I have found a superb website for business mums, it's run by Jane Hopkins and openly allows you to promote your business without fear of abusing forum guidelines and getting yourself kicked off.
There is a marketplace section for you to promote your products or services and also a forum which covers marketing & pr, business networking, green issues and other interesting business related topics.
You can pick up some great tips, post for help and also bag a few discounts and bargains from other mummy-run businesses.
Perhaps you are a stay-at-home mum and would like to use the other members as a sounding board for setting up your own home-based business, it really is a useful and supportive site so check it out www.mumsclub.co.uk
Monday 31 March 2008
The London Dungeon and cherryade...a disturbing day out for all the family!
I remember when I was 11-12 years old and our local kids club took us on a day trip to the London Dungeons, on the coach journey I drank 2 small bottles of cherryade and stuffed my little cheeks full of sweets.
We got to the gates of the dungeon and I was so scared to go in I was sick all over the place, they literally had to drag me in....even today, years and years later I am still too scared to go back into The London Dugeons, what a baby!!! but then again, I get scared going downstairs on my own in the dark....no help for me is there?!
BaBeeCard get's you up to a 50% discount for 2 adults and 2 children (if you are brave enough to go that is).
Original price: £63.80
BaBeeCard price: £31.92
Total saving of: £31.88
We got to the gates of the dungeon and I was so scared to go in I was sick all over the place, they literally had to drag me in....even today, years and years later I am still too scared to go back into The London Dugeons, what a baby!!! but then again, I get scared going downstairs on my own in the dark....no help for me is there?!
BaBeeCard get's you up to a 50% discount for 2 adults and 2 children (if you are brave enough to go that is).
Original price: £63.80
BaBeeCard price: £31.92
Total saving of: £31.88
Wednesday 26 March 2008
The Best way to remember your wife's birthday is to forget it once. - H. V. Prochnow
Well I am pleased to say my fiance didn't forget mine but my dad and 2 brothers did!!! must be a man thing, although my cousin and at least a handful of female friends did also, perhaps I confused them as my birthday is today but I am having a dinner party on Saturday (well it better be because of that or there really will be trouble.)
The birthday this year I am most looking forward to is my sons, it will be his first and he just adores Iggle Piggle (bizarre blue character with a red blanket habit) so am looking into themes to keep not only my son entertained but all his cousins and little ankle biter friends amuzed too!
http://www.partybox.co.uk/ is a fab site offering themed party supplies. From In the night garden to Dora the explorer, vicars and tarts (for the adults of course!!) to Bratz, Bob the builder and even....a lifesize cutout of Elvis??? Hilarious!
BaBeeCard will get you a 10% discount on all your party supplies so you can make it a day to remember.
The birthday this year I am most looking forward to is my sons, it will be his first and he just adores Iggle Piggle (bizarre blue character with a red blanket habit) so am looking into themes to keep not only my son entertained but all his cousins and little ankle biter friends amuzed too!
http://www.partybox.co.uk/ is a fab site offering themed party supplies. From In the night garden to Dora the explorer, vicars and tarts (for the adults of course!!) to Bratz, Bob the builder and even....a lifesize cutout of Elvis??? Hilarious!
BaBeeCard will get you a 10% discount on all your party supplies so you can make it a day to remember.
Wednesday 19 March 2008
Do you brush your teeth before 12pm? Ocado.com
Running a business and looking after a baby are full-time jobs in themselves, which is why my days seem to fly by, before I know it the cupboards are empty again and it's time to go grocery shopping. (Bah humbug!)
I read somewhere recently in a survey that some mothers don't brush their teeth until around 12pm each day due to the crazy demands on their time. Well, I wouldn't like to agree that that is true in my case (I may get myself an unwanted nickname) but I would agree that time just seems to slip through your fingers from the moment you wake up (or baby wakes you) until you crawl up the stairs praying for a full nights sleep.
It's common knowledge that I tend to over complicate things in my mind but the truth is even a simple trip to the supermarket becomes a serious mission to not only get myself and my son ready but to also keep a lid on my bubbling temper. (Trolly rage).
I live in a little hamlet of 8 houses, which requires me to get us both ready (making sure he has been fed and changed before so we don't get caught short) then bend at an unnatural angle to get him into his car seat via a 3 door car! one leg in, back bent and one leg out (oh the hockey cokey), I then have to hold my keys between clenched teeth as my son arches his back to reach them making it almost impossible to lock him into his seat. I usually bang my head as I try and climb backwards out of the car.
A 6 mile drive lays ahead to the nearest supermarket and then when the joys of supermarket shopping with an 8 month old baby who likes to try and grab all and sundry fromt he shelves is over we then have to repeat the entire hockey cokey process backwards to get home.
To say I dread the weekly supermarket run is an understatement!
Last night my life changed, something as simple as using my Waitrose vouchers online to pay at ocado.com and have the shopping delivered to my door has left me with a big, fat smile on my face and has freed up some valuable time to do something else, like steam the bottles, get dinner on, clean the house, iron the shirts, do the laundry etc (demands on a modern day woman!)
I ordered my shopping last night and the goods arrived about 30 mins ago, so I got an 8% discount on the vouchers, Ocado delivered to my door, they gave me a voucher code for a free bottle of wine with my next order and, get this, they colour coded my shopping bags :-) so I don't have to hunt through the bags to put the items away.
Genius!
I read somewhere recently in a survey that some mothers don't brush their teeth until around 12pm each day due to the crazy demands on their time. Well, I wouldn't like to agree that that is true in my case (I may get myself an unwanted nickname) but I would agree that time just seems to slip through your fingers from the moment you wake up (or baby wakes you) until you crawl up the stairs praying for a full nights sleep.
It's common knowledge that I tend to over complicate things in my mind but the truth is even a simple trip to the supermarket becomes a serious mission to not only get myself and my son ready but to also keep a lid on my bubbling temper. (Trolly rage).
I live in a little hamlet of 8 houses, which requires me to get us both ready (making sure he has been fed and changed before so we don't get caught short) then bend at an unnatural angle to get him into his car seat via a 3 door car! one leg in, back bent and one leg out (oh the hockey cokey), I then have to hold my keys between clenched teeth as my son arches his back to reach them making it almost impossible to lock him into his seat. I usually bang my head as I try and climb backwards out of the car.
A 6 mile drive lays ahead to the nearest supermarket and then when the joys of supermarket shopping with an 8 month old baby who likes to try and grab all and sundry fromt he shelves is over we then have to repeat the entire hockey cokey process backwards to get home.
To say I dread the weekly supermarket run is an understatement!
Last night my life changed, something as simple as using my Waitrose vouchers online to pay at ocado.com and have the shopping delivered to my door has left me with a big, fat smile on my face and has freed up some valuable time to do something else, like steam the bottles, get dinner on, clean the house, iron the shirts, do the laundry etc (demands on a modern day woman!)
I ordered my shopping last night and the goods arrived about 30 mins ago, so I got an 8% discount on the vouchers, Ocado delivered to my door, they gave me a voucher code for a free bottle of wine with my next order and, get this, they colour coded my shopping bags :-) so I don't have to hunt through the bags to put the items away.
Genius!
Wednesday 12 March 2008
TOMS shoes now on sale in UK
Let's give something back!
TOMS shoes are now available to buy in the UK through The Shoe Studio which has outlets in major department stores, see my previous post below for more about the cause.
I am getting the purple polka dot pair for Summer and love the idea of a child in the third world getting a pair for free purely from my purchase.
TOMS shoes are now available to buy in the UK through The Shoe Studio which has outlets in major department stores, see my previous post below for more about the cause.
I am getting the purple polka dot pair for Summer and love the idea of a child in the third world getting a pair for free purely from my purchase.
Credit card & debit card fraud on the news today
Up at 6.30am (trying to get my son into a new earlier routine to
tire him out so he has more naps in the day so mummy can work) and I caught the breakfast news.
Credit and debit card fraud is up by 25% which is not only staggering but also pretty scary when you think about how many families use credit cards as a means to purchase their essentials before baby is born and also during the childs growing years.
I had no idea when I was pregnant just how much all the little bits and pieces would set me back financially, let alone the big purchases such as a nursery items, pram, car seat, feeding equipment etc .The thought of going to pay for them all and the card being declined due to the credit on the card being stolen just doesn't bear thinking about, does it? I am sure many families pay via credit credit card even for grocery shopping so the rise in fraud can have a serious impact on a families survival day-to-day.
BaBeeCard has a feature that allows you to lock / unlock your card vie SMS text message. So say for example, you were worried about your card being cloned in a shop, restaurant or via the Internet you could send a text enabling the card to be locked immediately after the transaction, then when you were ready to use the card again you would just need to send another text to unlock it and hey presto! it's ready to use.
This is a very handy feature if you misplace or lose the card. If you are anything like me, I leave my debit card in the most bizarre places (like underneath the kettle??!) I had to cancel the debit card due to it being lost, got a new one through the post and then found it when I moved the kettle.
It costs 20p to unlock or lock the card but if security is a big issue for you then 20p here and there is a small price to pay for peace of mind and in times of doubt.
For family holidays abroad it could come in very useful indeed!
Thursday 6 March 2008
Another big purchase at MotherCare
MotherCare have now become a disount partner - offering a 5% discount on their vouchers.Back when I was 6 months pregnant I fell in love with the Quinny range which came in the most amazing colour, as a huge SHREK fan the colours reminded me of him (I just had to have it)
Infant carrier / car seat: £104.99
Carry cot: £134.99
Buggy with wheel frame: £329.99
Original price: £569.97
BaBeeCard price: £541.47
Total saving of: £28.49
My son is now nearly 8 months old and I will be needing to buy a new car seat (I think) as the one I have is birth up to 12 months. So I am due another purchase of at least £100.00 and I also can't be trusted once inside MotherCare as I always find cute things to buy or practical things I never use :-)
So on the travel system (which I highly recommend if you are pregnant or just given birth) you could save £28.49 which may not sound like a huge amount but it does equate to any of the following:
A MotherCare newborn starter bag: £24.99
An infant first aid kit: £16.99
A 10 piece unisex starter kit (babygrows etc) £14.00
Or
A nice bottle of pink champers and some candles for mummy's bathtime (Waitrose / John Lewis vouchers 8% off, so for £28.41 you are actually getting £30.76 worth!)
So you can see, even with a small saving you can make it work for you in other ways. The thing is when you have kids is that alot of purchases are a neccessity rather than a luxury so using your discounts to cover other child costs helps to alleviate some financial stress.
TOMS shoes - Help a child in need
I was reading my weekly fix of Grazia magazine and came across a truly inspirational man by the name of Blake Mycoskie.
Blake has set up a company that sells espadrilles in funky patterns called TOMS, for each pair bought he donates another pair to a child in need.
They launched in the states recently and completely sold out. They hand delivered 50,000 pairs to South Africa to help children protect their feet as they walk miles to school or to fetch water all barefoot which subjects them to infections.
The shoes go on sale shortly through The Shoe Studio which has branches inside places such as TopShop, House of Frazer and Selfridges.
Read Blake's blog - its fantastic! or visit his site to learn more and see the funkiest shoes for this summer.
BaBeeCard has discounts at:
TopShop 8%
- Giftcard original price: £50.00
- Giftcard BaBeeCard price: £46.00
- Total saving of: £4.00
Selfridges 7%
- Giftcard original price: £50.00
- Giftcard BaBeeCard price: £47.50
- Total saving of: £2.50
House of Fraser 10%
- Giftcard original price: £50.00
- Giftcard BaBeeCard price: £45.00
- Total saving of: £5.00
The shoes will cost between £25 and £35 and the joy the other pair will give to a child in need is priceless.
So with the dicounts you can buy more than one pair :-) and help Blake on his mission to make a difference.
I think this guy is amazing, what a beautiful thing to do for children!! It makes me really appreciate how fortune my son is, that he is warm, clothed and well fed (a bit too well as he is a chubby little so-and-so)
Even if you don't go via BaBeeCard - please let's do our bit to help!
I have signed up for an alert when they go on sale in this country, so I will keep you all posted.
Blake has set up a company that sells espadrilles in funky patterns called TOMS, for each pair bought he donates another pair to a child in need.
They launched in the states recently and completely sold out. They hand delivered 50,000 pairs to South Africa to help children protect their feet as they walk miles to school or to fetch water all barefoot which subjects them to infections.
The shoes go on sale shortly through The Shoe Studio which has branches inside places such as TopShop, House of Frazer and Selfridges.
Read Blake's blog - its fantastic! or visit his site to learn more and see the funkiest shoes for this summer.
BaBeeCard has discounts at:
TopShop 8%
- Giftcard original price: £50.00
- Giftcard BaBeeCard price: £46.00
- Total saving of: £4.00
Selfridges 7%
- Giftcard original price: £50.00
- Giftcard BaBeeCard price: £47.50
- Total saving of: £2.50
House of Fraser 10%
- Giftcard original price: £50.00
- Giftcard BaBeeCard price: £45.00
- Total saving of: £5.00
The shoes will cost between £25 and £35 and the joy the other pair will give to a child in need is priceless.
So with the dicounts you can buy more than one pair :-) and help Blake on his mission to make a difference.
I think this guy is amazing, what a beautiful thing to do for children!! It makes me really appreciate how fortune my son is, that he is warm, clothed and well fed (a bit too well as he is a chubby little so-and-so)
Even if you don't go via BaBeeCard - please let's do our bit to help!
I have signed up for an alert when they go on sale in this country, so I will keep you all posted.
Monday 3 March 2008
How to offend family at Christmas
Buy them a diet plate, it's that easy!
Here I am searching on the BaBee discount portal chuckling to myself as I am trying to find some presents for all the birthdays I have coming up. The reason I am chuckling is because Weight Watchers is one of our discount partners and I am still trying to shake off the embarrassment I caused at Christmas when I bought my partner, my soon-to-be mother-in-law and my cousin something called "The Diet Plate".
Now me being me, I thought it was a GREAT idea. The Diet Plate has markings all over it for portion control (I even bought one for myself) as I wanted to try it out as a weight loss alternative to dragging myself to the gym.
Guess what? The diet plate didn't go down very well!! I managed to offend pretty much everyone and now have to pretend the diet plate never existed as I focus my conversation on the amazing "other" presents they got from me instead :-)
So, please don't take this post the wrong way I am not suggesting anything un-toward, I just thought I would mention the great deal for those of you who may want to shake off some post baby weight or even for those of you who are already longing for summer dresses, shorts and spaghetti straps.
With BaBeeCard you can save £20 when you join Weight Watchers.
Original price: £59.80 (£29.95 subscription + £9.95 a month x 3 months)
BaBeeCard price: £39.80 for 3 months
Total saving of: £20.00
I wonder how many triple chocolate fudge cakes you could buy with £20?
Here I am searching on the BaBee discount portal chuckling to myself as I am trying to find some presents for all the birthdays I have coming up. The reason I am chuckling is because Weight Watchers is one of our discount partners and I am still trying to shake off the embarrassment I caused at Christmas when I bought my partner, my soon-to-be mother-in-law and my cousin something called "The Diet Plate".
Now me being me, I thought it was a GREAT idea. The Diet Plate has markings all over it for portion control (I even bought one for myself) as I wanted to try it out as a weight loss alternative to dragging myself to the gym.
Guess what? The diet plate didn't go down very well!! I managed to offend pretty much everyone and now have to pretend the diet plate never existed as I focus my conversation on the amazing "other" presents they got from me instead :-)
So, please don't take this post the wrong way I am not suggesting anything un-toward, I just thought I would mention the great deal for those of you who may want to shake off some post baby weight or even for those of you who are already longing for summer dresses, shorts and spaghetti straps.
With BaBeeCard you can save £20 when you join Weight Watchers.
Original price: £59.80 (£29.95 subscription + £9.95 a month x 3 months)
BaBeeCard price: £39.80 for 3 months
Total saving of: £20.00
I wonder how many triple chocolate fudge cakes you could buy with £20?
Saturday 1 March 2008
An 8% discount at Waitrose could save me a min of £432 a year!
As a family of 2 adults and a small baby I thought setting a budget of around £450 a month on groceries would be more than ample. So I wanted to see how the savings would break down if I used my BaBeeCard to buy Waitrose vouchers at an 8% discount.
The vouchers are £50 in value but only cost £46 so I have ordered one voucher to begin with to see what difference it makes to buying baby essentials such as milk, baby food, nappy bags, wipes and nappies.
Out of interest I thought I would go back through my last few Waitrose receipts to see how much I could have saved if I had used vouchers to pay for my shopping instead of cash, I almost wished I hadn't as I am now kicking myself!
Grocery reciepts:
2nd Feb £38.82
4th Feb £24.07
10th Feb £57.47
12th Feb £75.90
16th Feb £60.56
19th Feb £53.01
22nd Feb £108.64
Total reciepts: £408.41
BaBeeCard price £375.73
Total saving of: £32.67
It's not very often that I am totally speechless but this has really shocked me! I budget £450 a month for groceries and baby essentials etc but by looking at the above I am spending almost the entire budget in 2 and a half weeks! (And no my shopping trolley isn’t full of champagne, chocolates and women’s magazines)
Anyway, onwards and upwards now and I am going to use the vouchers from now on, even if I stayed within my budget of £450 a month (£5400 per year), the savings on groceries alone would total a whopping £432!
Original voucher price: £50.00
BaBeeCard price: £46.00
Total saving of: £4.00
The vouchers are £50 in value but only cost £46 so I have ordered one voucher to begin with to see what difference it makes to buying baby essentials such as milk, baby food, nappy bags, wipes and nappies.
Out of interest I thought I would go back through my last few Waitrose receipts to see how much I could have saved if I had used vouchers to pay for my shopping instead of cash, I almost wished I hadn't as I am now kicking myself!
Grocery reciepts:
2nd Feb £38.82
4th Feb £24.07
10th Feb £57.47
12th Feb £75.90
16th Feb £60.56
19th Feb £53.01
22nd Feb £108.64
Total reciepts: £408.41
BaBeeCard price £375.73
Total saving of: £32.67
It's not very often that I am totally speechless but this has really shocked me! I budget £450 a month for groceries and baby essentials etc but by looking at the above I am spending almost the entire budget in 2 and a half weeks! (And no my shopping trolley isn’t full of champagne, chocolates and women’s magazines)
Anyway, onwards and upwards now and I am going to use the vouchers from now on, even if I stayed within my budget of £450 a month (£5400 per year), the savings on groceries alone would total a whopping £432!
Original voucher price: £50.00
BaBeeCard price: £46.00
Total saving of: £4.00
Mothers Day - something different
Mothers day With mothers day looming I thought I would use my BaBeeCard to buy my mother a present and get her something a little bit different. I used to love going out shopping but with a 7.5 month old baby boy it is becoming less and less enjoyable and more like a monkey’s tea party.
What is it with babies and playing up as soon as you walk into a shop?! Why can’t they be as mesmerised by shoes and bags as I am? There are only so many food distractions a baby can tolerate before they realise you are palming them off whilst you indulge in some much needed retail therapy.
So I am ready to tackle shopping from home. With a cup of tea and a penguin biscuit in hand (still haven’t shaken off that particular craving) it seemed the perfect opportunity to shop online, especially with a sleeping baby. I usually buy my mum flowers and forget to send her a card so this time I thought I would get her something different as we live in Bucks and she lives in Cornwall (which makes it rather difficult to take her out for a nice meal).
I went through the usual list of gift ideas, pampering at a spa, chocolates, a hamper, flowers etc but none of them felt quite unique enough and I wanted something that she could enjoy all year round so I bought her a magazine subscription from Letsubscribe.com for £27.61 instead of £38.75.
Original subscription: £38.75
BaBeeCard price: £27.61
Total saving of: £11.14
What is it with babies and playing up as soon as you walk into a shop?! Why can’t they be as mesmerised by shoes and bags as I am? There are only so many food distractions a baby can tolerate before they realise you are palming them off whilst you indulge in some much needed retail therapy.
So I am ready to tackle shopping from home. With a cup of tea and a penguin biscuit in hand (still haven’t shaken off that particular craving) it seemed the perfect opportunity to shop online, especially with a sleeping baby. I usually buy my mum flowers and forget to send her a card so this time I thought I would get her something different as we live in Bucks and she lives in Cornwall (which makes it rather difficult to take her out for a nice meal).
I went through the usual list of gift ideas, pampering at a spa, chocolates, a hamper, flowers etc but none of them felt quite unique enough and I wanted something that she could enjoy all year round so I bought her a magazine subscription from Letsubscribe.com for £27.61 instead of £38.75.
Original subscription: £38.75
BaBeeCard price: £27.61
Total saving of: £11.14
Being single is better for your wallet!
Well in terms of birthdays anyway.
At least if you are single it’s only your family and friends to buy presents for, I have counted a whopping 33 birthdays this year with my family and fiances family combined. Going to be an expensive year :-)
33 birthdays, I say that again!! and that’s me being conservative and not including aunties, uncles, cousins etc.
It breaks down as follows:
March: 4, April: 2, May: 1, June: 2, July: 1, Aug: 2, Sept: 2, Oct: 3, Nov: 2, Dec: 3, Jan: 2, Feb: 3
5 people I don't have dates for yet so am hoping they are not in December or January as Christmas and New Year are always a killer for spending.
I have set myself a goal – to only buy the presents with the BaBeeCard by utilising the discounts available via the online discount scheme.
So this means I have to be :
a) inventive
b) be very organised (something that doesn’t bode well with my scatty personality)
It's the 1st of March today so with the 8th, 11th, 14th & 25th coming up I had better get cracking!
Right! Off to shop! will let you know what I find....
At least if you are single it’s only your family and friends to buy presents for, I have counted a whopping 33 birthdays this year with my family and fiances family combined. Going to be an expensive year :-)
33 birthdays, I say that again!! and that’s me being conservative and not including aunties, uncles, cousins etc.
It breaks down as follows:
March: 4, April: 2, May: 1, June: 2, July: 1, Aug: 2, Sept: 2, Oct: 3, Nov: 2, Dec: 3, Jan: 2, Feb: 3
5 people I don't have dates for yet so am hoping they are not in December or January as Christmas and New Year are always a killer for spending.
I have set myself a goal – to only buy the presents with the BaBeeCard by utilising the discounts available via the online discount scheme.
So this means I have to be :
a) inventive
b) be very organised (something that doesn’t bode well with my scatty personality)
It's the 1st of March today so with the 8th, 11th, 14th & 25th coming up I had better get cracking!
Right! Off to shop! will let you know what I find....
My fathers wedding
It’s going to be an unusual year this year as my dad got remarried yesterday and my fiancé and I will be setting our wedding date for this year too – I wonder how many fathers’ and daughters get married in the same year?
Just like getting married – to save money with BaBeeCard, it’s all about planning ahead (something I didn’t do) so we turned up at the wedding reception without a gift but a bottle of pink champagne that I bought around the corner in a rip off shop. I have however assured my dad and his new wife that the gift will follow. Had I planned it properly I could have bought the champagne with my card and got between a 10% - 12.5% discount from either Vin Vino Direct, Wines4homes.com H&H Bancroft, Waitrose Wines Direct or even a Threshers voucher so they could choose it themselves.
So my mission today whilst my father sleeps off his gargantuan hangover is to find a suitable gift on the discount portal.
I’ll let you know what I managed to find once mission is accomplished.
Just like getting married – to save money with BaBeeCard, it’s all about planning ahead (something I didn’t do) so we turned up at the wedding reception without a gift but a bottle of pink champagne that I bought around the corner in a rip off shop. I have however assured my dad and his new wife that the gift will follow. Had I planned it properly I could have bought the champagne with my card and got between a 10% - 12.5% discount from either Vin Vino Direct, Wines4homes.com H&H Bancroft, Waitrose Wines Direct or even a Threshers voucher so they could choose it themselves.
So my mission today whilst my father sleeps off his gargantuan hangover is to find a suitable gift on the discount portal.
I’ll let you know what I managed to find once mission is accomplished.
Babies and mealtimes
Babies and mealtimesAre a messy business! especially if you don’t have a high chair! I have developed a loathing of highchairs as the mess that seems to squish its way into every corner makes me feel a little queasy.
With a 7.5 month old baby the Bumbo seemed a good option (that was until he had a growth spurt and worked out how to arch his back and almost “pop” himself out of it).
As Truly Madly Baby is a discount partner on the BaBeeCard portal I thought that should be my first port of call to find a solution to our messy and highly entertaining meal times.
With a 10% discount I bought a Tots Seat for £27.91 which included VAT and delivery of £4.50. It’s a funky little wrap around piece of fabric that practically glues the baby onto an adult chair. (I have just realised my chairs are cream!)
Original Price: £30.50
New price: £27.91
Total saving of: £2.59
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