Where should I put savings for my children?

Savings? Ha! Our own cash might mainly be taken up by mortgages, rent, Asos orders and food shopping, but sometimes you might have a bit that you'd like to snaffle away for the Kids' Future. Maybe grandparents or other relatives want to give money instead of yet more plastic crap toys for a birthday. But where to put it? 

If you go into your local high street bank (if you can find one, that is) the rates are likely to be thinner than a discount supermarket's nappy wipe. For some reason, some institutions think that adding a cartoon pig and a kids' label to a bank account means they can get away with almost-zero interest. So here are the best options around - because children are never too young to know the benefits of having money in the bank to pay for a rainy day! 

How to survive shared parental leave on a budget

National levels of blokes taking up shared parental leave appear to remain low since it arrived in April 2015. But, anecdotally, more and more friends in London are grabbing the opportunity to take off an extended time with their child(ren). Here, Alex Lawson, a journalist colleague of Show Me the Mummy's Lucy, tells us about his three months of paternity leave with his son Finn (three) and daughter Lina (who was nine months when he took over the home front) - with his tips on how dads can spend time with their kids without over-spending cash because, as Alex puts it, "in statutory terms, you are only entitled to what your partner would be earning (I took the last three months of my wife’s leave, so was unpaid), so it’s wise to keep an eye on the pennies. Plus my family are from Sheffield so the Yorkshireman in me came out..." Over to Alex with his fantastic tips for parental leave fellas (and mums) keen to do it on a budget:

Spend less on your supermarket shop

It's the place that sucks up the bulk of our weekly spending. Nope, not easyJet's website or a luxury spa but... Tesco. And Saino's. And Ocado. etc. So we were serious about finding ways to cut the cost of our weekly food shop. Not by dieting (well, not on our website) - but being savvy. Here are our tips to slash your supermarket bills (but not the contents - those kids sure eat a lot of food)...

How your home can make you money

Your home is probably your most expensive outgoing. Mortgage/rent payments, utility bills, that insta-famous monochrome rug you couldn’t resist.

The easiest way to save money on your energy bill

We’re sure you could come up with a hundred more exciting ways to fill your precious spare time than finding a cheaper deal for your gas and electricity. But believe us when we say this is one of the easiest ways to save a lot of money.

The average household in Britain could save around £200 a year by swapping to a cheaper deal, according to the regulator Ofgem.

Financial planning when you're pregnant

Bringing a new life into the world can be one of the most rewarding and exciting things you can do - but it’s an expensive business, writes James Yelland from The Money Charity.

It costs an average of £22.95 a day to raise a child from birth to 18. 

So if you’re planning on starting a family, or have a child on the way, we’ve compiled the key things to start thinking about that should help baby-proof your finances.

How to save money when holidaying with kids

The cheapest way to holiday with kids is not to. How true is that?

When you factor in the extortionate UV swimsuits, the entire pharmacy section of Boots, and enough snacks to feed a small country - not to mention the family suite required by the hotel (if it was up to you, you'd just squash em all in..) and the 2/3/4 extra seats on the plane, and your itemised holiday bill ends up looking as a long as a first-time mum’s hospital bag packing list.