All-in-One Mum

Buying a printer can be daunting.  I've often looked for something small and snazzy and at a reasonable price, but what I didn't always take into account is the cost of the replacement ink cartidges after the first set has been used.  It's one of those cases where it's occasionally cheaper to buy a brand new printer at a discounted price because it will be cheaper than buying the supplier made ink! I've thankfully been introduced to a website called  Cartridge Discount  where you can buy ink and toner cartidges at fabulously discounted prices .  They stock Printer Ink  (remanufactured and original) for all the big name brands, including ink for franking machines, photo paper and other accessories that you may need for printing and mailing. Prices are quoted with and without VAT which is great because when you buy from catalogues for instance, they often give the price without VAT, which I forget about and then get extremel...

It's that time of year again when electicity bills start to sneakily climb up and all of a sudden you are lumped with a heafty bill that you may not have expected.  Like with any of your home bills, it is always an excellent idea to review your suppliers and see if you can get a better deal elsewhere and save those precious pennies! The infographic below provides very good reasons as to why you should review your suppliers annually and also shows that it is actually easier to do than you think with more people going down this path each year. Being with one of the 'big' providers doesn't always mean that you are getting a good deal and if you could get a better deal from a smaller supplier, I'm sure you'd take the opportunity and happily pocket the extra money saved. Food for thought, isn't it? Ally x Brought to you by Ovo Energy – the cheaper, greener and simpler energy supplier

Being a working mum with my own business I sometimes bring work home with me to finish off or catch up on.  Working from home as it's positives as you can do a load of washing in between spreadsheets, emails and phone calls.  It also has its distractions such as getting dinner started early instead of after bedtime madness or trying to be disciplined and avoid not turning on the telly, even if it is just for background noise, and getting caught up in something other than work. This got me to thinking that wouldn't it just be lovely to sit in a coffee shop or in a park and make that your office for the day?  Maybe even on a beach?  I think I'd be more productive in a busier space and possibly unleash more of my creative side.  One vital piece of equipment needed however, would be a laptop as I use a desktop at home. In my internet search for a suitable laptop, John Lewis popped up first showing a vast selection of  lapt...

It's that time of year again, when the crème-de-la-crème of amateur bakers head into the big white tent and bake for Britain, wowing us with their cakes, tarts, pies and bread creations. The Great British Bake Off has given us some glorious successes and spectacular triumphs, but it has also seen some magnificent disasters. When the heat - and the pressure - are on high, even the best bakers can have meltdowns in the kitchen. This season has already seen custard theft and elbowed egg muffins, but what about the failures that came before? From crumbling cakes to sliced fingers, here's our roundup of the Bake Off 's top cooking catastrophes. Dropped Cakes It's fairly safe to say that all the bakers are particularly keen to impress in the very first episode of the series, but poor Rob Billington fell prey to the kind of kitchen failure we've all had nightmares about when he dropped his sponge on the floor. Like all great cooks, however, Rob managed to salvage...

I’m a working mum and although I like to think I’m organised, most weekday mornings are a mad rush to get myself, hubby and little one out of the house.   We all brush our teeth as part of our morning and evening routine but giving them their full 2 minutes of attention isn’t always the case. One thing my parents always said to me was “look after your teeth, you only get one set!”. I’ve always kept this in mind, very rarely skipping a morning or evening brushing.   When I was pregnant I was particularly aware of how sensitive my gums were and found that my gums bled, so I needed to be gentle when I brushed.   Using a normal toothbrush made it quite hard as I had to gauge it correctly to make sure I was applying just the right amount of pressure to clean my teeth properly at the same time. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been trying out the  Oral-B Triumph 5000 with SmartGuide  power brush and new Pro-Expert Premium Gum Protection toothpaste. ...

I think (and yes it's a large generalisation) that in years and actually generations gone by it was far more simple to have a baby and not have to go back to work.  You had a baby or you had a career.  You didn't always have to make a choice. The cost of raising a child to the age of 18 rises each year and with that in mind, many women have no choice but to go back to work in order to contribute to the household income, pushing them back out into the working world.  Working mums, but not by choice. Some women decide not to have offspring.  It doesn't make them bad people.  If anything it's actually quite a smart move.  You get to dote on other people's kids and at the end of the day, you can pass them back over.  You can avoid all the tantrums and just have little smiley faces.  They also have the benefit of going to work in clothes that have not been re-styled by messy hands and snotty noses.  If they have rings under their eyes it's mor...

Zappie  is a wonderful new app that brings pictures to life right in front of your eyes.  The first of it's kind, Zappie uses the latest augmented reality technology to bring very cute images and products to life anywhere from walls to t-shirts. Zappie was designed to support pre-school children as part of their development and play.  Not only do the wall stickers look beautiful but they can transform even the dullest of rooms into a gorgeous fun and educational space.   We were sent a set of the "I'm a Little Teapot" stickers so that we could see for ourselves just how lovely they really are.  The quality of the stickers is very good and even little hands find it easy to peel them from their sticky backing sheet and apply to the wall.  The images are large, beautifully detailed and typical of traditional English nursery rhymes, which I find very appealing. To get the images to come to life I download the free "Zappie" Nursery Rhyme a...

Little Miss and I hopped on to the Huggies Pull-ups potty training bus  a few weeks back for a very informative morning about potty training and how to  encourage  and reward your little one through this next stage in their development.   Although the bus is no longer on tour, it was an excellent way of educating parents and toddlers about potty training and showing that instead of being daunting, potty training can actually be fun!  Huggies offer free samples to parents to try the Huggies Pull-ups on their child before buying a full  pack.   My daughter loved the designs on the Pull-ups and enjoyed putting them on at night.  The DryNites  Pyjama Pants are just as lovely.  She was slightly annoyed that she couldn't wear the boys pants because their absorbent sections are slightly different to those of the girl ones.  I'm pretty sure that she can't be the only girl that likes Disney's Cars movie?! To make potty training in...