What are the worst Baby Buys – save over £250 !

 Family Money Saving  No Responses »
Oct 062011
 

When you are pregnant you want to buy the best for your baby and many mums find that they buy lots of things they never use.  We have all seen the baby must have lists or the top 10 items for Baby but what are your “worst buys”?

  • Did you buy something that you never used?
  • Did you buy an expensive item and end up using a bargain buy instead ?

We were reading a recent report from Which about your least useful baby items and were surprised at some of the findings.  They think you could save up to £250 by not buying them all.  You can read more here..

baby Carrier1. Fabric Sling.

A sling does not suit everyone, and not every baby likes a sling so it may be an expensive item to buy before the birth.  You may be better waiting and trying to borrow one first.  Find out if it is for you before spending your money.

2. Nappy stacker

We do agree with this one.  It seems fiddly and time consuming to take the nappies out of the bag or box and into a nappy stacker before use.  We would suggest you give this a miss unless you decide later you can’t live without one !

3. Baby washing (top and tail) bowls

They’re not particularly expensive – costing around £3-£10 – but parents told us that two cheap plastic bowls will do the job just as well. I liked my top and tail bowl as it is just easier to buy one bowl than two and they were a nice size so you don’t use too much water.

4. Nappy disposal bin

We definitely agree with this one, they take up lots of space, start to smell and then you have to empty them. Not a great buy unless you live in a flat or your bin is far from the house.

5. Bumbo seat

This is another love or hate purchase. The Bumbo seat, a plastic seat which helps your baby to sit upright, was popular with some parents. 26% of those who bought or were given one said it was one of their most useful products – but 18% said they didn’t need it at all. One parent said: ‘I regret buying a Bumbo – expensive, and both kids hated it’, and the key factor for most of the parents who didn’t get on with the Bumbo seat was that their child didn’t like it or take to it.

Tippitoes Baby Door Bouncer6. Door baby bouncer

Another product which several parents told us their child just didn’t get on with was the door baby bouncer.

7. Baby carrier

Baby carriers can cost anything from £20 to £100 and it’s important that you choose one which is comfortable for you and your child. In the survey 23% of parents who bought or were given a baby carrier said they were one of the most useful products they bought, but 16% didn’t end up using theirs. The main reasons for this were that they felt the baby carrier was more hassle than it was worth (36%) and the child didn’t like or take to it (29%).

8. Ride-on toddler board for buggy/pushchair

I was surprised at this as many mums I know swear by their buggy board. If you have a toddler and a new baby they can be a godsend.

9. Night light

Night lights can cost anything from £3 to £20, and it might be worth seeing how your child reacts to a cheap one before splashing out on something more expensive. And, bear in mind that some baby monitors come with an in-built night light. I never used a night light as both our babies never needed a light at night so I would wait and see on this one.

10. Baby reins

Baby reins typically cost around £5-£15 and can help you keep your child close once they’ve started walking, but not all parents find them useful. Personally I never liked the idea of tying my children up and taught them to hold my hand or the buggy from a young age but they can be useful for very strong willed toddlers!

let us know your worst buys below !!

 Posted by admin at 2:16 pm  Tagged with: , ,

Top ways to save on your Gas and Electric Bills

 Family Money Saving  No Responses »
May 202010
 

Money saving for familiesWe have just had the worst snow in twenty years last month which brought some parts of the UK to its knees.  Everybody is now feeling the fallout of the credit crunch and the recession is starting to take victims. Last month I noticed the biggest jump in my gas and electricity costs so I called my provider. They informed me that the costs were about right for the size of house although my gas was a bit high. My Gas and Electricity bill had jumped to £282 per month. (Ouch!)

Am I being mugged by my utility provider?

It certainly feels as if I am being mugged by my utility provider and the gas and electricity that is being supplied to my home is providing free gas and electricity to the rest of the homes on our development. At least Dick Turpin wore a mask when he was robbing the public. So faced with increasing utility costs I put on my money saving expert hat and started to investigate how I could reduce my gas and electricity costs.

Government Grants website

You could use the Government Grants website which provides a source of information for UK grants for gas central heating, loft insulation and cavity wall insulation. Government grants from 40% to 70% are available to homeowners and tenants for loft and cavity wall insulation. These grants are funded by the utility companies and are non-refundable. These grants will not be around forever and once the funding that has been allocated is exhausted they will finish. They also offer a solar heating grant of £400 towards the cost of installation of solar panels which cost around £4,000 depending on the size of your home. If you do not meet their eligibility criteria for free insulation, then grants from around 50% are available for loft insulation and cavity wall insulation, so you can still achieve a massive saving on the normal cost.

The Governments’ Energy Saving Trust Website

I also discovered that there were grants available to help us implement energy saving measures and help reduce our carbon foot print. The Governments’ Energy Saving Trust website provides grants and they have a wonderful search tool to help you find grants or offers that are available for you in your area. All you need do is complete the questions asked on their search for grants and offers page. You will then be presented with a list of providers offering discounted prices or grants in your area. This is a brilliant site and is packed with great advice and help for saving energy, saving money and reducing your carbon dioxide emissions from your home.

What Savings can I expect from loft and cavity wall insulation

Our homes lose 35% of their heating through the walls and 25% through the roof. At the Governments Energy Saving Trust website they have an Energy Saving House where they show you a full range of energy saving measures. For example by insulating the loft and having cavity wall insulation with a grant you could reduce you’re heating bills by around £365 a year and reduce your home’s carbon dioxide emissions by up to 1.5 tonnes.

You can complete their online Energy Savers report which allows you to understand your homes energy efficiency performance to reduce your energy use and how to save money. The average cost seems to be between £225 to £249 for either cavity wall insulation or loft insulation depending on the size of your home. Although I did find that B&Q the DIY store was charging £199 for either cavity wall insulation or loft insulation depending on the size of your home. If you are over 70 years old you can receive loft insulation and cavity wall insulation for free from the Energy Saving Trust or the Government Grants website.

Old central heating boilers are inefficient

Changing you’re a central heating boiler that is over ten years old will reduce your gas bill as it is thought that these older central heating unit are only 70% efficient. This means that for every £1 of gas that you buy your old unit wastes 30pence of the money you pay for your gas. Add some heating controls taps to your central heating radiators and they could help save you a further 17% of your heating bill when fitted with a condensing boiler along with an upgraded heating control and you could be looking at a total saving of as much as 40% of your heating bill providing a saving of £275 a year depending on the size of your home.

Sixteen ways to save money on your monthly utility bill

To summarize here is a list solutions and other money saving tips that are available to help you reduce your gas and electricity bill. The grants and discounts available will vary according to the size of your home, your location, your annual income and your age.

1. Grants for gas central heating depends on age and benefits being claimed
2. Grants and discounts for loft insulation from £199
3. Grants and discounts for cavity wall insulation from £199
4. Grant of £400 towards the installation of Solar panels
5. Replace existing light bulbs with Energy Saving Lightbulbs, they cost around £2 per bulb and you could expect to save around £45 before it needs replacing. These bulbs use 80% less electricity and will last ten times longer than a standard light bulb. Count the number of bulbs you need and see the savings.
6. Update your Central heating unit if older then 10 years. Consider either a condensing boiler along with an upgraded heating control unit or replace it with a Combi Boiler as this will do away with a conventional hot-water storage cylinder and water tanks in the loft. Costs from £2,000
7. Add heating controls tap to all your radiators, they cost from £7.99 each
8. Switch Utility providers for a better deal.
 and utility bill then you should visit the Energy Saving Trust website where you will find a mountain of further money saving ideas and help.

Anyone can reduce their Gas and Electricity bills

 Posted by admin at 11:53 am  Tagged with: , , ,

How to save money

 Family Money Saving, Money Saving  No Responses »
Apr 262010
 

Money SavingMany people are looking for ways to save money due to the difficult financial times that we’re all suffering through at the moment.  Luckily, there are many ways to save money that should help make a difference to everyone’s pockets and below are a few ideas to help get you started…

Compare prices and find the best deals – It’s important that you find the best deals on the items you’re buying before just purchasing the first one you come to. Different stores have different deals and you’ll be surprised by how much money you could save by simply shopping around. There are many ways to do this but traipsing around the shops in the high street can be tiring and take up a lot of time, the best way to compare prices is by visiting a price comparison site such as moneysupermarket.com and let them to do the hard work for you. The other great thing about checking for deals online is that there are often money off vouchers for the products you’re after and with moneysupermarket.com making sure that they “Search thousands of UK offers for the latest voucher codes and discount vouchers”, you’ll always be sure to get the best deals available.

Clear your credit card debt – One of the best things you can do to help your financial planning along the way is to clear your most expensive debts first, which usually means your credit cards. Now, credit cards offer a very convenient way to pay for goods and services but if you know you’re unable to pay off the whole balance every month then it might be worth considering a low-cost loan as an alternative. Compare the credit card offers online to make sure you know the best deal you’ll get and then decide which option would better suit you and your financial situation.

Consider a pay-as-you go mobile – If you consider your mobile phone a necessity then perhaps ask yourself whether the calls and texts to get with the package are all needed. You could buy a pay-as-you-go phone for as little as £30 and then you’d only have to pay for the odd calls and texts that you need to make.

Make a shopping list – Shopping for food is a huge part of our monthly spending, so it’s worth trying out different strategies and ideas that could help you save money. Many stores spend large amounts of money on researching what makes us buy the things we do and spend more of our hard earned money. Every effort is put into what music is playing in the background and even how fast the music is- you’d probably be surprised if you knew how much these seemingly small things can make a huge difference to what you buy and how much you spend. The best way to make sure you’re only buying the things you need is to simply make a shopping list. By planning what you need for the week ahead, you’ll make sure you don’t go buying things that take your fancy or seem like a ‘good deal’ at the time, but simply the essentials. This should mean you soon start seeing the savings mount up in no time.

A savings article brought to you by the Vouchers team at moneysupermarket.com.

Photo Credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/vinish/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

 Posted by admin at 10:56 am  Tagged with: ,
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