With our children we had a ‘black box’ installed in our boys cars for our own peace of mind. It has a tracking device in case of theft and also sends automatic alerts should the vehicle be involved in an accident. So, I can’t be there to wrap them in cotton wool but at least I can keep as close an eye as possible on them. Add to this the benefit of cheaper car insurance after the box was fitted and we’re on to a winner.

With this in mind, we looked online and found a site that declared ‘free wordpress templates for you‘. We thought that this would be too good to be true or that the themes would be very basic but we were pleasantly surprised. We were able to find exactly what he was looking for – a professional looking wordpress theme with the functionality that he needs to interact with it on a daily basis.

The corrective eyeglasses he had been using had been purchased from a high street optician at quite a high price and although he was needing to replace them he didn’t want to have to buy two pairs so I suggested he talk to Zenni Optical who are an online supplier of both eyeglasses and prescription sunglasses. He was able to choose a lovely frame with a coloured tinted lens of his choice at just an extra $5 and the glasses still ended up being cheaper than the original pair he had bought in town!

So, now the workmen are safe, the drivers are safe and my fathers eyes are protected from the sunlight without any detrimental effects on his vision.

According to top SEO consultants, High Position, the best strategy is to have a team dedicated to research and development – these are the people with their fingers on the pulse of SEO. It’s only through this practice that any changes Google decides to implement in it’s favouring of websites will quickly be picked up and acted upon for the good of their clients. These changes can occur once in while or on a weekly or daily basis – what works today may not work tomorrow so be aware of this when searching out the SEO company of your choice.

I actually have insider information from someone that used to work for a famous UK tyre fitting company that they were actually given tips on how to ‘convince’ customers that there was more wrong with their cars than they realised. Of course, you can only do this with people that know nothing about cars and they ususally means women. Jargon about laws on tyres, only having the most expensive tyres available, squirting oil under a car then showing the customer they have a ‘leak’ are all tactics used to extort money from customers. It’s also mighty uncomfortable for women to have to wait around at a tyre depot waiting for a change of tyres.

You can avoid all that with eTyres tyres. This is a mobile company who will come to a place convenient to you – work or home – and change your tyres for you. Without the overheads of a depot they are able to pass the saving onto customers and provide you with a service that is 40% cheaper than traditional tyre depots. There’s also none of this sucking air in through their teeth and telling you your car needs all types of work. I love the convenience of being able to arrange it all online.

When I want my tyres changed – I want exactly that! I don’t want to be ogled by a grease monkey and I don’t want to be spoken to like I don’t know anything. Nor do I want to part with my hard earned money when it’s not neccessary!

There’s a lot of pressure on young people to get good grades as jobs and good careers are pretty hard to come by now and they need an edge over the competition. This might mean that they overlook any health issues in order not to miss classes. In fact, they often overlook health issues regardless. It’s easy to put ailments down to stress or late nights but if your teen thinks they can get seen by a thorough doctor and treated quickly and efficiently without any hassle they are far more likely to get themselves seen to.

Student health insurance is a special policy for young, single people under the age of 25. It covers things that, in the main, are more likely to affect people of that age group. But more importantly, it gives you as  the parent peace of mind that at least health issues are protected – now all you need to do is worry about the babies!

It was very fortunate that he had this fallback. After a call to his health insurance company to ge thte go-ahead and a referral from the GP, my husband was very quickly in for his scan which showed he had bladder cancer. This was devastating news and very scary stuff but thanks to his insurance policy he was able to get the treatment he needed quickly and efficiently in a private hospital with the best care possible.

Whilst being treated for this cancer my husband had expressed a discomfort around a kidney. He was assured that they didn’t expect to find anything in the kidney – they had not known cancer to spread between bladder and kidney but while they were in there, they would check anyway. They found a tumour within his kidney that was just breaking through the surface of the kidney with the potential to spread. We were shocked to say the least and after recovering from the bladder operation my husband was admitted to have his whole kidney removed.

Now, thankfully, my husband is completely recovered and has been clear of cancer for a year now. However, it was only after both sets of treatment that he received an appointment through thet post for the original bladder scan through the NHS. What if he had waited for this? With the pressure on the NHS budget and the unliklihood of bladder and kidney cancer being present at the same time, I doubt very much that his complaint would have been looked into until things had developed further.

Now, not to belittle all the work that the NHS do as they save thousands of lives every year but I am now a firm believer in taking out health insurance if you can afford to. Can we afford not to?

I have found a beautiful coach house to rent just a two hour drive from home. It is set in idyllic woodland – peaceful and serene yet within a short drive of on tap entertainment for the kids. Not that we need to go far from the house – with a swimming pool and snooker table as well as table tennis and a gorgeous garden with barbecue and seating area, this house is well equipped for us all just to get away for the week without worrying too much.

My car is a little unreliable and I so wanted the holiday to go without a hitch so I went online and selected Budget car hire as they have such a strong reputation. It couldn’t have been easier. I selected a vehicle that had plenty of space for all our cases and the clobber that generally accompanies children and even opted for a sat nav. Even though our destination isn’t that far away I’ve never been good with directions and didn’t want to spend unneccessary time travelling so the sat nav came in very handy (although I did have to get the kids to program it for me!)

After selecting, booking and paying for my car hire online, I picked it up on teh mornign as arranged and by lunchtime we were firing up the barbecue in our holiday home – now that’s what I call an easy and restufl break!

Then, the recession hit. Now, this is a crisis for many businesses, especially those like my brother in law whose small business was ticking over and has now been decimated by a lack of people wanting to part with their money – even for a job well done. Luckily, he does have the advantage of a good reputation from a well established business and is finidng innovative ways to cut costs which allows him to continue to employ the few that he needs to keep and to keep his company away from the tax sharks: a virtual office and some new suppliers to start.

Timber suppliers are placed all over the world and, depending on what type of timber you are sourcing, means you can haggle on price or simply switch supplier. It is important to my brother in law that he continue to source his materials from sustainable sources and, as the credit crunch bites worldwide, he has managed to find a timber supplier at a reduced rate. He has been able to pass this saving onto his customers thus providing a more competitive service and maintain a reasonable amount of clients.

The virtual office, he tells me, has made him the biggest saving overall though. Having found a way out of the lease on his previous premises, the business now has a prestigious new address making the business appear more successful than ever. Secretarial and answering services are provided by the virtual office and messages are relayed to his employees via these services.

This has resulted in a saving that runs into thousands per month and means that the joinery company now has a more comfortable cash flow situation and his wife can go back to looking at more shoes – although she might have to forgoe the Louboutins for a while longer!