There's always a lot of pressure it seems to get New Years Eve "right". Even local pubs go a bit mad nowadays with a ticketed evening, but is it really worth spending all that money on one evening. There are plenty of other ways to make the end of one year and the start of the next special, without following what everyone else does. Go offline So much of New Year's Eve can be spent checking your phone and responding to New Year's messages from friends and family. Why not go retro and turn your phone off for the evening and concentrate on the person you're with instead? It may seem ... read more
Five Thrifty Christmas Date Ideas
At Christmas time it always seems that restaurants up their prices and offer over the top fixed price menus whilst the best theatre and gig tickets are sold out months in advance. But don't despair, there are still plenty of thrifty options to keep you and your date happy this Christmas. Visit a Christmas Market You no longer need to travel to Europe to find a good Christmas market, with loads of British towns and cities running their own in the run up to the biog day. They might not be able to offer the snow and freezing cold temperatures of their overseas equivalents, but they are ... read more
Don’t Let Colds Or Flu Ruin Your Christmas
There’s just over a week until we celebrate Christmas, and for many of us it’s one of the most frantic times of the year. Perhaps you’re racing to get loose ends tied up at work in the knowledge that your place of business will be taking a much needed break over the festive period. Maybe for you, Christmas is the busiest and most frantic time of the year (retail workers will know this pain all too well). Perhaps your every moment of free time is an exhausting trolley dash amongst the throning masses on the high street as you scramble to get all the Christmas presents for your family and ... read more
What to buy your date for Christmas
At this time of year dating can be a tad trickier than ever, for one simple reason. Christmas. Whether you're religious or not, it's fair to say that most people celebrate Christmas in some sort of way; the most common of which being the exchanging of gifts. But what should you buy your new date? Personally I think there are several factors to take into account here. The key ones have to be asking how much budget you have. Then you need to think about how long you've been seeing this particular person and, possibly the hardest question of all, are they "the one"? In a way, what you ... read more
Angel’s Great Escape – A Christmas Story
Only two weeks to go until the big day and after a couple of weeks of absolute stress and emotional upheaval I'm ready to bunker down with the kids and enjoy the Christmas season properly now. I've great plans for lots of curling up on the sofa with Christmassy books, family film watching marathons and lots of luxurious festive food. The kids books are all in a bit of a muddle between their dad's new house and my flat and so I'm not totally sure which books are where, so I'm really making the most of some of the Christmas titles that I've been sent to review this year. In the muddle of ... read more
Grinch Christmas Bunting #Grinchmas
I'm going to say it. I LOVE Christmas! I love all the build up and anticipation as it gets closer to the big day. The excitement of the build up and also how excited the kids get too. I love seeing all the decorations and Christmas lights and also hearing Christmas songs on the radio and festive carols playing. It's a lovely opportunity to spend time with family and friends and enjoy being with the ones we love. Even the Christmas edition of the Radio Times is somewhat magical in its own right. It therefore seems somewhat backwards that I also love the Grinch. This particular Mr Grumpy ... read more
Celebrating Christmas with Jet2.com and Jet2holidays
Christmas is going to be different this year. A different home. A different shaped family. But even with all the changes that have gone on over the last year some things will also remain the same - for the children's sake more than anything else. After a difficult year though (that shows no signs of getting calmer any time soon) I feel ready to pause the day-to-day madness and spend time with my family and celebrate the festive season. With December up on us and decorations up wherever you go I'm even starting to look forward to hearing Christmas music in the coffee shops I work in most ... read more
Free Christmas Dice Games
I think this is the year that my family has really got family games. Suddenly all the kids are just of the age where they can sit down at the table together and start to enjoy games and we've already had a couple of lovely evenings sat around playing things together and having a really good laugh in the process. They need to be tailored just right, so that they work for all three children, but they are a great way of bringing a family together and having some fun together. I was blown away recently by just how expensive some board games can be, so being the thrifty type that I am I've been ... read more
The 12 Sleighs of Christmas – Sherri Duskey Rinker and Jake Parker
Everyone knows that it's the Elves who keep Santa in check and make sure that everything is in place so that Christmas Eve and present deliveries go without a hitch. The source or build the presents, wrap them all and make sure they're all delivered to the right addresses. Whole films have been set about the lengths that they'll go to make sure that no child goes without on Christmas morning. But, what about Santa's sleigh itself? Who makes sure that it's all ready for the mammoth journey that it has to do that night? Fear not - just like a well tuned Formula One pit crew the elves also ... read more
Finding some UncommonGoods to gift this Christmas
The weather has turned. Halloween and Bonfire Night are over. The coffee shops have started selling their seasons drinks and sweet treats. Heck - the one I'm in has even just played Wham's Last Christmas! There's no denying it any more. It's time to turn our thoughts to Christmas and the gifts that we want to buy for our loved ones. Someone once told me that the best gifts are those that perfectly capture the recipient. Their loves and passions. What is special to them. And at the same time being something of a treat. The sort of thing that they wouldn't buy for themselves. Buying gifts for ... read more