What would you say to your 15 year old self about money?

Morning all
Today I'm going to talk to my 15 year old self, it's needed to be fair as I was stupid back then, while I'm happy how my life's panned out so far I'll admit that openly but looking back at when I landed my first job I should have done so many things differently.

Meet me. A fresh faced (hahah) 15 year old at school in 1998-9, back in the days when prepaid phones were in their infancy and made today's megaphones look tiny in comparison, life was pretty easy and the worst we had to worry about was getting back and forth from school and getting accepted to college if our grades were ok. But over the course of that fateful year I was given a valuable life lesson by my old man, "if you want something, go out an earn it!" Looking back now it was a subtle kick up the behind, despite the fact I'd already landed myself a weekend job.

The work was good if you ignore the odd child that liked to puke you really could call it being paid to play. All the team were fantastic, even the somewhat misunderstood owner. 7 days later the fateful day came I had been longing for, my first wage slip with cash nestled inside it. Happiness was soon to become the accounts department lady's visit on a Friday and here's where I stop the story to talk to 15 year old me as it's here where things get stupid, seriously stupid!

PAUL, STOP RIGHT THERE!

Money is good, cool, and awesome to spend but darker times are coming. and within a few weeks of being 16 you'll be spending £40-60 a week on credit for your two phones, wasting money on anything you can and not keeping any money back for essentials like travel, clothes, course books or emergencies, trust me there are quite a few to come. Forget the rainy day saving think saving for survival here.

Please leave college early and get walking around the town and sign up for a decent savings account, research what would be beneficial for you and understand the differences of spending and saving money and what the benefits with your new account can give you while saving for that rainy day come zombie apocalypse.
I say this to you now as things will get worse and shortly after your 19'th birthday you'll be made homeless and you'll need every penny you can get your hands on. But I promise your future landlords are lovely, but for the love of spaghetti cat tidy your room the weekend you go away with the eastern region millennium volunteers, you filthy pig!

I'll leave my message to me with emphasis on doing better with money with a spoiler and some advice for 15 year old me. Life gets tough but becomes awesome - the three kids in my top bar are yours!
And the advice is - Don't go in the hay-barn with a certain lady - you'll get a new nickname from your friends otherwise!
All the best! - Me.

If you could go back to your 15 year old self what would you say to you? Let us know in the comments.
Paul

Discloslure - this post was created by me in collaboration with Santander

A special day at Whipsnade Zoo. Review

Eh Up!

We were asked by the Superbreak Community to visit ZSL Whipsnade Zoo as part of the Superbreak Short Breaks promotions, offering great days and short stays at good prices. I'm so, SO glad we visited today.

We live about 3 miles away from ZSL Whipsnade Zoo and have grown up around the park, being filmed with my class at the zoo, on the Really Wild Road Show, growing up with my brother and step brother both working there, with the family up there as much as we could. It was always the local place to go and do things. A place forged into my memories.

I loved the feeling you get when visiting and I got that buzz again the moment we walked in. For the children this a magical feeling, I'm so happy it's not changed throughout the years, I'm glad it's retained it's fun and exciting atmosphere.
The staff were also happy and really bubbly, we found out 15 mins into our visit the celebrations were over the birth of a baby elephant at 5AM that morning.

We decided to take the Zoo Bus around the site and have a quick look around first, as we wanted the children's farm first it was a great chance to see the park without worrying as much about my partners disability. The Bus was a welcomed service to my partner who is registered disabled and mobility impaired. She found the stops to be decent and in the right areas for her. Also props to ArrivaBus for providing an easy access bus which can move up or down  and is wheelchair friendly bus, something the partnership between Arriva and ZSL should be proud of.

We visited the children's zoo first. As the kids said it best "Rabbits to Llama, Alpacas to Sheep, some just awaking while others want sleep." There is one thing children can find quicker than chocolate in a fruit bowl and that is playgrounds. They charged for the indoor playground, Hullabazoo, a purpose built playground mainly for the rainy days but was suited for both rain or sun, as there is a cafe inside we used it as an excuse for a quick coffee break.

Outside they have recently refreshed the playground, the old structures out and new ones in their places. I was impressed with both HullabaZoo and the outdoor play area,  mainly for the design and the signage to help children find their way to help points if they get lost or hurt and plenty of places to sit and chill while the monsters play.

The girls decided they wanted to go on the train, and got a tad upset that it was not running until a certain time, entirely our own fault for not checking the times when we were planning the day ahead. Luckily the Sea lions took their minds off it. We went into the underground observation windows to see Salt and her cohorts were rockin' the tank, despite Salt not doing any tricks any more. They certainly showed the kids how cheeky four playful Sea lions could be.

I received a message to let us know the Jumbo Express, The new name for the Great Whipsnade Railway was about to open. This railway is special, It's a narrow gauge line with specially cared for trains, with Excelsior, the oldest was in service today. I'll admit the engine looked spectacular, testament of the dedication and effort and darned hard work the railway society staff put into this special railway.  Both Vee and Lissy loved it. I'll be uploading video from our trip soon

Straight after our train ride we went to see the tigers and elephants, one of the tigers was very photogenic, despite being unimpressed by the lack of conkers he's found, well that's our story and we're keeping to it.

The elephants were exciting, despite not seeing the calf in the paddock, next time maybe.
After seeing plenty of amazing animals and the girls and my partner were beginning to grow tired. I wanted to quickly see the penguins, bears and monkeys which are situated in the same corner of the park, One girl came the other decided to stay with mum.

Suffice to say Vee loved the penguins and their cheeky behaviour, the Wolverines we saw were scary to her but she told me the brown bear "needed hugs". I agree with that comment, he really did look sad, like he was missing someone or something had upset him, on reporting it to the staff it's a ploy he uses to try and get food scraps. Cheeky little scallywag.

We finally took a trip to the Discovery Center to look at the creepy crawlies and some of the most beautiful butterflies I've seen in a while.

The food and drink prices for such a large venue were actually reasonable. I was expecting to be swearing in my head or begrudgingly paying for overpriced gak. Thankfully This was not the case. Drinks were priced ok and food prices were ok too. Still higher than some cafe's but better than expected from larger corporate parks.

From chubby Chameleons to a relaxed European bear, wolverines, mooses, rhino, monkeys and the penguins. we had a great time today at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo thanks to Superbreak!

Overall I'll give it a 9 out of ten and do recommend visiting the zoo on quieter times of the year as you'll enjoy it more.

If you end up visiting the Zoo with your family here are some easy tips to help it go with a breeze.

Overall I'll give it a 9 out of 10 and do recommend visiting the zoo on quieter times of the year as you'll enjoy it more. Especially if your children dislike hustle and bustle or busier environments.

If you end up visiting the Zoo with your family here are some easy tips to help it go with a breeze. 

Plan ahead, use the website to understand what you want to do first and work from there onwards. It'll help you get the best out of the day. Especially with all the activities, talks and demonstrations on around the day.

Use transport options like the free zoo bus to your advantage. Trust me it does come in useful if you don't drive. or take scooters for the kids so they can scoot to the enclosures and events with you. I'll be trying that the next time we go.


If you are disabled or need assistance discus this with the zoo directly. The staff are very keen to assist if they are able to do so. They can help plan your day with you to make sure you get the most out of your day.


If visiting via Rail and bus links from out of the area (this is doable.) remember to plusbus rail tickets. From Luton train you would have to walk to bus stop 10 at the new interchange, Take the A bus to Asda/Grove theatre and wait there for the x31 to Hemel Hempstead. check the times first though as the zoo bus diversion is limited to a few a day, not a good option but during summer this increases to hourly.


Do you like Zoos and have you visited Whipsnade Zoo? Tell us all!
Cheers! 

P, J, and the kids!