema deals and discounts.  For more details about guest posts please contact me and have a quick look at my disclosure policy . ¨¨°º©©º°¨¨ Orange Wednesdays 2 for 1 If you’re an Orange customer you can get 2 for 1 cinema tickets each Wednesday saving you money  on pricey group tickets!   But that’s not all, Orange Wednesdays also means free pizzas! Visit your nearest Pizza Express and  Orange customers can get 2 for 1 on both pizzas and dough balls. To take advantage of this delicious  offer, make sure you show your Orange Wednesday text tickets when you place your order.   L...

I hope you all enjoyed my Money Saving Tips post that I wrote in conjunction with My Family Club ?  Now that the UK is officially in recession again I'm giving their website another push this week as part of my collaboration with them. The Family Club has a really easy to navigate website which is packed full of money saving ideas, money planners, recipes, travel tips and vouchers for the high street.  But I'd like to point out their competitions section   (where you can enter to win an iPad  by sharing your top money saving tip!!!) * whispers beind hand * stay tuned for my own giveaway at the end... My mum was an enthusiastic 'comper'.  It was more than a hobby but without taking over her life.  She won big - a few holidays, a year's shopping (in vouchers) for a well-known supermarket - and she won small but the achievement was the prize no matter what the worth.  She loved competitions such as "complete this sentence in 15 words ...

Frugal times call for frugal measures so I was really pleased when My Family Club approached me and asked me to help spread the word about their website.  Their website is full of articles based around saving money as a family and includes voucher deals, offers, discounts and "best price" tips for household goods each week. As mum (and nana) to an ever-growing family it's important that we squeeze as much as we can out of every single pound that comes into the house but to also findi ways in which we can still enjoy ourselves without it feeling like we are counting the pennies all the time.  I call upon my fellow parent bloggers all the time for their amazing Top Tips  (as does Lisa from The Mummy Whisperer ) and here are a few of the ones that I've been using recently. Money, money money... Amanda from  Flying Start Magazine  tells me that her best budgeting tool is to calculate how much money you are going to use for a given period of t...

In an earlier post I promised you that some of my forthcoming reviews and sponsored posts would be geared towards helping you save money on the run up to Christmas.   FuelMyBlog have asked me to share some information about VoucherHub.com and their fantastic collection of money-off vouchers that are available for a wide range of items.