How NOT to pay the £5 booking fee with Ryan Air!

It's simple. Book your flights with your BaBeeCard!

Flight prices on first glance look reasonable enough but the minute you go to check-in online (as you can no longer check-in at the airport), you'll be hit with the booking fee.

There is SOME good news, Ryan Air are waiving the £5 booking fee per flight if you book your using a Prepaid MasterCard - really great news for those who are travelling as a family which could set you back £40 in charges alone for a return flight for four people. Or if you are a frequent flyer for work.

So, if you haven't had a good enough reason before to invest £9.95 on a BaBeeCard, then these charges by Ryan Air clearly demonstrate how you can cover the intial purchase price of you card in one return flight with Ryan Air.

Come on jetsetters, not only is your BaBeeCard a great alternative to carrying cash, but you get access to our discount portal with over 100 high street retailers offering discounts on everyday family essentails.

Welcome Phoebe - mummy's got a new baby :-)

Well, it's been a while dear blog, and I am sorry to have deserted you for so, so long, BUT! I did have a good excuse....I had to get a rather chunky 8lb 10oz baby girl out of my severly stretched tummy.

Phoebe Millicent Hilary Sussum was born on the 13th November 2009 at 6.20am.

The birth was far from an amazing experience, more like one of sheer terror....another cesarean but this time under a general anasthetic due to silly, incompetent doctors trying to jab the BIGGEST needle into my spine to give me a local for the operation...DODO Doctor waisted so much time fumbling about, I ended up being put out for the count.

Anyway, enough about how my little marshmallow legs came into the world, let's give 3 cheers and welcome yet another bundle of joy, smiles, love, sick, wee, squirty poo and years of flapping about trying to keep them safe, into the world.

Hip Hip Horay!
Hip Hip Horay!
Hip Hip Horay!

This year’s Christmas Toy Dream Dozen for under £50 from the Toy Retailers Association

The Christmas Wishlist has been unveiled and the dream dozen are listed below, all under £50 which is encouraging!

I must say though, number 5 on the list, Go Go Pets Hamsters disturbs me somewhat, think i'll be giving that one a miss this year!

It is nice to see Lego still going strong after all this time although I still find the heads on the people a choking hazard even for me :-)

1. Bakugan Battle Pack, Spin Master (RRP £19.99)
2. Battle Strikers starter Set, Mega Brands (RRP £9.99)
3. Ben 10 Alien Force Kevins DX Action Cruiser, Bandai (RRP £29.99)
4. Bendaroos Mega Pack, Spin Master (RRP £19.99)
5. GO GO Pets Hamsters, Character Options (RRP £9.99)
6. GX Racers Tightrope Terror, Flair (RRP £22.99)
7. Kidizoom Multimedia Digital Camera, V-Tech (RRP £49.99)
8. LEGO Games Minotaurus, Lego (RRP £17.99)
9. Monopoly City, Hasbro (RRP £24.99)
10. Princess Peppa’s Palace, Character Options (RRP £39.99)
11. Sylvanian Families Caravan, Flair (RRP £44.99)
12. Transformers Movie 2 Voyagers Figures, Hasbro (RRP £22.99)

BaBeeCard will save you money at the following stores on the toys above:

ASDA 5% discount
Sainsburys' 5% discount
Argos 8% discount
Debenhams 10% discount
House of Frazer 10% discount

BaBeeCard gets a 5 star rating

Prepaid cards make great claims to save you money, but how do you know which one to go for? You can be reassured by independent reviews like this one for BaBeeCard. We were really pleased to hear that the reviewers at Prepaid365.com gave the card a 5 star rating. The review reads, “The BaBeeCard does exactly what it says on the tin - helps deliver excellent savings across a wide range of mother and baby products.”

Other plus points highlighted on the independent review site included the Moneyback Promise whereby you get back your initial investment of £9.95 if you have not saved that much in the first year. The only down point that Prepaid365.com found was that the card only come in pounds sterling: the rest of the world is just going to have to wait!

The BaBeecard has also won a couple of great accolades: in the Times Business Money Central feature on ‘Money Saving Tips You Never Heard Before’ the first tip is to ‘Get a BaBeecard’. And BaBeecard won the ‘Best Prepaid Gift Card’ category in the Prepaid365 Awards earlier this year. With this sort of endorsement, you really should check out how BaBeecard can save YOU money too.

Financial help to get a grip on your finances

It is not often that you can get a grant to help to sort out your finances so if you are in financial trouble or simply feel that your money skills are missing, check out the new grants from the Money Saving Expert (MSE) Charity.

The MSE Charity aims to fight financial and consumer illiteracy and is dedicated to educating and informing adults and children about consumer and debt issues. If you’re 18 and over you can apply for a grant of up to £500 to help pay towards a recognised and approved course that will help improve your ability to budget and manage your finances.

The grant can be used to pay for financial education course fees and other associated expenses. There are also grants of up to £5,000 for groups who want to run workshops and other innovative schemes that seek to educate people about money, debt and consumer issues.

Don’t delay: the deadline for the next round of group applications is 30 November 2009 and applications for support for individual courses is 15 December 2009. Visit www.msecharity.com/index.html?pid=21 to find out more.

Travel with Economy

Are your car bills making a big dent in the family budget? Petrol is costly, car insurance is expensive, and unexpected repairs can push you into the red.

Here are some simple tips to keep your car bills down:

• Keep your tyres pumped up. This actually makes your car use less petrol every time you use it.
• Check your route for jams before you travel. Avoiding traffic jams saves you fuel.
• To save further, take unnecessary loads out of the car. If you drive round with a boot full of junk you are making your car work harder. Taking the roof rack off unless you are using it helps too.
• For more reductions in petrol use, keep the air-con off unless you really need it.

You can get 5% off petrol from certain supermarkets when using your BaBeeCard.

Use price comparison sites to shop around for car insurance: I saved over £100 this year by doing this. I also saved 40% on my AA breakdown cover.

Old Fashioned Economy and Super Savings

If you are tightening your budget, why not look back sixty years or more for some simple savings tips. During the Second Work War rations were introduced and everyone was encouraged to ‘make do and mend’. If you ask your parents or grandparents they will remember being encouraged not to waste anything, and that’s a lesson we could all do well to follow today.

One big area of potential waste is food, and there is a simple way to save here. Just make a weekly meal plan and shopping list. When you shop ONLY buy foods on the list. You will soon work out a plan which includes regular family favourites which saves you time and stress planning what to cook each evening too. You can make additional savings on food from your favourite supermarkets by joining a discount club like BaBeeCard.