Making money go further: Tips from your mum

Many have heeded their Mum’s advice to be more frugal. Implementing the penny jar for loose change and cutting down to one takeaway coffee per week can make a big difference, but most mums are savvy enough to know many more tips to help make your money go further. These days there are a whole host of things you can try to get the most out of every pound that comes your way. That said, some of the tried and true money savers that worked for your Mum and her generation are still good to today, even in our fast-paced, technology-heavy world. The speed and mediums of information exchange may have changed, but the fundamental principles of good money management haven’t. Earn It, Save It, Invest It – this is the mantra of many mums, some of whom remain the most successful financial wizards in the world. For more information on how to get most out of your money you can also try the websites of wealth creation education organisations like Learn to Trade.

Here are a number of other tips that will help you spend less and invest more -

Cook at Home

That’s right, one of your mum’s top money saving tips is to spend less on eating out. Cook at home and invite friends to your place rather than going out. If everyone brings a course or a side dish, it can cost you very little to host – you may only have to make the main course. Try sticking to easy-to-freeze meals like pies and pastas with homemade sauces so you can reuse any leftovers easily, plus you can freeze it and thaw later in the week to use as a base for a soup or a great sauce for pizza. Vary your condiments and herbs and you can have a few lovely nights in for very little outlay. Work out how often you eat out, what you spend, and how much this might save you per month. Now think about that money doing something besides sitting in a savings account. Can it pay down some debt? Can it be added to an investment fund you’ve got going? How hard can you make your money work? The harder it works, the more return

Avoid Debt Like The Plague

You’re already ahead if you’re not carrying any personal debt, such as credit card debt, personal loans or store cards. Should you have any accumulated personal debt, cut your expenses to the bare minimum and make it a priority to clear that as quickly as you can. If you’re storing stuff you don’t need or want, see what you can sell it for on second hand sites like eBay or Gumtree. Look for savings on phone data plans and insurance – anywhere and everywhere you can find a spare pound makes a difference. You might even consider selling your car and taking public transport for a while. Put everything you can spare towards that debt until it’s gone. Move forward with a clear household budget that will help you steer clear of the debt treadmill in future.

Invest

Once you’ve paid off your debt, see if you can keep tithing a similar amount of money into an investment account. This is when all your careful money management really starts to be fun, as you can drive your money to work as hard as it can for you. Set some investment goals and track your progress. You’ll find taking a proactive interest in your money pays dividends.

In the end, most mums know that investing is all about making the money do the work. The more you save, the more money you have to invest. And you can take it a little easier if you’ve got your money doing a lot of the hard work.

But what about you, do you have a top tip for making your money go further? Don’t keep it a secret – share it in the Comments box below.

JJ Reviews Minecraft Figures - Steve with Diamond Armour and Animal Mob 6 Pack

JJ was super excited to receive some Minecraft action figures last week.  Take a peek at his video review to see what he thought -



Disclosure: We were sent these 2 packs of Minecraft figures free of charge for the purpose of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

Review - Scotland Yard board game

As a child I recall a friends big brother having the Scotland Yard board game and we always wanted to play it but he used to tell us we were too young and it was not for girls, so I never got to play sadly.

I then don't recall seeing the game anywhere else for quite some years so you can imagine my glee when I was offered the Ravensburger re-released version just recently.  Would we like to review this?  Easy, yes please! JJ was super pleased when it arrived as he knows what Scotland Yard is and he is a little obsessed with cop and spy programs, he seems to be think he is a bit of a super sleuth.

He announced that he could not wait for me and he would start to unpack the game and read the instructions and get on with it himself.  I did of course advise him one person could not play this game alone so he roped in his 6 year old sister. Now this game is aimed at children of 10 years plus and whilst she is a bright little thing it was a bit hard as a first attempt with a bossy 10 year old trying to teach a bossy 6 year old!

Getting Ready
Getting the board and pieces ready for play was easy, all the transport tickets had to be popped out and they are a nice thick laminated cardboard so I think they will last well. The board itself is really up to date and has all the popular London landmarks like Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, the London Eye and even the Shard. It is probably the thickest and most durable board to a game I've ever seen. I'll certainly say that for Ravensburger they know how to produce something that will stand the tests of time.

The Instructions
For some reason you get two instruction booklets and it really was not clear to me why this is. The English text is buried at the back behind 5 other languages and even the main writing on the box is in German, which feels a bit odd when the game is being sold in England and is about our capital city.

You need to prepare yourself to take some time to read these and absorb. As someone is playing Mr X and then others are playing the detectives, there are two different sets of instructions to grasp, so this is not a game you can pick up in 5 minutes.

Objective of the game
Notorious criminal Mr X is on the run in Central London. Can Scotland Yard’s finest detectives track him down, or will he escape forever? One player takes on the role of Mr X, whilst other players take on the role of detectives and work as a team to try to find him. Mr X only reveals his location every 5 moves, but the detectives can get clues as to his location by looking at his travel log, which reveals his chosen method of transport. The detectives also move around the board using taxi, bus and underground tickets, and must try to surround Mr X, and then move to his hidden location to catch him and win. But the detectives don’t always win and Mr X can escape to any of the 199 locations shown on the detailed map of Central London!

Did we enjoy it?
In a nutshell, yes. Once we had got the hang of it but it did take us a few goes to feel as if we knew what we were up to. We have also only played the beginners version of the game so far and we have yet to move to the more advanced or the two person game.

I love the fact that this game teaches kids to strategise and really think about what moves Mr X has made and how they should go about finding him and it also encourages team work as the detectives which is super and well needed in our house!

Another plus point is that no game is ever the same and that keeps it really fresh and means the kids want to come back to it again and again. I'm told that next time Miss M wants to try and be Mister X, so I think we will be roping Daddy in to help her.

How long does it take?
It took us about 5-10 minutes to set up the game and then with 4 players it was about an hour long and that is a real bonus as games like Monopoly can go on forever and ever.

Where can I buy it?
Scotland Yard is available from Ravensburger on Amazon and the price is just £17.99 currently.  I think this is a fabulous deal and real value for money. You can also watch a short video about how to play Scotland Yard on there too.

Disclosure:  We received this game free of charge for he purpose of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

The Adventures of Roborex (review)

Our family loves a good movie that we can all sit down and enjoy together. Something not too heavy but with a nice storyline that we can all giggle at and relate to, but given the ages of our kids it needs to be  U or PG rating. We were sent the Adventures of Roborex and I'm pleased to say it fitted the bill (PG rated) and we had a nice Friday evening snuggled up on the sofa.

The film starts with us meeting James, an 11 year old boy who lives with his dad and pet Labrador Rex, we soon learn that James is a bit of a geek and likes to invent things, not all of which are that great or efficient. He is a really likeable character but seems to be being bullied at school and it is an unlikely friend that comes to his rescue.

It is not long before James discovers a robot cat and dog from the future and we soon learn he has been set a mission from the future - to save the world from the plans of the evil scientist Dr Apocalypse. On the dark side we have the robotic Destructo-cat and on James side is his faithful robot dog Roborex. Have a look at the trailer and see if you might fancy the film , it is a very easy watch and at just 81 minutes long it is god for smaller children too.



Once it was finished I asked all my children (10 year old boy and 6 year old twin girls)  what they thought and they all gave the thumbs up and said it was good and they would watch it again.

The release date in the UK for this film is 16th June 2014 and you can pre-order the DVD for just £7.00 on Amazon.

Run Time:  81 minutes
Certificate: PG

Disclosure: I was sent this DVD for the purpose of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

The kitchen is the heart of your home

For the first time ever I now have a kitchen which is big enough to have a table in it. Do you know how excited I am by this fact? I find it makes such a difference to be able to have the children eat a snack after school and chat to me whilst I tidy up, or they can do their homework. It is also wonderful for family baking sessions as it is a better height level for them.

Whilst my kitchen now is one step further towards the dream kitchen, I still have a long way to go.  The long-term aim is to have a kitchen which is large enough to have a central island and also for it to be open plan onto a family area so everyone can be in one large space but doing separate things. Whilst it might be practical to have closed off rooms, it is so much more friendly to have open-plan living and I really do believe that the kitchen is at the heart of the home.

So what do you think of that kitchen above?  I think this is pretty close to my ideal kitchen - some wood for warmth, use of the beautiful duck egg blue paint, built-in discreet appliances and of course stunning silestone worktops.

Have you heard of silestone worktop? You might not of, I found it was only when I started to look at new kitchens that I learnt just how versatile it is. I'll share with you my top 5 reasons why I believe you should consider silestone for your kitchen work surfaces -

1. Tough - Silestone is an engineered stone, it is made with 94% natural quartz stone particles that are bonded together with resin, this creates a unique stone which is super resilient. It will withstand scratches, knocks, things being dropped on it, stains, scolds and mould too. What more could you ask for with a growing family?
2. Hygienic - When Silestone is made it has silver ions infused into it and this gives it a unique bacteriologic properties, so that when the ions impact with bacteria they inhibit its ability to multiply. Tests find that after several hours there will be fewer bacteria on a piece of silestone, than on a natural piece of marble. I love the piece of mind this gives me as a busy mum.
3. Design variety - As silestone is an engineered product there are so many different colours and patterns to choose from, over sixty in fact. You can have the classic smooth white, right through to bright red and of course there is always room for a sparkly silver flecked black one too (my personal favourite). There is something to suit every design.
4. Consistent - As well as there being a fantastic colour choice, you can also choose the texture to suit your design and family. Silestone comes in high gloss, suede for the softest feeling stone and volcano for something a little more rugged looking. It is brilliant that Silestone is uniform and you can have an ascetically pleasing kitchen without any of the normal blemishes that natural stone can suffer with.
5. Slick - Silestone will give you a really sleek look in your family kitchen. Again as it is engineered it means it can be manipulated more easily and this means that curves and unusual bends in your kitchen should be no problem. It is quite common to see a stylish integrated silestone sink for this inclusive streamlined look.

I bet you are sold now aren't you?  Do make sure you check our silestone when you are planning your kitchen refit.