I have reached Monday Money 77, for the year I was born! 77 posts on a Monday of previous weeks money highlights, successes and failure. It is very well read post each week that I love reflected back on my week and sharing money saving tips. I have done pretty well this week, with saving on family days out and teaching my kids about searching for vouchers before a purchase!
Half Price Entry at London Zoo
It is the last of the boys birthday next week and Jack who turns seven requested a day at the zoo. My favourite kind of day out. The older boys had football games so we set off for a day with just the two of us. Its so rare to have a day with just one child when you have three, I relished the chance!
We took the train into London, first bargain, the tickets were just £8.25, discounted super offpeak weekend travel with my Network rail card. The card that keeps giving and giving discounts. I save 1/3rd on every ticket for travel after 10am.
We then decided to walk to London Zoo from King Cross, its a 1 mile walk via Camden. It took us around 25 minutes. Saving a bit on the tube travel.
We got half price entry at London Zoo using a 2 for 1 voucher with The Days Out Guide. Entry to so many attractions are discounted as long as you show your train ticket. So we saved £18, the cost of Jacks entry into London zoo. You must ensure you go to the website though and print out the voucher to show at the ticket gate.
We had a brilliant day at the zoo, loads of the animals were awake doing fun stuff, the lions and the tigers. The giraffes were having a wild time running around and we even saw a sloth, so close, in the rainforest and awake!
We loved the butterflies, the camels trying to get at their food, the komodo dragon and the hippo. A great day out for Jacks birthday.
We walked back to Kings Cross, via the house where Dylan Thomas lived, walked past Julian Clary, I said hello as I recognised his familiar face!
Voucher codes for Birthday Shopping
It was Dylans birthday earlier in November and he got some money from my relatives. He found a coat he loved that he wanted to spend his birthday money. It was £90 from River Island. I introduced him to the world of voucher code searching. We googles River Island voucher codes and found one within seconds for 25% off.
He was super impressed at how easy it was! We bought the cost and saved a very nice chunk of £22.50. Before buying ANYTHING always check for voucher codes, they are so easy to find and could save you alot of money particularly in the lead up to Christmas with the shopping you are likely doing.
Esso Nectar Loyalty Scheme
I shared a project I have been working on this week sharing the details of the Esso Nectar Loyalty scheme. Did you know you can now get Nectar points when you fill up your car with fuel? This means big savings for me as I fill up the car so often for our many football trips for the boys.
You can read more about it here and the Esso app where you can fill up and pay for your fuel from your phone! I would appreciate you clicking through to the post as well as I have to report back to Esso/Nectar how far the post has reached which how many views! THANK YOU!
Basics of Personal Finance
I also published a super useful post on the basics of personal finance. Zopa has a brilliant series of content on their Instagram page and I chose a few of the posts to help describe the basics in a hugely simple way. Never before have I seen compound interest being described in such a simple way.
It is really worth a read, and sharing it with anyone you know who is at the beginning of their personal finance journey.
Getting in control of My Spending with the Emma App
And finally I had a good week with my spending. I have been keeping an eye on my Emma app every day, prompted by the handy notifications coming through. I am doing well tracking against my monthly budgets. It is really impressive how this app gives me control and information of my spending in the week, month and monthly comparisons.
I have a full review post coming later this week, but I urge you to download the app and make a start on getting in control of your spending. The app is free, get it here.
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