Writing Christmas cards is a time for reflection, particularly as many families include a Christmas letter or photos to some or all the people on their card list. Catholic Christmas cards are getting harder to find, but are appreciated by Catholics and non-Catholics alike.  You can usually find them online and a few companies also offer personalised Catholic Christmas cards. Everything is delivered to your door, so the process couldn’t be easier

Everyone appreciates a thoughtful gift. By sending a Catholic card, you’re demonstrating that your card isn’t some random last minute purchase. But rather you’ve put thought into the gesture. This is particularly true if the card is personalised.

Even people who claim to not be particularly interested in Christmas seem to have no trouble in displaying their cards. Don’t you like to see what cards people have up on their walls? A card with a Catholic message and graphic shows that somebody out there cares.

And don’t make the mistake of thinking that giving Catholic cards at Christmas is somehow sombre. Christmas is a time of joy, and the selection of cards available reflects this. Catholic cards can be found in bright primary colours with distinctive graphics. But you can opt for a more traditional print of a painting celebrated for its religious significance.  The choice is bigger than you think.

Christmas is a time for giving and remembering others. The right card with the right message says it all.

For dinner who doesn’t like curry? Manchester’s curry mile at Rusholme is a sight to behold. Even if you’re not in the mood for a curry it’s worth visiting just to take in the sights and smells!

For curry lovers on a budget why not try one of the cities legendary “rice and three” restaurants.  As the name suggests the offering here is rice and three curries of your choice.  You’ll find a number of these in and around the city’s Northern Quarter which is home to a range of cheap eats including one the UK’s few soup cafes.

There’s a large Italian community in Manchester and this is reflected in the range of Italian eateries. One of our favourites is the Olive Press which works for us for lunch or dinner.

Fine dining, whether for a business lunch or family dinner, is not neglected either. Options include Michael Caine’s at Abode and 110 Manchester. If football is your thing you could also try Rio Ferdinand’s Rosso. You could even make it a fac night by hiring a chauffeur in Manchester to help you take in the sights.

Those that prefer their food from Thailand and the Pacific Rim are not neglected either with Australasia one of the newest entrants to the Manchester dining experience.

If you’re shopping in Manchester or have an hour to spend at lunchtime you have almost endless options. If the second floor at Harvey Nichols is not your thing many restaurants in the City Centre do special lunch or business lunch deals. In and around the University you’ll find a number of budget destinations that punch above their weight regardless of whether you fancy Korean, Spanish or Turkish. There really is something for everyone!

It helps to be fit, especially if you want to spend as much time as possible on the slopes. But even if you only ski once a year you’ll be surprised how much you can improve year on year; especially if you have good tuition.

Our first skiing holiday was Pas De La Casa in Andorra. That’s when I decided I loved skiing, but best friend Lynne only managed two days on the snow before deciding it wasn’t for her! However that’s not stopped us having the occasional skiing holiday together. The trick is to find resorts that have enough to do for both of us!

I now look for good off-piste skiing. Once you’ve tried it there’s no going back. Our favourite place to go is the French alps; specifically the 3 valleys (Trois Vallées). Generally we go in groups of six. Our skills range from black run maestros to Lynne who likes to potter around exploring during the day.

Courchevel suits us all. It’s a great base whether we’re looking for ski lessons in Courchevel or something more relaxing. It’s a great place to ski or just enjoy the mountain air. While we’re skiing the non-skiers can explore the neighbouring villages or relax in a café. It’s a foodie hotspot too. We usually let the non-skiers choose where we are going to eat.

Courchevel doesn’t suit everyone. We’ve also stayed in Méribel. It’s a good resort for families. Non-skiers can take advantage of Méribel’s Olympic sports centre and for skiers there is at least one very good Meribel ski school.

It can be difficult to pinpoint exactly why a particular era appeals. Maybe because of favourite memories, movie, TV series or we just love the clothes.

Personally I think films inspire a lot of choices. For me, it has to be Dirty Dancing. I am an early 60s girl. It’s set in the year I was born although I think it feels more 1950s. Women’s costumes are very flexible: I can wear straight pants and shirts when I want to or one of my vintage dresses. No one puts Baby in the corner. Love it. I tend to back comb my hair into thick curls tied with large bows. No beehive for me. 60s makeup completes the look.

There are other adaptations of the 60s look of course. Flower power, the Beatles, Twiggy. Lots of different looks to choose from.

Men were men in the 60s so it’s not hard to get a man to dress up 60s style. Men can get away with jeans and shirts (think mods and rockers) or any straight trousers. You could also take inspiration from TV. Fred Flintstone, Captain Scarlett, and the Lone Ranger are all 60s TV characters.

Now my best friend is another kettle of fish completely. Talk about 80s time warp. I honestly believe she never thought shoulder pads went out of fashion! She’s very glamorous. Dressing up means only 80s fancy dress will do. The embarrassing thing is she has plenty of clothes she can adopt for an 80s party! Killer heels. Check. Tight waisted suit with shoulder pads. Check. Big hair. Check. Loud makeup. Check. She’s got the whole look.

If you’re not a glamour puss don’t panic. There are other 80s looks covering everything from Fame and Abba through to gothic and punk.

An 80s look can be a difficult for a bloke to pull off without the right hair. Hiring a wig might be a good investment regardless of whether you’re a Wham wannabe or rock god.

Common damage includes problems with the home button, cracked screens and housing to more complex problems such as charging and software problems and damage due to liquid.

Just about everyone drops their phone at some point! While your phone may continue to work it’s irritating not being able to see the screen properly. It’s also possible that other damage has occurred so it’s sensible to get your iphone thoroughly checked at the same time your screen is replaced; by a qualified repairer of course.

If you’re heavy handed with your iphone it may develop a faulty home button. Typical problems include a semi non-responsive home button.  You may put up with this for a while, but in the end you’ll find it will stop working completely. Best to get it replaced before the button fails when you really need to use it.

It’s not unusual to get liquid on an iphone. This can cause complex problems requiring a thorough investigation. This may result in replacement parts being needed. You can only be sure of getting authorised replacement parts if your iphone is repaired by a firm who can source official iphone components.

Over time you may find that your iphone’s battery fails to charge properly. This kind of problem is usually ignored until the battery only takes a small amount of charge. While it may be the case that you need a replacement battery there could be something more complicated going on with your iphone. Again a specialist repairer will be able to get to the route of the problem.

Software problems are sometimes generated by iphone users – but not always. If you’re getting gliches running aps or the latest operating system it can be difficult to get to the root of the cause. Quick fixes available on the net may cause irreparable damage to your set up. Rather than being tempted to fiddle turn to experts for a permanent, above board solution.

I caught on to unique photo gifts when I converted some old slides of my dad’s – taken 30 years years ago’ – into digital photos. Dad was thrilled. And there it was: photo gifts – the perfect unique gift for relatives both near and far.

There’s only so much I can do at home. So I started searching for the perfect photo gifts . Dad always complains I look scruffy in photos. So I decided to surprise him with something more professional. Now professional photo shoots can cost a lot of money but there are deals to be found.

Take Manchester’s John Clarke. If you go to bluekoko.com you’ll find a great deal on a professional photo shoot that includes a makeover. This is ideal for someone like me who normally wouldn’t bother with make-up. At only £10 down from £40 it’s a brilliant way to create a unique and lasting gift.

For the American relatives I now opt for a photo canvas. Creating a picture canvas with relatives in mind keeps them up to date with that’s going on in your life. It’s also cheap to post and won’t get damaged if packaged sensibly. There are deals to be found here too. At bluekoko.com Pixtrix has an amazing deal on a photo canvas print: just £11 down from £41. The great thing about this option is you stay in control. Just select your favourite photos and leave the rest to Pixtrix.  If you’re feeling creative you can also select a number of photo effects as part of the deal including sepia and black and white.

Now you may think that you can’t get away with buying photo gifts every time. Not true. Of all the things I’ve bought I can honestly say these are the most treasured gifts I have come up with. I just wish I’d thought of it sooner.

I made a silly mistake earlier in the week.  I was rushing home from work and called into the DIY store to pick up some bits and I am embarrassed to say I had to pay full price!  Normally I wouldn’t mind but I have recently become a bit obsessed with discount voucher codes and I knew about the one for the DIY store before going shopping.  I completely forgot and so ended up losing money.Needless to say as soon as I got home from the diy store I had to redeem myself and get back the money I lost.  I made a list of all the things I had to purchase over the next month and went online to find savings on a voucher code site.Top of my list were summer clothes for myself and the kids.  It is that time of year where the sun suddenly pops out and we all repeat in harmony “we have nothing to wear”. Littlewoods had the best offers on this week; the Littlewoods promotion of 40% got me some great summer clothes for the kids.  I even managed to get them some garden toys like a huge trampoline. 

As always the day ended alright as I managed to get some cracking bargains, naturally I had to treat myself so I headed over to the Ann Summers site, guess what???   They had a massive sale too.

I first came across discount voucher codes by reading a family members face book wall. She has just been shopping at Ernest Hones web site and used the Ernest Jones promotional code.  She got a big discount. before i do my online shopping, i write a list of everything I’d like to buy, then i enter in Google the retailers 1 by 1, accompanied by discount codes. Like this “Littlewoods discount codes”. Wow I get every one of these lovely money off coupons and I’m able to save a lot of money.

Almost all the sites that have these coupons will link directly to the retailers website, this really is great because the code has already been inserted for yourself, but sometime you have to copy and paste the promotional code in when you buy. If this is the case i simply open my notepad on my computer and make a note of them all. 

Offers cover anything from free postage to money off your purchase. Whatever for shopping for, you’ll find methods for getting big savings that will leave you with some cash to acquire those little extras.