Mums Forgo Me-Time Treats This Mother’s Day

March 6, 2013 - PRLog -- Children up and down the country should shower their mums with love and spoil them rotten this Mother’s Day after research revealed that nearly half (47%) of UK mums are missing out on their ‘me-time’ treats and spending the money on their family instead.
The poll of 1,665 UK mums, commissioned by Ffrees Family Finance, the family money hub, www.ffrees.co.uk, questioned the nation’s mums on family spending and who makes the biggest sacrifices to keep the family finances in the black.
A whopping 92% of mums spend £50 or less on themselves each month, and the majority only allow themselves to spend £11-£20.
Over a quarter (29%) of kind-hearted mums would feel guilty if they spent money on themselves that could have gone towards buying the kids or the family a treat. The Ffrees survey also revealed that 24% of hard-pressed mums could not remember the last time they splashed out on something for themselves.
Over one in ten selfless mums said that they would give up or have already given up all of their ‘me-time’ treats; of the rest, the top 5 treats that mums would be prepared to sacrifice for the family finances are:
1.   Alcohol and Eating Out
2.   Hairdressers
3.   Beauty treatments
4.   Clothes/shoes
5.   Chocolate
Alex Letts, CEO of Ffrees commented: “Families are getting a really hard time at the moment and Mums are at the sharp end of this.  Mother’s Day is a chance for us to highlight this and to bring attention to the difficulties that many families are facing. How many families really appreciate the levels of sacrifice being made by their mums?”
Ffrees Family Finance is a new, free account designed to help families save as they spend. It is an electronic account, payment card and savings facility all-in-one. Members get great deals on trusted financial services brands and with their chip and pin card, they can shop for all their household needs. Rebates, called Ffrees, of up 33% are then saved automatically in a Ffrees savings account, which can be withdrawn as cash or saved for the future.
The Ffrees mission is to help hard-working, cash squeezed families save for their future and get a better deal. Ffrees gives them an average 6% back on their family spending, enabling them to save up £500 a year or more, enough to treat themselves and their family.
There are over 300 brands participating, including major national high street retailers and financial services providers. Ffrees recently acquired OscarUK, the over 50s concessions site, and is quickly recruiting new Partners and Members.
ENDS

For Further Information:
Please contact Charlotte Hurley or Tom Hemingway at Hatch Communications on 01943 855630 or email charlottehurley@hatchpr.co.uk / tomhemingway@hatchpr.co.uk
Notes to Editor
Members could save an average of £500 a year, here’s an example:
•   £100 weekly food shop with high street supermarkets = 156 Ffrees
•   New Samsung mobile with O2 = 41 Ffrees
•   Switch home insurance to Hiscox = 78 Ffrees *
•   Switch car insurance to Aviva = 49 Ffrees
•   Open an ISA with SFIA = 180 Ffrees
              500 Ffrees = £500
•   Retailers can join the scheme by contacting Simon Bloomfield or Debbie McDermott on
0114 2866327 or by emailing info@ffrees.co.uk.
*estimate based on home insurance annual premium of £650
Some of the brands available through Ffrees:                                                      
Boots                                                                                Laura Ashley
Kuoni Holidays                                                               Goedhuis Wines
Stratstone Jaguar                                                          Lark Insurance
Chesterton Humberts Estate Agents                    Planet Health
The Letteroom                                                               Ski Verbier
CV Travel                                                                          Springtide Capital Mortgage          
Lower Mill Estate

About Ffrees
•   Ffrees Family Finance Ltd. is an independent company founded in 2012
•   The Ffrees scheme is free to join and carries no annual fee. It is available to anyone aged 18 with a UK postal address
•   The Ffrees Family Account is an electronic account in which deposits can be made free from a bank or using a debit card. Frees Cards can be loaded with money from the account, which enables control of the family budget
•   The Ffrees Card is a payment card with no joining fee and no annual fees. As a MasterCard Prepaid Card, it can be used anywhere that accepts MasterCards, but Ffrees are only earned at participating outlets. Members can nominate family members to have a Ffrees Card. There is a small charge for extra Ffrees Cards and some standard payment card charges Terms and conditions apply.
•   The Ffrees Savings Account holds the Ffrees earned by Members. When 100 Ffrees have been earned a bonus of 2% is added, repeated each year 100 Ffrees are earned. At 100 Ffrees, Members may decide to withdraw in cash.

Alex Letts: Ffrees CEO and Founder
Alex was trained in advertising and set up his own agency, specialising in technology and the internet.  It soon became the largest business advertising agency in Europe and after that he founded and masterminded the creation of the unique trading exchange for the Lloyd’s & London reinsurance markets.  When this was taken over by the Qatar Financial Centre, he started up Ffrees.