Exercise
Many people decide to take up running in the New Year detox plan, but there are many things you can do as a family to kick-start a nice healthy family routine. Those lazy Sunday afternoons instead of watching the television, which you have probably seen before – how about going for a walk in the park, take your pets with you, and even though it’s cold wrap yourself up warm in coats, gloves and scarves and take in some fresh air. Or if you can go for a bike ride, that will warm you up quickly and give you a nice trip out and some good exercise.

5 a Day
With children getting them to have their five a day can be tricky, but fear not there are ways to get it in them without them realising; same with the rest of the family, especially now a can of Heinz tomato soup is now one of your 5 a Day – which is good on these cold January mornings. Try putting a portion of sultanas in your children’s cereal, which is a good way to get one into their early morning snacks. Small portions of fruit in pack-ups are also a good way to get another two into the days meals, for adults buying a salad instead of a sandwich can help bring in some of your recommended daily allowance. Remember fruit juices can also be counted in your five a day, so when they are on offer in supermarkets to get your fill!

Diet
Even simply replacing fizzy drinks with fruit juices or water can make a huge difference to your body, even with children around it is not too hard to get children to drink water – if you try different flavoured squashes, after all children love Ribena. As for food, there are many ideas you can try for a healthier diet, especially if your children love a pizza, get a plain cheese one and top it with lots of veggies – a sneaky way to get them into their diet. For the adults in the family try steaming vegetables to go with roasted meats, or even a healthy stir fry in good healthy oil.

Simple Options
There are other options you can do that are quick and easy, replacing your coffee and buy green tea which is a quick and easy way of making your daily routine healthier. We go for our morning coffee because we want the caffeine kick, but buying green tea from a tea shop will give you extra anti-oxidants, and because it is less acidic it is less likely to cause stomach upset, so not only will it make you feel better it will make your insides happier too. If you are reliant in the morning to get going on your coffee, try having a good breakfast to kick-start your day. Learn more about the benefits of drinking green tea by visiting the Twinings tea website.

In your hotel room or accommodation if you walk around your hotel room you will notice some of the dangers that children may face but if you bring yourself down to the level of a child you may be more aware of
some of the harmful things that children may see at their eye level and be attracted towards. There are a number of things that little hands can be attracted to and the first thing that you should think about is sharp or damaged corners on items. A child could easily hurt themselves on a sharp corner on a coffee table or on the top of a cupboard door handle so protect these areas using tape. If you are caught short without supplies then you could even use a sock or something of a similar size to run around a sharp corner. Pillows or
bed linen in general can be another way to help ensure that should your children fall that their fall will be cushioned, particularly important on very hard surfaces.

Plug sockets, power cables, cords of blinds and light socket cords are all potential hazards and there are a number of ways to protect these. You can use plug socket protectors for plugs and these can be packed
in your suitcase. They are light, small and will not send your baggage weight soaring which is always a bonus. Cords, light socket cords and numerous other wires can always be looped around themselves or hung
over the back of door frames to stop them from becoming a hazard.

Ensuring that balcony and room doors are locked is another way to avoid your children getting in to mishap on holiday and you can simply agree with other adults and older children in the house of a designated place for such keys to be placed just in case of emergency so that everyone knows where to find them.

By simply walking around your accommodation you will be able to look out for sharp corners, plugs that are left on, damaged or loose items that could become a choking hazard and various other hazards. Temporary accommodation can be full of hazards that you have not thought about or realised before but a simple walk, or even a crawl around at a small childs eye level, could help you see so many things that you never noticed before and ensure that your children are kept safe while on holiday.

There are, as with any type of holiday with the kids, a lot of things that need planning. Once you arrive at your destination your accommodation needs to be built. A far cry from the usual hotel check-in. It may seem that you are completely at the mercy of the weather; but with good planning and foresight, this need not be the case. Having fun and taking time to plan for such a trip away could result in a holiday to remember – but for all the right reasons.

It is understandable that the handcrafted nature of a camping trip could be seen as an obstacle, but it can be a fantastic way of emancipating your creative and inventive side. This sort of holiday allows you the freedom to live by your own itinerary with your own food, cooking and entertainment. These things can be a comfort to young children away from home and offer you the chance to bond with them.

Another great reason to go camping with the family is that it allows you to see parts of the world you might not normally see. By that, we don’t just mean touristy parts of countries, but also countryside areas often hidden away when you’re staying in a hotel. Needless to say, a day in the country can lead to loads of fun family activities from nature walks and trails to sport and games.

The educational aspect of going camping is also something that shouldn’t be overlooked. The number of skills not just children, but you yourself can pick up is massive. For one, camping relies on people being able to fend for themselves in areas like outdoor cooking and simple survival skills. Once gained, these skills can be used throughout the child’s lifetime, and they could even end up passing them on to their own kids!

Cost is also a factor. It’s cheaper to go camping than it is to go to a hotel. Indeed, the number of cheap activities available provides even more savings. So, if you’re looking for a trip away that’s cheap, practical, interesting and a great way to bond with the children, give camping a go!

Critical illness insurance, put simply, is there to take one burden off your shoulders if you become seriously ill or totally disabled, as it pays out a tax free lump sum to help you pay for bills, mortgages and other everyday expenses, allowing you to concentrate on the hard task of recovering. The vast majority of critical illness insurance policies require that you survive at least one month after you are first diagnosed by a doctor before they will pay out the policy.

There are set illness or diseases that are covered by critical illness insurance; these can be numerous but there are 7 main conditions that are definitely covered. These are cancer, strokes, major organ transplants, heart attacks, coronary artery bypass, multiple sclerosis and kidney failure. The policies will also pay out if the policy holder is permanently disabled as a result of injury or illness.

Another type of insurance some people might consider unecessary is life insurance but it really can provide you with the financial security you need to really get on with, and enjoy your life.

However, there are a few hints and tips that you can follow to help keep your Christmas on budget. You just need the know-how.

If you can start thinking about Christmas at the beginning of the year and find the best savings accounts available. Putting a little bit of money away each month can give you some extra cash just when you need it.

When it comes to choosing gifts make sure you compare prices before you go shopping. Many stores offer 3 for 2 deals or will send out discount vouchers around December, which can help give you more value for your money.

Having collected coupons or loyalty card points can be helpful at this time of year too. Those all-important money off vouchers could go towards the turkey and trimmings or help you buy the drinks for your Christmas party.

When buying for others in your family, suggest a budget level that you can sensibly afford and stick to it. The chances are everyone is feeling the pinch and will appreciate not having to overspend.

Where food and drink is concerned, try not to go too crazy. For some reason Christmas usually makes us buy two extra tins of biscuits, just in case. Write your food shopping list before you go, planning only on the food and drink you will definitely eat.

Buy what you need. If your family is small consider a turkey crown instead of a large bird. The meat will be just as good and will save you money and once it’s carved no one will know the difference anyway.

Buy as much seasonal produce as you can. Not only will the veggies taste great, because they’re in season, they will cost less too or if you are inviting guests, ask them to cook and bring a dish each.

For decorations try to re-use as much as you can. There is something lovely about getting the kids to make a decoration for the tree or even put together their own homemade Christmas cards.

Try to bring the outside in; you’ll be amazed how good pinecones, holly or ivy will look in displays. Add some glitter or pretty ribbons and you’ll have a gorgeous ornament that’s totally unique.

Instead of buying a cut down pine tree, choose a potted tree so that with a bit of care you can plant it afterwards and hopefully re-use it again and again in years to come.

Christmas cards you receive look great as decorations. Simply hang some ribbon, or even string, along a plain wall and then hang or clip your cards along it as an inexpensive Christmas display.

Remember to recycle as much as you can. Wrapping paper, cards, ribbons, bows and pretty boxes can all be saved and used again. Not only will this save you money, it also helps look after the environment.

If you do overspend a little bit at Christmas, don’t worry. Do your homework and find out the best deals on credit cards or low rate loans to help you spread the costs.

Credit cards with 0% interest or 0% on new purchases can offer a way of paying off your Christmas spending at your own pace without building up additional interest charges. Just remember to find the best savings accounts and start saving for next year!

Home insurance offers policyholders increased peace of mind and can protect individuals from significant financial loss if they find that the possessions in their home are stolen or their property damaged. Perhaps the best way to purchase a suitable home insurance policy is online, as this method allows you to compare product features and prices easily, all from the comfort of your home. Castle Cover Home Insurance Quotes available at, for example, are tailored to the over fifties – a demographic that is generally considered low risk. If you are aged fifty or over, you may find that you benefit from using an insurance comparison site such as Castle Cover as the best deals are scouted out for you.

You may also choose to take other precautionary measures that will not only protect your home and possessions further, but will also provide the added benefit of potentially lowering your home insurance premiums. Increasing the level of security in your home is an affective and affordable way to reduce your risk of burglary over the winter months. Ensure that all external doors and windows are fitted with locks that adhere to industry standard – as failure to do so may mean that your insurer refuses to lower your premiums – and check they are in good working condition. For extra security, why not invest in security lights that are an effective crime deterrent and can prevent burglars from getting close to your property without being noticed?

Be Organised
Make a list of who you have to buy. Look at your personal finances and make sure you’re being realistic about what you can afford to spend on everyone for and set a limit on what you’ll spend per person. Don’t be tempted to borrow money to cover the costs, only spend what you already have.

Re-use decorations
Don’t buy new decorations each year, check the old ones over, and if need be give them a bit of a re-vamp with a can of gold or silver spray paint, or some glitter. Head for the countryside or garden and gather pinecones, holly, acorns and other greenery to make your own wreathes, or table decorations. A few sprigs of this and that tied nicely with a colourful ribbon can look fantastic.

Make gifts
gift baskets and hampers can cost a small fortune, so make your own instead. Baskets can be bought reasonably cheaply & then covered in cellophane to wrap and tied with a ribbon, or cover boxes in gift wrap and shred paper into them before placing items inside.

Discount shopping
Discount shops are pretty popular now and it’s no wonder when the prices are sooo low! Aldi, Wilkinson, and Poundland are three favourites where you can generally get some superb bargains from complete gifts to odds and ends to help you create some of those gift baskets already mentioned.

Shopping online
Often cheaper than the high street, you won’t need to worry about crowds or parking. Do check if delivery costs extra though or you could over spend! Some stores offer free delivery on everything such as play, amazon and john lewis. Use voucher codes to help further reduce the costs and you could find things coming in cheaper than you expected.

Pay with points
Save up loyalty points with stores through the year and then spend them on gifts at Christmas –Boots, Sainsburys and Tesco all do good points deals and have plenty you can buy as gifts, and with Nectar you have loads of shops you can spend the points in.

Deals & Offers
Look for 3 for 2 offers, buy one get one free offers, and use these to get some presents for nothing. Shops to keep an eye on for this include Marks & Spencer, Boots, Superdrug and Debenhams.

Don’t forget cashback
If you’re shopping online, make sure you check to see if you can get cashback with one of the many cashback sites before you make your purchases. Some of the best are quidco, and topcashback.

Plan ahead
Think ahead for next year (even now!), get a tree you can re-use, keep spare cards, and wrapping paper, and buy extra cheaply in the sales after Christmas. Keep old cards and cut them down to make gift tags, and keep bows and ribbons to re-use too.

How can you save on energy? Read on to find out, compare energy prices and then plan that lavish getaway that the whole family has been dreaming about.

Spend less on: Electricity

To get your electricity bill under control, there are a few changes you should make concerning the way your house consumes energy. To begin, you should take a survey of your household appliances to find out which ones use standby power, which can result in them consuming electricity even when they are not on. If you put these appliances on a power strip, you could save more than five per cent on your energy costs.

Another small change you can implement is using fluorescent or LED lights instead of energy-eating incandescent bulbs. If you are really in the mood to give your home an energy makeover, you should also consider replacing appliances that are more than ten years old, such as an old washing machine or refrigerator. With ever-evolving technology that makes these products more energy efficient, you could actually lower your bill by getting a newer model designed to save power.

One of the best ways to keep track of your electricity usage is to get a smart meter. These cutting edge devices are the newest on the market, and they can help you control energy costs by sending an automatic reading to your electricity provider. This means that you won’t be overcharged due to the company taking estimates instead of reading your meter.

Spend less on: gas.

Natural gas is a hot commodity, quite literally. If you use it to fulfil your home’s energy needs, regular maintenance is a must. Start by getting a thermostat that you can programme to maintain the house at a cooler temperature, especially when you and your family are out of the house. This will keep you from paying to heat your home when you’re not there.

You should also make a habit of calling a professional to check your boiler or hot water heater at least once a year so that you don’t have to shell out money to fix major problems that may occur down the line. To help save on your energy bill, set the temperature to around 50 degrees Fahrenheit, which should be sufficient for home use. During the winter, wrap the hot water heater in a thick quilt to insulate it.

Now that you have all the tips and tricks on how to lower your energy costs, you can sit back and watch your bill deflate each month. For more information on how to save energy, visit uSwitch.

If you are going to be one of the thousands of people traveling the roads for the holidays, you have two options available: you can either arrange for a rental car or what’s becoming increasingly popular is transporting your car to your destination. Using a site like uShip to look for car transporters would be a good place to start if you go down this route.

If you decide to holiday with your own car instead of a rental vehicle then you should give your car a complete going over. Give your car an oil change. While you’re at it check all the fluids including your transmission fluid, brake fluid and your windshield wiper fluid.

While your working under the hood of your car check the cables for signs of wear. If the cables in your engine look worn, have them replaced. You don’t want them to break down during your holiday trip. Check your windshield wipers to make sure they’re in good working condition.

To make sure your indictors and your brake lights are fully working, best thing to do is to have someone stand at the back of the car. Turn your lights and indictors on so your assistant can see that they are operating, as they should. Also check your headlights too! Check both the low beams and the high beams.

When your traveling for the holidays it is important to make sure your tires are in good condition. Check your tires for wear patterns and tread depth. If you see your tires are wearing unevenly you can rotate them, which means switching the back tires to the front and the front tires to the back of the car. If you see wear patterns you may also need to get the car re-aligned.

Since winter travel can mean driving in bad weather you should make sure to put together an emergency kit. Things to include in your kit are: a torch with spare batteries, flares, food, water, a first aid kit, blankets, a car jack, and a gas can.

You also want to make sure you have a spare tire, and the proper jack and equipment you will need to change a tire.

Today we all have mobile phones and carry them with us at all times. Remember to charge your phone or to bring your charger. For road travel it is a good idea to have a battery charger that can plug into your cigarette lighter. You don’t want to get caught breaking down on the road with a dead battery.

Just in case of an accident, put a disposable camera in your glove box. If you need to you will be able to take pictures of the accident scene for your insurance company. Be sure to carry your registration and insurance papers in the glove box as well.

Finally, make sure your car is properly insured for foreign travel, and try to familiarize yourself to your destination countries highway code. Aside from driving on the wrong side of the road, most countries have ‘unique’ highway laws for example running out of fuel on a German Autobahn will cost you a lot more than calling the AA, its illegal and you will be fined!

Everyone has something that springs readily to mind when they think of Ireland whether it’s shamrocks or leprechauns, St. Patrick’s day celebrations or the Blarney Stone.  The reality is a mixture of all
this and much more with medieval castles, cosmopolitan cities, stone age temples and rivers to cruise along.

The Bluestone at Blarney Castle is one place many people choose to visit, and a trip here to kiss this stone is said to give you the gift of the gab with which it’s said the Irish are blessed.

Dublin the capital city lies on the banks of the River Liffey and has been transformed in recent years into one of Europe’s most trendy places.  Teenagers and those in their twenties may enjoy the Temple
Bar area which is home to many cafes, bars, clubs, galleries and funky boutiques, while if you like a bit of history, then Trinity college houses the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript of the four Gospels dating to 800 AD and one of the national treasures.  The Dublin castle is well worth a visit too, built back in the 12th century, and a tour of it takes you through state apartment, the Chapel Royal and the undercroft which was the site of an early Viking fortress.  There’s a sight seeing bus which travels around Dublin and makes 20 stops around the city. A ticket for this will allow you to hop on and off along the route to see those things you most wish to see.

Belfast offers a wide range of things to do with the family from a visit to the Ulster Folk and Transport museum to Aunt Sandra’s Candy factory where you can watch this candy being hand made.  The Belfast Zoo is considered a most attractive animal park and is home to a wide array of animals from gorillas to elephants, giraffes, lions and penguins.  It’s built on the slopes of Cavehill and you get some great views over the city too. Also in Cavehill is the Cavehill Adventure Playground which is suitable for kids from 3-14 and has a huge range of things from cradle swings to slides, roundabout, space net and aerial runway.  Just outside the city near Portaferry the Marine Nature reserve and Exploris Aquarium offer more places to see animals too.

If you are visiting Ireland from abroad the easiest way to get hear is by air and with car hire Belfast airport and Dublin getting around is extremely easy.