Ways To Save Money When You Travel

Although it looks as though there are going to be no holidays for the foreseeable future. It is the perfect time to be looking at holidays and finding ways to save money when you travel, we travel  a lot and we ALWAYS look for the cheapest way to do it. So we want to share some of our tips today on saving money as you travel. Looking to put together a cheap holiday, can be so much fun because it is a challenge to get it cheaper than other websites. All money that you can save, can go towards buying extras and for using for holiday cash.

Use An Airline Comparison Site

Sometimes if i'm looking for a flight only, I will just type in EVERYWHERE for a destination on Skyscanner, and then choose the cheapest place to go. I have found some great destinations by doing this. You can get flights for less than £10 and then book your accommodation separately. But be careful because if anything happens to cancel flights, you won't be covered by ATOL.

Search For Weekend Break Deals Online

With their being a huge internet to look for deals, it is easier to find a website where you can compare deals and also read peoples experiences of places that they have visited. Not only do you read the first hand encounters of somewhere that you want to go. But you also get to see their own photos. TravelScoop has some great travel deals, travel experiences and competitions. How better to save money on travel, than winning a holiday somewhere. When you have used an online website to book holidays, you will never use a high street one again.

Split Flights

If you use a holiday booking website, you get the option to split your flights. Then the flights are often cheaper and you can visit a city that you have never visited before. Recently whilst looking for a flight to Antalya from London. The flights were £500 each. But if I took a flight with a 16 hour stop over in Moscow, then the flight was £250 each. Moscow is a place that I have always wanted to visit. I could have booked a flight with a stop over in Istanbul - one of my favourite cities. But I opted for a stop over in Oslo as it was 65% cheaper than a direct flight at £200 each. It mean't a nice little stop over and a visit to a city, we haven't been to.

Book Tickets In Advance

Always book any coach or train tickets in advance, this way you will get the cheapest tickets. The cheaper tickets are released early and as soon as they are gone, you will end up paying more. This works for plane tickets too. You always find tickets fluctuating in price, this is because the cheap ones sell out as soon as they go live. You can choose a cheap flight for £5, but if you are slow whilst choosing seats and paying for the tickets, the flight could become unavailable because someone got in there first. If you can't get a cheap ticket for a group of you, try to book tickets separately because although a few of you might be going, there might only be 2 or 3 tickets available at a discount.

Take Out Travel Insurance

Yes, this could be a cost to you. But in the long run it works out to save you A LOT of money. Only last year my 9 year old daughter was rushed to hospital in Turkey due to catching Rotavirus from the hotel that we stayed in. It was such a scary time but the bill was settled straight away. The hospital told me that the overnight stay in the hospital alone would cost me £500. Then there are tests and treatment on top of that. Paying £50 for a yearly policy is worth the money. I use Post Office travel insurance, and recommend them to everyone I know.

Pre - Order Travel Money

Pre ordering money is so easy. You go online and order through someone like Moneycorp and arrange to collect it from the airport or place of departure. You do pay a little extra for this but its usually £4.99 and you get a better rate. Recently on a trip to Holland, many places were offering Euro's at a rate of £100 - 105.00 But Moneycorp offered the rate at £100 - 115.00. We changed up about £253.00 for 300.

Book Airport Connections Yourself

This is easily done and its cheaper than booking through your airline website or hotel website. You will get the same airport connection company as you would get if you booked to go through your airline website, travel company or hotel. But you get them at a better price because you are cutting out the middle man. 

These are only a few tips on saving money on travel, of course there are so many more ways to save money and we would love to hear them in the comments below. 

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How To Find Emergency Childcare

When you are a working parent, childcare can be a nightmare at the best of times. But with the current situation and schools being closed it can be even tougher for us working parents. Whilst lots of working parents have been sent home because they don't do a job that can be done from home. Lots of parents have to work from their home office to keep the country going. I have friends who work in call centres and the are now working from home. That leads to the problem of childcare!

Whilst schools are still open for key workers who have no alternative childcare arrangements, it is not an ideal situation because they can only take a few children because of the social distancing that we are all doing at the moment. And if you are not a key worker but you are choosing to work from home to help your workplace tick over, then you're not allowed to send your child to school. Have you ever tried having a Zoom meeting, with a child constantly asking for snacks?

Finding Childcare

What happens if you need short term or emergency childcare in the current situation? We can't rely on friends because they have their own kids home and they may well be self isolating to protect themselves. You can't rely on grandparents because we don't want them at risk, because they are the highest age risk to catch Covid-19. So what are your options?

You could carry on and try to get your work done with kids in the background, but in reality this doesn't work. Even with teenagers, they still want to get your attention all of the time. My own daughter is 10 and still disturbs me every few minutes to get my attention. It is as difficult for them as it is for us at the moment.

You can find emergency or short term childcare to help you out. Although the schools are closed, there are still child carers out there that are working to help the working parents get by. Searching online for a registered and qualified childcare is easier than you could ever think. By going online to www.childcare.co.uk you can set up a profile and search for local childcare providers that are working at the moment.

There are reviews from the people who have used the service previously and you can find reviews on a certain child care provider too. Then you can use the secure chat on the website to chat to the childcare provider and explain your needs for child care. The website is used by over 2 million people to find permanent or short term childcare, so that in itself is a testimonial for the platform.

You can find any kind of child care on the website. From occasional babysitters that are stepping up to help parents that are working from home to permanent nanny's, nursery's. Who knows, you might find a child carer as emergency cover and stick with them for the next 5 years.

Providing Childcare

If you are a teacher or experienced child carer and you have suddenly found yourself out of work recently, you can also use the website to register and offer childcare to parents that are looking for  short term help. You can register as a childminder, if you are qualified and registered or as a nanny or babysitter to do occasional or regular work. 

Its easy to do, you simply register with the website as a childcare provider and set up a profile highlighting what childcare you offer and what times you are available. So if you have free time on your hands, then you could really help a parent that's trying to work from home at the moment. 

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Lockdown Binge Watching Suggestions

Now that we are all having to take time out from life and stay home, in order to stay safe. It gives us time to take stock of things and realise that work takes up so much of our life and what mattered before the virus hit, suddenly doesn't matter.

Spend time with your love ones and just binge watch tv, this is one of my favourite things to do when I am home. Now with all of the time we have on our hands, its the perfect time to binge watch. We have so many options to binge watch on different channels like Netflix, Now TV, Amazon TV and Disney+. Today I am sharing some of my favourite binge programmes for you all to watch too.

How to stimulate personal growth

How to stimulate personal growth

You wake up. You get ready for work. You travel the same route to work that you’ve been taking since you got the new job three years ago, and you do the job you know how to do inside out for the required number of hours before returning home and having virtually no memory of what just happened. Some would call it groundhog day. Some would call it life. But is that enough? As the famous saying goes, you weren’t born to pay taxes and die. No one is going to give you the keys to self-fulfilment, even teachers or trainers who offer weekend getaways to stimulate personal growth can only help so much (click here for online pointers in personal growth). Ultimately, all learning is self-learning. Here’s how you can get out of your daily funk and water the seeds of change.

What Type Of Skirt Suits Me?

Skirts and Self-Expression

There are a lot of ways to be self-expressive in the world today. For example, some people express themselves through artwork or poetry. Did you know you can also express yourself with clothing? In fact, if it's time to shop for a new skirt, your own personality has to play a huge role in your skirt choice. If it doesn't, you are likely to be disappointed with your purchase. Here are some reasons a skirt is great for self-expression.

You Can Select the Skirt Shape You Want

One reason skirts are so expressive is they come in a large range of shapes. A-Line, pleated and pencil skirts are just a few of the options. There are also skirts that follow no shape pattern at all. Their asymmetrical hemlines are unusual and eye-catching.

The Perfect Gift For A New Mum

Recently my granddaughter came into the world. It was a very difficult pregnancy and there was a certain bit of heartache through out the last few months. But as I watched her mother put her protective hand over her bump. I know that she was going to be such an awesome mum to baby Zoe.

I wanted to buy her the perfect gift, something that would symbolise the love between a mother and child. Something to show the special bond they will always have. 

I was approached by Jana Reindhart to see if we would like to review the Lioness and cub necklace from their jewellery range. It shows a lioness carrying her cub in her mouth and is designed with such beautiful detail. The necklace symbolises the protection that a mother has for her child and the eternal love and trust that they both share with each other.

Don't move house without first adding value to your property!

It’s no secret that selling a property in this current climate can throw up a challenge or two – the Great Recession was how long ago?! The Atlantic reports that we were still feeling the effects in 2017, and this unfortunately has not much elevated 3 years later.

Now, we’re not trying to put you off selling your home if that’s what you feel is best, but we are advising that you add value to it first. How? Well, we’re glad you asked – here are some really simple (yet effective) ways to do so:

Skin Improvement with Cosmetic Lasers

Having had skin discolouration and facial skin problems for years, I am always looking for alternative ways to fix the problem. One of the alternative ways is by using lasers. Lasers have been fixtures of the skincare industry for many years. They have a clear track record of working to reverse wrinkles and other damage done to the skin. However, you might still wonder if you should have laser treatment or not. Can a laser treat your skin specifically? What type of laser procedure do you need? Are the devices for laser treatment in each clinic the same? Here is what you need to know to make sure you will really see skin improvement with cosmetic lasers. 

How Beams of Laser Light Make a Difference 

You might be wondering how shining a light on your skin can possibly make a difference in its health. Alternatively, you might think the only difference it can make is a negative one. After all, it is well known that sunlight damages skin over time. However, laser light is quite different. It consists of specific wavelengths of light. A laser beam also uses heat to set off healing processes within cells.

The heat from lasers can strip away surface damage. However, a laser beam treatment can also have more long-term effects on your skin. By heating up the skin cells, collagen molecules are forced toward each other. Your body also kicks collagen production into overdrive. Since collagen is one of the substances keeps your skin cells close together, wrinkles are healed and prevented that way.

Lots of Skin Conditions Can be Treated with Lasers 

Working in the skincare business, I have found that certain skincare treatments are one-trick ponies. In other words, they only treat specific conditions. A lot of  aesthetic laser equipment for clinic use used to be that way as well. They were mainly known for treating wrinkles. However, today's lasers are often much more versatile. They can treat scars, as well as wrinkles. They can reduce surface blemishes and provide general healing over a large area. There are even lasers capable of removing tattoos, sunspots and other areas of discolouration.

Of course, treatment with the wrong laser can be problematic. The same lasers capable of eliminating discoloured areas or lessening their appearances can create discoloured areas on some skin types and colours. However, even that problem has lessened in recent years, as Nd: YAG and other laser devices have been adapted for dark skin and multiple skin types.

Selecting Deep or Surface Laser Treatment (or Both)

Aesthetic lasers often perform either surface or deep tissue treatment. Surface lasers are ablative or affecting the surface. Deep tissue laser procedures are non-ablative, meaning they ignore the top of your skin that is visible but treat invisible layers below. The advantage of ablative laser treatment is obvious. Non-ablative treatment does not give the same immediate satisfaction of seeing results. Instead, it gets your body to start healing its own cells. Then, over time, the appearance of your skin starts to improve.

There are some laser devices capable of treating all layers of your skin as well. For example, Fraxel laser treatment creates “shafts” in your skin layers at a microscopic level you cannot see. Ablative lasers that usually focus on the surface are also capable of treating additional skin layers, when necessary.

Is a Laser Treatment the Best Choice?

Not every clinical skincare treatment is a laser treatment. You do have the option of trying other cosmetic treatments for your skin, instead. To decide if laser procedures are the right options for you to consider takes time and effort. It also takes professional input. After considering the results of your skin assessment, you will have a better idea of how suited or not your skin is to the actions of laser machines.

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7 Tips for Traveling to Portugal With Kids for the First Time

Portugal is an ideal destination to visit as a family thanks to the wide range of children's activities that it boasts. Cities like Coimbra, the Alentejo region, Óbidos or Ribeira de Pena are some of the essential places in this country. If this is your first time travelling to Portugal with kids, the following tips should prove very helpful!

Choosing the best flooring for the nursery and playroom

Expecting a baby puts you through all sorts of emotions: stress, excitement and apprehension! For most of us, we are so preoccupied with doctor’s appointments, getting things settled at work and setting up – you want to do what’s best for your new one and yourself! Decorating your new baby’s room is a fun project, but it can be stressful when you don’t know where to start!

Morning sickness and fatigue makes you want to do nothing but sit on the sofa! But we can guarantee that if you put some effort into perfecting your baby’s room, then it will make things much easier when the baby arrives, and you’ll be grateful you made the effort. So why not start with flooring?