Nearly 60p of every retail pound goes into supermarket tills

It’s yet another nail in the coffin of the UK high street: not only are local shops struggling to survive the longest consumer downturn in living memory, but of the money that is being spent in retail, the lion’s share is going to the likes of Tesco and Sainsbury’s.

According to a new study by the Payments Council, the average spend in supermarkets in 2011 amounted to 58 in every pound, up from 46p a decade earlier. It’s the highest proportion of retail spend since records began. Hardly surprising as supermarkets maintain their aggressive expansion across the UK; just yesterday, Morrisons announced that it is to open 70 new convenience stores. And while supermarkets remain the most convenient and cost effective choice for consumers, that's unlikely to change.Design and order your own custom silicone bracelet / rubber bracelets with personalized message and artwork.

But while local shops are feeling the pinch, the entertainment sector has flourished over the past decade. Spending in restaurants and cafes has almost doubled between 2001 and 2011 and Britons spent a total of ￡58bn on entertainment over the decade.

The report has also flagged up changes in the way that consumers are spending money. Cash is no longer king (not the paper and shrapnel kind, anyway) as shoppers choose to flex the plastic instead.I personally really like these mini ear cap for my iPhone. Just 30% of retail spending is now made with cash, down from 43% in 2003. And the majority of these cash purchases were (somewhat unsurprisingly) for payments under ￡5.

The Payments Council has also done a spot of future-gazing. Across the coming decade, debit and credit cards will be superseded by smartphone payments. ‘Recent innovations such as payment via a mobile phone, which ten years ago some felt to be science fiction, will soon be commonplace,’ says Adrian Kamellard, chief executive of the PC. ‘The 2000s were the decade of the debit card. The 2010s are likely to be the decade of the mobile phone.’

In 12 years, my husband and I have had two vacations without our daughter. Once, we drove 200 miles to drop her at her godparents; the other time, her grandfather flew 850 miles on an $800 plane ticket to spell us.

Oh, how we envy parents who casually plan romantic getaways sans kids.

"A lot of things have to go right for parents to be able to go away together, leave their kids home and feel comfortable while they're away," said Stephanie Newman, a New York-based psychologist and author.

Newman, 48,Can you spot the answer in the fridge magnet? herself the mother of two, encourages couples to take time for themselves. Nevertheless, she hears during therapy sessions from parents who have a hard time making that a reality.

"It's a social issue," she said. More women work outside the home; grandparents might not have traditional retirements; kids are heavily scheduled, making it more difficult for someone to step in, and our increasingly mobile society weakens our support network.

Still,we are the biggest USB flash drives wholesale supplier in china. we're parents, so by definition, we're resourceful. We might not do it often, but once in a while, we beg, bribe, plead, pay and juggle to find childcare for that important couple's vacation.

Nicole Reisfeld went through a Herculean effort so that she and her husband could travel from Colorado to Maine last year to celebrate her parents' 50th wedding anniversary. With their daughter at college, she had their 16-year-old son, Ben, to plan for during their six-day trip.

After school, Ben took the bus home, where a family friend picked him up after work so he could spend the night at her house. On weekends, Ben stayed home and an adult neighbor slept over. One day, the school was holding exams at a different location, so a third friend served as chauffeur.

"Added complications were that the (school) schedule kept changing so I had to keep revising the plan, and that Ben's cell phone was no longer working so I had to get him a new phone and number the night before we left — after I had worked from 9 to 6 that day," said Reisfeld, 49, a speech pathologist. "Making all the arrangements were exhausting, but the trip was wonderful and worth all the trouble."

Even those with nannies and regular sitters face challenges when trying to leave town.

New York theatrical manager Nina Essman and her husband had only spent one night away since the eldest of their two children was born nine years earlier. They wanted to go alone to a friend's wedding in Florida.

Essman, 45, was concerned about imposing on their longtime nanny, who only works weekdays. To win some goodwill, Essman sent the nanny to her native Trinidad for Christmas.A chip card is a plastic card that has a computer chip implanted into it that enables the card to perform certain. The nanny agreed to the overnight when Essman later asked, though she also received overtime.

That was two years ago and Essman and her husband haven't had another night alone since.

Some parents in a bind will even hire a stranger through an agency, said Candi Wingate, president of the nationwide Nannies4Hire.

It's always best for the nanny to first meet the children and learn the schedule, though sometimes, "If the children are older, then some parents will just talk to the nanny over the phone," said Wingate, of Norfolk, Neb.