My plan was to hire him the outfit – £45 for the whole thing versus a couple of hundred pounds. Kind of becomes obvious which is the better deal however my son wants a suit of that kind that he can wear to other formal events. The thing is, though, this is his first formal dinner and I don’t know how many more he will have in the future to justify the expense of buying. And not all formal events call for a tux.

I’m going to try and talk him into hiring for now and then if he likes the ‘feel’ of such a suit then we can save up and buy one for the future.

All going well I shall have my 360 points by the end of next year and will be ready to graduate with a B.Hons.History in 2014. Now, it’s not easy to find the time to get the study in as well as actually absorb the information in the courses, but it can be done and I highly recommend any mum who has been dreaming of taking that step to stop dreaming and start stepping now. The OU is currently registering – if you or your partner are on job seekers you can apply for financial support and the OU will pay for your course fee. There’s no excuse – go to their site and start making a difference to your life today!

We found a while back that even joining a roadside assistance organisation can sometimes work against you if that organisation does not cover the car you actually drive. We found to our anger some years back that the AA does not cover certain Volvo’s…and we had such a one. Being able to read your own car is a skill you need to develop – and save yourself some time and trouble. Not to mention money!

I know it’s not proper finance to do things this way but I have a nice big jar set aside into which will go £50 a month over the year – and I am really going to make the effort. I think most of us are used to going without things these days so at least we can save a little money doing so.

It was nerve-racking to say the least and something I hope never happens to us again on holiday. But it did teach us a lesson – that having some car maintenance skills up our sleeves helped us avoid a lot of inconvenience which would have spoilt what had been a wonderful family holiday.

Seen strollers these days though…? things called a bob revolution or strollers that resemble 4X4′s – huge three-wheeler things, bulky, wide and only room for ONE baby in them! the rest is all storage space and fancy design. I reckon a steering wheel is all these things lack. Mums today – why do they choose them and spend so much money on them? they are a hassle in the supermarket aisle, impossible on public transport (just watch the bus driver’s face when he sees a mum with one of them…) and, I suggest, anti-social. Few young mums know how to handle them in public and shave half your ankles away as they pass you.

Nope – lets see a return to basic strollers, leave the fashion statements to the men and their fancy cars.

Grandads love celebrating though so what about those unique symbols of celebration – some Padron cigars for his special drawer…? I know Gran probably wont appreciate the thought but what the heck – let the old guy have a bit of fun, and maybe even Gran will have one as well!

If you decide to do this make sure you read the small print and that the admin costs are not going to eat away at your lump sum payout.

Anyway, I want to get him a really cool timepiece – he was looking at fob watches but they are not really practical for eighteen year old boys. Something like a nice michael kors watch would be perfect – though he wants digital and I want him to have one with hands…digital watches make you lazy.

Don’t forget to look out for the offer of free delivery – postage can add a considerable extra to your total in the end so free delivery on purchases is something that should guide you in your decisions.