Multi car Insurance
It’s that week for me, when every single insurance policy seems to come up for renewal at the same time.
Every year the old companies send renewal policies and to give you an idea of the savings you make by NOT renewing here we go….
Car insurance renewal quote £369.51
New car insurance…with legal cover, and a courtesy car and not a particularly high excess, £165.07.
Huge difference.
House Insurance renewal quote £144.00
New House Insurance quote £56.00
We’ve saved money by taking out multi car insurance which you can do even if your cars are not due to be insured at the same time.
So don’t accept the renewal quote that comes through, tell them they have to match what a rival company have found for you or just drop them and start again with someone else. Check that you aren’t going to be automatically renwed. My house insurance was going to do just that so I’ve had to cancel it on the renewal date so that the new policy, CHEAPER policy can kick in.
Another word of warning, I thought my engagement ring was insured on the old house contents policy but the small print on the policy said I needed a valuation certificate that was done in the last 3 years. Well I never had that so I wouldn’t have actually been insured even though I had paid extra to get just that.
Last time I checked to get a valuation done on a piece of jewellery, the company wanted 10% of the valuation.
Are you with EDF electricity/gas?
If you are with EDF energy on a standard tariff give them a call to see if you can be on their new tariff called Energy Blue.
I just did and have saved around £70.00.
You are not contracted to stay with them, no penalty for moving, so really nothing to lose at all!
I also pay monthly and take my own meter readings so again, with the new tariff you can continue to do this or pay by Direct Debit, whichever you prefer.
Cheap picnic table online
We had our second BBQ on Sunday of the year…whooo whoooo.
We now need to order a picnic table before next Sunday as we hope to have another one for Father’s Day…..
So online I had a good look to see what was the cheapest but still good quality ( I don’t want to spend my time coating and waxing and painting thank you….) and this is what I found.
A brilliant company that will deliver all over the UK and assemble it too for a small price if you wish. They do all sorts of picnic tables including ones for 8 people.
They currently have a half price offer on only for a week, so a picnic table for 6 would cost just £99. It has a 10 year life span, more if you want to start the painting, waxing……
You can find out more on http://www.benchmarkpicnictables.co.uk/index.htm
Another option, also good value is the following website. They also have options if you need a slight overhang if you have a wheelchair etc. This company has a faster turn around with delivery but slightly more expensive than the first company.
Parking in London
If you need to go to London by car but are put off by the struggle to find a car parking space have a look at these websites. I had a look at the first company listed to share a lift from Winchester to Southampton and found three people willing to drive but happy to take a few other people along and listed the times they would go and the times that they would return as well as the destination that they would be leaving from. Also look at renting people’s drives in London. We did this when we went to the O2. We had no more than a 5 minute walk, instant parking on someone’s driveway ( pre booked) really cheap and absolutely zero stress and a heck of a lot cheaper than travelling to London by train, which from Winchester costs over £30 for one adult, let alone a whole family.
Sainsburys special offers
I went into Sainsburys today and for a few days they have a couple of very special offers which adds up to quite a bit of money saved.
The best is 25% off any 6 bottles of wine or champagne. You can buy a mixture of white and red wine and you will still get the discount. Any wine, your choice.
They also have 25% off all their clothing.
Superscrimpers
I love watching Superscrimpers on tv? It’s my guilty pleasure and free, unless it is on BBC in which case it isn’t as my tv licence proves.
Just checked it is on Channel 4, so really truly free.
I have my own superscrimper finds too that I thought I’d share.
The first is fishy…..
I really enjoy fish but it is so expensive and so as a family we don’t have it too often.
Well in Sainsburys they sell a Sainsburys basic pack of frozen white fish, ( pollock) I’m not swearing, it’s the type of fish for under £2.00 for a huge bag. Young’s sell a smaller bag of the same fish (pollock) for nearly £5.00. We had the Sainsbury’s bag a few days ago and made a great fishy curry and it was plenty of food for five of us and not one single bone to be found, crunched or choked on and the fish was lovely. Beautiful white fillets of tasty white fish. It is one of the cheapest forms of protein that I could find in Sainsburys.
Superscrimper tip number 2 for those with green fingers.
I’ve had a go at buying seeds this year, sunflowers and sweet peas but didn’t want to fork out on compost and plant pots from the garden centre. So over the last year I’ve thrown in leaves and vegetable peelings into a compost pot outside in the garden and now have beautiful rich free compost. For the flower pots I saved my washing powder plastic containers, jam jars and tins and filled them with the compost. Total cost…only a couple of pounds for the seeds.
Superscrimper tip number 3 for those who need new work clothes.
If you know you are size 12 in Next or Marks and Spencers head to ebay and look for people advertising clothes from these brands in your size, in very good condition ( plenty of people buy clothes and never wear them) with a starting price of 99p. I’ve bought some lovely smokey grey jumper dresses this year and cardigans, all pristine, all fitted and most cost under £5.00 including the postage. If you make any mistakes you can always re sell them. You can check out sellers feedback to check they are genuine and deliver etc and in my experience when people say a dress or top is pristine, it usually is.
Superscrimper tip number 4 for those looking to save money on their weekly food shop.
I’d recommend going online. You can see at a glance the savings on the Sainsbury’s website which is the one I use. You click on offers and it will show you all the half price deals on meat, washing powders or savings on basics such as baked beans. I start my weekly shop with items that are reduced ( this week I had 24 lean mince meatballs for £4.00) and often you can find lamb or beef half price. I find by shopping online I plan meals in my head and I’m less likely to throw rubbish into my online cart. If I physically go into a supermarket for my weekly shop I always end up spending more than I would if I had shopped online and if you shop at Sainsbury’s online, delivery on a Tuesday is free so you save the usual £5.00 charge.
If you have anymore leave a post! 
Chessington World of Adventures savings
Chessington world of adventure
We are heading to Chessington World of Adventures next week and I looked online to see if I could make any savings.
Sadly I missed the Sun who had offered codes that when collected gave you free tickets.
I did find quite a few tickets for sale on ebay for people that had prebooked but could no longer go so if you want to head to Chessington look up ebay first of all to see if you can purchase some cheap tickets that are for adults/children etc. Check the sellers feedback to make sure they are genuine etc.
So the only savings we found were online, by booking 7 days ahead we have saved 25%…but still 2 adults and 3 children has cost well over £100. Plus parking which is £2.00.
I’ll be packing a picnic bag and drinks…..
With Chessington and Thorpe park if it rains for more than an hour you get free tickets to come back another day. It rarely ( she says hopefully) rains for more than an hour so booking ahead does save quite a bit of money for a family heading to these parks.
Parking at Wembley Arena
Excited as today we are heading to Wembley arena to watch the X Factor tour.
The dilema is whether to drive or go by train.
Driving is faster and much cheaper for the four of us but going by train avoids the hassle of parking.
Well the problem with parking has been solved.
If you go onto the website Parkingatmyhouse.com you can book to park your car on someone’s drive whilst you go and enjoy your time at Wembley.
So we have done just that.
The car will be a 5 minute walk from the arena and the cost is £12.50.
What a brilliant idea!
Get away for Easter for £19.00
If you want to get away for Easter Travelodge are offering some great deals if you book ahead.
“Travelodge has something special for all you early birds. Book now to stay with us over Easter and take advantage of our egg-cellent rates. We have over 50,000 rooms from just £19 available between the 22nd March and 7th May, plus we even have rooms in Central London from just £25 too!”
Save money travelling on trains with children
I was looking at train fares for a half term trip with my girls and I didn’t realise there were so many railcard offers that you could buy.
I’ve just bought a family and friends railcard for £28 and it will save me a third on my train fares and the girls will get 60% off their trainfares over the next 12 months. If we do visit the grandparents we will make a massive saving just on the one journey.
The railcard can be used so long as one adult travels with children, even if they aren’t your own….and the saving counts up to travelling with as many as four children.
We will certainly be making use of this card and now travelling from Winchester to London with the family doesn’t seem quite as expensive as it was without this railcard.
You can buy it online and they post it to you first class and that’s when you can start to get the savings on your train tickets.
http://www.familyandfriends-railcard.co.uk/