Technology Review - Alldaymall A88X 7'' Quad Core Google Android4.4KitKat Tablet

I'm not a specialist in technology so this isn't a technology review.  I think of it as a kind of putting it through its paces in a real life family to see how it holds up!

We are currently a 2 tablet family, 1 very old iPad which I love and 1 kindle fire which is fine and mostly be used by Noah.  I wanted to get hold of a budget tablet to see the difference and selected this one which retails between £30 to £40 depending on where/when you get it.  

Firstly a big up to Amazon, ordered at about 7pm one day and arrives before lunch the next day.  I made use of my prime membership to get it quickly but still that is quick.  To read my review on Amazon prime click HERE.

So what did we get, open opening that packaging I was quietly surprised with an attractive and robust  looking tablet.  I did have to snigger a little as the box said it was a table PC, might have missed the t off the end of that!

Well, after a good look through the instructions and doing couple of minute simple set up its up and running! 

Wow, this is one fantastic tablet for the price, I've had it for over a week now and have really been putting it through its paces by downloading some apps, letting my 6 year old having a go on it, reading my kindle books on it.  No issues so far.

A couple of things to consider,  the battery doesn't last long, BUT it doesn't take long to charge so that's a bonus.  

The camera is poor, but to be honest who uses the camera on a tablet.  

It's small but PERFECT for reading on.  It can easily be slipped into your bag or pocket and is a standard size so you can easily pick up a cheap case for it for a few pounds.  

I set up my emails on it in seconds, whilst there aren't really clear instructions it's easy to work out if you are familiar with tablets or smartphones.  I wouldn't say that I am an expert but did it easily.

All together I'd say this tablet is great value for money.

This is available £29.99 on Amazon click the product title below to just view the product listing, or shop now to buy on amazon (don't panic if you change your mind you have to click to confirm!)   available in multiple colours but I got pink!

If you click through my link it is a referral, any pennies I earn go to the running of this site and I appreciate readers using my links.   This is an honest review of the item that I got from Amazon, I was not rewarded in any way for writing this review.  

Slow Cooker Roast Chicken

We're a family of 2 veggies and 1 Gluten Free meaty but we don't often have meat in the house.  Occasionally on a Sunday as well as a nut roast we get a free range whole chicken to roast for the meaty!  This week I picked up one at Lidl for £3.99, a smaller size but free range.   I'm not the biggest fan of preparing and handling chicken so I like to make it easy peasy.

I'd read somewhere online about roasting chicken in a slow cooker so I thought I'd give it a try.  The slow cooker needs to be dry and set to high.  We wrapped 4 new potatoes in tin foil and put them into the bottom of the slow cooker.  This stops the chicken from burning as you rest the chicken on top of the foiled potatoes.   At the same time we make some garlic butter with lots of herb which we melted in the microwave.  We then tipped some inside the bird and brushed the rest on top.

We popped it into the slow cooker and cooked on high for about 4/5 hours although you could put it on low for longer.  After about 4 hours check every so often.  We decided to put in a hot oven for 15 minutes to crisp the skin although this is optional.

Don't forget, you can eat up the potatoes too!

Apologies, no picture.  Didn't managed to snap one before it was gobbled up by the meat starved meaty in the house!

Boot sale bargains

It's Sunday, the plan had been that we would all be going to watch Simon on his birthday present hot air balloon flight but it was cancelled due to poor visibility.  

What is there to do on a Sunday morning but visit a car boot sale.  Car boot sales aren't usually a great success for us, we are very fussy in what we buy.  The little one always has £1 pocket money when we go and has learnt to haggle.  As we hadn't been for a while he had £2.50 in total.  It's a great way to teach kids about money and it's worth.  When we started doing this he would spend his whole £1 on a broken, one armed action man (he actually did this!) but has worked out not to waste money? To save his money and to buy carefully.  

Anyhow here are our purchases this week.  Firstly a handmade copper planter spent £2.50 on this and looking on eBay for this make (all prices checked on eBay) worth £40-50 all day long although we're keeping it.

Cute as a button vintage piggy bank, I'd guess about 60's and cost 20p.  eBay says about £5 - £8 for this make. Once again we're keeping it. 

Totally unused Cornish pottery mug, cost 30p is worth about a fiver.  I've been looking for a big mug for ages so very happy with this and I'll be using this for my milky brew later today! 

Wedgwood 1975 Christmas paperweight.  Will be going on eBay and should sell for £10-15 looking at it.  Cost 50p!

This is the £2.50 spent on toys.  Evie just wanted to have a little look but a good haul by the little man once again and he's very happy with them! 

Finally Lego mini figure cost £1.50 worth at least £10 but I'm not sure that we will get out mitts on this.  There's someone else who really wants it! 

In addition we found a fighter pilot and an astronaut dressing up costume (£2 for both), an as new junior scrabble board game (£1.40)  and a pair of kids jeans (50p).  

Finally an old hacksaw which we have been looking for one for ages for 50p

Total spends £11.90 if I add that up correctly! Worth at least £100.  

Let's hear about your boot sale bargains!

Santander customers beware!

Just a word of warning to all those with a Santander 123 account or those using a Santander Credit Card.  After attracting everyone to Santander with their generous interest rates and cashback and flashy (although slightly wierd) adverts, Santander have decided to naff off the majority of their customers!

The account fee will be going up to £5 per month and the credit card to £3 per month in the new year.  Unless you get a lot of cashback or have a high balance there are now better bank accounts on offer.  Santander are really good at sending statements through and it's easily to see how much cashback and interest you are getting so it's simple to see if it will be worth keeping.

For me, it's not so bye bye Santander.  A quick check google search and I'm switching to another account where I can get £100 switching fee and an additional £80 for using a cash-back site.  Click HERE for my post on joining cash-back sites.

I spotted a brief but informative summery in the telegraph of Santanders plans.  To view it click HERE.

Note : this is all correct at he time of writing (September 2015), but things change :-)

Neom Organics Real Luxury Scented candle

I was given a scented candle from Neom a good few months ago now.  It was part of a relaxation program I was asked to test and I have been using the candle ever since.  

I thought a pros and cons post, I can't quite work out yet if I'd buy one of these candles myself so I will set out the pros and cons then you will just have to work it out for yourselves! 

Pros 

This is a luxury item, everything about it is luxury and nothing more than the packaging.  It comes in a fantastic box, strong and well made, we have been using it since to store craft stuff! 

The fragrance of the candle is really strong.  I mean really strong.  We have a virtually open plan ground floor and this one candle gives a scent throughout.  

It is made with high quality Essential oils thus a fantastic natural scent in a market that's often saturated by artificial fragrances which I cannot stand.  

Used together with the other Neom products and your personal relaxation techniques, this candle can be used as part of a holistic approach to stress relief.

This candle is huge, slow burning and it Lasts forever!

Cons 

Is it worth it?  This candle costs £45. On the flip side it does last forever.  If you are looking for a real luxury gift or treat for yourself no expense spared this could well be for you! Investigating a little, I found this brand available in my local Tkmaxx with some rather good discounts.  

The wicks really hard to light.  I know this sounds stupid but it's virtually impossible.  Aside the costs this is really the only con.

What do you think then......you decide!

A trip to The Hungry Horse, I won't be hungry enough to go back.

To keep up with our money saving antics we occasionally like a treat.  In the dark days prior to changing our money wasting ways we used to eat out all the time!  We usually use our treat eating out and usually try to find a good value place but with reasonable food.  There's only 3 of us so we usually budget about £30 but it can sometimes spend as much as £50.  

Last treat night was at Pizza express where we used one of there offers and spent about £25 and had a fantastic time and a lovely meal.

This treat night we decided to go try out a new Hungry Horse that was just opened up in Postwick, Norwich.  We knew it wasn't fine dining, it's a cheap and cheerful meal out but was it actually any good.

First impressions are good, the place is clean, tidy with lots of room and enough staff to keep it this way.  As we have a few special needs when it came yo the food we didn't actually eat anything as it appeared in the menu and they were changed with no fuss and no additional cost which was excellent.  The person taking the order pointed out an offer that we could take advantage of which was fantastic.  

In my honest opinion it was so far so good what about the food.  When I'd like to say it was good but in all honesty it was okay at best.  For the main course, everything and I mean everything was microwaved.  I think it maybe was left in a fraction too long leaving them a little bit hard.  With all microwaved food it was a little bland and tasted of not a lot.  

The desserts were a little better, the kids chocolate sundae ticked all the boxes a 6 year old wants and the lemon meringue was gluten free which is a huge plus.  The pastry on the gluten free dessert was very nice which is often hard to achieve.

It is earlier we went and I'm a little sorry to say we both don't feel 100% a couple of hours later.  Maybe it's a coincidence and it's not terrible but we both have a bit of a stomach ache.  

Total spends was £23 including a drink each and was paid for by contactless, which I recieved 5% cashback on my debit card.  Although cheap it wasn't that cheerful and I think that for an equivalent cost a Brewers Fayre, Weatherspoons or Marstons would be a better place to spend your hard earned cash.  

Sorry Hungry Horse, we won't be coming back :-(

Recipe time! Easy and tasty moussaka.

We love cooking and enjoy spending Sunday's making a delicious meal.

This is quite a long recipe but is actually a very quick and easy meal to make. All you need is a Bolognese sauce, a white sauce and some moussaka vegetables.

Firstly prepare the vegetables required for the moussaka

Take 2 large potatoes, (we used bakers but any would do). You need to peel then cut into 1cm slices and part boil. Place to one side.

If you like aubergines include them, if you don't just use extra potatoes. If you like them at the same time as the potatoes are part boiling crush a few juniper berries and mix in with some olive oil. If you don't have juniper berries then don't worry just use some garlic in the olive oil. Take your Aubergine (1 large or 1 small) cut into 2 cm slices. Put on a oiled making tray and brush them both sides with the olive oil (juniper mix) bake in oven for 20 minutes on a medium heat until soft.

While these are cooking prepare the Tomato Bolognese sauce. In a large saucepan. Go for your favourite recipe and add the suggested spices or follow these instructions.

Take one onion chopped into small pieces and two cloves garlic crushed and fry them off in a little veg or olive oil.

Add into this 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, half a teaspoon of mixed spice and stir well

Then add into this either lambs mince, (750g), or a bag of quorn (300g ish) or cooked green lentils (300g ish)or like we did a mix of quorn and lentils, half and half.

Cook this off until (if you are using meat) it is browned, approximately 5 minutes should be good. If you are using just lentils then add the following immediately.

1 tablespoon of tomato purée , 1 tin of tomatoes chopped, 1 glass of red wine or an additional tin of tomatoes.  Then add a selection of chopped herbs, we added sage, oregano, thyme, parsley and a good amount of mint.

Cook this sauce down until the majority of the liquid has gone like you would have in a Bolognese sauce

Whilst this is bubbling away the liquid create the white sauce. I create a traditional but thick white sauce of 50g melted butter, stir in 50g flour (works well with gluten free) and then add 325 ml of milk. Once the white sauce is created if you want it to be a little more opulent add a tub of ricotta. Finally stir in about 50g of grated cheddar or hard cheese.

Put to one size to cool a little then stir into the White sauce one beaten egg.

Take a ovenproof dish (this is enough for 8 portions so use 1 or 2 dishes depending on size). Put into the dish(s) a layer of the Bolognese sauce. Then a layer of potatoes, then aubergine, then repeat. Finally add a topping of white sauce and some grated cheese. Cook for 30-40 minutes in a medium oven.



Leave for 5 minutes to cool a little and then serve with whatever veggies you have. We chose carrots, beans and rocket. If you have made too much for one meal, allow to cool and freeze the other portions for an easy microwave meal for another day.



I know you all love the recipe but in money saving news the 8 portions of moussaka cost approximately £7 to prepare and the side dishes at about 50p per person with items from Aldi, Lidl and Asda featuring.

TSB. Check out the 5,5,5 account

I've had a current account with TSB since they were recreated. I actually chose them for good reasons rather than just for a switching bonus.

I had a bit of a disasterous start to the year this year with a few major purchases required that used just about all of my savings. I wanted to maximise any interest earned on my day to day spending account with the view to put any savings into here when I'd accumulated any! I also wanted a bank with branches, where I could speak to a real person with a simple website or app. TSB ticked all the boxes.

They pay a rather generous 5% (AER) interest on balances up to £2000

Currently they also pay 5% cash back on first £100 of contactless payments every month. This is earmarked to finish end of December

They also have a 5% regular saver where you can save between £25 and £250 per month. I currently have an M and S regular saver but when this finishes I may opt for a TSB one next time.

To operate this account you need to pay in £500 per month, have internet banking and have a paperless account.

These offers are time limited but why not take advantage of them it's a good deal.

I couldn't find any account opening or switching incentives or cash back at present but they are often available. If you have some savings and can shuffle £500 in and out its the perfect to get a decent interest rate.

As usual see website for full terms and conditions and with all financial decisions seek professional advise where necessary.

Guest Post - Have a Spare room or want an alternative accommodation experience. Try Airbnb, hear zimpaz's story.

Approximately a year ago, I was trawling the internet looking for ways to make a bit of extra spending money to help us in our quest of paying off our mortgage early. We had done all the usual things like cut back on our expenses and sold our old junk on ebay but I wanted something more. That’s when I found Airbnb, the online service that allows you to stay in someone else’s or rent out your spare bedroom on a short term basis to anyone in the world! This service has the potential to save you money when travelling, but also make you money when you’re at home. Airbnb manage everything in the process, from bookings to payments and there is a review system where you can rate places you have stayed or people that have stayed with you. They even insure you for up to £600k should anything bad happen.

Travelling with Airbnb is a very similar experience to booking through a comparison site. You search for the location you want to stay, the dates that you want to stay there and it presents you with a list of places that are available. Each host uploads pictures of the room and amenities and writes a description detailing everything they have to offer and the rules they would like guests to follow. Along with this is displayed all the reviews the host has received from other travelers. Different hosts have different policies on things like cancellation, pets, kids etc so it’s a good idea to thoroughly read this.

Once you find a place you like the looks of, you have to “request to book”. This is where the host can review your application and accept or deny your enquiry. This is the time when you can also ask any questions you might have for the host. I guess this is the disadvantage of travelling on Airbnb. In most cases, you cannot book instantly and It could take up to 24 hours to be approved. Once they (hopefully!) accept you, Airbnb automatically take your payment and send you all the check in details. Airbnb do not release the payment to the host until until the day after you check in. After your stay, Airbnb will email you to asking you to review the host.

Personally, I have not travelled too much with Airbnb to date, however the times that I have it has been an excellent experience. Hosts have been friendly and welcoming and it really makes the trip a lot more personal being able to interact with the locals! Money wise it can also save you some serious dosh. I have a trip to New York planned for next year, and staying in Airbnb rooms is working out at about half the price of hotels (£80-100 vs £150-200 per night).

Hosting is where the real money is to be made. In the south west of the UK, we rent our spare room and private bathroom for £30 a night, but in London and other really touristy areas you could be getting over £100 a night. Airbnb is not limited to just spare rooms either, people rent out whole apartments, houses, caravans and even tree houses! When we first started, we charged £19 a night, but that was mainly because we didn’t have any reviews on our listing. We soon bumped that up to £30, and even set higher prices when popular events come to town.

Want to start travelling on Airbnb? Signup through this link to receive £13 off your first stay!

The process for hosting is the same as I mentioned above for travelling but from the opposite side of the transaction. You write your description, upload pictures, set the rules and then wait for reservation requests. Once you get one you can review the potential guest and accept or decline. After the guest stays, you simply wash the sheets and towels and prepare for the next one!

When I tell people that I host on Airbnb, I always get the same two questions...

“Isnt it weird having a stranger in your house?”

The honest answer here is no! Most people just use your house as a bed for the night and you hardly ever see them! I have met and had some really interesting conversations with some amazingly diverse people. People from all corners of the earth. America, China,  Spain, The Netherlands, New Zealand, and Canada to name a few!

“What if somebody steals from you?”

I honestly think if your going to rob somebody, your not going to do it by booking to stay at their house through a website that takes your bank details and verifies your identity. Touch wood, I have never had any issues and everybody has been lovely. If worst comes to the worst, Airbnb cover you up to £600k.

So how much money could you make from Airbnb I hear you ask? Well in the last 12 months we have been hosting we have received approximately £3600 in payments. That averages about £300 a month. Obviously some months are much higher than others but it gives you an idea of the earning potential. In the UK you can earn up to £4250 a year before you have to pay tax on renting out a spare room in your house, and thats going up to £7500 in 2016.

Want to start hosting on Airbnb? Signup through this link to receive £13 credit to your account!

So what are you waiting for? Using Airbnb is a double pronged attack on your finances! There is money to be saved when travelling and money to be made by hosting.

Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions please dont hesitate to ask them in the comments, or come and find me at my youtube channel here

Many thanks for this guest blog to zimzap who is a prolific and well respected technology reviewer.

National Zero Waste Week - Do your bit with a Bathroom blitz.

One of my biggest pet hates is bathrooms with hundreds of half used toiletries scattered everywhere.  There must be a name for it, hoarding all those toiletries and products using half and then starting another one leaving the other half finished ones cluttering up the bathroom.  Oh it drives me crazy.

You may not be aware but we are in the middle of national zero waste week (www.zerowasteweek.co.uk).  Zero waste week is in its 8th year and this year is encouraging reusing.  Reading all the reusing suggestions on the zero waste week website prompted this post about bathroom toiletry hoarding!

There are several reasons in my mind why you shouldnt hoard toiletries and products.  

1.  Money.  At say an average of £2 to £3 per product I'd say most bathrooms have at least £50 of unused product just sitting there gathering dust.

2.  Cleaning, it is gathering dust and needs to be moved every time you need to clean.  Why have them to keep moving and cleaning.  

3.  Environmental.  These products are usually in plastic containers made with 100's of chemicals polluting the planet.  Only buy and use what you need.

4.  Most toiletries go off eventually.  You wouldn't leave food sitting in the cupboard going off would you?  Why do it in the bathroom.  

So, in honour of Zero waste week make a pledge to yourself to use up those half used toiletries one by one and not buy (or open any previously brought ones) until all of the half used ones are gone.  Whilst I am actually very good at keeping my bathroom free of half used used product I have a few so will buy no replacements until they are all used.  

Once you have done this you will be feeling liberated in the pocket but also by the achievement of decluttering.  Turn its time to move on to food (my personal downfall), cleaning products, make up, diy materials.....the list is endless!

Finally, email me your before and after shots.  I'd love to see pics of those neat and tidy decluttered bathrooms and let me know how much you have saved.  Send to the usual email address ourcornercottage@yahoo.co.uk

Ditch your takeaway- quick and easy (and yummy) Pizza

You are running late again, you're tempted to splash out on takeaway pizza but that's setting you back at least £20 no matter what way you look at it.

Make a pizza in less time it takes to phone a delivery order though by just preparing a little on your next supermarket shop. I usually shop at Aldi, I find their stone bake basic pizza tastes fine, I just make sure I have one in the freezer at all times.  Tesco have a fantastic gluten free margarita pizza in the freezer section of larger stores.  Asda have some super pizzas made in store which are perfect for a fakeaway as they come.    If you are really prepared you can preprepare a home made base with a tomato sauce for a few pence but you can buy a pizza in a supermarket for £2-£7 depending upon size and quality.

I always have a mozzarella in the fridge.  The cheaper ones are fine for a pizza and cost between 50p and £1.  If you aren't sure when you will use it, splash the cash in a block or some balls which are just fine to freeze.

I always have a jar of olives and capers in the fridge so add the mozzarella and these as toppings but basically go with what you have.  Total prep time 5 minutes then cook as per instructions.

When I'm making a pizza 'fake away' I usually serve with some garlic bread which I buy pre prepared from any supermarket and freeze and/or some wedges which I make from new potatoes cut into 4 and then put in the oven.  The wedges take a little longer than the pizza so put these in first while you prepare the pizza.  Total prep time 10 minutes max, add another 15 mins or so for the cooking. Quicker than a takeaway and at approximately £5-6 to feed a family of 4 much cheaper than a takeaway too!

(We went for added mozzarella, olives and capers and cooked from frozen)

Never ever auto renew your utilities and bills.

Auto renewing your bills is a really great way to waste money. I've got to be honest, for years and years I did this.  The loyalty just resulted in prices going up when surely they should have come down.

To make switching as easy as possible it is really a good idea to get all of your bills organised and filed that way you have to hand all of the information that you require to get the best available deal.  Tidying up all of my paperwork was one of my first jobs on the road to stretching my pennies and you can read one of my early posts HERE to see how I did it.  This was back in March and 6 months later they are just as tidy with a few minutes spent every month putting everything in the correct place.

There are loads of comparison sites out there which can really save you time looking around.  You might not always get 100% the best deal but its quick and easy.  Some that I have used in the past are.

Compare the Market

USwitch

Money Supermarket

Go Compare

Don't forget to go through Quidco or Topcashback to check to see if there are any cashback deals that sweeten the deal further.  If you've never heard of them click HERE for the low down.

Once you have your like for like prices in hand, I first ring my existing provider and ask them to match it (factoring in any cashback).  In my experience they usually will.  If not leave, don't be loyal to those who aren't loyal to you.  Add the next switching date to your list and repeat for the next year.

I spent about 2 hours earlier in the year doing this and made an annual saving of over £1000!!!  just last week I rang Sky and just asked them to reduce my bill.  They gave me a 40% discount for 6 months no questions asked saving about £60 for my 5 minute call!

In a little bit of a disclaimer I would like to remind you to ensure that you get like for like cover and always read all of the information before switching!