This day I love.......: online

In approximately one months time it will be Christmas. This year is simply flying past, I am not sure where the time is going? I try to be as organised as possible for Christmas shopping, trying where I can to spread the cost throughout the year and wherever possible buying in the sale to save until later in the year.

Some items I have to wait until closer to Christmas day to buy. My children tend to change their minds quite a lot, one minute liking one thing until the next trend comes along and it is here that I have to wait to see what the ‘in’ thing is and buy just before Christmas. With a two year old in tow though I much prefer to do this kind of shopping online. Well who wants to have a two year old having a tantrum in the middle of a shopping centre? I also don’t have the stress of trying to find a parking space, or have to battle through the crowds of people to simply then have to queue for hours on end just to pick up the last few things. Internet shopping is much easier and simply much more convenient.

Certain sites allow you to spread the cost of your online shopping as well. This makes shopping for Christmas much easier, as you can spread out the cost of those presents rather than having to pay in one go and stretching finances even further. Sites like catalogues247 have all the latest fashion and electrical in one place making it a one stop shop for Christmas shopping. There is also free delivery available so I don’t have the additional cost of delivery too.

Using a site like catalogues247 means I can purchase the final few items the girls have asked for for Christmas and spread the payment out throughout the year. I can tick off those wish items too! Then once Christmas is over, and finances are less stretched I can pay for the items and begin to look in the sale to get ready for next Christmas. I find it really does help to plan ahead as best you can and spread the cost throughout the year. Do you have any top tips for helping with the cost of Christmas?

This is a featured post for which payment has been received.

No comments

As 2015 begins to come to an end it slowly is dawning upon me that in 2016 we will be adding another addition to the family. Once Christmas is over with I only have 10 weeks to go at the very most until Thing 3 arrives. I have been told that I am not allowed to go past my due date although this may change at the scan in February, when a delivery plan is put into place.

I have a few bits and pieces left to get for Thing 3 and the very fast approaching arrival and have been doing a lot of shopping online to find not only the best deals but also places where I can buy everything from. I much prefer a one stop shop than having to get things from different places. One such site I have been looking at is Online4Baby who offer everything I need.

The range available at Online4baby really impressed me as did the 1 hour delivery slots and of course the offers available. One of the big items I need is somewhere for Thing3 to sleep when they visit my Mum and Dads house. My Mum used to have a spare cot at her house but we no longer have it. Not wanting to spend a huge amount of money a travel cot would be perfect. they could use the travel cot for sleeping but it could also double up as a play pen during the day. A travel cot can be folded away after use, meaning it won;t take up as much space as a normal cot would do.

My Mum also needs toys for Thing3 such as an activity mat and general baby toys. I have a few from when the girls were little but not many. In the New Year I plan to look at pushchairs and car seats as this is the final big items from my list. Having just bought a new 7 seater car we can now accommodate Thing 3 and a pushchair in the car. We could not have done this in my old car.

Things are slowly coming together, I am hoping the flooring will be finished soon, then I can start unpacking the few boxes of the girls things that are left. t maybe that I discover I need a few more bits, at least I know where to get them from this time!

This is a collaborative post

No comments

Both my girls are very lucky in that Father Christmas gave them tablets for Christmas last year. I am guessing they are not alone in owning tablets as most of their friends seem to have an iPad or at the very least have access to one. Those that do not own one have probably asked for one for Christmas. It would appear that our children are becoming very technology focused.

This is neither a good or bad thing, however as a parent we still want out children to be safe online and also where possible control/limit/manage the time spent online. I know that if my girls use their tablets within an hour of bedtime they just cannot sleep. The use of the internet and their tablets is the cause of many arguments in our house and I am guessing we are not alone.

HomeHalo offers a solution to the arguments and gives us total control over the internet usage for each different member in our household. Each person has a profile, which you can then control the times of the day they can access the internet, turn on a homework mode to block certain distracting content and ensure age appropriate content for each profile. You can set an 'Unlimited' profile to give you unrestricted access for your own profile setting if you wish. HomeHalo uses cloud technology so it can be accessed anywhere using the app or via a web browser.

We have been using the HomeHalo system and it has not affected our existing services and has worked with all our wifi devices. We found everything really simple to set up and it only took a few steps. I was a little worried it might be over complicated but it was really easy to follow the instructions and get going. HomeHalo also offers Internet security so protects against virus and malicious software.

Homehalo is certainly worth having to help give you extra security and peace of mind when your children access the Internet. I know in our household we have found it useful in particular to control the times the girls can access the Internet.

No comments

I remember the day we put our house on the market. We decided to move to be closer to family, better schools and for more space. What we didn't realise at the time was that I was pregnant with my youngest daughter.

Our house sold when I was 33 weeks pregnant, I was still working full time and I had an 18 month old to look after. Stress didn't cover it. What made things more stressful is the house we wanted had sold! We were really disappointed but continued our house search with me heavily pregnant. We fell in love with another house which went to auction. Although we were the highest bidder the owners decided to sell to someone else as they felt they would move quicker.

As luck would have it the original house we wanted came back onto the market and we made an offer straight away, which was accepted. Then the fun started. We had to decide which survey to carry out, which solicitor package we wanted, factor in the different costs of moving and then wait for all the survey results to come back and act accordingly. Some of the results that came back brought back unexpected results and we had to factor in these costs, costs of repairs, bills and other things we originally had not thought of.

I was getting closer to my due date and we still had not got a moving date, stress levels were high. Whilst in labour we got a phone call to give us a completion date, which was then brought forwards and we ended up with 3 days to pack up the house and find a removal van. I was tired, had a newborn baby, a 21 month old and really could have done with out the stress of moving.

I would have loved to have had a fairy godmother to explain exactly what was going on and when. What would happen on moving day, if I had known the movers could have moved the cupboard with items still in them I would not have spent all the time packing things up. Things such as the bills in the new home how to move them across to your name or even to think about ordering your furniture before you move so it is ready for your new home. Yes we spent a month sitting on the floor until our sofa arrived.

Money Supermarket have devised the fairy godmother I needed. An online tool that takes the stress out of moving and even has features built in to save you money.

Money Supermarket have thought about everything to do with moving home. Even what to do with your pets. Something that had not occurred to me until after we moved. Remember to update the pet microchip details, vet and pet insurance details. Money supermarket can also help you discover the cost of your happily every after. This interactive tool is really simple to use and requires answers to a few short questions. At the end it gives you an idea of the cost of moving. I personally loved that the calculator stays with the fairy tale theme.

Whilst we have no plans to move again in the near future, at least I know that if we did I would have a fairy godmother on hand this time with Money Supermarket

I am a member of the Mumsnet Bloggers Network Research Panel, a group of parent bloggers who have volunteered to review products, services, events and brands for Mumsnet. I have not paid for the product or to attend an event. I have editorial control and retain full editorial integrity. I was given a voucher to thank me for blogging about MoneySuperMarket

About me

Follow Us

Popular

Brands