This day I love.......: top tips

This is a featured post in association with KAP Motors

There are many reasons why people choose to buy a second hand car. The main reason is usually cost as it is usually cheaper to purchase a second hand car than a brand new one. Not to mention the depreciation value is less on a second hand car also. The used car market is saturated with cars, with everything from cheap runaround cars to more luxury cars there really is something for everyone. However, with all the choice comes uncertainty especially when something seems too good to be true but there are certain tips to help clear the murky waters of second hand car buying.

Choose a reliable dealer

Many of the main car dealerships all have an approved used car section. These cars will be made to look and feel like new and will often come with extended warranties from the dealership. Whilst this way of purchasing a used car can often add peace of mind, it is often the more expensive way to purchase a second hand vehicle.

Another alternative is looking at reliable independent dealers such as KAP Motors. KAP Motors offer used Ford cars in Brighton at the best local prices and have a wide selection to choose from. Using a trustworthy dealer can provide reassurance should anything happen post sale, which you would not get with a private seller.

Background research

Once you have found a car you like do a little background research. You may wish to look at how long the car you are interested in has been on the market for. Maybe have a look at the same car at other dealers to see if the price compares. Reading independent guides can also help to give some understanding of how well the car performs over time and as a second hand model.

Test drive

Always test drive any car before purchasing. When doing so drive on a variety of roads and conditions to see how the car performs. The car may handle very differently on the motorway when compared to town driving and it is important to be aware of these before purchasing. Check the brakes by performing an emergency stop and try hill starts to see how well they perform also.

Tax

Finally, remember that the tax on a vehicle is not transferable so once you purchase the vehicle you will need to tax it straight away.

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Now thing 3 has arrived we have been reminded how little new babies sleep. In fairness baby sleeps a lot but for short periods of time, which means we all have broken sleep. I had forgotten all the little things I used to do with the girls to get them to sleep. My eldest liked white noise and my youngest the sound of water.

Today is World Sleep day, I hope my kids take note of this and let me get some sleep tonight! Although I think baby will have other ideas. As a new parent I have tried the following:

White noise

My eldest loved white noise. She has an Ewan Dream sheep which she loved and helped her to settle, there are also lots of white noise apps available to download.

Singing songs

Certain songs helped to settle the girls. A familiar song sang each night before bed helps baby to settle and become familiar with bed time

Pushing the pram

Thing 3 loves to be pushed in the pram and will often fall fast asleep in it. I can then transfer to the crib where they sleep really well.

Pretending to fall asleep

My youngest will fall asleep if you pretend to fall asleep next to her. I think the motion of her watching your eyes close really helps her to settle.

Bath time

Bath time makes my children wake up but I know for many it helps them unwind and can be a great signal for bed time

Quiet time

Before bed every night we have quiet time. This can be doing a jigsaw to reading a book, something to help them relax.

Baby massage

I give baby a massage before bed, which I think is helping to signal that it is time for sleep.

Bed Guru would like to know what are your top tips for helping children to sleep, or unwind before bed? Feel free to leave them in the comments. Once the kids are asleep Bed guru are offering one lucky reader the chance to win a bed time hamper full of things which will help a good night sleep. As an example the hamper includes; Bettys tea room tea and biscuits, Yorkshire Soap co. candle, coconut and Shea butter face mask and Sally Hanson French manicure kit, however contents may vary. To be in with a chance of winning simply follow the instructions below.

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The weather is really horrible at the moment. Blustery wind and heavy rain showers. They both make for hazardous driving conditions. Whilst I am confident in my driving, I would much prefer to stay indoors than have to venture out in the wind and rain.

I am rather lucky that my Dad has a car garage, this means that when these hazardous driving conditions come around I have his expert advice to draw upon to make my car as road worthy as possible. He certainly knows what he is talking about when it comes to the #CarCareClub.

Some of my Dad's top tips are:

1. Screen wash

Check screen wash levels and also make sure they are suitable for cold weather. The concentration of different brands of screen wash varies and so it is important to make sure it is suitable for cold weather. If not it could freeze causing damage to the car

2. Windscreen wipers

Have the windscreen wipers checked to make sure they are clearing the windscreen effectively. Also worth checking for any damage and replacing if needed.

3. Tyres

Tyre safety contributes to more than 1200 road accidents and driving with defective tyres can result in penalties, such as £2500 and three points on the license. Ensure there is adequate tread and tyre pressure. You could even consider purchasing winter tyres from Point S car tyre dealers if you live in an area that is prone to snow.

4. Coolant and antifreeze

I always have my Dad check the antifreeze and coolant levels. The last thing I want is to repair the damage caused by a frozen engine. It is worth checking these or having a local garage check them for you.

5. Be prepared

If something does go wrong be prepared. Have an emergency kit in the car which includes a hi-vis vest, torch, blanket and emergency triangle. A tow rope and de icer are also helpful items to have inside the car.

My own tip is to always have food and drink in the car. You never know when you might need it. I also keep a hat in there and a portable charger so I know my phone is always charged. What are your top tips for preparing the car for Winter?

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Planning to go on a holiday can be stressful, so you need to be organised and disciplined. It’s important that you remember to cover the essential areas of preparation before you go. This means planning for your trip in depth. Have a look at the following tips and use them to get the best out of your holiday.

Decide What Type Of Holiday You Want to Take

The first and most important decision you’ll need to make is the type of holiday you want to take. You might plan on driving around Sweden, camping in Southern France, or even a luxury holiday to New York. Whatever you want to do you need to set a budget. It’s got to be a holiday that’s affordable otherwise you’re not going to enjoy it.

Make Sure Your Passport is in Date

You’d be amazed at how many people forget about this aspect of their holiday. You've got to make sure you know exactly where your passport is, and that it’s in date. If it’s not in date, you need to get it renewed as soon as possible. Make sure this is one of the first things you do. If you leave it too late, it’s going to end up being a mad rush when the time comes. Make your passport a priority as soon as you've booked your holiday.

Spending Money

One thing you will need to sort out carefully is your spending money. Of course, you’ll need to have budgeted for your trip, so you’ll probably already have a figure in mind. Have a look at the sort of prices you can expect to pay in the area you’re going to. Then try to work out a daily budget, and that will give you your figure for the holiday. You also need to think about changing money up as well. This is something you might want to get out of the way before you go or you may wish to do it out there as you can sometimes get a better rate.

Get the Packing Out the Way

Most people hate packing, but it’s a necessary part of the travel process. The best thing to do is to try to get the packing out of the way as soon as you can. This will be a huge load off your mind and will greatly reduce the stress in the build up to the trip. Try to tackle the packing as soon as you decide on your destination. If you can come up with an organised system, you’re going to find that the process is much more straightforward.

Write a To-Do List

You need to compile a to-do list of things you’d like to do when you’re on your vacation. Research the area and have a look at any tourist activities and places of interest. This may well be a once in a lifetime opportunity for you, so it’s important you make the most of it and really go all out to have the full experience. If you plan out all the things you want to do while you’re there, you won’t miss out on anything.

Wherever you’re planning on going for your next holiday, you need to be sure you’re prepared for it. Going on holiday is an exciting, exhilarating experience, but it can also be stressful. There’s a lot you need to take into account to make sure it’s as enjoyable as possible. Hope the travel tips from this post help.

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As a parent I will admit to feeling the pressure to throw a good birthday party. I am not alone though with 42% also feeling the pressure. It is no surprise really when we look in the media and see the lavish parties celebrities throw their children. Without the high price tag is it still possible to throw such amazing parties? Steven Duggen Party planner to the stars shares his top tips:

· There are many ways to achieve a stunning look at home for your toddler's party. It is important to decorate smart, for example, using recyclable products from your home and making interesting hanging features! When hanging, make sure your craft pieces are out of reach of little fingers

· The classic blue for a boy and pink for a girl has now developed into pale greens, yellows and other pastel tones to set a certain theme or 'look'

· Popular hired entertainment includes clay making, balloon modellers and face painting but something you can do at home is to have colouring competitions, cupcake decorating and decoration-making

· For the more lavish or elegant settings you wish to create, the use of a few fun props to hire, coloured wall up-lighting and even tall jungle trees will help to get a great atmosphere within the space. Themes are also impactful. You can choose anything from Alice in Wonderland, to Aladdin, to a Circus party and still be able to create the setting for less by being a little more creative

· The idea is to create a theme that is fun, as busy and detailed as possible, while using art supplies and items from around the house

· Soft play areas and mini ball pits are also very popular for the younger ones. Again you can have an entire floor of soft play and soft shapes to ensure they are safe.'

Like 70% of parents we celebrated our daughters first birthdays with close family.

The spend for first birthdays also varies between locations

London £146.58

North West £119.59

North East £119.29

Scotland £107.77

West Midlands £105.23

South West £101.29

South East £98.63

Wales £96.07

Northern Ireland £90.63

East Midlands £89.93

Yorkshire & The Humber £88.50

East Anglia £70.84

I would love to know your top tips for celebrating birthdays and keeping down the spend. The survey was conducted by Growingupmilkinfo.com where you can find a wealth of information on toddler specific nutrition.

I have not received payment for this post.

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Very recently, and yes I will blog about it soon, we went on our first cruise. It was also our first holiday abroad as a family. As it was our first time on a cruise I wasn't sure what to expect and to be honest was nervous about the whole thing. I suffer from bad sea sickness, in fact most times I just look at a boat and that's it, so a cruise has never been on the top of my list but I have heard wonderful things so wanted to give it a go. I felt the boat move only once and was never ill. In fact I had more problems when we got home getting my land legs back.

I thought it would be nice to put together some top tips from our recent experience to help those who are also going on a cruise for the first time:

1. If the cruise line offers book ground transportation from the plane to the ship, and back again. This worked out a lot cheaper than us getting a taxi, we got there with minimum fuss and everything was taken care of. It was a lot less stressful

2. Have swim costumes, towels and a change of clothes with you to carry onto the ship. You board the ship before your room is ready. It could be several hours before you go inside your room. Having swim kit with you makes sure you can use the pool and relax on the ship. A change of clothes is also nice, just to freshen up after travelling.

3. A fellow blogger Su Tyler advised that on busy days such as Sea days have a look at what other activities are happening on board the other decks of the ship. There maybe a quite spot away from the hustle and bustle of the main activities.

4. A tip which came from Carnival cruises is to book a table at one of the on-board specialty restaurants. Many ships have a variety of restaurants on board, it makes for a great change and for something special to your holiday.

5. Check if you have been allocated a dinning time. Some ships do. Others don't and if not think about when the busy periods might be and avoid them.

6. If you can upgrade to a room with a window it is definitely worth the money to do so.

7. Pick your cruise line company. We went on a cruise with Disney and we heard a man complain that there were too many children on board and that they were ruining his holiday. Yes a serious complaint, which leads to the question who are Disney target audience and what are the likely average age range on that ship? Disney for example cater for kids and families with some adult only areas and other cruise line companies cater for adults with a few kids areas, others are in-between. It is worth researching the company to see what they have to offer, and the likely demographic aboard. Likewise don't let a bad experience with one company put you off cruising, try a different company.

8. Check out the ships. Cruise line companies often have more than one ship. They vary in size, as do the rooms inside and the facilities on board. Have a good look at the ship before you go.

9. We pre booked our port excursions as it meant we could plan our days. We found however we had booked too much and it would have been better to have had a few days on the ship. I would think about the excursions as they are worth booking. We found out that if on a pre booked trip and you get stuck in traffic which therefore leads to you missing your back on board time, the ship will wait. I am not so sure it would if you were not on a pre booked excursion.

10. If you enjoy it and want to do another book on board. We wish we had as we now realise the deal on board booking was actually really good.

We loved every second of our cruise experience and really think the way forward for holidays are cruising. Every day you wake up with some where new to explore. If it is a Sea day there is so much going off and we were very well looked after the whole time.

I have not been asked to write this post, it is all my own opinion.

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