Nectar, the UK’s largest loyalty programme, is looking for UK families to enter its annual money-saving advice competition, Savvy Family, and encourage the nation to act smarter when it comes to spending and saving. Now in its fourth year, the Savvy Family competition is set to grow in 2012 as families seek out new ways to make savings whilst the recession continues to take a grip and impact increasingly on family spending.

Nectar is looking for up to eight families to blog on Nectar.com for six weeks about their tips and show how they pinch the pennies, sharingtheir experiences and advice about anything and everything from cutting the weekly shopping bill to entertaining the kids for free. In return, the family deemed the most creative and “savvy“ when it comes to saving, offering the most beneficial advice for families across the country, will be crowned Nectar Savvy Family 2012, winning a fantastic haul of goodies for the whole family to enjoy from Nectar’s partners.

Last year’s winning mum of two, Hannah Mills, has been invited to judge this year’s blogs and has shared some advice for this year’s entrants, as well as some of the tips that helped her claim her title:

“My advice to this year’s families is to get everyone involved, including the kids, as it’s important to teach them from a young age to be good with money. Do as much as you can for yourself, as families traditionally have.

“We often use bleach and lemon juice for everyday household chores and upcycle old denim by sewing them into shorts and ¾ length trousers. You should also use the internet as much as possible. For instance you can search for demonstrations on how to solve household issues, or visit sites like planetgreen.co.uk to learn how to re-use rain water in the home and garden and cut down on bills.”
 
The impressive, recession-busting prize package for the winning family includes four easyJet flights to any destination; a Sainsbury’s giftcard worth £500; £500 from BP to spend on fuel; £500 for the family to spend at Vision Express; a free week’s car hire in Europe courtesy of Hertz; a year’s cover from British Gas on a Home Care policy; a Nintendo Wii console package courtesy of American Express and 50,000 Nectar points.

Families interested in sharing their advice and being in with a chance of winning this prize can enter at nectar.com/savvy by completing a short entry form before midnight 3rd July.