Kalixa Pay - helping you to manage your finances at home or away!

There is no getting away from the fact that many of us are struggling to manage our finances in this economic climate. Times are hard with prices in supermarkets going up every week.  The price of petrol and our household fuel bills are at an all time high.  Our hard earned cash has never been so stretched.  With a few changes we can however regain control of our bank balance and get our budgets back on track.

The Kalixa Pay prepaid MasterCard® is a pay as you go card which can help you stick to a monthly spending budget safely and easily.  You simply transfer the money you wish to spend for the week or month onto the card, and use it instead of your usual debit card.  It is a simple, secure and effective payment option  for online or in store purchases, helping you keep track of what you are spending.  It is a great solution for families trying to manage their finances in the New Year.

The benefits of using Kalixa Pay to help you budget are:

• You receive a free email or SMS alert every time you use your card (for purchases over £5) detailing what you have spent and your updated account balance ensuring you always keep on track of your spending.
• The account includes an online portal (eWallet) so you can keep an eye on where your money is going how much is left to spend. 
• The card has no overdraft facility so you can rest assured that you cannot exceed the amount pre-paid onto the card. This means you will not be stung by expensive unexpected overdraft charges.
• Your Kalixa Pay account is not linked to your main bank account, so even if the worst was to happen and your card is cloned or stolen, you will not lose your entire bank balance.
• Sticking to your budget will definitely help to improve your finances!  With the Kalixa Pay card, when the money's gone, it's gone, so you won't be tempted to overspend.

The Kalixa Pay prepaid MasterCard® also gives you a simple solution to spending when abroad. With zero foreign exchange fees and the most competitive rates on the market, it allows you to top up with one currency and spend in any other giving you total flexibility and convenience.  Perfect for both business or pleasure trips and a great way for families to manage their money when holidaying abroad.

This simple payment solution is perfect if you need multiple currencies or frequently travel to different locations. Kalixa Pay enables you to pay securely in any currency, both online and at over 36 million locations worldwide, eliminating the hassle of carrying and exchanging cash. Simply top up your card and you are ready to go. If you do need cash on your travels you can also use your Kalixa Pay card to withdraw your money at over 1.2 million ATM’s worldwide. (International ATM Fee - £2.25)

Once your trip is over, if there is money left on your card you do not have to worry about the exchange rates  or charges involved in converting your money back to Pounds Sterling. You can just continue using your card once you are back home - no fees, no hassle. 

The free SMS alerts detail exactly what you are spending allowing you to make your holiday spends go further and keep track of how much you are using to buy souvenirs, ice-creams, sun cream or meals out! Especially useful if you are one of the 10% of holidaymakers who admit to recklessly spending all their holiday money within 48 hours of arriving at their destination!

I really like the idea of the Kalixa Pay cards for older children, allowing them to go out shopping independently with a budget they can't exceed.  You can give them a clothes budget or the money for a day out already pre-paid onto the card.  This way, they won't be carrying large sums of cash and you, as a parent, can keep tabs on what they are spending.  It gives youngsters the opportunity to learn about budgeting and gives them independence, while you keep hold of the purse strings.  It is also a simple way to help a child who is away at university, by topping the card up weekly for grocery shopping or other expenses.  Again it allows them to learn how to manage money in the real world, without the danger of going over budget.  

The Kalixa Pay prepaid MasterCard, including the eWallet service, is available for a one-off payment of £6.95.

For more information and to register for your Kalixa Pay MasterCard visit www.kalixa.com/Pay.

This post is a PR collaboration.

How To Live Well For Less - Sainsbury's Back to Basics Challenge

How can you stretch the family grocery budget yet still make delicious meals for the family??   This was the challenge set to me by Sainsbury's who provided us with a £10 voucher to purchase the ingredients to do just this!

Nowadays, with the cost of living going up all the time, we simply have to stretch our budget further than ever before. Thankfully there are tips we can use to make the most of our money and not waste our hard earned pounds and pence.

• Using smart substitutions and combining fresh, packaged, canned and frozen food can help make delicious and nutritious meals and save you cash. For example, buying a bag of frozen spinach, ready prepared and in portion sized chunks works out must more cost effective than buying fresh spinach in many recipes.  Sainsbury's frozen spinach is £1.50 for a big bag and will last for ages.
• The Sainsbury's Basics range gives us the opportunity to live well for less by providing a huge range of budget essentials.  The fuss free packaging and lower prices do not mean you are compromising on quality. It is well worth giving them a try. Basics products include cheese, yogurt, pasta, rice, vegetables and much more.  They help make your more expensive ingredients go further!
• Looking out for products on special offer or reduced fresh produce that is reaching its sell-by date is a great way of getting good food for less.
• Freeze leftover meals in portion sized quantities and make your own ready meals to use at a later date or to take to work for lunch.  Dishing up one extra portion of your evening meal for freezing is also a good way to reduce your own portion size, so it's a good habit to get into.
• Bulk cooking is a great way to use up ingredients.  For example making a big batch of tomato and vegetable sauce using up all the veggies left in the fridge and freeze in plastic bags or tubs in ready to use portions. You can use this sauce as a base for different meals throughout the week: curry, chilli, pasta etc.  It saves on both waste and money!
• Look out for special meal deal offers in store that save money when you buy the ingredients for a particular meal at a multi-buy price (such as noodles, stir fry vegetables and Chinese sauce).  Tailor your weekly meal plan around what is on special offer in store.
• Get creative in the kitchen.  Find ways to incorporate economy items into meals that look and taste much more expensive than what they cost.  Being experimental with new items of food when they are on offer can introduce you to a new family favourite!

Following these simple rules allows us to have a much better lifestyle on a tight budget. Over the past few months I have cut my grocery budget down by a third, so I'm always on the look out for ways to maximize what I spend in supermarkets.

I did a shop in Sainsbury's today and purchased a selection of fresh, frozen and packaged goods with my £10 budget.  Some of the food I bought was in a meal deal, some was on multi-buy, some was on special offer and the rest was from the Basics range! 

Basic blue cheese £1.42

Basic spaghetti 30p

Basic Sponge Mix 22p

Stir Fry Meal Deal: Fresh noodles, Edamame bean stir fry and blackbean sauce £3.00

Beansprouts 80p

Basic Soft Cheese 73p

Frozen Spinach £1.50

Lemon Curd 62p

Lemon 30p

Portobello Mushrooms £1.00

The Chinese Stir Fry meal deal is an easy midweek dinner.  I'll just add something from the freezer such as Quorn pieces or a packet of Tofu, plus some extra veggies from the fridge, to make it go further.  It's quick, easy, tasty and great value!  Much cheaper than a Chinese take away!

Here are two further recipes using the other ingredients I bought along with a few store cupboard essentials.

Blue Cheese Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

8-10 small Portobello Mushrooms

Half tub of Basics Cream Cheese

1 Onion chopped

75g chopped frozen Spinach (defrosted)

Half a slice of bread

100g Basics Blue Cheese

2 Garlic cloves

ground pepper

Remove stalks from mushrooms and put into food processor with the onion, bread, spinach and garlic. Blitz.

Add cream cheese and blue cheese and seasoning. Blitz.

Top mushrooms with mixture and then grate over extra cheese if required.

Cook at GM 6 for 15 minutes until bubbling!

Serve with Basics Spaghetti or Basics Rice, vegetables or salad.

Mini Lemon Drizzle Cakes

1 packet of Basics Sponge Mix

1 egg 

Water 

2 tablespoons of  Lemon Curd

Juice and zest of half a Lemon

icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 200°C.  Put 12 cake cases in tray.

Mix up the cake mix as instructed on the packet using the eggs and water. 

Stir two tablespoons of lemon curd and the zest of half a lemon into the cake batter

Pour the cake mix into the cases and bake for 8-10 minutes until the centre of the sponge springs back when pressed with your fingertips

Remove from the oven and cool

Make up a lemon icing using the juice of half a lemon with icing sugar.  Drizzle over the cakes.

                             

The ten pounds worth of shopping has gone really far.  We have had stuffed mushrooms, lemon drizzle cakes and a stir fry on the cards for tomorrow.  There is still plenty of spinach left, plus cream cheese, lemon curd and spaghetti.  It's amazing how far £10 has gone.  It goes to show that by shopping carefully we can eat well and feed our families nutritious meals.

Financial Thinkings

When it comes to finances, we should never bury our heads in the sand.  With the current economic climate affecting us all, now is the time to discuss money matters and make plans to protect our families from the recession for now and the future.

Like many families we have financial concerns.  We have two older children who live away from home who we worry about financially.  We often need to help out the kids and a lot of our savings have dwindled because of cars, house deposits and unexpected expenses that they can't afford to pay.  Our 17 year old daughter is going to be going to university in 2014 and will not be entitled to any financial help from the government other than her student loan.  We will be supporting her to fund her living expenses.  Most worryingly of all, Ian's job is yet again under threat as his company has been bought out and many of the personnel are in fear of compulsary redundancies.  It isn't the first time that the fear of being made redundant has reared its ugly head, but it is still just as frightening.  I try not to worry about it too much, because I don't want it impacting too negatively on my everyday life.  But we do need to have plans in place in case of the worst.

I was really interested to follow the Live Financial Q & A (broadcast in conjunction with the Markettiers4dc Parenting Broadcast Blogger Network and brought to you by Bright Grey) which offered advice on financial planning and answered questions that were put to them by other families.  We have always been good with money and have no outstanding debts aside from our mortgage.  However, for the reasons listed above, I can not become complacent about our future. Today's economy is causing us all to feel the pinch, and supporting grown-up kids who are struggling to make their own way in the world is eating up our nest egg. 

The best advice is to balance the incomings and outgoings.  Our income is generally pretty static, but there is lots of maneuverability with what we spend.  Obviously there are the utility bills, mortgage, council tax etc but other expenditure can be cut resulting in big savings.  Keeping a budget plan can really help keep the finances in check.  It is a real eye opener to see where your money goes each month.

Keep an eye on your spending

Living today is expensive, but things we think of as essentials really are not!  Sky TV packages, eating out, takeaways, Starbuck's coffees, top of the range gadgets with high end contracts - these are all luxuries!  There is always room to cut down on your outgoings and spend less on life's incidentals.  Cutting down can save a small fortune every month.  This money can be set aside.

My parents always advocated "saving for a rainy day" and I have followed in their footsteps to some extent.  As I've spent a good proportion of the last 20 years as a stay-at-home-mum, I have not got a retirement plan.  I was pleased to hear that you can make provision for your future through regular savings, you don't need an actual pension.  So I am less panicky about my future income and will be disciplined enough to put something aside for that purpose.

Every penny counts

We currently pay out on a life insurance policy and also have an endowment policy from an old mortgage which we still pay into as a windfall for our future.  I often think that we could stop paying into them to save a few pounds and cash in the endowment, but that these are still sound investments.  However, we should consider some financial advice from a professional to make sure all our policies are still  the best for us now.  Circumstances constantly change and we are never sure what lies ahead, so regular financial check-ups can help keep our finances healthy.  Otherwise it's like buying a car and never servicing it!  We need to take care of our finances and professionals are best placed to advise us.

I hope my eldest children soon become financially independent, which will be a massive help to our finances.  However, we still have three other kids to raise and help to  teach the value of money.   In the short term, we will be having a family finance meeting to work out where we can all make savings and to ensure that we put something away every month to build up our savings giving us some financial protection for our futures.  This security is invaluable, because none of us now what tomorrow may bring.

Here is a link to a live financial advice clinic:

http://www.studiotalk.tv/show/live-financial-advice-clinic

It gives plenty of helpful advice to anyone who wants to plan their finances for now and for the future.

The Weekly Essentials Challenge - How Much Could YOU Save??

Switch To Poundland and Save Money

With everything in the supermarket costing so much more these days, shopping around for bargains and special offers can really cut a chunk off of the weekly shopping bill.  But this can be complicated and time consuming as we try to work out which supermarket will be the cheapest option from one week to the next.   So it was with real interest that I heard that Poundland has launched over 100 new grocery lines, selling big brand favourites for just £1!

Poundland stocks more than 3000 everyday essentials and over 1000 top brands including household favourites such as Warburtons, Heinz, Cadbury's, Kellogg's, PG Tips, Dorset Cereals and Ambrosia.

I was challenged to spend £15 in store instead of in my usual supermarket to see how much I could save by  incorporating my Poundland shop into my weekly spend.  I mostly opted for breakfast items and packed lunch and snack products as these are essentials that we buy week in, week out for the kids.  The range also included chilled items, fresh fruit and vegetables and baked goods.

Here is my shopping list with the prices of the products that I would have paid in a supermarket at full price excluding any special offers (sourced from mysupermarket.com):

                       

Kellogg's Cornflakes 375g                           £2.09                                        

Kellogg's Rice Krispies Bar                         £1.99                                         

Oreo Cookies snack pack                           £1.29                                          

Mug Shot Pasta (3 for £1)                           75p each

Tilda Mushroom Rice (3 for £2)                  £1.59 each

Fruit Bowl Yogurt Raisins                            £2.00

Fruit Factory Lunchbox Snacks                   £1.49

       Quavers 5 pack                                   8 for a 6 pack

Heinz Squeeze and Stir (3 for £1)               59p each

Daddies Brown Sauce 600g                       £1.98

Nestle Shreddies                                         £2.29

Ready Brek Squeezers                               £2.18

Harvest Chewee Bars 8 pack                     £1.69 for a 9 pack

Capri Sun 5 pack                                       £1.86

Total cost in Poundland £15.00

     Total cost in supermarket £29.33

Obviously supermarkets may sometimes have BOGOFs, 3 for 2 offers or price cuts on the products you want to buy, but it is good to know that with Poundland everything costs just one pound every single day, making it easier to budget and compare deals.  Some of the products came in slightly smaller sizes but the savings were still impressive. Just be sure to do a quick weight comparison to see if it is still better value. The sell-by dates are all well in the future so you are not compromising on shelf life or quality.  These are the same top brand products that you will find in a supermarket, consistently on sale for just £1.

The Ready Brek Squeezers are a brand new product on the market that we've seen advertised on TV.  I didn't mind giving them a try for £1 but wouldn't pay the £2.18 price tag that the supermarket next door to Poundland was charging.  Freddy was particularly pleased with this bargain and wanted to try one as soon as we got home.

I was quite amazed at the savings to be made in Poundland on everyday grocery items.  I've never really considered Poundland for food shopping before, but was pleasantly surprised!  The only downside is that my nearest store is in the middle of a shopping centre.  I could only buy what fitted in my hand basket and then I had to carry my bags back to the car park which is quite a trek, meaning I couldn't buy too much, but for buying a few big brand essentials it is excellent.  I will definitely stock up on Kizzy's lunchbox snacks.  The Fruit Bowl and the Fruit Factory dried fruit snacks are her favourites, but they are so expensive in my local supermarket.  For £1 a pack, she can have them every week!  I am very glad to know about all the grocery items available to buy in store at Poundland and will definitely include them when considering my weekly shop in the future.  The 15 items I purchased in the challenge saved me a whopping £14.33 against a supermarket shop, that makes a Poundland basket virtually half the price of a supermarket basket.  That is a saving you simply can not ignore!!

Find out more on their website's Food and Drink section. 

I received a £15 voucher in order to take the grocery challenge with Poundland.

Our Money Saving Day Out

Today we headed to St David's Hotel near Chester to take part in the moneysupermarket.com Super Kid Savers challenge day.  Last year I entered a blog post about teaching money skills to children and was delighted when Kizzy and I were chosen to take part in the final challenge.  I was even more pleased that Ian, Ella and Freddy were allowed to come with us, giving us an opportunity for a nice day out together.

We arrived at the venue where we met the lovely ladies Eshe and Lucy who looked after us.  It was lovely to see fellow bloggers Michelle and  Rachel who were there with their boys, eager to take part in the challenge!

The challenges were all based on saving money and budgeting.  The main part of the challenge was to shop for a list of grocery essentials where the kids had to work out the best way to spend their money using multi-buys, own brands and alternative products.  They could buy luxury items too if they wanted too.

Kizzy has obviously spent too long listening to me going on about the price of groceries in supermarkets and saving cash because she resolutely stuck to buying bargain items and refused to stray or be tempted by the chocolates and toys.  She went as far as to say she would save the change to buy a chicken so she could get free eggs from it!

Other challenges were maths based worksheets which were a lot of fun.  Deciding on a dream outfit or things to take to a desert island whilst sticking to a tight budget challenged the children (especially when us mums said they had to do it without calculators in order to polish up their maths skills!)  I was impressed with everyone's enthusiasm and ideas!

The children also designed rockets and stacked chocolate coins and solved an anagram by collecting letters, which read 'Super Kid'!  All three of the children certainly were Super Kids as they all worked really hard on their challenges winning spot prizes along the way.

As Kizzy is more of a fan of words than numbers she also wrote a lovely acrostic 'Money Saving'  poem which I thought was fabulous.  It is lovely when something inspires them to be so creative.

The funniest thing was the interview where the children were asked how much they think certain things cost along with other money related questions.  I was quite surprised by some of Kizzy's answers.  Whereas she knew the price of milk and bread, she had no idea about holidays or cars.  She thought a family car cost £100,000 and a round the world trip would cost £1000,000.  She also said you needed £6000 to be considered rich (random) and the biggest sum of money she could think of was £100 which she'd use to buy an iPad.  Bless her and how her brain works!!

Ella and Freddy had a lovely time too and enjoyed the activities that they took part in.  You are never too old or too young to stack chocolate coins or draw a space rocket!

Huge thanks to Money Supermarket for making us all so very welcome and supplying us with lots of yummy food and lots of fun activities that kept us all busy and entertained.  Thanks also for Kizzy's box of goodies that she received.  We had a lovely day!

Poundland Christmas

My latest task as a Poundland Ambassador is to buy Christmas essentials across a series of categories for £20.  So armed with my £20 voucher I headed to my Poundland store to stock up. As ever, I was very impressed with the range in store and with everything costing a pound it is very easy to tally up what you are spending.

I fell in love with the Gingerbread Man range of goodies. I picked up a set of three melamine tumblers and three plates that would make great stocking fillers or pressies for little friends, if separated and paired up.  The 3 Tier Cake Stand is such a great bargain and I can't wait to bake festive cupcakes to display on it.  The pack of 3 gift bags is another great bargain.  I'd love to bake my own gingerbread men and give them as gifts  packaged up in these lovely bags.  

I was really impressed with the snowflake design tableware.  The plates, napkins and cups come in packs of twenty which is enough to cater for unexpected party guests.  The cupcake set and stand will make a beautiful themed centre piece for my festive table.  The bauble card holders are fantastic.  Each glass ball is filled with fake snow and will stand on the table with a name card attached to let everyone know the seating plan!

When it comes to decorations, Poundland has plenty for the tree and the house.  The Novelty Inflatable Santa or Snowmen are a good size and sure to delight little ones.

  The gel window stickers come in a variety of designs and add a splash of festive fun to any room.  They fit together like a jigsaw puzzle to build up a bigger picture and Freddy is obsessed with them! 

 The giant balloons are guaranteed to provide hours of entertainment as they are bashed about!

When it comes to presents, Poundland has a load of great value gift ideas for men, women and kids!  From scarves, diaries, jewellery and cosmetics for her, to toiletries, mugs and socks for him, the grown-ups are well catered for.  Perfect for pressies for teachers!   I particularly love the cosy mug that comes with a knitted cover and the festive fur trimmed rubber gloves that add glamour to washing up!  The kids have a great choice of gifts too from money boxes to toys to books to craft sets, there is so much to choose from.

I fell in love with the fun festive bag kit.  A small tote bag is pre-printed with a design which can be coloured in using the felt pens that are included.  I thought this would make a lovely personalised gift bag for a loved one, or a great little bag to pop in some treasures for carrying about.  I loved the Little Pudding socks that come in a variety of sizes.  The Milkybar selection boxes are excellent stocking fillers and examples of the top brands for sale in Poundland.  They are on sale for 4 for the price of 3 which makes them 75p each.  And of course Poundland also sell a range of stockings and present sacks to put them in!

 I was so impressed with the range of gift bags.  They come in all different shapes and sizes and in loads of different designs suitable for any taste.  They make gift wrapping so easy, I just had to buy a few packs!

Poundland stocks so much for Christmas, it really is a one stop shop for picking up lots of essentials this year.  It is such good value for money and makes budgeting so much easier!!  

If you want to try your hand at winning £250 of Poundland vouchers, there is a great competition on Pinterest.  Simply create your own board called 'Poundland Christmas' and pin twenty Poundland items to it from the website at www.poundland.co.uk.  Take a look at my board if you want some inspiration.  Full details are in the image below.

Morrison's Saver Summer and Easy Lemon Drizzle Cake Recipe

Enjoy Summer On A Budget

We are half way through the summer holidays and if you are feeling the financial pinch from spending cash on days out and buying things to keep the kids entertained, then Morrisons is here to help.  They have come up with lots of yummy recipes and handy hints to make sure that little ones have a fabulous time without breaking the bank.  They have put together a selection of M Savers recipes and have teamed up with Play England and money saving expert Sarah Willingham to provide great tips to make the most of your summer.  You can find out more by visiting the Saver Summer website where there are details on ways to find low-cost ways of entertaining the family this summer:

• Easy to cook, low cost, nutritious M Savers summer-themed recipes, perfect for picnics, barbecues and kids’ summer snacks starting from as little as 16p per portion
• Free or low cost family activities developed with Play England
• An interactive map of the UK to locate free play spaces
• An M Savers Summer ‘Pop-Up’ Play Park which will tour the country in August which will have cooking demonstrations as well as low and free play workshops hosted by Play England to teach all sorts of game ideas including arts and crafts and den building

Morrison's have challenged me to cook up one of their M Savers summer recipes and I have made a Cheat's  Lemon Drizzle Cake which will be the perfect post picnic pud!  Best of all it is super easy to make and costs just 90p for a 10 portion loaf.  The children can help with the baking and the family will be enjoying a tasty, Summer loaf cake in no time!

• 2 x packets of M Savers Sponge Mix
• 2 x eggs from store cupboard
• Water
• 4 x tablespoons of M Savers Lemon Curd
• Juice and zest of 1 M Savers Lemon

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C Line a one litre loaf tin with grease proof paper. Mix up the cake mix as instructed on the packet using the eggs and water. Stir two tablespoons of lemon curd into the cake batter.
2. Pour the cake mix into the tin and bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the centre of the sponge springs back when pressed with your fingertips.
3. Remove from the oven and repeatedly pierce the top with a kebab skewer.
4. In a bowl, mix together the leftover lemon curd and lemon juice and zest. Pour over the cake and allow to cool in the tin.

Easy To Make Lemon Drizzle Cake

The "Swap and Save" Shopping Challenge

If you are anything like me, you will have been totally dismayed to see your food shopping bills sky rocket in the last few months.  I consider myself to be a careful shopper, buying things when they are on special offer, but the weekly cost of my family's everyday essentials has risen by a huge 30%+!  Factor in the cost of petrol and our family's budget is being over stretched like never before.

I was contacted by Premium Supermarket Discounter Aldi to see if I was interested in testing some items from their Everyday Essentials range and trying out Swap and Save.  The idea being to test out one of Aldi's low priced products against the top branded equivalent.  They say you could save up to 40% of your food bills a week, without compromising on the quality! Sounds good!!

I am not an Aldi shopper myself, but my parents swear by it.  So they were very excited by the prospect of me testing out a selection of goods for myself.  I would get to try like brands for cheaper prices...for example take their Baked Beans.  Priced at just 29p they are a fraction of Heinz's 64p price tag.  Or the Tomato Ketchup which Aldi sell for 69p as opposed to Heinz's £1.95!

Aldi has ranked third in the Which? Customer Satisfaction Supermarket Survey 2011 for its excellence in pricing, quality and customer service.  It beat all the big four supermarkets, finishing only behind Waitrose and M&S.  It scored 5/5 for pricing and was noted as offering "brand quality products at everyday, exceptionally low prices" with shoppers saying they had seen their food bills slashed by a third!

So over this week we will be trying out 'Swap and Save' Inside the Wendy House.  This will include some fun, blind tastings as well as using some ingredients in my everyday meals.  Aldi have provided all the products for my 'Swap and Save', but you can be sure of an honest and clear account of our experience!

Stay posted for our Swap and Save Vlogs at Inside the Wendy House!