God, January is being LOOOOOONG this year isn’t it? It’s so miserable, all the rain and dark mornings.

What you need to to WIN A COMPETITION! How much better would you feel about life if a hamper of cheese turned up on your doorstep?? With this in mind, I asked the super lovely (and lucky) Di Coke to come up with some tips to help you win competitions. Di is something of a comping expert. She’s been winning competitions for twenty years, since the good old days when it was answers on a postcard, and she shares her tips on her own hugely successful blog, Super Lucky.

Here are Di’s seven habits of successful competition winners:

1. Buying random stuff they don’t need

 A successful comper will have cupboards full of toilet roll, toothpaste, tuna and crisps, bought as ‘qualifying’ products for competition entries. But in addition to these useful products, expect to see them stocking up on Tena Lady pads and random baby products too. Because if a competition offers a decent chance of a win, compers will buy the product to enter regardless of whether it’s any use to them. Oh, and they’ll buy in bulk too – just in case the promotional packs disappear off the shelves. Don’t worry though, those 40 packs of sanitary towels will be donated to a local FoodBank or Women’s Refuge once the comp’s over!

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If ever was a post that proved that I am a woman not afraid to make a fool of herself in the name of money fun, then this is it.

Now probably there would be a few of you who wouldn’t fancy the idea of sharing videos of yourself dancing, but really, when you stop to think about it, why the hell not? What exactly are you thinking that people will see that they don’t see every day? Not keen on a close up of your bottom? I hate to tell you, but everyone can see your bottom all of the time. It’s just that it’s behind you, so you forget about it.

Embrace it! Flaunt that bum! Celebrate the fact that you’re alive and can dance around your living room should you want to.

Like this…

You’re welcome.

My incredibly accomplished dancing isn’t just for fun though, it’s to let you know about a competition from OVO Energy where you can win a custom onesie by sharing your own super cool dance moves. A onesie is just the thing for throwing some shapes at home over the winter. It doesn’t even matter if you’re a little bit shy – why not just take a little video of your feet getting jiggy? All you have to do to enter is to pop your clip on Instagram or with OVO Energy on Twitter and use the hashtag #ShakeItOVO.  View Post

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How would you feel if buying yourself a pair of new shoes could make a positive difference to someone else’s life? It would be ideal wouldn’t it? ‘Oh, these new shoes darling? They’re just me supporting children and families in Africa. You know I like to do my bit.’

Well, that’s what Soul of Africa is all about. Have a watch of this short video to find out more:

Not only will you be doing your bit to support a good cause, but your feet will be super comfy too. Soul of Africa’s shoes are made using ‘Vivobarefoot’ technology, which means they are designed to recreate as much as possible to action of walking with bare feet – soles are ultra-thin and flat and the shoe is shaped to allow the foot room to expand and contract naturally with every step. View Post

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I’ve always been a fan of Trunki.

I saw them first on Dragons’ Den of course, but then worked for a few years in the nursery industry and got to know the team pretty well. I’ve whizzed down the slide in their offices, and enjoyed the odd glass of wine, (*coughs*), with them at international trade shows. They’re good guys.

I’m really pleased then to have a lovely giveaway from them today, to celebrate their new project with Gatwick Parking. It’s the perfect partnership because let’s be honest, have you been to an airport in the last few years and not seen a Trunki? I haven’t.

In collaboration with Gatwick Parking, Trunki have put together a promotion to try and get over that horrible back to school feeling – you know the one where you’re made to spend £45 on school shoes that your ungrateful child will have grown out of in three months? The idea is to share you holiday snaps for a chance to win Trunki goodies, thus reliving those happy times and generally feeling less sulky as a result.

You can find out more about that competition here. View Post

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Who doesn’t love Marks and Spencer?

They’re one of those fantastic shops of your childhood aren’t they? My Gran would always buy her ‘bits’ from Marks and Spencer, and even after she had a stroke we would take her over to Taunton from Bridgwater every Saturday to stock up on rich tea fingers, ready to bake cauliflower cheese and other M&S essentials. Of course in the good old days you couldn’t buy things like Marmite – it was M&S brands only – but I guess as you get older you have to accept that things change.

*sigh*

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We had a big clearout of Belle’s room this month. If you have ever seen Belle’s room you will understand why this is a big deal.

Picture a bric-a-brac shop, run by one of the those people from the programme about obsessive compulsive hoarding. Then take a tray of old cups and place them at strategic intervals around the room. Now mix everything up, as though you are playing a game where you try to get people to remember what was there in the first place.

There you go, that’s it.

The tally of things we took out of her room in the end stands at:

  • Two items of furniture
  • One bin liner of clothes
  • Four bags of books
  • Two bin liners of rubbish and recycling
  • Six bags for the charity shop

You’d not imagine a child would have that much stuff in the first place, but even with all of that gone her room is still nicely full. View Post

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I am all about the money saving this month aren’t I? Last week I was buying and selling unwanted gift vouchers and this week I have become the queen of the discount* thanks to Oony.

Oony’s mission is simple – to save people money. They do this by bringing together offers, sales and discounts from big name retailers all over this here interweb. They operate in 19 different countries and their discounts are used by thousands and thousands of people – the average discount is a third, making it well worth a visit if you’re about to embark on a spot of online retail therapy. View Post

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When I was pregnant with Bee, aged 16, I didn’t have a lot of spare cash for decorating the nursery. In fact I didn’t have a nursery, just a corner of my bedroom with a cot in that I’d bought at a car boot sale. Still, I wanted to make it a pretty corner, so while my tummy grew I made my very own nursery wall art.

I was a little lacking in the paint department, but managed to mix up a good palette with a few basic colours. I took about five sheets of plain A4 paper, cut them into thirds lengthways and joined them together to make a long strip. Then I drew every single one of the Mr Men by hand and painted them.

It was a triumph.

I wish I had it to show you. For years afterwards I kept it, rolled up and tied with a piece of leather that I was wearing round my neck when Bee was born, (because I was super cool and into grunge), but somewhere along the way it has been lost. I’m not a sentimental person, but it’s one of the only things I wish I still had. View Post

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I’m really spoiling you with competitions this month aren’t I? It’s because it’s nearly Christmas and I love giving presents. Ask American Express – they’ll have a look at my statements and tell you it’s true.

People get in touch with me, they want to give you something lovely, I can hardly say no can I? Where are the good tidings to all men in that?

If you’re a coffee drinker and you love Christmas as much as me then you are going to love this Christmas coffee hamper from Beanies, The Flavour Co. It includes winter warmer, Christmas pudding and mulled spice flavoured coffees, a couple of mugs, some chocolates thins and some biccies to dunk, should you feel so inclined. It’s basically everything you need (minus the blanket) for a cosy Christmas night in. View Post

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The world can be a pretty cruel place.

I went in Marks and Spencer recently for example and they had sold out of Jaffa cakes. That’s the kind of savage situation I am faced with on a daily basis.

Believe it or not, there are other parts of the world, outside the yummy mummy Bishopston bubble, that face even trickier conditions, if you can even imagine such a thing. Belle and I have been learning all about it in our new book – ‘Discover the Savage World’ from Miles Kelly.

As someone who doesn’t really like to read the news, having to face up to the fact that the earth is blighted with war, fire, sandstorms and what not is pretty scary stuff, but also quite exciting. We do live in a pretty amazing place after all and a lot of the powerful forces at work are often more impressive than terrifying. View Post

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‘Ay up.

(That was me experimenting with accents. I don’t think it went well. I won’t do it again.)

Today I’m giving a bit of a plug to a whole month of competitions that Whitworths Sugar are running over on Twitter during February. As you know, I’ve been getting my bake on with Whitworths lately, so thought I would help you to win your own Whitworths Sugar goody bag, so you can make delicious pear and ginger cake too.

"Baking sugar"Whitworths is holding a different competition every week, with three winners being picked at random every week. Here’s what you have to do: View Post

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Exciting times today my virtual chums.

I’ve had a couple of competitions running over the last few weeks, one to win a fabulous 3D mobile phone, and another to win a book of sex tips. And no, they don’t come as a package, although that could be fun too.

*mind wanders*

Anyhoo, today I am announcing the winners of both competitions, so hold on to the edge of your seats… View Post

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