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.