Motivating Mum UK

This week is a normal week. “Nothing strange nor startling here!“, as my Irish mother-in-law says to us most weeks when we phone her.  A great expression, which comforts me when I hear it.  The day she has strange or startling news, we are all in trouble…

So this week, all the after school activities are in their allotted places. Nothing is cancelled and there are no extra practices. I know absolutely who needs to be where and by when, and how I am going to manage it. There is nothing unusual on the calendar at all, and I am not going to need to call in any favours.

During the day, I have no press coming to the house, nor do I have any extracurricular concerts, rehearsals or meetings. Nothing in the house needs fixing (touch wood) and I am not expecting any deliveries nor other visits.  The cleaner will come on her allotted days, the shopping will arrive, and I have great expanses of unallotted time for a change.  What a relief….

Ever since the Christmas holidays I have been waiting for “life to return to normal”.  Secretly, I think I am using it as an excuse not to restart Project Declutter nor my diet and exercise programme.  The fact that it has taken till the end of January  is neither here nor there. Maybe this week, I will finally be able to get on the case.

In fact, if I look back at my diary, I haven’t had what I am defining as a ‘normal’ week, since the beginning of October.  Which if I look at it that way, means that my definition of ‘normal’ is not very normal for me at all.  For the last four months my life has been very interesting indeed, from the point of view of Motivating Mum, and also my singing, and very much the richer for it.  Never a dull moment in this house.

I was complaining to my friend Angela last week that I haven’t really got started with my New Years Resolutions yet.  “Ah yes, but you have sung in x concerts, made several TV and press appearances, launched a new website and made plans for a large charity event in March.”  So my report for January seems to be that I have achieved some of my goals, just perhaps not the ones that I thought I was going to focus on.

I’m going to enjoy my “normal week”, as a chance to catch up a bit, to draw breath and get ready for the next instalment.  Because life is great fun at the moment and I want to get out there and grab it.

We received 4 tickets for a preview screening of Journey 2: The Mysterious Island in 3D.

Both Dad and the children were very excited to see it, and none of us were disappointed.  You need to suspend disbelief a little, believe that anything is possible, but once you are in that zone the film is amazing on all levels. Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes mums start businesses out of financial necessity.  Unfortunately one of the most common reasons for this is when a marriage or long term relationship breaks down. Often in these situations, the woman ( sometimes the man) find themselves significantly poorer, and needs to start a new venture in order to make ends meet.  Sometimes people start businesses after divorce as a way to rebuild self esteem and to re-establish their identity.

Whatever an individual’s story, the fact is that many people do look to start a business soon after a divorce, and that is the reason why I have been asked to be a member of a new multi-disciplinary advisory group called Divorce Survival Experts. Read the rest of this entry »

by Clare Moran, Co-Founder of My Secret Kitchen

My Secret Kitchen is the UK’s first nationwide food and drink tasting company.  We are a direct selling party plan business (we prefer to call our events ‘tastings’) with currently 80 consultants from Edinburgh to the South Coast.  The concept is that we produce our own range of exciting new food products which consultants prepare and show to clients at home tasting events.  We also have on-line sales but predominantly we want to support our consultants to build their own businesses by selling direct to consumers.

The direct selling food concept is so exciting to us – you get to taste and experience our foods with expert advice from one of our consultants as well as hearing new recipes and share ideas of your own.  It is the ultimate in enabling consumers to have a complete buying decision. Read the rest of this entry »

My name is Janet Cousins and at the age of 50 I discovered I was bored with the teaching and managerial job I had been doing for some years and was looking for a total change.  It was not as though I had always done this, as until the children came along, I was happy to be a secretary.  Indeed, in the early years of mothering I was content to stay at home, but when my youngest was 7, I undertook a course which awarded me a Certificate in Education. This enabled me to gain a part-time post working for the local education authority.  But the time came, when once again I was compelled to move on.  My children were still living at home, but only needed me from time to time as they were nearly grown up.  I on the other hand still had bags of energy and an urge to run my own business. Read the rest of this entry »

I often get comments on this blog and on my other social media sites from men, dads or not, who would like to join in with Motivating Mum activities.  For the record, all men are welcome, to attend events, join in, participate on the blog and also submit blog posts.  As long as you are happy in a mum-friendly environment, I don’t care if you are male, female or other, single or attached, with or without children (your own or someone else’s).

To illustrate the point, here is a guest post from Terry Murphy, who is, (shock horror!) a man…

Read the rest of this entry »

Most of you will know that in the last quarter of 2011, I got inundated with some press coverage following a blog post I did about extreme couponing.  It’s been great fun, and I’m really glad to have got the name of Motivating Mum out there to so many viewers and readers.  At the last count I have appeared on 5 BBC radio stations, plus the BBC six o’clock and ten o’clock news and The One Show and been quoted in the Sunday Times, The Mail on Sunday, Woman magazine and several blogs.  I have also turned other opportunities down – its been amazing, and the sort of publicity which many home business owners would jump at. Read the rest of this entry »

I have a very good friend who also works from home.  We live about 15 miles apart, but once a fortnight or so, we meet for a coffee and a chat at a coffee shop half way between us. It’s become a bit of a ritual.  I really look forward to our meetings, and the coffee shop where we meet has become a bit of a home from home.

Just before Christmas we had a bit of a break – one thing and another intervened and we didn’t see each other for quite a few weeks.  When we went back after the break we both had a bit of a shock.  Our regular coffee shop had had a major refit. Read the rest of this entry »

Like many people I did make some New Year’s Resolutions over the Christmas holidays.  I even went as far as making some resolutions in September, all of which still stand.  And I have also been reading my favourite business gurus and looking at my business goals for the year. Read the rest of this entry »

About this time of year many of us feel like we have overeaten, overspent and partied too hard. We start to think about New Year’s Resolutions, which often involve losing weight, getting more exercise and saving money.  At the same time, the holiday ads start on the television and we all start blissfully wishing (and hopefully planning and budgeting).

Some of you will have noticed I have been somewhat absent during the month of December.  After the daily posting of November and NaBloPoMo, you may have been wondering where I disappeared to.

The truth is that December always hits me like a whirlwind.  With my husband’s and son’s birthdays (and party) at the beginning of the month, a plethora of singing engagements (7 or 8 services and concerts), not to mention planning for Christmas, I barely had time to draw breath the first three weeks. And then the week of Christmas itself – relatives staying (who hate to see me ‘on my silly computer all the time’) and other relatives and friends coming for a succession of Christmas feasts. Read the rest of this entry »

The Christmas season is a joyous time of year, filled with carols, togetherness and mince pies, of course. But what about the main event? Yes, the all-important, most-fun part of the season…. the presents.

No matter how small or large your family, or how wide or narrow your group of friends, many have a “to-buy-for” list that stretches quite long. These huge gift lifts can wreak havoc on your budget and be a difficult drain on bank accounts. But, with the proper planning and money saving shopping techniques you can help lessen the dent to your wallet. Check out a few tips below for savvy Christmas shopping: Read the rest of this entry »

a guest post by Sinead Safford

As the recession continues, we are all feeling the pinch; particularly with growing children to cater for.  We are now also at that time of year when every penny counts as those ‘Dear Santa’ letters are drawn up and the children need warm coats and new shoes for the harsh winter to come. It can be a very daunting time when your children are pulling on your ‘heart-strings’ and guilt mixed with emotions makes us spend money we haven’t always got.

Smart mums are recycling outgrown items to make room for the replacements as well as making a bit of extra cash to buy the next size up. Read the rest of this entry »

I always have to leave the Christmas shopping for my two until December.  To start off with they usually get a visit from their Irish relatives in late November, who inevitably come bearing gifts. Then my son’s birthday is the first week of December, so he will often get anything that Santa might have brought him, a month early.  So I have learned through experience to wait and see.

But the birthday and the party is over and so now I really do have to get my thinking hat on and get some shopping done.  So I was very glad to be contacted by the people at Prezzybox, asking if I would like to review a couple of small items for children.  Prezzybox claim that you can find the perfect gift whatever the budget on their site, so I was interested to see what they sent me.

Sure enough, a few days after being contacted, a very interesting parcel showed up.  I was very impressed by the speed of delivery.  I opened it up and the first thing I saw is a wine voucher, offering me £40 off a case of wine.  Apparently this is in all the Christmas deliveries – I like this company already!

Once I put that to one side I looked for the presents and this is what we got…. Read the rest of this entry »

November 30th at last.  Now that I am freed from the promise to write a blog post every day, guess what?  I’m full of inspiration again.

But I have to say that I am very happy that NaBloPoMo is finally over, and I can go back to writing my blog when I want to write it, not one post a day without fail.  Because, as you may have noticed, I did fail, or rather quit, before the allotted time was up. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been contacted by a lot of press, TV and radio recently.  They hooked onto the blog I wrote at the end of October about Extreme Couponing and were trying to find out a bit more about this craze, which has swept America and is (possibly) about to hit the UK.

Most of the press I spoke to wanted to create a bit of an extreme version of the story:  Mum of 2 gets extreme couponing craze – goes to America to learn couponing, and now spends all her life cutting out coupons and saving money in supermarkets (whilst really annoying all the poor creatures who are queuing behind her).

I can’t change or influence what the press choose to write about me or the whole couponing trend in their newspapers, but I can tell the story from my angle in my publication – and if any of you are reading this having come from an article in a newspaper or the radio, then this is the reality, both about me, and about the whole ‘couponing’ thing.

There are a lot of eccentric characters out there. The Extreme Couponing show was designed as entertainment, so, as in many areas where reality TV arrives, they try to find extreme and eccentric people following the latest trend so the rest of us can poke a bit of fun. We have loved Extreme Weddings and Extreme Weight Loss – now we have Extreme Couponing. Do we all behave like that when we get married, lose weight or save money?  I don’t think so.

However there is a serious story here.  Women (and a few men) in America, are learning to spend more wisely and save huge amounts of money on their purchases.  With certain alterations and limitations, the same mindset can also be used in the UK to make savings – maybe not quite as large or extreme as in America – but at the end of the day, savings are savings.

So here, to set the record straight are some myths about couponing, and me,  and my opinions on the way it is really.

MYTH: Mum of 2 goes to America to learn extreme couponing . Sounds a bit crazy to me – surely the cost of the flight and accommodation would negate any saving you would make on your shopping

FACT: I did go to New York, to attend a conference of  American bloggers who all blog about the subject of saving money (this is a big industry over there – maybe its an idea whose time has come and I will spread the good news over here…). I was sponsored to go by my good friends at Savoo, for whom I write guest blogs and help them to promote their wonderful money saving voucher site.  While I was in New York I did go to a couponing class  – the video link is on my other blog above, so you can see exactly what I learned, plus the lessons I drew from it.

I am now thinking of teaching couponing in the UK, and have booked a couple of venues in January.  If you would be interested in learning about this, please join my money saving tips newsletter and you will be among the first to hear when I get the courses written and dates finalised. Alternatively contact me for a one to one consultation.

MYTH:  If you do couponing in the UK you have to buy a lot of newspapers and magazines and spend hours searching for coupons, cutting them out and sorting them

FACT: The American couponing tradition predates the internet – it has been around for years.  In America, newspapers and magazines print hundreds of coupons which you can cut (or ‘clip’, as they say) and take to the supermarket.  In the UK, the amount of printable coupons available for groceries is very small – not worth buying newspapers for.  By all means collect what you do find and take them to the supermarket, but that is not where the real deals are to be found. In the UK, the future is online – voucher code sites and sites which send codes to your smartphone, and there are also more offers to be found in the supermarkets themselves.

MYTH: By using these coupons and offers, you are just playing into the retailers’ hands

FACT: I agree that the retailers publish these offers as a way to get you to spend more than you otherwise would.  it is very easy to be tempted by the offers to buy products that you would not normally buy or use.  However it is also possible to train yourself to find and use offers only on products that you would normally buy, and so make real savings.  I am not lying when I told the Sunday Times man that my spend in supermarkets has reduced considerably since I started adopting a savings mindset.

MYTH: Its not worth spending hours of time, just to save a few pounds on your groceries each week

FACT: There are offers to be had in just about every section of UK retail.  You can set yourself a challenge, like I have, to buy all your Christmas presents at reduced prices.  You can buy large electrical products, furniture, holidays and all sorts of other products that you use day to day at quite substantial discounts, once you make up your mind to search for deals.

Some sites, like Groupon, offer a substantial deal on a product, but the deal only lasts for a day.  They are trying to get you to make a purchase on impulse.  However if you have a wish list of things that you are looking to buy in your home over the next year, and then scan Groupon and similar sites every day, you can be poised to strike when the deal comes – for instance I recently saved 80% off the price of a new mattress, which we would have bought anyway at full price – that is a real saving.

You can spend as much or as little time as you like on this – and you can make big or small savings.  How ‘extreme’ you want to be is up to you.  But even a small amount of time per week practising ‘mindful shopping’ will yield results.

I am still learning about couponing in the UK and don’t feel I have reached the farthest extremes of what is possible.  In my mind, it is a mindset, not an action.  To the extent that retailers want to offer me discounts, I will accept those discounts with good grace and open arms. I am also committed to sharing what I learn about specific discounts in the UK, both with the community at Savoo (follow me – I’m savvymum) and with anyone who is reading this.

If you would like to hear more from me on this subject, please sign up for my new money saving tips newsletter.  I’m even giving away some John Lewis vouchers as an incentive.  So you can start your extreme couponing adventure with some free coupons from me…

PS – I have now started a new blog thread with couponing tips, to help you if you want to get started – see the first post here

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about the new WordPress plugin from Andy Bailey, Why I use Commentluv Premium.  Commentluv Premium has been the absolute best  plugin I ever bought, for the following reasons:

• it has reduced the amount of spam on my blog down to the bare minimum – I have now replaced Akismet, so I have no ongoing charges for spam removal
• I am getting more relevant and useful comments on my site.  Each one has a link, so if I want I can go and converse with these people, so my blog is getting new life and becoming a dialogue rather than me just droning on. I have met some great new bloggers this way.
• I am able to go and find other Commentluv blogs to comment on, and leave a backlink to my site, pointing that blog’s users to any one of 15 juicy posts on my site.  I can also include my choice of keywords in my backlink. Andy Bailey has put together a search engine of commentluv enabled blogs – you can see it here.  This means you can find blogs in your niche to go and comment on.

You may have noticed if you follow my tweets or have read any of my posts that Commentluv premium is on sale at the moment.  I would thoroughly recommend that you buy it.  If you have the original Commentluv and you are wondering whether or not to upgrade, all I can say is ‘go for it’- the difference is phenomenal

If you need any more good reasons why you should buy this plugin for your blog, I can only say that you should watch Andy Bailey’s series of free videos “How to get people to notice you on the internet.”    This has lots of top tips, not just commentluv related.  Then go and have a look at some commentluv blogs using the Commentluv Search engine.  Leave some comments and links and see how wonderful this comment system is.

Whatever you do, please try to make a decision before the end of November.  Commentluv Premium is for sale at a never to be repeated price with a huge pile of bonuses. on 1st December this price will go up and you will have missed your opportunity.

If you do buy Commentluv premium, please drop back by here and leave me a link to your new blog. I look forward to chatting with you.

This blog follows on from Saturday’s best of the year.

These are the top 5 most popular blog posts of the last 12 months on Motivating Mum.  I certainly had a surprise or two in this lot I can tell you. I hope you enjoy reading them again – please feel free to tweet or make comments (with lovely commentluv links)

5: Selling Handmade Online   Another post from Mummy mentoring Month – this time by Viv Smith (note to self – Mummy Mentoring Month was a seriously good idea and will be repeated next March).  This is a great factual post about one way that many mums use to make money from home.

4: The Lion King in 3d -  I did some film reviews this year, because we had the opportunity to, and because I love to be able to treat my children a bit to compensate them for all the time that grumpy mummy sits at the computer all day (that comment may irritate some of you who have been participating in the blogger vs blagger debate, but I freely admit it was certainly part of the motivation).  I certainly didn’t expect the film reviews to be quite as popular as they have been, but now that I have seen this, I’m afraid we will be doing more…

3: When Stay at Home Mum isn’t Enough  This is probably my favourite post of the year – the one that I most enjoyed writing.  It charts my own though process from career woman, to stay at home mum to business owner.  And from your comments it seems I am not alone….

2: How to Pick your Business   This is another post I enjoyed writing – it was going to be the beginning of a series or a book, as I remember…  think I may have just got me some more inspiration…

So my favourite blogs have made it in at postiions 2 and 3,  but I have to admit the top spot took me by surprise.  I know when I have spoken to bloggers and mentioned this phenomenon, many of them have said exactly the same thing.  But my Top Post of 2011 by a long way, and the second most popular keyword that people have used to find the Motivating Mum blog (after motivating mum) is…(drum roll)

1: The Smurfs in 3D   I nearly didn’t take the children to this film screening, as I was very ill with an ear infection and frankly the cinema was the last thing I needed. However I am very glad I did, because although this was posted in July , it is still in the Top 5 of recently viewed posts for the last month.  So a big thank  you to the Smurfs, for helping to make Motivating Mum what it has become today.

So there you have it – my Top 10 posts for the past year.  I hope you have enjoyed reading them, and have shared or commented on them where  you saw fit.  Like I said the other day, I would love to see other people do this exercise and publish which their most popular posts have been. Please leave a comment and link here if you do.

You may get a surprise like I did…

In my previous (before marriage and kids) life, I was an auditor (yes I know you wouldn’t believe it to meet me now, but we all have to start somewhere).

One of the more interesting things I got to do in my time was visit a butter factory.  I saw the butter being churned, a small amount of salt added, then it was oozed down a pipe into the packaging.  I saw a certain number of packs of a well known brand being filled, then the machine was stopped, and the same product was filled into packaging that indicated a supermarket own brand.

Up until that point I had always considered supermarket own brand products to be inferior – cheaper, therefore not as good. But one of the factory operatives put me straight in a few matters.   In the case of the butter, there are very clear regulations about what butter is or butter isn’t – you only have to mess with the basic recipe a tiny amount, and you are not allowed to call it butter anymore. So if it says butter on the pack, then it will be pretty much the same butter in the pot or wrapper, whatever the brand is on the label.

This lesson got me thinking.  It doesn’t apply across the board to all products – in many cases the own brand products will be made with cheaper and slightly different ingredients, but quite often they are made in the same factories as the ‘real ‘ stuff, and in many cases will taste quite similar.

In these times of saving money, it is well worth while testing some of the ‘own brand’ equivalents of products that you use regularly , to see which of them will be acceptable to your family.  I am not at all recommending that you should go to own brand in all areas – if your family can notice and don’t like a taste difference then of course you should continue to look for the brand (especially if you can get an offer on it).

In our family, we have successfully switched to own brand on :

• ketchup
• baked beans and tinned spaghetti
• soup
• orange juice
• butter (of course)

We have tried but failed with

• tea
• coffee
• most breakfast cereals (although my kids do like Sainsbury’s equivalent of Special K)
• mayonnaise

Do you use own brands when you shop?  Which are the own brand products that your family particularly likes?  And which branded products can you not live without?