So you’ve survived the summer. Congratulations! But with the start of the new term, there’s little respite for mums yet. We’re all on the lookout for the best deals on those back to school essentials, but when time is of the essence there isn’t always enough space in the schedule to spend a long time traipsing through the high street trying things on and hunting for bargains. To ease the process, we’ve come up with a few creative suggestions of our own with the aim of helping you to save both time and money.

School shoes are often one of the hardest items to find. No doubt your little one has a very clear idea of the style he or she wants but whether this a) exists and b) is available on budget is usually a matter of luck. For a wide range of styles and highly competitive prices there are few shops to better New Look. Furthermore, you can always sit the nipper on your knee and get her to choose from the vast selection of footwear available online. With prices like these, you might even find some new school dresses too. Or, of course, a treat for you.

With the return of the school day comes the return of the lunchbox. Often the best way to make sure that your little one eats a good lunch everyday is to provide a variety of foods throughout the week. This, however, can be time consuming, but there are a few shortcuts you can take. If you’re making pasta in the evening, cook a little extra and turn it into a tasty salad with tuna and veggies for the next day. If you have a little time on a rainy weekend, you could always get the kids involved in the lunchbox process by cooking up a batch of flapjacks or brownies that they can nibble over the course of the week ahead.

If you’re looking for ways to encourage the wee ones to improve their reading and develop an interest in books, popular website thebookdepository.com is full of great ideas. Prices are competitive and, best of all, delivery to your door is absolutely free so you can be enjoying your new literary material in no time.

Recently, Lionsgate sent us a copy of Monster Mutt to review. Thank you Lionsgate!

Here is the summary:

Monster Mutt follows the Taylor family children in a quest to save their beloved pet dog from the clutches of an evil megalomaniac! With a load of laughs, a lovable canine star and a heavy dose of feel-good family fun, Monster Mutt is the ultimate family DVD release for the Halloween period.

We haven’t been very good about film reviews, I’ll be quite honest, but this time we decided to come up with five questions to ask DSD, who is six, in order to give some good feedback.

Here you go:

VM: What was the funniest part?

DSD: When Max ran off and knocked over the bins.

VM: Who was your favourite character?

DSD: Ashley. No. Max.

VM: Were any parts boring?

DSD: No.

VM: What are three words to describe this film?

DSD: Funny, interesting and crazy.

VM: Would you watch this film again?

DSD: Yes.

I would like to add that this is not a film for adults. You know how many kids’ films these days are equally funny for grown ups because they have loads of jokes and pop culture references that go over the little ones’ heads? This is not one of those. But that’s fine. She enjoyed it, which is great.

The film came out on DVD this week and all 84 minutes of entertainment can be yours for 9.99.

Would you like us to put your film through our rigorous five question review process? Get in touch!

This sounds so obvious, but for some reason it’s a relatively new trick for me: cutting the tops off product tubes. I used to squeeze and flatten and try to smoosh out everything I could get from a tube and then just chuck it. What a waste! Now I cut the top off and there’s usually a good 5-6 uses left in the container.

Here’s how it works.

Step 1, cut the top off.

Step 2, dip into the remaining product!

Sometimes you have to trim one or two more times to get to the bit at the very bottom.

Side note: This is GoodSkin Labs Exten-10 Youth Boosting Moisturizer SPF 15. I got a free tube at BlogHer last year and I am NOT kidding it made me look 10 years younger. Seriously. I think so anyway! Now it’s come to the UK and you can buy it at Boots (at least I have bought it at Boots but I don’t see it on the website. And I’m out again, so go figure).

Guest post by Muzammil Bashir, senior editor of freestuff.co.uk.

Everyone loves a bargain, and there’s nothing better than finding great free offers and discounts to help your cash go a little further. So here is a quick guide for budding bargain hunters:

1. Jumble Sales, Yard Sales & Car boots

Summer time is in full swing and if you didn’t know already; it’s yard sale season. This is the time of year that walking round a field at 8am suddenly looks like a pleasant day out, and if you have got a keen eye for a bargain, what better opportunity?

There is sure to be a sale near you, so have a look in your local paper, and make sure you turn up early to snag the best deals before someone else does.

2. Bargain Shops & Money Saving

Some people raise their eyebrows at thrift stores and the like, but if you are on the hunt for good deals, you can do a lot worse than rummaging in your nearest charity shop. Sure enough, some-times you won’t find a whole lot, but it only takes the occasional gem to make it all worthwhile.

The best fun of the exercise is that you never know what you might find. These types of stores can have anything from books and clothes to gadgets, games consoles and I even found a pair of skis one time!

3. Recycling / Freecycling

The green revolution has brought with it a new opportunity for lovers of free stuff the world over. Free recycling or freecycling as it is known works like this:

Family buys new sofa and hence; no longer needs old sofa

Can’t be bothered to sell old sofa, but doesn’t want to send to landfill

Sofa is given away free to a good home…

There really are people out there with big ticket items, used but in good condition who simply want to give them away to anyone who will collect. Find your local freecycle network and see what treasures await.

4. Outlet Stores and Seconds

The previous few ideas have all been about getting second hand stuff for cheap, which can work really well, but what if you want something new, and perhaps a little nicer?

Well, outlet stores are a worthwhile place to start. Rather than shopping at your local sports store, or branding clothing shops, why not go online and see if you favourite brand has an outlet mall near you?

5. eBay!

I’m not going to say a lot here to be honest, but in simple terms, you have been going pretty darn niche before you will find a product that isn’t available on eBay.

eBay is a big business now-a-days, and there are a great deal of measures in place to help keep you safe. Ok so this is a bit of a boring suggestion, but if all else fails, it is always worth checking on eBay to see what the prices are like.

Debenham’s have announced they are going to sell copies of Pippa’s two wedding dresses – the white one from the ceremony and the green one from the evening party. They’ll retail at £170 so still not all that inexpensive. Comments on the article I read about this in the Telegraph weren’t all that positive about it so I’m curious – who will actually buy these?? I’m not a big fan of replica dresses in general and these seem to be missing the detail that makes Pippa’s real dresses so special.

I was actually in Debenham’s at Westfield yesterday and didn’t see them. Has anyone seen them in person?

Ovacome have created a new online tool to speed up ovarian cancer diagnosis by helping women to describe their symptoms accurately. Symptoms of ovarian cancer can be vague and non-specific, such as bloating, eating less and feeling fuller, abdominal and pelvic pain. The online tool allows women to record and track the severity and frequency of symptoms.

The checker has been developed using technology from HealthUnlocked, a UK company founded by clinicians that provides tools to help patients and clinicians support, track and manage health problems online. The software in the tool will be preloaded with a set of descriptors for each symptom identified in a 400 ovarian cancer patient survey, the biggest ever, undertaken by Ovacome in 2006.

At any point, the patient can print the summary list of symptoms which record which symptoms were experienced; when; and for how long; and how severe they were. The patient can then print off the summary and show her doctor.

I’m helping Ovacome by posting this widget on my blog. If you’re a blogger and you want to help Ovacome help women diagnose ovarian cancer early, you can download the widget here: http://www.beatonline.info/share#widget

On Sunday I finally got back to working on DSD’s quilt and as I was sitting there sewing while streaming an episode of Glee at the kitchen table I realised that I should share my free TV tips with all of you.

This post is for you if you want to watch telly while you’re cooking, folding laundry, getting ready for work, in bed or anywhere you don’t have a TV. Or if you want to catch up on old episodes or old series of shows you missed. Or if you want to watch particularly crap American telly that hasn’t made it’s way over here (or American shows one series ahead of where it is here!)

This is also for you if you’re not that bothered about quality. There are clever ways to download pirated video and other methods I haven’t figured out yet – but this is about watching online and sometimes there’s awful quality out there. But if you’re only half watching while you do dishes, do you care? I don’t.

The free TV revelation started when a friend turned me on to SurftheChannel.com. She was living in France and now she lives in Spain – places where it is pretty hard to find Glee and 30 Rock, I would imagine. Now I have a few go-to sites when I can’t find the links I need! Here is the cheat sheet:

SurftheChannel.com – Good site, very community driven – which I like – but sometimes poorly organised as a result. I tend to head here now more for films.

Sidereel.com – My latest favourite for telly, although they seem desperate to monetise so you’ve got some annoying videos and adverts popping up. Well organised. A bit crap for films but great for telly.

Yidio.com – Similar to Sidereel but seem to have fewer links. Also a bit crap for films (I think this is because they don’t want to annoy studios.)

Blinkx.com – Great for finding films but I can’t work out how to find telly on here.

Now before you go trying this I have a few more words of advice. These sites basically aggregate links to the shows that are around the web. Some you pay for, some are free. I always look for links from Megavideo. Why can’t I just search on Megavideo? I don’t know, but you can’t, search is rubbish on the site. Megavideo only lets you watch something like 120 minutes at a time before they ask you to buy a subscription or wait an hour. Sometimes I buy a subscription.

The companies that make these shows have caught on to this stuff and now pull a lot of links down so you may get some “removed due to copyright infringement” messages but don’t be discouraged – keep clicking the next few links and you’ll almost always find one they’ve missed.

So what should you watch? Check out Amy Poehler’s Parks & Recreation if you want to fall of your chair laughing or Hellcats with HSM’s Ashley Tisdale playing captain of her university cheer squad for a seriously guilty pleasure.

Any sites I’ve missed? TELL ME NOW!!

It’s been a long time since I posted so I’m bringing you something special! It’s my latest favourite money-saving hack: half price coffee at Starbucks every single day with no voucher necessary.

Step 1: Get a Starbucks card

Step 2: Register it

Step 3: Put some money on it

You can now get a tall filter coffee for 99p when you use your card to purchase. But to take it to the next level…

Step 4: Bring your own cup

You now ALSO get 25p off for doing your part to save the planet (and saving Starbucks money on cups). You’ve now spent just 75p for a tall filter coffee. No voucher. Every day. Yay!

We bought Starbucks design-your-own cups and let DSD decorate them. One is an oil painting and the other is this one – a picture she drew of her father and me “at our wedding.” The wedding is not until September – I love that E is wearing a silver suit and I’m wearing a red dress.

As it is apparently National Knitting Week (thanks to Hobbycraft for letting me know…) I thought I’d republish some tips for knitting on a budget that I originally posted on 11 September 2009 (plus a new one). Enjoy!

• NEW TIP: Read knitting blogs! Helpful and friendly knitters and knitting shops out there will share free patterns and inspirations. I’m currently spend a lot of time on the Purl Bee but there are oh so many more out there once you look.
• Join local knitting circles—when you have friends who knit you can borrow needles and books or swap yarns. In London, try Stitch and Bitch London or the knitting group and Sunday knit roast with iKnit.
• Use Google video search to find free online demonstrations when you’re trying to learn a new stitch.
• Sign up with Ravelry, the online social network for knitters, for free (and not free) patterns, advice and tips.
• Recycle yarn, either by taking apart your old clothes or shopping thrift stores for items that can be easily deconstructed. Look for pieces with seams that are woven rather than sewn, so the yarn can be pulled apart in one long piece.
• Check your council’s libraries for knitting books rather than buying them.
• Make friends with your local knitting store (or local John Lewis) so you’ll find out ahead of any sales or discounts.
• Consider substitutions. For example silk can be expensive and a silk blend or even an acrylic yarn could be just fine.
• Don’t throw anything away. Bits and bobs of extra yarn can be used to make doll clothes or in quilts, or small projects like oven mitts.
• Skip the fancy accessories. We’d all love to have a Cath Kidston knitting bag but that free tote you got in last month’s Marie Claire will do the trick and you know it!

Happy knitting!

Yesterday I got a lovely little bit of recognition for the blog by none other than The Times! I was incredibly pleased to be included in the Top 20 twitter accounts to save you money by Laura Shannon. The Times website does cost money now, you know, so to save you some I’ve pasted the whole entire article into this post.

This blog takes a lot of time sometimes and while I really enjoy it it is nice to have someone come along and give me a pat on the back like this. Yay! And I’m in such good company too.

Read on for the list and for goodness sake go follow these tweeters if you want to save some money!