Last week was half term in Hertfordshire, which often proves to be a more challenging week in terms of expenses. We actually did pretty well in terms of spending. We had lots of football commitments for both Josh and Dylan meaning a fair bit was spent on fuel, but not too much spent on entertainment. To save some pennies we try to lift share with a friend who lives nearby for the football. We managed to do this on Thurs/Fri/Sat when Dylan was doing first team training and match prep. This meant all day training on Thursday, then dropped off to Cambridge stadium on Friday for overnight stay in Liverpool, then collected on Sunday.
Cinema Trip with goodies from Supermarket
I am the ultimate money saver with the cinema. On wed whilst Josh was away at a tournament I took Dylan and Jack to see the new Lego movie. Josh isnt a fan of going to the cinema so this day worked out well. I saved 40% on the cinema tickets so we paid £16 for one adult and two children using our Kidspass membership. We also stopped at Tesco on the way to pick up some pik n mix and drinks for the cinema for £5 rather than the normal £10+ spent in the cinema on goodies.
Dylan and Jack loved the lego movie, me, not so much but I did have a nice sleep!
Swimming Trip and Hot dogs
Friday saw Dylan head off to Liverpool, so I took Josh and Jack swimming. Dylan cant go swimming at the moment due to his ears so we take full advantage when hes away and go for it. Swimming is a great activity for the boys, it costs just £8 for one adult and two children to swim. Both Josh and I got our daily exercise in and swam 500 meters each! The other highlight for Jack is getting a giant hot dog afterwards from the pool cafe.
Closure of Barclays Business Account
I finally closed my old Barclays business account. I transferred my business banking over to Starling last year but left my Barclays account open. I was nervous about income hitting the Barclays account and me not receiving it. Turns out if I had done an official transfer all income would have automatically been transferred over for one year. So I basically paid £6.50 each month for a year for no reason. Bad. At least its shut now. Most high street business bank account have a monthly fee. You don’t pay monthly fees with Starling, who are just brilliant.
New Car and Home Insurance
I have times all of the insurance renewals badly for home and car. They all fall in March. That is two lots of car insurance and one home insurance policy. Renewing all of this insurance is my least favourite job but I always do a comparison every year.
I use the Topcashback comparison site for all of my insurance. This finds me the best deal along with a cash back payment as well. I paid around £650 for car insurance last year, the renewals are around the same value. The comparisons are looking to be more like £520. This is with one year of no claims discount on one car and 15 years on the more expensive car. It really pays to do a comparison.
Aldi Pet Range in Store Now
Aldi have their great value pet range back on special buy in store right now. There are loads of goodies for dogs and cats. I just love this cat cave..I know Trev would love it. And its just £9.99.
There are toys, pet feeding bits, blankets and cute jackets for dogs. You will want to take a look if you have pets.
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