If you know of anyone who has been affected as a result of taking this drug and would like to take up an Accutane lawsuit, you can have them consult the attorneys at O’Hanlon, McCollum & Demerath who are now working on a similar case. You shouldn’t have to suffer in silence.

Well my 14th birthday is coming up and I want to do something with all 9 of my friends that doesn’t cost my mum much. Im not aloud a sleepover because their are to many of us and the house is to small but she also doesn’t want everyone coming back because we would be to noisy and my room isnt big enough.  I wanted a girly day out but a dont know what to do. I have searched and searched around for a beautician to come and pamper us or to go to a salon but its too much money. Have you any ideas what I could do for my birthday for a girly day?

Karen x

Well, Karen, of course there’s lots of things you can do, and here’s just a few ideas for a great girls’ birthday out. Invite the girls…

• to a pool or beach party – it won’t cost a lot if you bring your own picnic basket
• to spend the day at the mall trying on clothes at the store
• to a game of miniature golf

Hope you have a great girls’ day out, Karen!

It’s a kinda of a potluck at one of the girls’ houses. First thing this morning, they were off to get all set up the party. You won’t believe the giggles and sneaking around and messaging each other back and forth.

They’re planning to play tennis first and then the party and swimming at the pool afterwards. Sounds like a fun day out. It’s a pretty pleasant girls’ day out, cloudy but not a lot of sun.

Yes, times are bad and money in the pocket is what we should be aiming for. I’m not saying to stinge and scrounge and go hungry. Just be a little more careful with your spending and make that dollar stretch a little further, is all I’m saying.

In a way, we’ve already started eating out less. And even when we do eat out, which is unavoidable sometimes, we tend to go to cheaper places that offer fairly good food.

Not many of those around, but I’m sure they do exist because business owners will suffer too if they don’t adapt to their customer’s shrinking pockets.

I find that cooking at home saves a lot of money. Sometimes for a fraction of the price, I can whip up a bigger, more nutritious meal that we can all enjoy together. It’s a bit more work, of course, but well, there’s no such thing as a free lunch .

Got any ideas? What are you doing to save? Care to share?

As it turned out, although it was just for a quick bite to eat, we had a good chat. Quality time like this spent with a child one on one can be so refreshing.

On regular days, it’s often hard to find the time to devote to one child when I’m so busy picking up and dropping them off.

If you’re a busy mom like me, you can do short sessions out with your daughter to catch up and chat.

It doesn’t have to be a lengthy girls’ day out. A short trip out for a snack or a coffee works just as well.

It was the craziest 2 hours I ever spent hunting up and down for ways to use up that voucher . Finally I got myself a new handbag which I don’t even like very much. See, that’s what happens if you procrastinate, haha.

Okay so while we’re fighting the heat and haze, we mustn’t forget that warehouse sales are mostly aimed to clearing old stock, outdated or discontinued product lines, sometimes even irregular or slightly defective items and display items.

Once I came home and found myself the owner of rock-hard lipstick that’s probably expired ages ago. So keep your eyes open for expired items.

Check the condition of the product. See if there are missing or defective parts. In particular, note the condition of the  packaging for edible items  such as dented or damaged cans and missing freshness seals.

Keep your windows closed to keep the dust and smoke out, especially if you have kids at home.

Drink lots of fluids.

Minimize going outdoors. Keep the kids indoors as much as possible. Time to give the playground and swimming pool a break.

That aside, here are the few more tips I promised.

I plan my travel logistics ahead and grouping my errands so I can do them all at once instead of going out multiple times. Yes, it does take some planning but it does make a lot of sense even if I weren’t trying to save gas money.

I’m trying to drive without any sudden increase or decrease in speed. Smooth and easy does it. But this is a huge challenge, given how often our roads are being dug up and patched back. I’m coming up against all manner of grooves and potholes every two minutes or so. If you can find a way of avoiding those grooves and potholes without ending up on top of a tree, good for you .

Carpooling, walking, cycling, riding a camel, finding a cheaper mode of transportation sounds really great but it doesn’t always work out in practice. There are just too many factors involved sometimes but hey, if you can make it work, do it by all means.

I used to wonder whether I’ll waste more gas idling or if I should switch off my car engine while waiting. Well, I’m told you’re better off with the second option. So that’s what I’m doing now.

If you know of other tips to help us reduce fuel consumption and save gas money, please feel free to share. Oh and don’t forget to read part 1 of the tips I mentioned earlier here.