It was a big week for us last week as we found out which secondary school Dylan would be going to. The email was due to arrive on Friday afternoon, I literally felt sick like I was waiting for my A-level results. Remember that feeling? The email arrived whilst I was driving. So I pulled over and took a deep breath and read it. Yesssss! Dylan has got into his first choice school, a really great school.
The secondary school you go to has such an impact on your life, the friends you make, the results you get and the sport you take part in. I am beyond pleased that Dylan got the school he and we wanted. Now to start saving for the school uniform!
Here are the other things I have been doing that have saved money or were fun!
Making a Nappy cake
One of my friends recently had a baby and I went to visit last week for cuddles. I love to make a nappy cake as a gift for my friends. This is a four tier cake made with 1) sweet tin containing useful bits like sudocream, calpol and bubble bath, surrounded with nappies. Layer 2) is baby wipes, again surrounded by nappies. Layer 3 was baby gros and muslin cloths and layer four was cute cuddle teddy.
It doesn’t take long to make and is a perfect gift to make, packed full of essentials and its been handmade so means much more. As because I got the ‘ingredients’ from Aldi its a money saving nappy cake as well. I have a YouTube video where I show how to make one from a couple of years ago.
Sunday Morning Pancakes
Sunday mornings are often about pancakes in this household. Dylan always has football on a Sunday so Jack, Josh and I stay at home and make pancakes. This week in celebration of Shrove Tuesday I made a stack of fluffy American pancakes. I used this recipe from BBC Good Food, the pancakes are so good.
I made them using all ingredients from Aldi, making them extra value for money!
Car Insurance
I finally sorted out the car insurance, whilst spending another wasted hour getting another couple of quotes just to double check I was getting a good deal. I thought I should speak to my existing insurance companies to see if they could beat the quotes I was getting from the comparison sites. No they couldn’t. The best deal was found using the Topcashback comparison service. I get a great deal on my insurance (I say great, its still £520 for two cars!) and I get some cashback as well.
A post about energy switching
I shared my post last week about my latest energy switching. This year I am sticking with Octopus energy who have beaten the best quote from a comparison site by a whole £13 per month. If you are reading this thinking, ohhh I really must check, click here and get a quote. Octopus are really great value, with superb customer service and offer renewable energy tariff at no extra cost.
If you switch using my link we both get a £50 credit to our bill. Thank you!!
Do you put your savings into cash or do you invest?
I explored this subject this week in a post where I have looked at how cash has grown over time versus investments. I reflect on what I did do with my money, I did invest a small amount, and compared this to what I could have had if I had invested more.
If you have savings locked away for the future why not think about putting that money into investments, a stocks and shares ISA is a perfect tool to give a great return in the long run.
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