What carpet to choose for a child's room?

This is a collaborative post

A correctly selected carpet will make the nursery beautiful and, no less important, comfortable for the life of the child. When choosing a carpet for the nursery, one should pay attention to several basic aspects described in this article.

The Composition of the Carpet 

When choosing a rug in a child’s room, it is especially important to pay attention to the composition of the carpet product. It is the composition of the carpet that determines its safety for a growing organism, as well as indicators of wear resistance.

There are two main compositional options: carpets made of natural materials and synthetic carpets.

Natural carpets, that is, woolen, silk or knitted, are an excellent choice due to the durability of such a product, as well as the lack of synthetics, which for many is one of the main arguments in its favor. It should be understood that in case of exposure to allergies, just a wool carpet will cause harm to the health of the child. Despite its longevity, natural carpets are difficult for steam cleaning and do not tolerate moisture. As a result, they are not very suitable for children over three years of age, whose active games will quickly leave their marks on the carpet.

Synthetic carpets are a good choice for a child’s room for several reasons. The lack of wool in such carpets is great for children who are allergic. At the same time, the practicality of synthetic carpets is undeniable, since they are much better at cleaning from stains - a very important property for a children's room. An important fact is also a much lower price than natural carpets, which will allow you to refresh the interior of a nursery with a new carpet without regrets in a few years: children grow quickly, and their tastes also change!

Photo credit Markus Spiske via Unsplash

Carpet in the Kids Room: Proper Carpet Cleaning Techniques 

A very important point in carpet care is cleaning. The process of domestic carpet cleaning must combine efficiency and safety. Quite often, preparations are not environmentally friendly, and those that comply with environmental standards are ineffective. Particularly acute question of choice of cleaning products arises if necessary, to clean the carpet in the nursery.

How to make it as safe as possible and with a good result? The best way is to use recommended carpet cleaning companies, but not everyone has such an opportunity. At home, you can use the following tips:

It is worth mentioning that carpets for children room are made of polypropylene: they are convenient and safe to clean with baking soda. To do this, you can scatter the powder with rubbing movements, then wait 20-30 minutes and collect with a vacuum cleaner. Effectively use soda solution. To this end, 100 grams of soda should be dissolved in 5 liters of water. Then you need to spray the product, but make sure that the carpet is not too wet, let it dry, vacuum, and on both sides.

A typical problem for kids’ room is smashed chewing gum on the carpet. The best chewing gum carpet cleaner is ice. Wrap a cold generator or ice cube in a plastic bag, attach it to the stain and hold until it hardens. After that, it can be gently pry and removed from the pile. So in this case, you don’t even need a carpet cleaner. By the way, they do the same in removing traces of paraffin or wax. Proper care of children's carpets will create the necessary hygienic conditions, preserve their appearance and extend their life.

What is the Best Domestic Carpet Cleaning Method? 

Let's say right away: the best tool for carpets is to use professional carpet cleaning, where specialists will clean the coating with the most effective and safe means for it. However, we understand that carpet cleaning is equally required for both a small carpet in the living room and carpet fixed with furniture. For that reason, you can take advantage of steam carpet cleaning services, offered by many cleaning companies in London. The deep carpet cleaning experts will come to the given by you address and will perform the carpet steam cleaning procedure. It will take only 2-3 hours and you will enjoy a brand new looking carpet, free of stains, spots and bacteria!

Photo credit The Creative Exchange via Unsplash

Wightlink Ferries to the Isle of Wight review #ad

Ad - We received a complimentary return ferry crossing from Portsmouth to Fishbourne in exchange for this blog post.

We've just returned from a wonderful family holiday on the Isle of Wight. Although we live pretty close, and have often seen the island in the distance, it was our first visit, and we had such a lovely time that I'm certain we'll be back!

There are several different ways that you can reach the island. Our closest port is Portsmouth, and so we chose to travel with Wightlink which offers three different routes from the mainland. You can travel with your car from either Portsmouth Gunwharf to Fishbourne or Lymington to Yarmouth, or as a foot passenger you can travel by FastCat from Portsmouth Harbour to Ryde Pier. We were taking our car and so we used the Portsmouth Gunwharf to Fishbourne route. The route to the port in Portsmouth was very well signposted, and as we'd made sure to arrive at the earliest recommended time we ended up making an earlier ferry which was a big bonus! This crossing over the Solent takes just 45 minutes.

Loading the cars onto the ferry was simple and speedy in both directions. While you are waiting to board, both Portsmouth and Fishbourne have facilities for passengers, including toilets with baby change and hot drinks. You need to leave your car once it has been loaded on to the ferry and head to the passenger decks and lounges for the journey. The ferry leaves as soon as the last car is loaded, so if you are among the final passengers to board you'll be underway by the time you reach the deck!

Sailing from Portsmouth you have a beautiful view of the city, the skyline dominated by the Spinnaker Tower. We were lucky that the weather was lovely for both our crossings so we were able to enjoy the sunny decks, and there was barely any motion from the waves. If the weather is more inclement then there are plenty of places to relax inside the ferry, alongside toilets and cafe facilities.

On our ferry there was a small area inside set aside for children with large windows and padded seats, I think Harry could have stayed here all day! It's such a busy stretch of water that there is always something interesting out there to spot.

Up on deck you can see land in both directions so it's easy to see how much of the crossing is remaining. I was really impressed by how smooth and enjoyable our ferry journey was. I'm sure we'll definitely be using Wightlink to make this crossing in the future!

I made a short video of our crossing which you can see below - enjoy!

Make your bedroom the perfect relaxing retreat - Create the perfect ambience with dimmable LED bulbs

After a long day at work, chasing the kids, fixing dinner, running errands, spending summer days out in the sun entertaining the kids. You’re going to need somewhere to relax and unwind when you finally get the chance! We don’t tend to spend much time in our bedrooms – just using them for sleep at the end of a busy day. But creating your own relaxing bedroom retreat is a great way to ensure that you’re fully recharged for the next day, and ready to take on anything the kids or work can throw at you!

Here you’ll find some easy ways you can update your bedroom into the bedroom heaven you’ve always wanted.

Lighting 

Lighting is crucial if you’re hoping to relax in your bedroom. Many of us make do with a single light fixture that hangs miserably from the centre point of the ceiling. But there are so many other options out there! More and more homes are turning to LED lights to give bedrooms a much more relaxed ad stylish feel, particularly because they’re dimmable! 

Simply updating your light fixture can dramatically alter the look of your bedroom, and if you like the idea of finally putting your feet up and reading a good book whilst in bed, then adding a couple of table lamps to you bedside tables will be the perfect solution.

Photo credit Christopher Jolly via Unsplash

Embrace simplicity

It can be difficult if you have a busy household. But keeping your bedroom simple and free of clutter will give your bedroom and your mood, an instant lift. Try to keep things as simple as possible and don’t overcrowd your room with overbearing ornaments and furniture. A bed, a nightstand, dresser/wardrobe, bedside tables and maybe a painting over your headboard is ideal. Try to keep piles of ironing out of there, as these only serve as a reminder of all the chores you have to catch up on. You’re there to relax, not to worry even more! Keep the distractions to a minimum.

Photo credit Annie Spratt via Unsplash

Make your bed dreamy

When was the last time you had a good nights sleep? The quality of your sleep could be down to your mattress. Many mattresses come with a 60-90 day money back guarantee so there’s plenty of time to find the mattress that best suits your needs. If your budget won’t stretch to a new mattress then don’t worry, invest in a thick, cushiony mattress topper instead and you’ll notice the difference straight away.

It’s time to bin those old, brightly coloured sheets and covers. Try to keep things clean, crisp and simple when it comes to your bedding. Invest in some 100% natural fibre sheets and linen, such as cotton – which is more breathable and will last much longer too – purchase some new pillows too and remember to swap them every six months or so, this is not only god for your quality of sleep, but also for your skin and health!

Things to do in Kauai with the family

We visited Hawaii as a couple before we had children, and although it is a great place for a couples holiday there is also plenty to do to keep the children entertained. Kauai is the fourth largest of the Hawaiian islands, with some amazing scenery and hidden beaches, as well as water activities, shopping and dining. I've picked out some of the best activities and attractions in Kauai if you are planning a trip with the family.

Accommodation

If visiting with the family you'll probably want to stay on the more densely populated East Coast where you'll find a huge range of accommodation near to the family friendly beaches. There are lots of larger hotels and resorts, or you might prefer to look at some Kauai beach rentals. This would give you the option of self-catering, which always works well for us as our children are quite fussy and we never do all inclusive deals justice when it comes to the food and drink.

Getting around

Kauai is not very well served with public transport, and so travelling around the island with the family is much easier if you can rent a car. Although there are buses, the network doesn't cover all the main tourist spots, and it's much easier to explore further afield if you have your own transport. It's especially important when travelling with small children - you need more flexibility and can't spend too long waiting around for a bus. You also want to avoid too much walking to get to places.

Beaches

Kauai is regarded as having more coastline filled with beaches than any of the other Hawaiian islands. With the family it's best to stick to the safer, more popular beaches, and you can find a list of the lifeguarded beaches on Kauai here. These beaches are located all around the island and will also usually have the facilities like toilets and showers which make a visit to the beach much easier with small children! Poipu Beach is particularly popular with families as it is a shallow sandy beach perfect for young children, and there is also a playground along with toilets and showers.

Although there are many hidden beaches around the island, make sure you are wary if you are tempted to visit a more secluded beach. Not all the beaches are safe for swimming and there can be dangerous rip currents and unexpected waves, definitely do some research before diving it.

Photo credit Leo Rivas via Unsplash

Water activities

Children that are confident in the water will enjoy the chance to try out snorkelling. There are some reefs close to the shore, and Anini Beach in particular is excellent for snorkelling, although be aware that this isn't a lifeguarded beach. Poipu Beach also gives you the opportunity to see a wide variety of fish and turtles, although get there early before it gets too busy. If your children aren't confident swimmers then you could try a glass bottomed boat ride.

Photo credit Jeremy Bishop via Unsplash

Older and more adventurous children might also enjoy the chance to try kayaking, surfing or windsurfing amongst many other different activities, and there are lots of local companies which run different water activities around the island. I particularly love the look of a glass bottomed kayak tour, which even runs at night so that you can see the underwater world by darkness and is suitable for children aged three and over.

Na Aina Ka

Na Aina Ka is a botanical gardens and sculpture park. It can only be visited by tour, and if your children are aged 13 and under then you need to pre-arrange a children's tour which lasts about 2 hours. Tours can be booked in advance, or there may be space available on the day. Once a month the Children's Garden opens for Keiki Day which takes place on one selected Saturday per month and would be well worth a visit if it coincides with your stay. 

Kauai Mini Golf

Kauai Mini Golf is in Kilauea at the north of the island. As well as a golf course it's also a botanical garden, and your journey around the holes takes you on a journey from the original native plants, through to plants introduced from various other countries, then on to the plants that you find in Hawaii today. The course is accompanied by water features, and nets are provided to fish out your mis-aimed balls.

Kilauea Point Lighthouse

You'll find Kilauea Point Lighthouse close to the Mini Golf, and it's a part of the Kilauea National Wildlife Refuge. This is a protected area for threatened and endangered species, and you can borrow some binoculars from the visitor centre to see them close up without disturbing them.

The Ke Ala Hele Makalae Coastal Path

This scenic coastal path runs along the east side of the island. It's a long, flat path along the coastline and is perfect to explore for all ages and abilities. The path is pushchair friendly for walking, or you can easily hire bikes. As well as beautiful scenery to enjoy you might also see dolphins, turtles or even seasonal humpback whales, and there are lots of places to stop for a picnic along the way.

Kauai Plantation Railway

At the Kilohana Plantation you can ride reproduction railway cars from the period of King Kalakaua on a 40 minute train ride through dense tropical forest, past plantation era houses and then into the working Kilohana Plantation with more than 50 fruits and vegetables, including many exotic varieties, and all narrated by a local guide. There's even a stop at the farmyard, with the opportunity to feed some of the animals including pigs, goats, sheep, cattle and horses.

Waimea Canyon

Waimea Canyon is known as the 'Grand Canyon of the Pacific' and is adjacent to Kokee State Park on the west of the island. The canyon is 14 miles long, 1 mile wide, and more than 3,600 feet deep. There are a couple of short hikes which are suitable for young children. If you want to visit the canyon with small children you can find some really good advice here - Tips for a good family day trip to Waimea Canyon.

I hope that I've given you lots of ideas for things to do with the family in Kauai! If you are visiting Hawaii you might also enjoy this article - Reasons to book a family holiday to Hawaii - with plenty more inspiration!

This is a sponsored post. 

Main photo credit Alexey Marchenko via Unsplash.

Making an effort to wear dresses

I've never had very many clothes. I used to think that was because I wore uniform at school and so I didn't need that many other clothes, but that was a long time ago, and although I've had plenty of opportunity to increase my wardrobe size since I often look at my clothes and think that I don't have a lot of choice. I think I'm just a bit lazy about buying new clothes!

Every day I wear jeans and a top - short sleeved in summer, long sleeved when it gets a bit cooler, and something warm and cosy on top for winter. But in my wardrobe I do have a reasonable collection of smart dresses for going out that I've picked up over the last few years. We still seem to have quite a few wedding invitations, and also as we are lucky enough to go on a cruise from time to time it's nice to have a few to choose from when you need to dress for dinner every night, but compared to the frequency with which I wear them the number that I have is a bit excessive.

I do find it much easier to find dresses that fit me than trousers. I hardly have any pairs of trousers because it's difficult to find ones that don't gape at the back or aren't too long. I also wear out the knees on my jeans astonishingly quickly, even now I'm well past the 'crawling on the floor with toddlers' stage.

However I only ever wear dresses for special occasions, and I feel really self-conscious when I wear them. Some of them are a little skimpy, but I think that I can pull them off, especially if I'm wearing thick tights, and I really do like wearing them. If I'm going out for dinner with friends I will try and make an effort to wear one, but I always feel over dressed, even if others are dressed up too.

I can't imagine turning up on the school run wearing a dress, even though plenty of the other Mums do, I'd think that everyone was staring at me! I missed an opportunity last September when the children started a new school, I could have re-invented my style completely and no-one would have known!

I do remember making a resolution a few years back as part of my Day Zero Project to wear a dress or a skirt for a week, and even though it was one of the easiest things on the list I never actually got around to doing it! So I've decided that I need to try and make an effort to get more wear out of the dresses in my wardrobe. Maybe not the really fancy ones - I'll save those for the cruise ship - but the simpler, more comfortable ones could easily become more every day wear, especially when the weather is a bit warmer, or perhaps with tights or leggings as we come into autumn and winter.

Are you a fan of dresses, or are you more of a jeans and t-shirt person like me?

This is a sponsored post.

Sponsored post - 5 summer holiday ideas for busy families

Today I'm sharing a guest post with some great holiday ideas!

Can’t decide where to go or what to do on your next family holiday? Our list should give you an idea of some alternative options for your trip away.

1. Try a ‘staycation.' For busy families, a ‘staycation’ can be a perfect holiday option because you can forego the hassle of planning a trip abroad when you just don’t have the time. If you’ve always wanted to visit a certain attraction in your town or city or if you want to catch up on family activities, a staycation gives you the opportunity to do so. Plus, you’ll stay in the comfort of your own home which is sometimes the best place to be when you just want to sit back and relax.

2. Rent a cottage Try a home away from home and book a cottage for you and your family. Somewhere like a cottage will have all of the amenities you and your family will need on a short trip away and will usually be set in a location that will allow you to forget all about your busy day-to-day life. Even if you’re unable to ditch the workload, bring your laptop along to a cottage that has Wi-Fi, and you’ll still be able to enjoy time with your family while keeping on top of your deadlines. If you have pets, Mann’s Holidays offer North Wales dog-friendly cottages that allow you to avoid the cost of a kennel or a dog sitter for a week.

3. Learn a new sport Step away from work for a week and use all of that energy to learn a new sport while you’re on holiday. Every year, more and more families are choosing active holidays over lazing on the beach because it provides a sense of accomplishment once you’ve achieved something or learned something new. This can be anything from skiing in France to organising a competitive sports tournament during your staycation. You don’t have to travel far to learn something new.

4. Volunteer Combine fun activities and the sunshine with work that can help others. A volunteering holiday is not only a unique bonding experience, but it can help your children to appreciate how fortunate they are through experiencing another culture and achieving personal growth. This can also be something that your kids can add to their CV. Volunteering holidays can be anything from helping an elephant refuge in Thailand or something closer to home such as helping keep the UK’s beaches clean with The Marine Conservation Society.

5. A family-friendly resort Family-friendly resorts aren’t hard to find and allow you to establish a happy medium between spending time with the kids and letting them do their own thing with kids clubs and large open areas where they can run around safely. A lot of these resorts are year-round destinations making them a perfect option for any family with a jam-packed schedule. Whichever you choose, a family holiday is always a great way to take a break from the monotony of everyday life and spend some quality, unforgettable time with those who mean the most to you.

This is a sponsored post

Can you save money with underfloor heating?

Today I'm sharing a guest post by Russell Bowes - Google+, Twitter

The warm fuzzy feeling you get when you step onto a heated floor may be one of the simplest pleasures in life, especially when the weather is miserable outside. Unlike most luxuries in life, this is one that can actually save you money over the long term.

Unlike conventional wall mounted radiators, underfloor heating generates radiant heat which is even and ambient. Therefore a single panel will generate more heat than a wall mounted radiator of an equivalent size, which will enable your room to feel warmer at a lower temperature, bringing down the cost of your energy bills.

If you are going for maximum energy efficiency, a water based underfloor heating system is recommended. They rely on your boiler, rather than a direct electricity supply, so use energy more sparingly than an electric system. According to Aboutunderfloorheating.co.uk installing a water based underfloor heating system can reduce your energy bills by 40% or more.

However before installing underfloor heating there are some important practical aspects to consider. Firstly, underfloor heating is cheaper to install as part of a new build effort, or a major home renovation project. Updating an existing property to include underfloor heating is more costly and further complications arise with period properties.

Therefore a number of factors are worth considering such as the upfront costs, how long you plan to be in your property and whether or not you’re likely to offset the costs overtime with the savings you make on your energy bills. Even if your personal situation means that you’re unlikely to claim back the upfront costs of underfloor heating, you may decide it's an affordable luxury that you want for your home.

If you opt for underfloor heating, I recommend that you maximise the impact it has by taking other simple steps keep your home insulated and as warm as possible:

● Install cavity wall insulation
● Install double glazed windows
● Use draft excluders on doors, windows and letterboxes
● Replacing your old boiler with an A rated condensing boiler and use an insulating cover. These measures combined could cut your bills by £300 a year and your carbon emissions by 1.5 tonnes.

This is a sponsored post

How to save money when booking a holiday

We are lucky enough to travel a lot as a family, and one of the reasons that we are able to afford it is because my husband is very good at finding the best deals and ways of saving money when we come to book. So I thought that I'd share some tips for making your money go as far as it possibly can when you are booking a trip.

If you have pre-school children then the most obvious way to save money is to travel out of season. Before having children we always travelled at quiet times and never went away during the summer, then with small children we always avoided school holiday times. You can find some very reasonably priced package holidays at quieter times of the year, often in places like the Canary Islands where the weather is still very warm even during winter. We had a couple of lovely holidays to Lanzarote out of season, and UK breaks can also be very cheap outside peak times.

We are a bit more limited now the children are older as we have to work around school holidays, but there are some types of holiday where the prices don't increase too much, for example city breaks away from the beaches can remain consistently priced throughout the year.

Even better if you can travel somewhere that has school holidays at a different time to the UK. For example, Center Parcs in the UK is well known for increasing the cost of breaks massively during school holidays. But if you look at the cost of a visit to a Center Parcs on the continent, even once you've added in the extra cost of travel to get there, you can still make huge savings if you check your dates carefully. We've visited Center Parcs in Belgium a few times over the last few years, most recently Center Parcs De Vossemeren, and have enjoyed a very reasonably priced break during the school holiday, the half term holidays are best for this.

You need to keep a close eye on the special offers from various travel agencies. Many will have promotions if you book a long time in advance, for example kids stay for free. If you are booking a cruise, by booking early you can often receive free parking at the terminal or some on board credit. However there is also something to be said for waiting until the last minute, I'm not always a very spontaneous person, but if you are signed up to mailing lists from holiday companies there are quite often some excellent deals that come through if you have a bit of flexibility!

It's always worth having an account with a cashback site for all sorts of purchases. We've been using Quidco for several years and have made a fair amount of money. For example, when booking with Expedia you can receive 12% cashback, as well as many other deals with hotel chains like Travelodge and airport parking.

If you are a regular supermarket shopper you can collect reward points, like the Tesco Clubcard scheme. We've always used Tesco Clubcard points to pay for travelling on the Eurotunnel which is a significant saving on the cost of the holiday, and they are also brilliant for days out from home or while you are away.

Do you have any more money saving holiday ideas? I'd love to hear them!

How technology makes it easier to travel with children

A guest post by Ryan Tyson

Travelling with children presents its own set of challenges, from keeping the kids entertained to making sure everyone stays close. While family holidays are a bit trickier than adults-only trips, they’re also extremely rewarding when you introduce your children to new places and share thrilling experiences together as a family. Use these sleek gadgets to help you get to your destination hassle-free so you can enjoy all the perks of family travel without some of the fuss.

Convenient Child Locators Keep Them Close 

Gone are the days of child reins and other restrictive methods for keeping kids close. Today, you can keep tabs on your children hands-free using convenient locators. Most come in the form of a wearable watch or wristband. The locators pair with simple smartphone apps that allow parents to pull up the child’s location at any time. Many have “panic buttons” that children can press to alert parents when they’re lost or frightened.

You’ll find a broad range of added features available with these devices. The Omate Wherecom K3 is a feature-packed smartwatch for kids with entertaining features like music and photo storage. The Filip 2 lets you set up geofences so you’ll receive an alert when your child moves beyond the allowable perimeter. With a handy locator for your child, you’ll never suffer the panic of losing sight of one another in a crowded airport or busy holiday destination.

GPS Keeps You Right On Track 

GPS technology makes it easier than ever to find and reach your destination. This is ideal when you’re travelling with distracting pint-size passengers who make it easy to lose your train of thought. Make sure you’re equipped to make the most of your GPS features for simple, streamlined travel.

Sync your smartphone with your car’s Bluetooth to hear your directions through the car speakers instead of your phone. Pre-programme all your destinations before leaving so you can pull them up with a quick tap of the finger. Plan ahead and include a few rest stops, restaurants, and roadside attractions on your list of destinations for a long road trip, so you can navigate quickly to the right place when the kids get bored or hungry.

Mobile Boarding Passes Are Easier to Find 

You have enough to keep track of when you’re flying with kids without worrying about an envelope full of essential papers that will grant you admission to the plane. Forget about holding onto paper boarding passes for everyone in your party. Mobile passes are the easiest option, particularly for busy parents with small children in tow.

Using a phone like the iPhone 7, you can store your boarding passes in Apple Wallet for fast retrieval when you need them. Paired with a reliable network like T-Mobile, this setup will ensure quick access to essential info right on your phone.

Interactive Entertainment is a Tap Away 

Whether you share your smartphone with your children or you give them their own dedicated devices like kid-friendly tablets and gaming systems, the latest technology makes it easy to load up on safe, educational entertainment options for a long drive or flight. Make the most of your devices by choosing a few new games right before you leave. Don’t unveil these fresh picks until you’re on the road, so kids have something brand-new to play with when you need to keep them entertained the most.

Smart Splitters Share the Fun

If you have more than one child in your family, you’re probably familiar with the phenomenon of children always wanting what their siblings have. Let everyone share in the fun on a single device with a headphone splitter. Eliminate the squabble of turn-taking and let your children watch the same movie together on one screen. Just provide a separate set of headphones for each child and use the splitter to let them listen at once while your environment remains blissfully noise-free.

With the right devices, you can travel comfortably with children, minimizing the fuss that often accompanies younger travelers. Fill your travel kit with these essentials and start planning your itinerary.

Infographic - Are you saving enough for your child's future?

Most parents hope that they will be able to help out their children financially in the future, but for the majority of people they will only be able to achieve this with a savings plan in place that starts well before the money is needed. Recent research from money.co.uk has shown that parents need an estimated £259,000 to cover the expenses of raising a child. It's a daunting total, but by focusing on a specific future goal to save for it's easier to think about how much money you need to be putting aside to cover the cost. 43% of those parents surveyed said that they would consider opening a savings plan for their child, of which 35% could afford to put aside £50 a month.

Having been very lucky to receive financial support from our own parents, my husband and I know that we'd like to do the same for our children. Parents that are saving for their children have some ideas about how they would like their children to spend that money. Of those surveyed, 32.8% would like the money to go towards a house deposit, 10.4% towards their first car and 20.7% towards University fees, with 36.1% having other goals in mind such as a wedding or a round the world trip. Personally I'd prioritise the University fees and a house deposit - I'd expect them to save up themselves for travelling around the world!

There are lots of different saving options, for example a Junior ISA, where the capital growth is tax free and friends and family can also contribute on behalf of the child. You can see the average costs of some of these expenses in the infographic below, and there is also a simple calculator to work out how much you need to save each month, and over how many years, in order to reach your saving goal.

Have a look at the infographic below to see - are you saving enough for your child?

This is a sponsored post. Statistics are approximate and are based on research carried out in 2016. Sources for the research can be found at the bottom of the infographic.

What do you eat for breakfast when you are camping?

We love camping as a family, and although we've yet to camp away for longer than a couple of nights, we've still had to plan how to feed ourselves while away from our usual home comforts. Instant porridge pot company MOMA Foods has conducted research into what campers eat for breakfast, and discovered that a third of British campers go for porridge as their breakfast of choice. 

I must admit that I hadn't realised just how easy it is to make porridge when you are camping - all you need to do is to add some hot water and wait for a few minutes - and it's the perfect way to warm up on a chilly morning outdoors. It's especially handy when you are preparing food for children - you need to find something that is quick and easy to prepare, and that doesn't need too much equipment, as well as being something that everyone will enjoy, and porridge ticks all the boxes!

MOMA Foods also discovered that almost half of Brits reveal that foraging for food to eat is a part of the camping experience. If you are new to foraging, have a look at the infographic below. There are some great tips for what you need to take with you, what to look out for, and some awesome porridge topping ideas to liven up your camping breakfast. 

Happy foraging!

This is a sponsored post.

The School Reviewer website

This website is no longer available

School Reviewer is an invaluable online resource, designed to help parents and pupils through their educational journey. Parents can already use the website to access information and stats about over 42,000 schools, nurseries and colleges within the UK, as well as leave reviews of schools to help out other parents, and now the website has been relaunched with even more resources added.

As well as information about a school, including location and contact details, OFSTED reports and academic results, School Reviewer has now been granted the use of information about schools that pupils attended in the previous school year. This allows the website to display representative heat maps in order to infer the catchment area for the school, especially useful if you are moving house and need to find a nearby school.

School Reviewer aims to have the largest Tutor Database on one site in the UK. Tutors are able to upload their details free of charge, enabling parents to search for a local tutor that meets their need.

Every educational establishment on the website has a Parents Forum, to ask questions and to share information. Each one also has a Buy/Sell Marketplace where parents can advertise items that they are selling to other parents at the school. It's especially ideal for selling school specific items such as branded uniform or text books, but anything can be uploaded for sale, and the website allows seller and buyer to communicate securely and arrange details of the transaction - and of course the school playground can be used for the exchange of goods, thereby saving on postage fees. Alternatively there is a national platform too if you want to reach a wider audience.

A key feature of the School Reviewer website is the ability to download question by question videos for GCSE maths which show how to to score a 100% grade. These videos are dowloadable for a minimal fee which is put towards the continued creation of new material. Other tutorial videos are available, but what makes those offered by School Reviewer unique is the question by question walkthrough. For example, for the GSCE Maths paper each walkthrough has its own video, meaning that the information is presented in soundbite portions, perfect for a child to watch whenever they have a spare few minutes.

With the SATS tests generating a lot of interest this year, School Reviewer is offering a free service to help both parents and children working towards the Keystage 2 SATS. School Reviewer will be creating downloadable videos, launching with two bespoke papers with the original papers being published when they are no longer within the national school curriculum.

Finally the site will also launch with two bespoke 11+ papers, again offering a video walkthrough of questions from the papers. Most schools set their own papers, so these bespoke papers will give parents an idea of what to expect, with more papers to be created in the future. There will be a minimal fee for this.

These new features mean that the School Reviewer website is a fantastic resource for parents and children at all stages of their school journey.

This is a sponsored post.

New Munch Bunch Squashums Huge Tubes

The children have started a new school this September, and as the new school doesn't have a kitchen I need to start preparing them a packed lunch each. I like to try and include a range of different items, and when I heard about the new Huge Tubes from Munch Bunch Squashums I knew that they'd be perfect to pop inside.

Huge Tubes are tubes of fromage frais, and with the packet being 50% larger than the existing fromage frais tubes on the market, they are aimed at older children in particular that find the standard tubes too small. This has definitely been a problem for us, the smaller tubes really don't contain very much, and these larger tubes are much more satisfying.

Squashums Huge Tubes are made from all natural ingredients and also contain fruit puree, making them a tasty dairy treat for children. The tubes are easy to open, and the packaging is perfect for lunch boxes because they can be easily opened and eaten without any mess.

The tube itself is transparent, meaning that it's easy for children to see how much fromage frais is left in the tube, and they can make sure that they've eaten it all so there won't be any left to leak all over the lunch box! The Huge Tubes are available in two fruit flavours - strawberry and raspberry - and feature the same cast of fruit characters that children will be familiar with from the other Squashums products.

Mia was very keen to try them out and they were a big hit, she eagerly slurped them down! The tubes are also great for an after school snack or for taking out and about with you, as they don't take up much space and are easy to transport.

Squashums Huge Tubes are available in the chilled dairy aisles of Asda, Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and online at Ocado, priced at RRP £1.99 per 6 x 60g multipack. The multipacks contain either six strawberry tubes, or three strawberry and three raspberry tubes.

This is a sponsored post. 

A family summer holiday challenge

Quercus Living have published a Kids Summer Holiday Challenge, with a different activity to try with the children for each week of the summer holiday. It's a great help, as it's difficult coming up with things to do with the children over the holidays. I usually get together with the children and we make up a list together of all the things that we want to do, from old favourites to something new.

So here are six things that I'm challenging us to do this summer, perhaps there's something here to inspire you!

Visit some local Geocaches - we are used to looking for Geocaches when we are camping or otherwise out and about in the countryside, but having checked recently I was surprised to find that there are 20 within a mile of our house alone, including one at our local Asda where we go all the time! We'll definitely be hunting some of them down.

Go for bike rides - I had this on my list last summer, but I'm determined to get Harry riding a bike this year. We've very kindly been given a bike by a friend that is the right size for him so it's just a case of getting out and practising on it! We are lucky that our cul-de-sac is quiet, so as long as I'm out there with them I'm happy for them to spend as long out there as they want, and perhaps I can sit in the shade with a book...

Complete a Summer Reading Challenge - I definitely want to make sure that the children keep up with their reading and the other day I shared a great list from YouTube Kids of different ways that children can read a book for 20 minutes each day. It's printed out in the kitchen and Harry has already made a start, it's going to be a lot of fun!

Have a camping festival in the garden - We tend to avoid campsites over the summer holidays as they get very busy and also have a minimum two night stay, and we've not built up to that yet. But I'm definitely hoping to be camping in the garden this summer as we've done before, weather permitting, and I want to make it really special this year, with decorations, bunting, glow sticks, music, a barbecue, a midnight feast and lots of games. Let's hope for some nice warm evenings!

Go to the beach - We are so lucky to live by the coast and we don't make nearly as much of it as we should do. I'm intending to get myself out for some runs along the seafront, and I want to spend more time there than just a brief visit, with a picnic, some beach toys, and maybe even a paddle!

Play more board and card games - I recently sorted out our toy cupboard and we've been having a great time re-discovering the games that had ended up at the back and having a go at ones that had been too difficult before. In particular I've found that we can now all play simple card games like Happy Families and Old Maid, which is brilliant as I have very fond memories of playing family games when I was growing up. I'm going to attempt playing at least one card or board game every day that we are at home during the holidays.

This is a sponsored post.

Mother's Day Around the World

We've already celebrated Mother's Day in the UK this year, but today is Mother's Day in the US and so I'm sharing an infographic showing the various traditions around the world for Mother's Day celebrations (click to view larger size). Mother's Day is celebrated throughout the year around the world, for example in Serbia and the Philippines it doesn't take place until December! It's an important day wherever you are, and as well as being a day to spend time with your Mum there are lots of other traditions. For example in Ecuador, sons will stand outside their Mother's door before sunrise to serenade them with a guitar, and in France mothers are given a cake that looks like a bouquet of flowers!

You can find out about all the different traditions below:

Infographic supplied in collaboration with Families Worldwide.

Buying our first flat

A first step on the housing ladder is a very exciting moment. For me, that was back in 2003 when I bought my first property, a lovely two bedroom second floor flat in Worthing. We were lucky to have some financial help from my parents as well as some savings that we'd built up which gave us a good start. Ours was the one in the middle with the green plant in the window, which is still sitting on my kitchen windowsill today!

We spent a lot of time searching for the perfect flat. Fortunately Worthing has plenty to choose from, which are generally a good size and well maintained. The first property that we saw was actually the flat on the top floor, which we fell in love with, but as we hadn't yet sorted out any of our finances we were in no position to put in an offer. It's funny how these things work out though, and we were actually better off where we ended up as our flat had an extra toilet and needed less work.

We moved from a rented furnished flat so we had to buy pretty much everything. The majority of our furniture came from Ikea, and we had to drag my parents along to help us bring back everything that we bought! But it did mean that our actual move was done in a couple of car loads, along with a bit of extra help to carry the massive old style television up two flights of stairs.

The location was perfect - just off a lovely tree lined road filled with big houses, a short walk to the seafront and then to town, close to the station, and near enough to walk comfortably to work. We used to go for long walks along the sea in the evenings.

Inside it was lovely too, we had a huge living room and all the windows were massive, including a glimpse across the South Downs from the main bedroom. There was so much storage too, huge wardrobes in the bedroom the length of the room and a pantry in the kitchen which was brilliant.

We didn't need to do too much work to it at all, although we painted every room, replaced the flooring in the kitchen and had the windows done. Looking back through the few photos that I have (which were taken as part of a home inventory when I had much more time for such things than I do now) I'm amazed by just how little stuff we had. It's no wonder that I could clean the whole place thoroughly in under an hour!

After our wedding, with some more savings built up and plans to start a family, we knew that the flat would no longer be practical for us but it was a real wrench to sell it. We still drive past from time to time and reminisce. Perhaps we'll end up living there again in our retirement!

This is a sponsored post in association with Santander.

Money Matters - Teaching your little ones how to be responsible with money

When your little ones are running around playing, learning, and exploring, teaching them how to be responsible with money probably isn’t the first thing on your mind – after all, they’re only young, there’s plenty of time to learn about boring things like finances, right?

But the fact is, children develop most of the attitudes towards money in their early years, which is why it’s so important that you start instilling good values from an early age. Trust me, the sooner the better!

It might seem like a daunting task, but there are so many ways you can make it a fun, exciting, and hopefully, super successful process.

Here are some top tips that I’ll definitely be trying out….

Take them shopping

It may sound less than appealing, but taking your little ones shopping with you, will help to teach them some valuable lessons about money, budgeting and spending. Start off by taking them to the cashpoint with you, explain that the money coming out of the wall isn’t from some magical, endless money tree, but is actually coming out of your bank account. Then, as you go around the shops, explain why you’re buying the things you’re buying, and point out things that you would like to buy but can’t quite afford just yet or don’t need. Engaging with your child will not only open their eyes to the world of finances, but it will also allow you to spend some quality time with them too!

Credit

As your little ones start to grow, it’s time to introduce them to the concept of credit and, perhaps most importantly, the importance of making wise financial choices. A good way to do this is to get up your own credit report using a service such as Experian, and talk them through it. Explain how their decisions at 18 or 19, will affect their credit rating for years to come.

Pocket money

Pocket money can be a source of stress and tension in many households. Whilst you should absolutely never feel pressured to give your child an allowance if you can’t afford it, if you can afford to give them something every week or month, however small it may be, this will really help them to learn lessons about saving, budgeting, and spending. Set up a bank account for your child and encourage them to save at least some of their money towards something they really want. This is also a great opportunity to introduce the concept of working to earn – simply outline some chores or tasks that they must compete in order to earn their pocket money (nothing too taxing, of course!).

This is a sponsored post.

Sponsored post - Choosing the ideal family car

Our current family car is a Ford Focus. We've had it for a few years now and it has done us very well in that time. We've only had a couple of issues, although as time goes on we are finding ourselves paying more and more to fix things that have gone wrong with it, and just last week we found ourselves having to fork out for a new battery.

So I've been thinking about the ideal features we would look for when planning to purchase a new family car.

Safety is obviously key. We'd always look for a car which is Isofix for the car seats, along with plenty of room to fit them in. Room for someone to sit comfortably in the middle between two car seats is a huge bonus - in our current car anyone that has the misfortune to need the middle seat is pretty uncomfortable!

Another important feature is reliability. When you are travelling with young children you need to be confident that your car can get you safely to your destination without incident.

Like most people, we also need to consider the affordability of a family car. When taking out a loan to finance a car then it's worth spending some time comparing the different deals on offer - and you can visit the TSB loans homepage to work out some typical monthly repayments and see if they are in your budget.

Once you've got the big things out of the way, there are still a few extra things that can make a car journey with the family more pleasant. I'd love a car which has integrated DVD players or space to hold an iPad in the headrests so that the children could watch something while we are travelling on long journeys. In the past we have got by with iPads in their laps, but I don't trust them to hold tightly enough to make it a regular thing!

Plenty of boot space is a big advantage, as even a trip away for a couple of nights seems to produce several suitcases along with all the extras that are flung in at the last minute.

I'd also like a car with a way of easily charging mobile phones and other devices while you are on the move. And finally, a car with a self-emptying rubbish bin would be amazing!

What features do you think are particularly important in a family car? To explore your options when looking at purchasing a family car, you can check out this car finance guide from TSB.

This is a sponsored post.

How I would spend a spare £100

The TSB Plus Account has just turned one year old, and because the maximum interest that you can earn in a year from this account is £100 (5% AER on up to £2000), I've been asked to think about what I would do with a spare £100. I'm not very good at spending extra money that I receive on myself, it usually just ends up in the joint bank account or goes towards the mortgage. It would be lovely to have some money that I could spend on something that's not normally in the budget.

My thoughts turned immediately towards our summerhouse. I blogged recently about some of my plans for the space without really spending anything, but the truth is that with a little bit of money I think that I could make it a really lovely feature of the garden. Here it is at the moment, it's in fairly good shape but it does need sprucing up a bit:

Many ideas are way out of my budget, but there are a few elements that I think I could incorporate. I'd probably spend a good chunk of the money on some paint, or at least some kind of protective sealant for the walls and decking area to make it look a little smarter. The old pots that are outside could really do with updating, I'd love to have some bright, colourful planters filled with flowers in all different colours. I think it could also do with some outdoor decoration, in particular I'm thinking some bunting strung up across the front, bird feeders and perhaps a windchime.

Inside it is already looking quite colourful, but what it really needs are some soft furnishings to make it a little more cosy. I'd buy some pretty gingham fabric to make little curtains for the windows, and maybe a matching cushion for an armchair. Talking of furniture, a little bookcase would be lovely, along with some sort of small table to hold a drink and some snacks.

The floor is currently covered with an offcut of carpet, but I'd love to have some decent flooring in there, and maybe a pretty mat or a rug. Or perhaps even some artificial grass, for when it's too wet to sit on the grass outside!

Wouldn't it be lovely if I really could dedicate £100 to my project! It's definitely worth saving up so that you can reap rewards over time, just like the other things that improve with time:

This is a sponsored post.

Sponsored post - The benefits of making purchases using contactless payment

A contactless bank card can be used to make small payments of up to £20 (a limit which will increase to £30 in September 2015) for goods or services without needing to enter a PIN. All you need to do is to touch your card to the card reader, and many high street shops across the UK are able to take this form of payment. You can tell if your card is a contactless card, and whether a contactless payment option is available, by looking for this symbol on your card and at the till:

There is quite a lot of variation among banks when it comes to the issuing of contactless cards, and unfortunately our bank is one of those which is lagging behind and we've yet to be offered one. Many other banks are much more forward thinking, and TSB in particular have seized the opportunity for their customers to embrace the technology. Last summer TSB bank announced that all their eligible debit card customers had been issued with new cards with contactless functionality, which has led to a huge surge in customers making use of the facility. The average contactless payment is between £6 and £7.

I'm starting to feel as though we are really missing out. One area in particular where contactless payment would really benefit us is when paying for our travel when we visit London. You can use a contactless payment card to travel by tube, tram, bus, DLR, London Overground and most National Rail services in London, and it would be so much easier than having to remember to top up our Oyster cards in advance, and remembering to keep an eye on our remaining balance.

Contactless payment is quick and easy, the whole transaction is faster and you don't need to worry about carrying the correct change. Because the functionality is available on an existing card, you don't need an extra one.

You can only make small purchases though because no PIN or signature is required. The idea might sound risky, but in reality the chance of fraud is low because there are a number of security measures in place. The card can only be used a certain number of times consecutively before it is required to enter a PIN, and your PIN will also be required if more than £40-£50 is spent on the card within a certain time frame. Use of the contactless feature is completely optional, as the card can also be used in the usual way with chip and PIN.

Having read all about the benefits, I'm thinking that we need to badger our bank to send us one! Do you have a contactless card? I'd love to hear your experiences!

This is a sponsored post.