Waitrose take on Sainsburys' and Tesco

According to Waitrose "We believe that you should be able to shop for a fair price without compromising on quality or service. As well as our celebrated Tesco price match* on branded goods, we feature an ever-changing range of special discounts and seasonal offers on our website, and are even trialing a pre-pay delivery scheme to help you save even more on your weekly shop. So you get Tesco prices, Waitrose quality and outstanding Ocado service"

They also state that "Ocado is cheaper than Sainsburys' on 2,013 products"

So, BaBeeCard will save you 8% at Waitrose/Ocado.....definately worth a check on http://www.mysupermarket.com/

Tens Machine and electricution

It hurts! taking off the tens machine pads when they are still on is not big and certainly not clever. Take my word for it! it's a nasty shock and my machine is still sitting in the naughty corner. I did manage a laugh though when I threw one of the pads in a temper and my husband picked it off his leg and yelped.

Tens machines are little miracle workers (when you use them properly) and my latest fixation is using it to get my muscles ready for the New Year gym fest. I have heard it works wonders for back pain during labour although I don't think I could trust myself not to pull the pads off and electricute myself again whilst in the throes of pain. If you have more self control then there is no end to the uses of a Tens machine.

For exercise: muscle building - rehabilitation - massage - endurance - power - crosstraining

Pain management: rheumatoid and Osteo-arthritis - menstrual pain - labour Pain - peripheral Nnerve injuries - shingles - headache and migraine - sports injuries - sciatica - aching joints - post operative pain - muscular pain - whiplash and neck injury and many others

Boots sell a good variety and you can collect loads of advantage points.

Boots BaBee discount is 8% off all in-store items.

Save money in the run up to Christmas

Price checkers
Compare prices online with these shopbots.

http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/
http://www.kelkoo.co.uk/

Food & drink
Compare supermarket prices to find the best deals on your groceries. Save an extra 5% off Sainsburys' and ASDA, and an extra 8% off Waitrose, Ocado.com and Laithwaites.

http://www.mysupermarket.com/
http://www.laithwaites.co.uk/

Travel
By rail or car, check out the cheapeast petrol prices and fares. Save an extra 5% off your petrol at Sainsburys' petrol stations with BaBeeCard.

http://www.petrolprices.com/
http://www.thetrainline.com/

Smellies
Everyone loves receiving perfumes, aftershaves, bodysets and good ol' smellies. They make great stocking fillers and ensure there is something to hand after the brussel sprouts have worked their way through the male guests digestive tracts :-)

Feel Unique have some fantastic prices and really good brands.

Example: Gucci Envy Me by Gucci 30ml spray

RRP: £27.00
Feel Unique price: £18.00 (incl. delivery)
BaBeeCard price: £16.20 (using your 10% discount)
Total saving: A massive £10.80!

Reduce your monthly outgoings immediately with a BaBeeCard - plan, budget and save throughout 2009!

Seksy watch by Sekonda for women.

If you are currently a BaBee Cardholder then today's offer is for this gorgeous watch from the highly popular fashion brand ‘Seksy’ by Sekonda.

It's elegant style will suit any age!

It comes on a velvet cushion in a sleek presentation box, ready to delight the lucky recipient.

A great Christmas present for girlfriends, wives, sisters, aunts, mums and daughters out there who would just love to flaunt this on their wrist!

As usual, our offer price includes delivery and will be delivered in time for Christmas as long as your order is placed by 16 December.

• Genuine leather strap


• Polished chrome


• Stainless steel case back


• Swarovski Crystal decorations


• Black dial with chrome hands


• Full 2 year guarantee


• Comes in Seksy presentation box

Original price: £49.99*
BaBeeCard price: £18.00 (including delivery)
You save an amazing £31.99!

PS. Did you know that we offer discounts on vouchers for the entire range of Arcadia Group shops, including Topshop, Topman, Wallis, Miss Selfridges, Evans, Outfit, Dorothy Perkins and Burtons? 8% off all vouchers ordered via your BaBeeCard!!

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?