Popular M&S offer - repeated - offer ends 9th December

We ran a promotion back in October for a free £5 M&S voucher for every £50 order of their vouchers via the BaBeeCard Discount Club and we are delighted to be offering this offer again in the lead up to Christmas (offer ends 9th December).

Use your BaBeeCard to buy £50 worth of vouchers for £47.50 (we give you a 5% discount) and for each order you'll receive another £5 absolutely free.

You Order	You Pay	You Recieve	You Make
£50	£47.50	£55	£7.50
£100	£95	£110	£15
£200	£190	£220	£30
£300	£285	£330	£45

I ordered my vouchers back in October and bought a cashmere jumper for my husband for Christmas (hope he doesn't read this blog!) and filled my basket up with their 3 for 2 offers on chocolates goodies for the kids stockings and other bits n' bobs.

Check out their offers section on the website to see what they have in-store.

http://www.marksandspencer.com/gp/node/n/82867031/026-8694197-9744459?amp;mnSBrand=core

If you have any change left over from your vouchers,, M&S will load it onto a gift card for you.

Smelly cheese, hampers and my spare tire

After losing 2 dress sizes in preparation for my wedding, I have over the course of 3 weeks managed to almost put it all back on due to lack of exercise and over-indulging on Pina Coladas and Bajan delights during our honeymoon.

I got back on Wednesday in a silly summer dress and flip flops to snow and a power cut which continued to last until the weekend, the cooker has somehow reset itself and is blatantly refusing to switch on whilst teasing me with an E for Error on the LED display. My adamant toddler won't eat cold food unless it's ice-cream, so the last few days have been memorable to say the least!

It seems during this "domestic chaos" all I can focus on is food, everywhere I look I see food, food, food. Even worse, I see tempting treats that I can't heat up or cook. The local supermarket has been teasing me with their beautiful hampers on display and I am trying hard not to convince myself that a plate of smelly cheese, a glass of red wine and some grapes constitute as a evening meal.

With Christmas hampers whispering my name from every aisle I have decided to put together a price comparison table to see which ones offer the best discount when using the BaBeeCard to access the savings

Retailer	Price	Discount	Saving
ClearWater Hampers	£38.04 - £308.04	10%	£3.80 - £30.04
Waitrose	£25 - £75	8%	£2 - £6
Sainsbury's	£30 - £200	5%	£1.50 - £10
Marks & Spencers	£30 - £999.99	5%	£1.50 - £49.99

ClearWater Hampers offers the best saving and prices include delivery to the UK and inclusive of VAT. (don't forget to log into the discount portal and get the code for your ClearWater discount).

A cheaper alternative of course, is to buy a wicker basket, fill it with some torn parcel paper or tissue paper and your own hand selected treats, I am thinking of doing this for some hard to buy for family members and friends as I can tailor the ingredients to suit their personalities and tastes. You can find empty hampers for sale here.

Some supermarkets are doing great promotions pre-Christmas so it is a good idea if you have a BaBeeCard already to stock up on vouchers.

Waitrose are offering a 25% discount on wine and champagne when you buy 6 bottles or more, so combined with your BaBeeCard discount (8%) that's a massive 33% discount!

Cut Your Costs For Christmas

Christmas is coming and spending more money than last year seems inevitable with the current economic climate. Hundreds of pounds every year gets spent on food and drink, that's on top of presents, socialising and seasonal decorations. No wonder we feel so stressed as Christmas looms.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) calculated that Christmas Day alone costs each household an average of £975.

Many people resort to some sort of borrowing to cover the cost Christmas adds to the family finances and can end up getting themselves into a bit of a pickle with repayments.

We all promise ourselves that next year we'll plan ahead, buy gifts in the sale and prepare a budget, but how many of us actually do this? I can recount the number of times I saw things in the sales and said "Oh, I should get that for so-and-so!" but I didn't and ended up paying full price as the end of December drew closer.

Getting your head around how much you can afford will help you not to blow your budget in a last minute rush. I have put together some tips that I am following myself this year to help stay relatively stress free, on top of my budget and able to enjoy moving forward into next yearwithout the usual financial hangover in January from overspending.

1. Plan ahead
Be realistic with the food shop as shops open again after boxing day so no need to stock up to feed the millions, just buy what you need to get you through a few days.

Have a look at http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/ for some great recipes for leftovers.
Find out how much your overdraft will cost you if you dip into it.

2. Budget & draw up a gift list
Put a price limit next to each name, if it exceeds your budget find a cheaper option (Remember, it's the thought that counts).

Break down your budget into food, drink, travel, socialising, pressies and that new outfit you want to celebrate in.

If you have a BaBeeCard put another column in your budget with where and how much you would save if you used it to purchase everything for Christmas.

3. Hit the shops
Online shopping = good savings and no need to traipse up and down the high street. Redeem any unused loyalty points - There are an enormous amount (said to run into the billions) of unclaimed loyalty points on stores' reward cards and credit cards waiting to be redeemed, why not exchange them for vouchers?

If you are using a credit card to buy presents, try to pay back more than the minimum when the bill arrives in January or you could find your presents costing you double after interest charges.

4. Wrap it
Use old newspapers or magazines to make funky gift wrapping. You have all ready paid for the paper so put it to good use. Use contrasting pretty ribbon and stick on bows to liven it up. Great for your purse and even better for the environment.

5. Mi casa, su casa (My house is your house)
Take it in turns to entertain friends and family over the festive party season, you will get to socialise without the spending.

Suggest sharing the meal. You can prepare the first course and your family or friends can bring round pudding. That way, it will be a nice surprise too!

Have you got any Christmas tips you can share with me to help people cut their costs this Christmas?

5p off per litre of petrol @ Sainsbury's - offer ends 8th October!

I have a previous post on this offer but have just seen it advertised on TV again last night with the offer running out on 8th October 08'.

So to recap:

Hurry and get an extra discount on your fuel at Sainsbury's

"Spend £50 and get a discount of 5p a litre off your fuel at Sainsbury's petrol stations"

Use your BaBeeCard to buy the Sainsbury's vouchers at a 5% discount, you would actually be spending £47.50 and recieving the petrol vouchers to get the 5p off discount as well.

Babies - they don't come cheap!

Babies, babies, babies!! so cute, so innocent........so expensive!!

Making the decision to have your first baby or another baby can be an incredibly tough and emotional choice. Given the current economic climate we find ourselves in today you have to wonder if there will ever be a right time.

My wedding is in four weeks and with a 14 month old son it seems like the perfect time to think about adding to our brood. That is, until I think about how much it is going to cost. Not to mention the daily drama of a bossy toddler and a newborn. Cripes!

I feel like I am stuck in Groundhog Day, the same question and thought pattern keeps repeating itself "When is the right time for us to have another baby?"

This year? next year? when I am fitter? when I have caught up on my sleep? when my son has stopped having tantrums? when my fiance has stopped making me have tantrums? or the biggest one of all, when our finances are in better shape?

I have found it's my expectation of myself as a parent to provide the latest equipment, fashionable clothes and brand new whizz-she-bang toys that adds to my own financial pressure and worry for the future. Have you ever heard a baby complain about wearing a second hand romper suit? or show their disappointment at having to clap along to an elder siblings bouncing toy? No, thought not.

If you are in a similar predicament to me, mentally toing and froing about when and if to take that special leap forward in having a baby then my checklist below may help you just a little.

Household income
With rising costs and your income taking a dip during maternity leave it is important to work out where your main source of income will come from. Pregnancy is a stressful time so it is important to have reassurance that you can cover your monthly bills.

Tip: Emergency fund
If possible, try to set aside 3 months’ salary as an emergency fund.

Baby basics
Recent research suggests that the true cost of bringing up baby could run to approx. £186,000 from birth to the tender age of 21.

If your baby is your first then you will have the extra cost of preparing for the first time, cots, car seats, prams etc all add up.

Try to shop around for the best prices although buying more expensive items doesn't necessarily mean they are better quality.

Outgoings
We all have our little luxuries here and there and they add up over time. As life little luxuries can be hard to give up, being pregnant should help you cut back on them without you noticing a huge difference.

Keeping a financial diary is a good way to see where your money is going each month. Do you buy lunch every day at work? why not make your own instead? Not only will it work out cheaper but you can cater for your cravings (however bizzare they may be) and also control exactly what goes into your meal.

Childcare costs
Many mothers decide to return to work so it is essential you factor in childcare costs into your monthly outgoings. For some, family members may live close by and can help out with childcare but for others, your location and the age of the child can all effect cost.

Childcare vouchers schemes
http://www.childcarevouchers.co.uk/
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/childcare/
http://www.busybeesvouchers.com/

Perhaps you could negotiate working from home with your employee helping you to cut your childcare and travel costs?

Useful gifts
Depending on whether you choose to breastfeed or bottlefeed, there are a huge range of helpful gifts friends and family can buy you to help you through the first six months. Instead of your usual baby grows, blankets, mittens, hats, cuddly toys etc perhaps you could ask for a baby bath and toiletries, 3 months worth of baby milk or 3 months supply of nappies and wipes? These items really add to your monthly shopping bill so it’s a great way to keep your monthly costs down.

I tend to buy my baby milk, nappies and other baby essentials with my discounted supermarket vouchers, you occassionally get some good BOGOF deals on wipes and baby food which you can never ever, ever have enough of.

Suited and Booted

With my own wedding only 9 weeks away, the feeling of utter panick seems to be rising with each passing day.

So many things still left to do. The wedding venue is unable to hold more bums on seats than my already scaled down invitation list (which has been the source of many tears) being unable to include some people is probably natures way of making me take stock, evaluate who is still in my life, what they mean to me and who I want to spend my big day with.

The main men at our wedding party have already been suited and booted and I am now trying to talk them all into wearing apple green ties. I need to work on my manipulation skills. WOW green REALLY suits you :-)

Moss Bros are a BaBee discount partner and are offering a 15% discount on all brands and accessories including suit hire, so we will be getting the ties, accessories and shirts from there.

With weddings, work and Christmas do's to go to, the saving should come in very handy indeed, so for all you daddies and grooms out there, grab mummies BaBeeCard and get saving.

Hurry and get an extra discount on your fuel at Sainsbury's

"Spend £50 and get a discount of 5p a litre off your fuel at Sainsbury's petrol stations"

If this offer is still available then you could use your BaBeeCard to buy the Sainsbury's vouchers at a 5% discount, so you would actually be spending £47.50 and recieving the petrol vouchers.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1037170/Petrol-prices-slashed-5p-supermarket-forecourt-battle.html