And it's a happy birthday to Fifi

It's difficult to have a birthday right after Christmas, I should know, mine is the day before Fifi's! Of course I've had 34 more than she has, so I've got a bit more used to them now. We had to think hard what to get her for her birthday, or rather what to hold back from the huge stash we had wrapped for Christmas.

I think in the end though Fifi was more excited and concerned about the day being hers rather than what she got in terms of pressies. For the record, we got her a bike and a few bits of pink tat that girls seem to love. I must say, her initial attempts at cycling were very funny, she only managed to peddle a half revolution with one foot, and then she'd peddle backwards and do it all over again. I had a bizarre mental image of Fifi with one massively overdeveloped leg, riding round and round in circles.

I know that we spoil Fifi slightly though and I know this because I visited 4 supermarkets in an attempt to get her a Peppa Pig birthday cake.

So happy birthday Fifi!

Your guide to the top sporting events of the year- guest post

Sports fans, 2012 is your lucky year. Not only is the UK hosting the biggest sporting event of all this summer - the Olympic Games - but around the world there are dozens of sporting treats to suit every passion.   And with comparison sites making it cheaper and easier to travel abroad than ever before, you no longer have to be a living room spectator: you can witness every shot, goal, lap and hole in one for yourself.

So, where should you go to experience the best sporting events first hand over the next 12 months?

FOOTBALL

Football fanatics need look no further than the European Football Championships taking place in June in Poland and the Ukraine. With Eastern Europe a long-term favourite of the low-cost airlines, there will be no excuses not to hop on a plane and cheer on the home team.

GOLF

For golf lovers, the US will be the top destination this year. Augusta, Georgia plays host to the Masters Tournament in April, while the Ryder Cup tees off on 28th September in Medinah, Illinois.

MOTOR SPORTS

Adrenaline junkies should head to the Isle of Man in May to experience the excitement of the most prestigious road race in the world, the TT races. Or perhaps the legendary US race, the Indianapolis 500, in May, would be more of a buzz?

FORMULA ONE

The Formula One industry has another packed agenda in 2012. As well as the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in July, other highlights include the China Grand Prix in April and the Monaco Grand Prix in May.

HORSE RACING

Fans of our four-legged friends can travel the world in pursuit of their passion. The annual Kentucky Derby in Louisville, US, in May, is a must, while the more adventurous may fancy Australia’s Melbourne Cup in November. Closer to home, and there is Le Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in Paris in October - or perhaps you'll be tempted by a trip to the Dubai World Cup in March.

Once you have decided which event takes your fancy, do some research and you will find no shortage of attractive deals to get you to your chosen destination. But before you pack your suitcase and get ready to cheer on your favourite team, horse, or player, remember, it's never a good idea to go abroad without holiday travel insurance, whether you choose the best single trip travel insurance or annual worldwide travel insurance.

According to a recent report by the Association of British Travel Agents, 20 per cent of Brits go on holiday without appropriate cover, perhaps because they are under the misapprehension that the UK government will jump to their rescue. Unfortunately, this could not be further from the truth. The reality is, medical bills can be very expensive, especially if you fall ill in the US.

It is even more important to make sure your trip insurance is up to date if you want to emulate your sporting heroes and take part in any activities yourself.

Another possible way to make some savings is by shopping around in advance for your travel money. Search online before you go to find the best exchange rates. Some providers even offer pre- paid currency cards which allow you to top up your cash whilst you're abroad, and also lock-in your initial exchange rate on certain currencies.’

Slendertone's 30 Day Challenge

I watched the Matrix again recently, for the first time in years in fact. It's full of iconic imagery but the one that always sticks with me is Neo (Keanu Reeves) laying on a table with hundreds of needles/electrodes inserted into him, stimulating his muscles to give some strength to a body that's spent it's entire life in a vat of gloop.

If only all excerise was that simple eh?

Now I am a tall chap, at 6ft 4 I consider myself just the right side of freakishly tall mind you but I am suffering a bit from what I like to think of as premature middle aged spread. I am only 37 after all. It's really a combination of two things: firstly I am overweight. I wont deny it, a few stone could be shed without risking me wasting away. Secondly, I have naff all stomach muscle definition. You know when you relax your muscles and your stomach bulges appreciably? I don't get that. I just lose sight of my feet.

Cool's eye view

It's not that I don't get any exercise, although I admit at the moment I get precisely none of a vigorous nature, I do walk over 20 miles a week as I walk to and from work every day.

So when Slendertone contacted me and offered me their latest abs buster to see if it could really make a difference, I thought this would be a good opportunity to see my willy without having to lean forward slightly. Who knows, it might be the start of a beautiful relationship.

Slendertone have what they call a 30 day challenge, which is in effect a programme that steadily increases in intensity, designed to make a visible difference in, yes you've guessed it, 30 days. I must admit the last time I tried something like this I didn't take it as seriously as perhaps I might, at one point I was sitting there eating a large bowl of popcorn whilst the slendertone stimulated my stomach muscles. That's sort of the toning equivilent of lighting up at half time when you're playing football, and not really in the spirit of the endevour.

The baby I almost missed

The astute amongst you may be aware that we added a new small baby to the family on New Years Day. Well, I say we, I obviously mean wifey, my involvement was about 3 minutes almost ten months ago. NHS cuts meant our local hospital, the QEII in Welwyn Garden City, no longer has a maternity unit, so we had a longer trip up the road to Stevenage. The Lister hospital has a brand spanking new maternity unit. Which is 30 miles away.

Not that it would have mattered of course, if a little bit of common sense had been applied. Wifeys waters broke at the usual time, 2am. I actually heard them pop as I'd just nipped to the kitchen to get some cold & flu and was just settling down. We had an abortive trip to the hospital for a bit of monitoring in the morning and were home for lunch. I don't know why they got us in, I just think they take a perverse joy in it.

We ended up going back in late afternoon as wifey was running a bit of a temperature. On the ward there were a couple of other labouring mum's making varying degrees of fuss. One lady seemed to have been there for a week or so and was even on first name terms with the cleaner, the other woman hadn't even got a softening of her uterus but was screaming, panting and making a fuss like a woman about to give birth that very second. I'm a man, therefore I wasn't in any sort of position to call her a drama queen but wifey did. Quite loudly too. Not that she would have heard over the panting and shrieking of course.

So far so good, even though on New Years Eve the cafe closed 45 minutes before it was supposed to have, leaving us to subsist on Walkers Crisps and chocolate. Then things took a turn for the weird. The hospital leaves it 24 hours from the waters breaking before inducing a pregnant lady. Since wifeys waters broke at 2am, they decided to induce her at 8pm. The Labour ward's visiting hours finish at 8pm. You can see where this is going can't you?

I was allowed to wait about half an hour to see if there was any effect from the pessary and then booted out. I popped out of the hospital complex in the car, racking up more carparking charges in the process and failed to get a Burger King from the local restaurant so had to settle for a McDonalds. I then returned to the secure access lobby to wait. Around ten thirty, I hunkered down on the sofa for a bit of a kip as I had an inkling it was going to be a long night. Each of the wards was also behind a secure door, so I was a bit confused when I was woken up by a midwife and ten past midnight and effectively thrown out of the hospital. Apparently I was a security risk. That's right, I'd be let into a secure access lobby and with my wife all of thirty feet away, I was now a security risk. In hindsight I think it had a lot more to do with the hospital wanting to charge me at least £100 to stay in one of their amenity rooms rather than any security issues but there you go, a return to the bad old days of a two tier health service for the haves and the have nots. I was grade A fobbed off, told that nothing was likely to happen overnight if it hadn't already and that it didn't matter that it was our third one jot.

I did complain but not too vigorously as I didn't want to be refused re-entry. If they were going to be jobsworths, they could really stuff me up by refusing to let me in when the baby was actually born. It was about twenty past twelve at this point and although it was mild, it was far far too cold to sleep in the car (did I mention the clutch was on it's last legs? No? We thought it would make things more exciting but I couldn't actually let the engine run to keep warm for fear of breaking the car). And so it came to pass that I was at home on the sofa at quarter past one in the morning. I'd literally just taken my shoes off when my phone went. "I'm in labour, they're taking me to the delivery suite, hurry!"

Since this is a public record, I did exactly 70mph on my return trip to the hospital, and not a mile an hour more. 22 minutes later I was pegging it up to the entrance. My phone shows that at 1.48am I tried to call wifey to get the staff to let me in- they hadn't answered the entrance intercom on any of the four wards for over 5 minutes. Of course I later found out wifey was giving birth at that exact moment, so was unable to answer her phone. She wasn't even on twitter, so it must have been intense. Fortunately a new dad needed a ciggie and let me in on his way out. I got into the delivery suite just in time to see the baby's arm follow his head out.

So I more or less saw little Danger (it's his middle name) being born but the hospital robbed me of the chance to be there for my wife and support her during her labour. Yes it was a quick one and the midwives actually told her to cross her legs in the lift, but since it was our third baby and they knew we lived 40 minutes away, should they really have sent me home ? Personally I feel massively let down by the treatment I had at the Lister. It made me feel that dad's are genuinely second class citizens, as well as guilty for not being there for wifey.

Still, at the end of it all we have a true miracle baby and I suppose that's whats really important isn't it?

It's like riding a bike, falling off of one, or something

Baby number three sort of crept up on us, I'll freely admit that now. With the boy we avidly read the "this is whats going on inside your right now" diaries, memorised the scans, and generally got far too excited for our own good. With Fifi things were toned down a little as we were up half the night with the boy anyway. Now number three is here, I'm fairly sure I went to both the scans, and I remember conceiving him (just not the exact date).

I learnt nothing. NOTHING.

One of the things I was looking forward to though was the unshakeable knowledge that since I'd done this twice before, nothing could faze me because I was a seasoned pro at this parenting lark. If I was going to be poetic, I could say that kids are apparently like snowflakes, each one unique and special but I'm not. It appears each new baby that pops into this world has it's own store of devious habits that exist only to baffle and outfox it's parents, whilst causing them maximum confusion and discombobulation.

In short, apparently I know diddly-squat about parenting. Despite raising two children to the ages of almost 5 and three respectively, I've become soft and unaccustomed to doing things like changing nappies on someone who is simultaneously incredibly delicate and also trying to flick crap at me with a will using both feet. The dark art of winding a baby has abandoned me completely too- I've sat in bed for almost an hour trying to coax a burp out of a small baby, despondent in the knowledge that even though he's feigning sleep, the second I lie him down the evolution-disproving trapped wind will make him scream in apparent agony.

I'd forgotten too that newborn poo resembles nothing less than a jar of Korma cook in sauce, with perhaps a bit more grit than is absolutely necessary. Of course things are different this time- neither wifey or I are changing his nappy every 36 minutes in case he's done a bit of a wee. On the odd occasion of an evening when we're not quick enough in the evening to respond to  his wails, the boy appears in his PJ's, a face of thunder, to tell us off for not keeping Danger quiet."Daddy, I am trying to sleep but the baby crying is stopping me!" was the admonition I had to bear last night. The shame!

The list of imponderables goes on and on:

• how do you put a coat on someone who's elbows appear pinned to their sides?
• just what is that strange grunting sound and what does it mean?
• if his tummy is the size of his fist, where exactly is all that milk going?
• is he too hot/cold/tired/awake/bored/over stimulated?
• why don't I know whether he is  too hot/cold/tired/awake/bored/over stimulated?

Perhaps when we get a good nights sleep we'll realise we've actually got this parenting malarky sorted and it's just a matter of perspective...

Using credit cards sensibly- sponsored post

Credit card companies are often made out to be the evil bogey men but it's not always the case and as ever a little bit of common sense should be applied before writing off owning one entirely. For example, did you know it's difficult to build up a good credit history, which makes getting loans, mortgages and so on easier, without actually owning a credit card? Bonkers but true. It's recently come to light that some bank overdraft rates have an effective APR of around 800,000%, which makes paying 10-30% on a credit card look almost reasonable.

Anyway, there are a few tips I would give to anyone who is considering getting a credit card, most of which will be perfectly adequate for those people that already have one too:

• know what you should use a credit card for: fraud protection, insurance, taking overseas with you, building a good credit history;
• know what you shouldn't use a credit card for: spending money you don't have, withdrawing cash, making up persistent shortfalls in income (see my budgeting post on getting to grips with this);
• shop around for a good long term rate. Although introductory offers are good, often zero percent for 12-24 months, with a transfer fee, transferring balances all the time means consistent hits on your credit reference. Whilst this is not bad in itself, lenders can see how often your rating is checked, and the frequency can effect their decision;
• pay off more than the minimum if you can't afford to pay off the balance. Nowadays the minimum on any sizable balance will be 75%+ interest anyway, so you wont really be paying off anything.
• If you're disciplined, consider an introductory offer as an alternative to a finance arrangement for purchasing goods. For example, a TV over 24 "easy instalments" from a catalogue or a store is going to cost you a lot more in terms of finance costs than it would if you paid it off in 24 equal instalments on a low interest credit card.

But the most important point of all, and its so important it's not a bullet point, is to treat your credit card with respect and consider it negative money. Every pound you have on it is a pound you don't have because you owe it to a bank.

Disclosure: the tips and such are all my own, I was however paid for this post by a web comparison site. The subject is close to my heart though, I have had credit card problems myself in the past and learnt the hard way. Don't make the same mistake as me.

How to budget

Budgeting isn’t the same as saving money/spending less/economising. It can incorporate those things but at its heart budgeting is about understanding what comes in and what goes out of your bank account. Once you understand your finances, you can make moves to save money where appropriate.

If you’re running a household it helps to look at this jointly if you and your partner have separate accounts. My wife and I have a joint account which both our incomes are paid into and all our outgoings come from. Its just easier but I understand this might not be for everyone.

Fixed expenditure

The first thing to do is make a list of all your regular outgoings. The easiest way to do this is via your internet banking but if you don’t have this facility, going through a month or two of bank statements should help. Our list came out like this:

E.ON

TV LICENCE MBP

AVIVA

VEOLIA WATER CENTR

ST ALBANC DC

ALLIANCE LEICESTER

CIS F&A INSURANCE

VIRGIN MEDIA PYMTS

AA MEMBERSHIP

CAMELOT GROUP PLC

O2

T-MOBILE

I’ve left the totals out but you get the idea; every month we pay 12 standing orders/direct debits, the majority of which are fixed. With the aid of a calculator, you can easily work out exactly how much you know you will be spending in any given month.

Your first port of call should be to assess whether everything you pay for on direct debit and standing order is necessary and good value for money. Most of the time the payments go out and its easy to forget you’re paying as much as you are for something. As a result of going through ours, I changed by mobile phone contract and we’re now saving £25 a month on it. That’s £300 a year.

If your standing orders and direct debits are spread throughout the month, it may be worth contacting your service provider and asking to have the date moved. With the exception of the two mobile phone direct debits, all of ours go out in the first week of the month. That way I know that any money left in the account after the 8/9th of the month is there for living on and saving. Its easier that way.

How do you dispose of your disposable income?

Unless you’re paid an hourly rate or have regular performance or shift related bonuses, you should have a good idea of what your income is going to be every month. My employer pays me on the last working day of each month, so I know when I’m going to be paid too. If you’re like me, you can look at the list you just compiled of direct debits and standing orders and take it away from your monthly salary receipts. This is what you have left to live on and save with.

Understanding where your disposable income goes is perhaps the most important part of home budgeting. Working it out is time consuming and tedious but rewarding. The best way to do it is via bank statements and cheque stubs. A month is the bare minimum you should use but if you can go back three or four months, the information will be much more useful as it will contain semi regular expenditure- stuff like shoes, clothing, nights out and so on that might not happen all the time.

Practically the best way to do this is to take your bank statements month by month, cross out all the direct debits and standing orders you’ve already identified and then put all the remaining entries one by one into a cashbook (categories across the top, dates down the side). So for example, an excerpt might look like this:

	Petrol	Food	Clothes	Lunch money	Other	extra narrative
01-Jan	65
01-Jan		90
02-Jan				3
03-Jan				3
05-Jan					20	Pizza Express
	^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
	65	90	0	6	20

It may seem over the top to put each expense on a separate line with the date but often you’ll find you will spend more on certain things at a particular time of the month, so the more detail you have on your cashbook, the more use it will be for you.

Once you’ve prepared your analysis, you have the raw data to start looking at what you spend, when you spend it and whether you can do anything to improve what you do.

There might be lots of things to look at in your analysis.

Do you food shop weekly, or pop to the shops every few days as and when you need stuff? By adding up all your supermarket spending for the month and dividing it by the number of weeks in the month, you can get an idea of your average weekly spend on food. This and your petrol costs are likely to be your two biggest variable costs every month, and if that is the case, you can look into your analysis to see if there are ways to improve it.

If you shop weekly, and the bill looks high to you, does writing a list improve what you spend over the next month? Does switching from shopping in store (and being tempted by offers you might not have bought otherwise) to shopping online save you money? Because you have the historic analysis, going forward its much easier to see if any changes you’ve made have had a real impact.

What you should do is factor in the annual expenses that might not be captured by your analysis too. Things like your cars MOT, road fund license and insurance (if you don't pay by monthly direct debit) or paying for holidays and the like. If you can work out the annual cost of all these one offs, and divide the total by 12, that's how much you should be putting in a savings account each month (as a bare minimum) to cover these expenses. That way you wont be caught napping when you have to spend £200 taxing your car the month after you've paid the balance on your holiday.

It’s not really the aim of this piece to tell you how to make savings, once you’re armed with the information about your spending habits, it’s really up to you to see what you can alter. Good luck, and if you have any killer tips, please leave them in the comments section!