Q Is it worth taking a term time family holiday with our children as I can’t afford it during the holidays? 

A As a money expert and a mother, I fully understand the financial pressures many families face when planning holidays.  

While prices of travel and accommodation are often significantly lower during term times, it’s important to weigh the potential educational impact and any fines or penalties that might be imposed by the school. 

If you take a term time family holiday without the school’s permission, you can be fined. The fine is typically £80 per parent per child, which increases to £160 if not paid within 21 days. 

What’s more, persistent unauthorised absences can lead to more severe consequences, including prosecution. If found guilty, you could face a fine of up to £2,500, a community order, or even a jail sentence of up to three months. 

Beyond legal implications, consider the potential impact on your child’s education. Missing school for a family holiday can affect their learning and progress, which might have long-term consequences. 

Luckily, there are few additional ways for families to travel without breaking the bank, even when schools have broken up. 

Ask our experts your money questions

One way is to use AI to help you find the most affordable trip for your money. 

AI, or Artificial Intelligence, helps computers perform tasks that usually require human intelligence – and using it to plan your vacation is easier than you’d think. 

If you think of AI as a smart assistant – or your own travel agent – you can enter prompts that mean it can analyse historical price data to predict future prices, giving you a heads up on the best deals.

It can also suggest cheaper travel destinations that you might not have considered by considering your local airport, preferences – such as climate, activities, culture and, most importantly, your budget.  

Here is an example of a prompt to type into Chat GPT or whichever AI you prefer. You can tailor the details to meet your preferences:  

“You are my travel agent. Give me five ideas for an August holiday destination. I would like these locations to have temperatures of between 25 and 30 degrees Celsius during August.

“I will be traveling in a group with two children and two adults.  We enjoy things like swimming, beaches, and theme parks. All in, we would like to spend less than £1,500 amount for seven days. Ask me five questions that would help you do a better job of helping me pick a place.” 

Then it should help you by suggesting holidays that suit your requirements.  

Another way to help make travelling more affordably is to bulk up your holiday budget and sign up for a cashback website such as Quidco.com to save money all year round. 

Here, product providers and retailers pay commission when shoppers click on their links. In turn, the cashback website rebates some of this commission to you.  

I recently paid for a weekend getaway in Paris with my daughter with my Quidco earnings and it made a massive impact on the cost of our trip. 

If you are unable to pay for your holiday in one go, a 0% purchase credit card could help you to spread the cost of your holiday interest-free over several months. 

However, you’ll need to make sure your credit limit stretches to your holiday requirements and avoid spending more than you can afford to pay back. Try to clear your balance before the 0% deal ends and interest kicks in. 

Keep in mind you’ll need a good credit score to qualify for the most competitive credit cards. 

When it comes to a term time family holiday, I know many parents feel like we are stuck between a rock and a hard place, but with thoughtful planning and the right resources, you may be able to have the best of both worlds. 

Kara Gammell is an award-winning financial journalist with nearly two decades of experience writing for national newspapers and magazines such as the Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Times, Good Housekeeping, the Metro, the Independent, the Guardian, the Observer, Marie Claire, the Sun, and Cosmopolitan. Kara is the founder of a money-saving blog Your Best Friend’s Guide to Cash, which promises to help you get more bang for your buck, no matter what your budget. Her first book, Your Best Friend’s Guide to Cash: Eight Things Every Woman Needs to Know About Money, was published by Harriman House in 2014. Her latest book, Bargain Hunter: Easy hacks and tips to save money every day will be published by Headline Publishing in January 2025.   

Photo credits: Pexels

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I’m not turning into Scrooge, honestly! I think it is possible to have a frugal family Christmas without feeling you are missing out.

There is no reason you can’t join in the festivities when you are on a tight budget. Here are some suggestions to shave some pounds off your festive spend.

Get the best deals

Aiming for a frugal family Christmas doesn’t mean you don’t buy anything; rather, it means that you shop around to make sure you are getting the best deals.

If you find something you want to purchase, research the websites of similar retailers to see which is the cheapest or if they are running any special offers. 

Use cashback

Once you find an item you want to buy online, use a cashback site such as Top Cashback or Quidco to get back some of the purchase price.

Keep your spending under control

It’s all too easy to get into a spending frenzy once you start. The shops and online retailers are full of sparkly Christmas bits to lure you in, but do you really need them, and will they be used?

I find that setting a budget is super helpful to enable a frugal family Christmas. An Excel spreadsheet can be a good tool for this. 

I type in everything I plan to spend money on and set an approximate spending limit. Everybody I need to buy gifts for is listed (don’t forget obscure ones such as teachers or any one-off gifts to the window cleaner, etc.), along with all the Christmas food we will need, costs of outings or parties, clothing, decorations, travel, etc.

Focusing on my list and ticking things off as I buy them helps to stop unnecessary spending and keep me on track.

Make Christmas hampers

Not every gift needs to be shop-bought at great expense. If you harness your creativity, you can make some of your own gifts more cheaply, and if you let the kids help, it creates family entertainment, too. 

For example, various Christmas hampers can be pulled together inexpensively. I look for suitable baskets and boxes in charity or pound shops. They can be filled with sweets, toiletries and other items you can purchase little and often as you see them.

A pamper hamper might include cotton wool balls, bubble baths, face or hair masks and bath bombs. You could pull together a gin hamper with mini bottles or cans of gin, alongside a nice gin glass. (I recently picked up a really fancy one for £1 from a car boot sale!)  

Children will appreciate a craft hamper containing coloured pencils or crayons, stickers, different coloured pieces of card, glue, glitter, pipe cleaners, etc.

If you have a particular talent for painting, knitting or pottery, the world is your oyster for homemade gifts.

Create frugal family Christmas traditions

There are many fun things to do at Christmas that don’t mean spending lots of money. For example, here are some frugal family Christmas traditions you could create to make memories rather than a dent in your overdraft.

• Play board games. Many homes have piles of them lurking in a dusty cupboard. If not, the classics like charades are always fun.
• Do a Christmas jigsaw together. The charity shops were full of festive puzzles when I looked recently.
• Find a free carol concert.
• Do a tour of the Christmas houses in your area.
• Make some Christmas crafts.
• Do some festive baking. 
• Go to the light switch-on in your town
• Decorate the Christmas tree together.
• Watch old Christmas movies.
• Write a letter to Santa and get a free reply here.

Save on Christmas cards

If you work in a large office, as I used to, you can end up giving out a ton of Christmas cards.

I recently read about an alternative idea that I wish I had known about. Instead of everyone sending out loads of cards individually, buy one or two large ones and get everyone to write a Christmas greeting to of their colleagues. You could raise money for charity at the same time by asking for a small donation when they sign. 

It is cheaper, creates less waste and a charity will benefit. 

You can also send e-cards where you have the recipient’s email address. There are lots of websites offering templates or you can create your own design using Canva.

This works well for people you don’t see often, as you can add all the family news instead of writing out an abbreviated version on individual cards.

If you are creative, how about recycling last year’s old cards to create new ones? This could be a fun activity for the kids. There are some other craft ideas for old Christmas cards here.

Don’t forget, it’s not about spending the most you can, but spending wisely. Here’s wishing you a frugal family Christmas full of fun festive times and future memories.

Phot Credits: Pexels

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Heading on a family day trip is always something to look forward to, but of course cost is something to be aware of.

There are plenty of things that you can do for cheap, like local parks and free attractions, but when you can find a deal on something that would have cost a lot of money – it’s a great feeling.

Here’s a deal to do just that, saving you money on your next family outing:

How To Get It

Right now, you can get a free family day pass to a National Trust attraction in the UK, which could be worth up to £50.

The pass gets 2 adults and 3 children, or 1 adult and 4 children entry to an attraction of your choice.

You can get the deal by purchasing either a Daily Star or Daily Mirror before the end of this week. Both papers should cost you less than £1.50.

Alternatively, you can apply online for your free voucher on the Daily Mirror’s website, though you’ll get an E-Voucher and will have to book online in advance.

You can use the pass up until the 15th December 2023, so even if you didn’t want to go just yet, you can hold onto it for a future date.

There are some National Trust sites that are excluded, but there are 1,000s of places available to go to with the deal.

Phot Credits: Pexels

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Bank of Mum and Dad contribute to half of house purchases 

The so-called Bank of Mum and Dad (BOMAD) has contributed toward half (47%) of all home purchases in the UK this year according to data from Legal & General.  

BOMAD is expected to fund around 320,000 property purchases in 2023, with around £8.1 billion of support for buyers according to the financial services firm. 

On average families will give around £26,000 to loved ones looking to buy a home. Contributions are likely to soar further to around £10 billion by 2025 as increasing mortgage cost pressures make it harder for people to get on the ladder.  

Bernie Hickman, chief executive of Legal & General Retail says an overreliance on family gifting in the property market could have severe consequences for inequality in the UK. He also says families who give money away could open themselves up to financial issues if they don’t seek advice beforehand. 

 “Family wealth is increasingly becoming a prerequisite for homeownership, effectively locking some groups out of the housing market for years while they save for deposits, or even altogether,” he says. 

“An increasing reliance on family members isn’t only an issue for those seeking to buy – it is important to acknowledge the financial strain it can place on the giver, particularly if they are undertaking this commitment without financial advice.  

“A housing system which relies too heavily on gifted deposits not only perpetuates inequality today, but could create risks for the older generations of the future.”   

Direct Line on the hook for refunds after overcharging customers 

Insurer Direct Line has been forced to return large sums to customers after the financial watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority found it had overcharged on home and car insurance policy renewals.   

The firm has agreed to review past business to identify all instances where customers were overcharged and compensate accordingly.  

The FCA introduced new rules in 2022 to prevent home and car insurance customers from having their policy renewal costs hiked when compared to what a new customer would pay. 

Mouthy Money reached out to Direct Line to ask how many customers may be affected, and how much compensation they could expect.

A spokesperson told us that customers affected need not get in touch and that the company would be contacting them to arrange refunds.

The Direct Line spokesperson commented: “At this stage we cannot give you a steer on how many customers are affected. 

“We will know this once the work has been completed, and all affected customers will be contacted and refunded.  There is no need for any customers to contact us at this stage, we will work though it as quickly as possible.”

Fuel prices surge again 

Fuel prices have surged in August leading to fears that inflation could tick back up, according to motoring body the RAC.  

Prices of petrol spiked 7p per litre on average in August while diesel rose 8p – the fifth and sixth biggest rises respectively in 23 years. 

On average petrol is now 152.25p per litre, adding £4 to the average full tank cost, while diesel costs 154.37p, adding £4.50.  

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams explained: “Wholesale costs for both petrol and diesel started to rise in late July on the back of oil hitting $85. While the barrel price has stayed at that level throughout August, retailers had no choice but to pass on their increased costs at the pumps.  

“Fortunately for drivers though, they have clearly been influenced by the Competition and Markets Authority’s investigation as, all of a sudden, margins are once again closer to their longer-term averages.  

“It appears they used the wholesale price rise to subtly cover their tracks – after all, big reductions at the pumps soon after the CMA’s findings were announced would perhaps have been far too obvious a step.” 

Fears have been raised that the renewed price increases for fuel could feed back into higher inflation. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, speaking to the BBC at the weekend, conceded there might be a “blip” in the September inflation figures as a result.  

Photo Credits: Pexels

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Mouthy Money Your Questions Answered panelist Hugo Griffiths answers a reader’s question on how to decide when the right time is to get a new car.  

Question: We need to buy a new car by September as our family is growing. Should we do it now or wait till the last minute as I’ve heard car prices are going to fall this year?

We have an old car that I’m worried might need expensive repairs in the meantime, leaving us with less cash for the new purchase. 

Answer: The best advice I can give you is to buy a car that meets your needs now and in the foreseeable future, and don’t worry too much about values.  

Timing the sale and purchase of a car to the month could mean you’re setting yourself up for potential disappointment, not least because values of second-hand vehicles have fluctuated so much in the last few years. 

It may seem obvious, but focus on your lifestyle and how you drive when shortlisting different models. Think about what your typical journeys look like: do you commute, and if so how regularly? Are you sharing the car with anyone else? How often do you drive longer distances? How much boot-space or back-seat space do you need for passengers or pets? 

Secondly, take your time to do your research. There are lots of great websites that can help give you in-depth information on how to live with a car, not just how it drives.   

Whether to buy new or used is another question to think about. Given your timeframe and the delays we’ve seen across car manufacturing, you’re unlikely to be able to get a ‘factory order’ new car built to any precise specifications ahead of your family’s expansion. Lengthy lead times are also continuing to affect some ‘stock’ (already built) cars – if they are in high demand.  

My top tip here is to take a flexible approach when choosing your new car. Shortlist a handful of models that you would be happy with before you enquire into their availability, and be sure to ask early on about lead-times. 

Seasonally, we find that the summer holidays tend to be a quieter time for car sales and June falls at the end of second quarter sales targets, so timing your shopping for next month could bring you a better bargain.  

However, showrooms can still be at their busiest on the cusp of a plate change and new-car sales figures still peak in March and September every year, so this could be another reason to avoid changing your car at the last moment. 

If you choose a new car, it will come with the reassurance of a manufacturer warranty, but if it’s a second-hand model you’re going for, condition and history are key. Be sure to see it in-person so you can inspect every panel of bodywork, press every button and flick every switch and, of course, scrutinise service records before signing anything. 

Buying privately from an individual will be cheaper that buying an equivalent car from a second-hand car dealer, but this route carries more risk, and should be taken either with a fair deal of knowledge of what to look for, or a friend who has such knowledge.   

Wherever you shop for your car, though, buy the seller as much as the car: if you don’t like the vendor’s vibes – they could seem too keen, or uninterested, or you could just get a ‘bad feeling’ from them – trust your instincts and shop elsewhere. 

Hugo Griffiths is the consumer editor at Carwow.co.uk.

A qualified English teacher, Hugo made the switch to automotive journalism in 2016. He then spent four years writing for the UK’s biggest-selling weekly motoring magazine prior to joining Carwow in 2021 as its consumer editor, writing consumer-interest features and articles.

A car enthusiast for as long as he can remember, Hugo’s stories have made the front page of national newspapers and seen him interviewed on radio and TV. 

Photo Credits: Pexels

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Mouthy Money Your Questions Answered panelist Alan Richardson answers a reader’s question about their options when it comes to protection policies if one person gives up their job for childcare.

Question: I’ve just had my first baby at 34 and have decided not to go back to work. What insurance is available to help our family finances? My partner works full time, and I will be caring for our child until they are three when I plan to go back to work.

Answer: Deciding to put your career on hold so that you can be a stay-at-home parent is not an easy decision.

There are many aspects to consider and it’s great that you are scrutinising the financial ramifications of not only a reduced household income, but also depending on one bread winner.

One often overlooked aspect of giving up work is the loss of any work-based benefits you may have had. This could include life cover, sick pay, maternity cover, medical diagnosis and treatment, and other benefits such as annual leave.

Fortunately, in the UK we have one of the world’s leading insurance markets, offering a huge range of products, yet this can be daunting and at times confusing, so speaking with an independent adviser could be helpful.

Life cover is often a good starting point. This can pay out as a lump sum or as a regular income in the event of death (or terminal illness). Some people take both types of life cover, one to cover the mortgage and the other to providing a regular household income to pay for things such as household bills and childcare fees.

Whether you are married of not, ask your adviser or insurer to place your policy into trust. This will give you an element of control over who will ultimately benefit from any pay out, as well as outlining who would look after the money until a beneficiary was old enough to receive it.  

With life cover, you have helped instil an element of financial resilience for your family should you die. However, we are all more likely to become seriously ill before we die. Critical illness polices cover cancers, heart attacks, strokes, and dozens of other serious illnesses.

Although a cash injection isn’t going to necessarily fix the condition, having access to funds to cover the additional costs and reduce financial stress is useful. Many Insurers will also cover your children automatically. 

There is also income protection, which pays a tax-free replacement income if you cannot work, including those who do not work although the amount of cover is limited.

It is important to insure the main household income so you’re covered yet the cost of these policies vary greatly and the options can be amended to suit your budget.

Finally, Private Medical Insurance (PMI) is one of the fasted growing areas of insurance.

More than other policies, this insurance provides you with practical assistance to beat an illness, giving you access to comprehensive list of hospitals, consultants, and surgeons to attend privately. This allows you to get quicker diagnosis, early treatment, specialised medical care and medication to speed up your recovery.

While many couples set up protection policies up on a joint basis, advisers will often recommend arranging separate policies for a number of reasons.

This will depend on your budget but having two policies means you both have cover – as even though you’re not working the financial value of everything you’re doing including childcare costs will be substantial.

Furthermore, some policies encourage you to stay fit and healthy and may also include added benefits such as 24/7 virtual GP apps, lifestyle planning and second opinion diagnosis services, at no extra cost.

Alan Richardson is Head of Advice at LifeSearch.

Bio: Alan Richardson has worked across the insurance sector for over 25 years and is Head of Advice at protection specialists, LifeSearch. He and his family moved to the Cambridgeshire in 2020 and is loving the health benefits of the fresh country air as he walks to the local pubs.

Photo by Picsea on Unsplash

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Introducing savvy mother, Carina Parry, who is investing to ‘future-proof’ and improve family finances just like yours.

In a world where women have fought hard for their financial independence, the unpleasant truth is that there are still far too few women investors.

A quick look at the data suggests that investing is still seen as something that men primarily do. For example, just 10% of women have a stocks and shares ISA, compared to 17% of men, according to a report by data firm Kantar.

Given the imbalance, Mouthy Money sought out three female investors to find out their motivations for investing to improve family finances, and to see if they could offer any advice to the budding female stock pickers out there.

In our first interview of this three-part series, we speak to Carina Parry on why she’s investing for her and her family’s future.

Improve family finances and investments 

Women mention their family substantially more when talking about finance, including children, parents and significant others, according to research by Kantar.

Carina Parry is considering investing for her son’s future and has a sharp focus on her family life when it comes to dealing with her finances.

She says: “For me, investing is about the future. When I hear the word ‘investing’, that’s what I’m thinking about, my future. I’ve just had a baby, so now I have a different mentality around it.”

A few years ago, after receiving a bonus from work and speaking to her dad about the money, Carina made her first ever investment. Several years have passed and she has seen that investment grow.

“Whereas before investing to make money had been an abstract idea, I’ve now personally seen positive results from it. This has encouraged me to get more involved and learn more.”

During lockdown Carina managed to save a pot of money that she now intends to invest for her future.

She says: “I’m looking into junior ISAs  (JISAs) and Junior stocks and shares ISAs for my son, it seems a bit ridiculous because I’ve not even got my finances sorted yet, but at least I can give him a bit of a head start.”

Investment information

When it comes to investments, Carina relies on her family for information, specifically from her dad and brother.

She says: “Maybe that’s a female thing, that you don’t discuss your finances as much.

“It’s my dad and my brother who I know have made investments, so I lean on them for information. I have also tried to speak to a couple of my male friends who work in finance, but everyone holds their cards quite close to their chest, they don’t want to give you any recommendations in case it’s unsuccessful and falls on them!”

Her family has been a primary source of information for investments, as well as main contributors to her financial education – an education that was built “from a young age.”

She admits she hasn’t really spoken to her friendship group really seriously about a wider investment: “I’m sure other people do, but it’s not something that comes up regularly. I think money in general is quite a difficult topic sometimes.”

Investment platforms

Carina uses Hargreaves Lansdown for her investments, a platform recommended to her by family.

“For someone like me, who isn’t confident when it comes to investing, the platform is a safe pair of hands.

“For the foreseeable future, especially now I’ve had a baby and don’t have that much time, I would look to stick with them. I’ve also been looking at the app Plum, but still haven’t decided on changing.

“Part of the barrier to investing is this idea of how much money is going to make it worthwhile. So, for the for larger sums, Hargreaves Lansdown is a good choice, as I can put my savings into an account within the platform, that seems like a preferred direction for me.

“But in terms of daily, weekly, monthly, if I can make small savings that actually can work harder for me, then something like Plum’s app seems perfect and less scary.”

Investing into pensions

Men in their 60s will on average retire with three times more in savings, compared with women of the same age, a report by consultancy Mercer estimates.

Two in five (40%) of women are also worried about running out of money in retirement, Kantar’s research shows.

This is mostly due to the gender pay gap leaving women with less pension savings in work, and the fact that women have been targeted with messages to save and not invest, according to the research.

Carina has a workplace pension, but she is considering investing into a bigger pension fund.

She says: “It’s very much start of the road at the moment. It’s only recently that I’ve actually started thinking about making my pension work harder for me, and tying these things together on my investment learning curve.”

Starting to invest

When she first invested, Carina was excited by it and felt like it was a positive. She admitted that being guided by her family made the whole process a lot easier.

However, now that she’s thinking about it “afresh,” she feels more hesitant, as there’s a lot more at stake.

She says: “Future proofing for me and my family is what’s driving my intention to start investing now.

“Also, I find it quite frustrating because investing is not rocket science, yet I feel clueless about where to make investments and where to start.  It’s a mixture of apprehension and a bit of frustration.

Historically it’s felt a bit like a ‘boys club’, with investors being portrayed in a certain way. As a female and a mum, the stereotyped male investor is unrelatable. However this seems to be changing with more female focussed information being available.

Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash

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He had never married or had children and both his parents had died prematurely. Much of our family live outside the UK and so, when he fell ill and his health began deteriorating quickly, the list of people rushing to his bedside wasn’t as long as we would have liked it to be. It was largely down to my father and me to maintain a vigil.

After a week watching the very best efforts of the amazing intensive care staff in two London hospitals, we had seen no real improvement and we quickly came to the realisation that it was a matter of ‘when’, and not ‘if’, he would die.  

Then, in the early hours of one Friday morning, we were taken on a slow walk down a long corridor by a team of well-meaning and professional doctors. They invited us to sit in a rather sterile but comfortable family room and under bright fluorescent lighting we all confronted the full gravity of the situation that my cousin was now in. The time had come.

The doctor’s politely and sensitively informed us that all treatment avenues had been exhausted. The medical opinion was clear, but the final decision was ours. Selfishly, I was pleased my father was there with me and it wasn’t something that I had to face on my own. We both knew that he had reached the end of the road but when you have to actually call time on someone’s life I don’t think you would be human if you didn’t waver.

We requested that a chaplain be sent for to give him the last rites and, with typical attentiveness, the hospital obliged. Our Irish Catholic heritage looms large at times like this, with tried and tested rituals outlining how to respond until the initial shock and sadness subsides which is a comfort for those left behind as much as for the dearly departed. Then, as the machines were stood down, there was a surreal few minutes while we waited for nature to take its course. Empathetic nurses offered tea and kind words at every turn.  

Dazed and confused

Funeral planning began immediately. As we stumbled dazed and confused out of the ICU, I was handed a ‘bereavement pack’ by the intensive care nurses; with leaflets on grief counselling, sheets explaining what needed to happen next, and various funeral companies advertising their services. I was informed that my cousin would be transferred to the hospital mortuary while a decision was made about whether a coroner’s inquest would be necessary. On this occasion, I was assured this was just a formality.

Over the next 24 hours, tough conversations followed, letting people know what had happened and getting a sense of who was willing to contribute to a funeral and to help to sort through his affairs. We were greeted by harsh words from some, and silence by others but, by the end, a small coalition of the willing had been established.

My cousin was not a wealthy man. Living week to week was his preoccupation, and he wasn’t someone who set his horizons further afield than that. He didn’t have a funeral plan, no insurance, no savings, and no investments. 

The family members willing or able to contribute agreed that a balance would need to be struck between being true to our traditions and culture, and staying mindful of the cost. Everyone had families to think of and we hadn’t anticipated budgeting for a funeral in 2019.  A combination of dignity and practicality would be vital, and it fell to me to make arrangements, find an appropriate funeral director, and to notify the relevant authorities.

Life and death admin

The next day, I was back at the hospital where I was issued a pink medical certificate confirming the cause of death. This is an important document as without that pink slip you are unable to register the death with the local authority. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, you must ensure that a death is registered within five days (in Scotland that period is extended to eight days).

The hospital also provided a green slip. This document is to be passed on to the funeral director once they are appointed. Without it, they would not be able to take my cousin out of the hospital mortuary to transfer him to the funeral home in preparation for the funeral.

Once those documents had been provided, I then needed to make an appointment and to take myself off to the offices of the local authority to formally register the death. Death certificates are not issued free of charge, and I was advised by family members who had been through the process before to make sure I bought four or five when they were issued. Trying to get hold of them afterwards is difficult and even more expensive, and many companies and institutions will demand a formal certificate when closing down a deceased person’s affairs.

Once the death certificate had been prepared, I was able to use the government’s ‘Tell Us Once’ service to notify many departments all at once including HMRC, DWP, the Passport Office, DVLA, and the local council. Unfortunately, this useful option is not available in all parts of the UK (see the list here where it’s unavailable). In doing this, I registered myself as the executor of my cousin’s ‘estate’ which largely meant that any further correspondence would be sent to me.

The cost of dying

Once the process of notification had begun, attention turned to the funeral. The last thing you want to do when it comes to an occasion such as this is haggle or penny pinch. Equally, costs can spiral quickly if you don’t look around at your various options and make hard choices. As the recent SunLife ‘Cost of Dying Report’ shows, the cost of funerals is rising exponentially and is at an all-time high. 

It was quickly agreed that a cremation would be most appropriate. We wanted to return my cousin to the village in Ireland where he had been born and raised but the process, practicalities, and cost of transferring his body across the Irish Sea made the option of doing that a non-starter. However, the Catholic faith does allow for cremation provided the ashes are buried. It was decided that he would be buried in a family plot following a religious ceremony in Ireland and a small service in London to send him on his way.

I then set about looking at the options for cremation. I counted out several high-street funeral directors simply due to high costs. The next option we considered is what is known as a direct cremation, the option David Bowie had selected for himself.  Essentially, that does not include a formal funeral or any pre-funeral events, thus reducing the costs associated with a traditional funeral.

That was by far the cheapest choice available, and services like Pure Cremation seemed to offer a dignified and sensitive option. However, with a small group of family and friends based in London and the rest of the UK, we decided we wanted to give them the opportunity to pay respects and to have a short funeral service with my cousin present.

The funeral

After a while, I was made aware of a service offered by London’s Brent council (the borough my cousin lived in). Unlike the stereotypical ‘paupers funeral’, Brent Funeral Service offered a flat fee low-cost funeral. While it was ‘no frills’, it offered a viable option without compromising on dignity or quality.

After sending an email to them on the weekend, my phone rang 15mins later with a kind and patient funeral advisor on the end of the line ready to talk me through the process. A meeting was quickly arranged and, with the addition of some very reasonably priced add-on costs (e.g. a hearse), a date was booked.

With this package, however, there were certain restrictions around the time and location of the funeral – such as, it needed to be on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday between 9 – 10.30am, the service could only last 30mins, and could only happen at certain appointed locations. Funeral advisors Matthew and Caroline were on hand to help us build a fitting order of service that was in keeping with our traditions and the rules set out. The decision of location was made easy as one of the locations allowed was exactly where we wanted to hold the service anyway.

Once that peace of mind was assured, it became clear that it would be more cost effective to buy an urn directly from a wholesaler. A quick search online meant I was able to find a suitable company called Urnswithlove.co.uk that offered a selection of urns that they could deliver for a reasonable price, too.

Transporting the ashes

The last piece of the puzzle was working out how we would transport the ashes over to Ireland. While I made these arrangements, my father had since gone back to Ireland with the intention of bringing my mother back with him to attend the funeral in London. He was comfortable taking the ashes and the urn back home with him afterwards.

A quick search of Ryanair’s terms and conditions showed that, provided he was able to produce a death certificate, a certificate from the crematorium (which costs around £20), and a letter from me granting permission for him to transport the ashes on my behalf, he could carry my cousin’s remains with him back on the flight home and return him to his final resting place.

Although, it hasn’t been a pleasant process, I was relieved that the funeral was far better attended than I had originally feared it would be. We gave my cousin the dignity and sense of occasion his life merited, and stuck to our traditions and rituals. We did the right thing by him and kept the costs down to way below the average too by being clear on what we wanted and not allowing emotion to overtake rational decisions.

The post Arranging a funeral on a budget: A beginner’s guide appeared first on Mouthy Money.

Meet Mouthy Money’s new writers – they tell stories about their financial lives, dreams, successes and failures. And their words won’t just twang your heartstrings or make you clutch your sides with laughter – though they’ll certainly do that! – no, they’ll also help you make the tough decisions looming large in your life.

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Our writers

Joanna Blythman

Joanna is an award-winning investigative journalist, the author of seven landmark books on food issues and one of the most authoritative, influential commentators on the British food chain. Read: How vegan evangelists are propping up the ultra-processed food industry

Holly MC Thomas

Holly is a freelance writer and editor based in London. She writes regularly for CNN and The New Statesman, among other top tier publications. Read: The true cost to women of Russell Brand’s toxic masculinity

Emma Real-Davies

Presenter of The Female Struggle Is Real podcast and writer, Emma says she’s struggling with freelancing, struggling with being sustainable and struggling generally. Read: Saving the planet is bankrupting me

Lynn James

Winner of UK Money Blogger 2017 best parent and money blog. Radio presenter on SG1 Radio. Author of Blogging Your Way To Riches. Seen on BBC, ITV, HuffPo. Read: My experience of emotional spending

Samantha Rea

Samantha Rea is a freelance journalist living in London. She studied at the LSE but has since annihilated a fair few brain cells by watching too many episodes of Love Island. Read: Fresh air and scenes worthy of the Edinburgh Fringe: why I won’t be joining a gym 

Amy Treasure

Food writer and photographer. Amy has a simple approach to great home cooking. Runs. Read: Your diet is making you fat (and nine alternatives that actually work)

Holly Thomas

Holly is an award-winning financial journalist and former Deputy Personal Finance Editor at The Sunday Times. She writes across all areas of personal finance and consumer issues. Read: Want to cut the cost of Christmas 2019? Start shopping now…

Michael Taggart

Who, me? Oh, I’m the editor. Y’know…behind the scenes. Don’t like attention. Please ignore me. Do that at @michael_taggart. Read: Like giving crack to a cocaine addict: my life with a 110% subprime mortgage

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I’ve been invited on to talk about regifting, after a revelation by Donald Trump Jr. that his father once regifted him the Christmas present he’d given him the year before.

I announce that this sort of behaviour is, “absolutely Scroogey!” and I tell presenters Jodie
and Ben that everything must be brand spanking new: “I’d be gutted if I got old cast-offs –
I’ve been hinting all year and when I open my presents I expect to be overjoyed!”

But of course, not everyone shares this opinion on regifting and, in the interests of balance, they bring on a money blogger who’s a firm advocate of recycling unwanted presents.

“How do you go about deciding who to give what to?” asks presenter Jodie. “I think you’ve got to match the present. You’re not going to give a packet of American tan tights to a teenager,” says money blogger Faith.

“Samantha, what do you think about what Faith’s saying?” asks presenter Ben. “I don’t think she should be giving anyone American tan tights!” I tell them.

I am an ardent regifter when it comes to giving other people all the shit I don’t want.

If I were in the studio, instead of on the phone, they’d have seen me flounce off flicking my hair, as I announced that I wouldn’t be palmed off with some second hand soap someone’s aunt got them from Lush.

“Anything that’s a cast-off is going to be tainted. It will have a tainted aura about it. And I will KNOW,” I insist to all of Essex. But actually, I’ve been fibbing a bit. Because while I don’t want to receive discarded old tat, I am in fact an ardent regifter when it comes to giving other people all the shit I don’t want.

This Christmas I gave my niece a Perspex pen holder I’d been burdened with on my birthday. Considering what kids make out of loo rolls, I’m expecting to see a fully functioning turbo tank charging round the house firing Lego out of all cylinders, the next time I visit.

Nail varnish, bracelets, an unwanted evening bag – all these things are treasure for children! With four nieces and two nephews, it would be wasteful not to pass on the Impulse body spray my mother imposed upon me last Christmas, the notebook from the Natural History Museum that I’ve barely written in, and the Zoella toiletry bag my sister inexplicably foisted on me last year. I mean seriously, do I look like Zoella’s target audience?

Regifting doesn’t just save you money – it’s also a wonderful way of decluttering and giving unique gifts.

But that plastic bathroom bag made a perfectly charming present for one of the children. Don’t ask me which one because I’ve no idea now – I just opened my treasure chest (a.k.a. my suitcase) and let them have a rummage. You don’t even need to wrap this shit. I told them: “This way you can choose!”

And the bonus is: regifting doesn’t just save you money – it’s also a wonderful way of decluttering and giving unique gifts. What six year old wouldn’t want the sunglasses I’d been given at a press day thrown by a running brand? And where else would an eight year old get a pair of jockey’s racing glasses that I’d gone home with after interviewing a former champion jump jockey? I mean, really?

Sometimes my generosity even leads me to regift things I’d like to keep for myself, such as the charcoal toothpaste and organic lip balm I ferreted away from a celeb-strewn launch party. I even left twice so I could pick up goody bags for each of my sisters, so I think we can all agree that I went out on a limb there.

Of course, I can’t give away all my possessions – this isn’t Sister Act. So although I considered giving my mother the Penhaligon’s candle that my neighbour gave me during a power cut, I decided to treat myself by keeping it for bath time. Because seriously darling, it’s Penhaligon’s – lighting that candle is like setting fire to five pound notes.

But luxury items aside, there’s a lot to be said for regifting presents – and any other old crap you’ve accumulated. Just don’t give it to me, or you’ll be getting it back next year!

The post Confession: I made a public stand against regifting – but I didn’t quite tell the whole story appeared first on Mouthy Money.