Blog of The Urban Fairy
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Summer Holidays On A Budget
As the new year is upon us, people are already thinking about getting away from the cold weather here in the UK and booking their summer holidays.
I stand in the school playground and hear the other parents saying to one another “oh I can’t wait to dip my toes into the Mediteranean sea again” or “we are only going to New York for a week this year” and I stand and think, we will be lucky if we can afford to go camping this summer!
However there are ways and means to giving your kids a fantastic holiday, one they will enjoy and remember.
1: Try camping, if you think you will hate it (like I did!) just try it, it really isn’t as bad as you think! I love camping now and we go as often as we can afford. A campsite pitch can range between £13-£25 depending on what amenities the campsite offer, the location and the time of year. If you pick a campsite with EHU (electric hook up) this means you can have some luxury, like an electric kettle, a plug in light, a toaster, a fan heater or even a small TV!
2: Many travel agents will offer last minute deals, the later you leave it, the cheaper you can get your holiday. If you have time booked off work and can just ‘go’ then this is great idea.
3: Don’t pay the first price you are given by the travel agent. All travel agents can offer a discount on all holidays. The trick is to look disappointed and say “It’s is just over our budget, which is a shame, otherwise we could have booked right now”, what will probably happen is that the travel agent will ‘go and ask his/her supervisor if there is anything they can do” - sit and wait for your discount This can be from 5% to around 15%. Travel agents work on commission, they want you to book your holiday right now, with them, so use this to your advantage.
4: If travelling abroad, take cash (in your chosen currency) or travellers cheques with you rather than taking cash out while your are there or using your credit card as the charges abroard for this are very high!
5: Whether in this country or abroad, work out a budget and STICK TO IT! Then you don’t have that awful feeling when you come home of “I can’t afford to eat next week, I shouldn’t have bought that 'kiss me quick hat' after all!”
6: Take your medicines, sun cream, first aid kit and toiletries with you. We have a travel kit that we keep with basic medicines. plasters and first aid ’stuff’ in, this has been used on many occassions because not only does it save money, but if you are abroad and suddenly feel a bit under the weather, you have what you need with you. You can include things like Calpol sachets for the kids, paracetomol for you, upset tummy tablets, sore throat lozenges, plasters, antiseptic wipes, indigestion tablets etc. You never know when you might need these.
7: If you are going camping, take some food with you. A good idea is to have a camping store cupboard in a box. Take a foldable plastic crate and fill it with things like tins of beans, bottles of sauce, noodles, pasta, mixed herbs, salt and pepper, tea bags etc this will give you a head start when eating in your tent and nothing has to be kept in a fridge either.
8: If travelling abroad, look for the good old fashioned ‘package holiday’ where everything is included. These holidays are somewhat out of fashion these days, but are such good value.
9: Just because it is ‘Summer’, there is no law to say you have to have your main family holiday during this time! Why not have your main break away over the May half term or October half term instead, it will be quieter and cheaper.
10: Check out Travelodge - if you sign up to their newsletter you get regular emails about their offers and deals. Their latest deal was £9 rooms (a room is up to 4 people, en suite, hair dryer, tea and coffee making facilities, TV etc - they are lovely!) and we just managed to bag ourselves a summer holiday for £63 for the week! (more details in a later post!)
I stand in the school playground and hear the other parents saying to one another “oh I can’t wait to dip my toes into the Mediteranean sea again” or “we are only going to New York for a week this year” and I stand and think, we will be lucky if we can afford to go camping this summer!
However there are ways and means to giving your kids a fantastic holiday, one they will enjoy and remember.
1: Try camping, if you think you will hate it (like I did!) just try it, it really isn’t as bad as you think! I love camping now and we go as often as we can afford. A campsite pitch can range between £13-£25 depending on what amenities the campsite offer, the location and the time of year. If you pick a campsite with EHU (electric hook up) this means you can have some luxury, like an electric kettle, a plug in light, a toaster, a fan heater or even a small TV!
2: Many travel agents will offer last minute deals, the later you leave it, the cheaper you can get your holiday. If you have time booked off work and can just ‘go’ then this is great idea.
3: Don’t pay the first price you are given by the travel agent. All travel agents can offer a discount on all holidays. The trick is to look disappointed and say “It’s is just over our budget, which is a shame, otherwise we could have booked right now”, what will probably happen is that the travel agent will ‘go and ask his/her supervisor if there is anything they can do” - sit and wait for your discount This can be from 5% to around 15%. Travel agents work on commission, they want you to book your holiday right now, with them, so use this to your advantage.
4: If travelling abroad, take cash (in your chosen currency) or travellers cheques with you rather than taking cash out while your are there or using your credit card as the charges abroard for this are very high!
5: Whether in this country or abroad, work out a budget and STICK TO IT! Then you don’t have that awful feeling when you come home of “I can’t afford to eat next week, I shouldn’t have bought that 'kiss me quick hat' after all!”
6: Take your medicines, sun cream, first aid kit and toiletries with you. We have a travel kit that we keep with basic medicines. plasters and first aid ’stuff’ in, this has been used on many occassions because not only does it save money, but if you are abroad and suddenly feel a bit under the weather, you have what you need with you. You can include things like Calpol sachets for the kids, paracetomol for you, upset tummy tablets, sore throat lozenges, plasters, antiseptic wipes, indigestion tablets etc. You never know when you might need these.
7: If you are going camping, take some food with you. A good idea is to have a camping store cupboard in a box. Take a foldable plastic crate and fill it with things like tins of beans, bottles of sauce, noodles, pasta, mixed herbs, salt and pepper, tea bags etc this will give you a head start when eating in your tent and nothing has to be kept in a fridge either.
8: If travelling abroad, look for the good old fashioned ‘package holiday’ where everything is included. These holidays are somewhat out of fashion these days, but are such good value.
9: Just because it is ‘Summer’, there is no law to say you have to have your main family holiday during this time! Why not have your main break away over the May half term or October half term instead, it will be quieter and cheaper.
10: Check out Travelodge - if you sign up to their newsletter you get regular emails about their offers and deals. Their latest deal was £9 rooms (a room is up to 4 people, en suite, hair dryer, tea and coffee making facilities, TV etc - they are lovely!) and we just managed to bag ourselves a summer holiday for £63 for the week! (more details in a later post!)
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Happy Festivities!
We are going to have a break from blogging over the next week as we have so much going on here over the festive season so I just wanted to take this time to wish you all a very happy holiday.
However and whatever you celebrate have a lovely time!
However and whatever you celebrate have a lovely time!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Family Gardening On A Budget
Gardening does not have to be an expensive hobby, there are ways and means to be able to garden even on a very tight budget, all you need is a little time and effort.
Gardening can be a family activity, it can be something you start and then develop over the year, something you are all involved in.
So here are our 10 tips to help you on your way to gardening on budget.
1: Organic is the best way to go and believe it or not, it is cheaper to go organic than it is to use various chemicals and fertilizers. Use organic methods of pest control such as broken egg shells to deter slugs. Use organic compost which these days (as said in our previous post) is no more expensive than ordinary compost.
2: Container and tub gardens are not only a great way for children to start experimenting with gardening but also for space saving and for gardening on a budget. Large tubs can be bought for as little as £2 in various cheapy shops.
3: When planting seeds to grown on to seedlings, don’t fork out (exuse the pun!) loads of money for plant pots, use yoghurt pots, toilet rolls and cut up kitchen rolls. You can also use butter tubs, fromage frais pots, mousse pots and more. Just make sure they are all thoroughly clean.
6: if you are still running a blank, use empty butter tubs as a hand held shovel and spade. Use a rolling pin as a dibber, the possibilities are endless
7: Use old fencing or wooden pallettes to make garden furniture or even make a new fence.
8: When buying plants, try to look at various outlets before buying them. Plants can very expensive in some garden centres, however there are other places you can buy them, the supermarket, DIY stores or even go to your local plant sale that many village halls have during the summer.
9: Growing from seed is much cheaper than buying in seedlings or plants.
10: If you have the room, sow more seeds than you need, then when you start sorting through your seedlings you can sell the ones you don’t have room for and make a couple of pounds!
Gardening can be a family activity, it can be something you start and then develop over the year, something you are all involved in.
So here are our 10 tips to help you on your way to gardening on budget.1: Organic is the best way to go and believe it or not, it is cheaper to go organic than it is to use various chemicals and fertilizers. Use organic methods of pest control such as broken egg shells to deter slugs. Use organic compost which these days (as said in our previous post) is no more expensive than ordinary compost.
2: Container and tub gardens are not only a great way for children to start experimenting with gardening but also for space saving and for gardening on a budget. Large tubs can be bought for as little as £2 in various cheapy shops.
3: When planting seeds to grown on to seedlings, don’t fork out (exuse the pun!) loads of money for plant pots, use yoghurt pots, toilet rolls and cut up kitchen rolls. You can also use butter tubs, fromage frais pots, mousse pots and more. Just make sure they are all thoroughly clean.
4: Don’t be fooled that cheap tools are a bargain, some times these can be a false economy as they are not strong enough and can break easily. Why not try borrowing some or even purchasing some good strong second hand tools.
5: If you cannot find any second hand or borrowed tools, why not check out your local Freecycle group for them?
6: if you are still running a blank, use empty butter tubs as a hand held shovel and spade. Use a rolling pin as a dibber, the possibilities are endless
7: Use old fencing or wooden pallettes to make garden furniture or even make a new fence.
8: When buying plants, try to look at various outlets before buying them. Plants can very expensive in some garden centres, however there are other places you can buy them, the supermarket, DIY stores or even go to your local plant sale that many village halls have during the summer.
9: Growing from seed is much cheaper than buying in seedlings or plants.
10: If you have the room, sow more seeds than you need, then when you start sorting through your seedlings you can sell the ones you don’t have room for and make a couple of pounds!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Am I Mum Or A Geek?
Are there really such things as Mum Geeks? Or are the Mums of today just becoming more technology aware? Personally, I think it is a bit of both.
I am a bit of a geek, there is no denying it. I love digital art, I can write scripts and modules for various pieces of software, I can work my way around a computer easily and love my mobile phone ;) Through the bits and bobs that I do, I see a lot of mothers who use information technology (that’s ‘computers and the internet’ to non-geeks) regularly. One hand on the pushchair, one hand on the blackberry checking their emails. But is this right for this day and age? Is this how motherhood is going to be from now on? Maybe, but you do need to get the balance right!
As much as I love my laptop, I love my kids more. Some mums seem to constantly tap away, morning, noon and night on their computer (I haven’t got as bad as that yet!) and I find that kind of sad. I used to do a lot of writing and would spend a lot of time on the laptop and so did my husband, we have both calmed down now as our family is more important. We both love gadgets and technology but recent times, financially, have stopped us from buying all the latest doodads and whizzygigs and we have been focusing on what really matters. The kids!
Over the past 18 months we have spent a lot of time in hospital with our children. Our youngest nearly died in November 2007 with meningococcal septicemia and since february our eldest has been suffering from HSP which means unless you leave the hospital you are unable to use your mobile phone because of safety risks. You certainly cannot take your PC with you!
My daughter was in hospital again this weekend with her HSP and I found that the only time I used my mobile was to (now you are probably going to faint so sit down ready) was to phone people!
So I may be a geek, I may be a mum geek, but I am a mum more than anything and that will always remain.
I am a bit of a geek, there is no denying it. I love digital art, I can write scripts and modules for various pieces of software, I can work my way around a computer easily and love my mobile phone ;) Through the bits and bobs that I do, I see a lot of mothers who use information technology (that’s ‘computers and the internet’ to non-geeks) regularly. One hand on the pushchair, one hand on the blackberry checking their emails. But is this right for this day and age? Is this how motherhood is going to be from now on? Maybe, but you do need to get the balance right!As much as I love my laptop, I love my kids more. Some mums seem to constantly tap away, morning, noon and night on their computer (I haven’t got as bad as that yet!) and I find that kind of sad. I used to do a lot of writing and would spend a lot of time on the laptop and so did my husband, we have both calmed down now as our family is more important. We both love gadgets and technology but recent times, financially, have stopped us from buying all the latest doodads and whizzygigs and we have been focusing on what really matters. The kids!
Over the past 18 months we have spent a lot of time in hospital with our children. Our youngest nearly died in November 2007 with meningococcal septicemia and since february our eldest has been suffering from HSP which means unless you leave the hospital you are unable to use your mobile phone because of safety risks. You certainly cannot take your PC with you!
My daughter was in hospital again this weekend with her HSP and I found that the only time I used my mobile was to (now you are probably going to faint so sit down ready) was to phone people!
So I may be a geek, I may be a mum geek, but I am a mum more than anything and that will always remain.
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