Some of the best buys include:

Johnson’s baby toiletries from only £1 each, Nappies from £8.00 f0r a mega box and deals on baby wipes.  There are some great deals on baby essential buys such as a microwave bottle steriliser, car seats and dummies.  There are even potties for toilet training at only £1 so you can buy one for each bathroom and an extra for grandmas too !

Instability has racked the UK banking industry since September 2007 with the nationalisation of Northern Rock, part-nationalisation of Lloyds Banking Group (including HBOS) and RBS, the collapse of Bradford & Bingley and the bailout of Alliance & Leicester by Spanish bank Santander.

Maximum compensation limits (and how to make the most of it)

All of your savings are covered up to £50,000 by the FSCS as long as they are not all held with the same savings compensation licence (see link at the top of the page). The limit on joint accounts is £100,000. These limits do not apply to money held with National Savings & Investments or Northern Rock where all of your money is 100% guaranteed by the Government.

• Foreign banks compensation limits

These limits do not apply if your bank is a foreign bank operating in the UK with a higher compensation limit in its home country. For example, as of September 2008, the deposits of the Post Office and Irish banks operating in the UK such as Anglo-Irish Bank, Allied Irish Bank and Bank of Ireland, are 100% covered following an increase in compensation from the Irish government.

• Essential advice: spread your savings

Due to the rule on different savings accounts with one provider, it is best to spread your savings over as many savings institutions as possible. Yet a series of mergers, takeovers, joint ventures and subsidiaries has created a confusing web for savers to negotiate. And this would have huge implications were your savings provider to go bust. If you had three accounts with the same banking group – which does not have separate compensation licences for each of its brands – instead of getting three compensation claims of £50,000, totalling £150,000, you would only get back £50,000. However, if the bank is separately authorised by the Financial Services Authority then you would get a separate compensation limit.

If you are always in credit

The average credit interest rate for a £1,000 balance has slumped to 0.76% from 1.91% two years ago, said Defaqto, the data firm.  Up to 6% can be earned on balances up to £2,500 from Alliance & Leicester’s Premier Direct Account if at least £500 a month is deposited.   It also has a 0% rate on authorised overdrafts for a year.

Dipping into Overdrafts

The lowest rate for arranged overdrafts comes from Cahoot, which charges no interest up to £100 and a rate of 11.8% up to £1,000.   Citibank offers a £500 interest-free overdraft on the Citibank Access account.

If you want Benefits

About 25% of adults earning more than £50,000 pay a monthly fee for their current account, according to Mintel, the market researcher.  Fees can be up to £20 a month but only 12% of those with the accounts use all the benefits, said Which?, and only a handful of accounts offer benefits outweighing account costs.  Some deals can be worth it, though.  Barclays Additions Active offers worldwide multi-trip insurance for families worth £191, against the account’s cost of £180 a year.  It also has a 12.9% authorised overdraft rate and a £300 interest-free overdraft limit.

Edible Christmas Gifts are always a big hit – there is a great selection of ideas at Net Mums including cakes and biscuits, savoury ideas and chocolate and sweets. Remember to have some lovely ribbon and a gift tag to make it special. Below is a simple recipe for some Gourmet Mint Chocolates.

Gourmet mint chocolates

300g white chocolate, finely chopped
½ tsp peppermint essence
50ml whipping cream
75g plain chocolate
100g clear peppermint sweets, crushed

 Arrange approximately 36 foil or paper sweet cases on a baking sheet. Place the cream and 225g of the white chocolate in a bowl set over hot water and allow to melt, mix well. Do not allow to overheat. Add the crushed peppermints and stir until melted. Place the mixture in a piping bag with a plain nozzle, and three-quarter fill the cases. Flatten the top with a wet finger. Chill until set.

 Place the remaining white chocolate in a bowl over hot water and stir until smooth. Pour into a greaseproof-paper piping bag. Melt the plain chocolate in a bowl over hot water and stir until smooth. Pour into a greaseproof-paper piping bag. Cover the tops of half of the mint sweets with white chocolate, put a blob of dark chocolate on the top and draw a cocktail stick through to give a heart shape. Cover the remaining half of the chocolates in the same way but with reversed coloured chocolates. Leave to set.

1) Homemade Christmas cards are lovely especially if you have children, they can draw a picture, stick on some stickers and cover everything in glitter.  Try ebay for blank cards from only 10p each.  There are lots of ideas for you to try at Activity Village or have a look around the house for craft bits and pieces to use up.

2)  Christmas decorations can also be fun to make, an old favourite that is easy to make is Paper Snowflakes.  The site  Paper Snowflakes  has all the information you could ever need about making your own snowflakes with hundreds of patterns – take a look and you could have a great display in no time.

3)  Paper Lanterns are another fun make for the house.  You can make two lanterns out of one A4-sized sheet of paper. You could use coloured paper, but it is much more fun to take white paper and decorate your own.   Next cut the paper in half lengthways and cut a strip off the end and put it aside to make the handle. Fold in half again lengthways and make evenly spaced cuts in the paper along the folded edge to about 1cm or ½” form the edge, then unfold the paper.

If you want to decorate your lanterns with glitter, sequins or shiny stickers this would be the time to go for it!  Finally roll it into a cylinder. You can staple, glue or sticky tape it in place, and finally attach the handle to either side. The finished lanterns could be hung on a Christmas tree separately or stapled to a string to form a garland.

4)  Gift tags are another thing you can make quite cheaply and give the  personal touch.  There are lots of examples to download here and some home-made examples here.

What ever you decide to create have a very Merry Christmas!

Ingredients

100g pudding rice
50g sugar (you may prefer to use slightly less and add fruit or jam at end)
700ml semi-skimmed milk
pinch grated nutmeg

• Heat oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas 2.
• Wash the rice and drain well.
• Butter an 850ml heatproof baking dish, then tip in the rice and sugar and stir through the milk.
• Sprinkle the nutmeg over.
• Cook for 2 hrs, stirring every 1/2 hour or so until the pudding wobbles ever so slightly when shaken.

For a special occasion Venison is a good choice.  It is affordable and lower in fat than many red meats and also very tasty.

Venison and Red Pepper Stew

(Serves 2 as a main meal)

Ingredients:

• 300g diced venison
• 2tbsp flour
• 2tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 red peppers
• 1 leek
• 2 large field mushrooms
• 250ml beef stock
• 250ml red wine
• Sprig of thyme

Method:

1. Pat diced venison dry with kitchen paper and toss with flour.
2. Heat olive oil in a casserole dish and quickly brown the venison all over.
3. Add sliced onion and crushed garlic clove until golden.
4. Add finely sliced red pepper, sliced leek and sliced field mushrooms, and cook until vegetables start to soften.
5. Pour in the beef stock and red wine, bring to the boil, cover and then leave to simmer gently for about 2 hours, or until the venison is tender.
6. Alternatively simmer in the oven at 160C/Gas Mark 3 for the same amount of time.
7. Top up with extra stock or water as necessary.
8. Serve with mash and steamed brocolli.

Voice over IP (VoIP) was developed to provide voice communication in any place in the world. On an old fashioned phone line, you actually pay for each minute you spend on the phone.  International calls are much more expernsive.  Studies have shown that, compared to using an ordinary phone line, VoIP can potentially save you up to 40% on local calls, and up to 90% on international calls, …like the cheap packages offered by Vonage…see link below . On an ordinary phone line, only 2 people can speak at a time.

A comparison of Voice Over IP packages can be found here

With VoIP, you can setup a conference with a whole team communicating at once.

Using VoIP means benefitting from a number of features including:

• Caller ID
• Contact Lists
• Voicemail
• Extra virtual numbers
• An important strength of VoIP phone systems can operate side-by-side with your existing telephone system

Sign Up here for Vonage V Plan

Now I am not the biggest fan of buying the “latest” toy as they often seem to be overpriced, plastic and with limited appeal.

The latest toy for 2009 seems to be the go go hamsters. Now my daughters have seen them advertised and think they are a great idea but then they do seem to like anything shown on TV !!  This time however I thought I would take a look and see what all the fuss was about.

“New Go GO Hamsters are set to take the interactive toy market by storm. Go Go Hamsters are not your standard plush hamster toys, Go Go Hamsters interact with their surroundings and come equipped with some technological wizardry which allows them to talk and navigate around your home. GO GO Hamsters are also very lovable, cute and come in four different colours and characters.”

Now all this sounds great I hear you say, but how much are they?  £30, £40 no they are only £10 each. 

Now to me this sounds very reasonable, maybe even a bargain!  They problem is the accessories, there are lots of fab things to buy from skateboards, cars and carriers so this is probably where they make their money.

So if you want to give a fun presents, that doesn’t cost the earth you had better get your skates on as they are selling out fast.   The last time I checked there were still some hamsters at Tesco Direct but no funhouses to be had anywhere!

Update 10th November – There are still a few chunk’s left at Play.com

Bonfire Night calls for some warming food and can easily be done on a budget. 

Firstly find out the details of your nearest local bonfire display – try this list from the Telegraph  or check out your local newspaper.  Most displays are free so wrap up warm and set off for some fun.  You will save £££s on fireworks and have a safe adn spectacular display to watch.

When you get back have some warming food prepared such as chilli hot dogs – see recipe below, soup or baked potates.  Finish off with hot chocolate and marshmallows and you are done! 

Enjoy your night!

Chilli for Chilli Dogs
Enough for 4-6 hot dogs
2 tbsp sunflower oil 
250g minced beef
1 clove of garlic
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 level tsp mild chilli powder
200g tin or 1/2 a 400g tin of tomatoes 
Salt
Heat a frying pan for about 3 minutes over a moderate heat. Add the oil then, when it’s hot, tip in the mince and break it up in the pan. Keep frying and turning it for about 2-3 minutes until it has browned then tip away the excess fat. Add the tomato paste and mix well with the meat then add the garlic and chilli powder. Stir and mix well. Tip the the tomatoes, breaking down any whole tomatoes with a fork. Season with salt and simmer for about 15 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before using.

image by freeimageslive.co.uk – fmanto