Starting a family is said to be one of the most expensive parts of life, and with the price of living always increasing a large percentage of parents are finding it more difficult to cope. With the cost of groceries, home bills and many other day to day spends threatening to eat their way through your salary and leave little disposable income, stress can build quickly and leave you feeling somewhat helpless. Luckily, it is possible to save money and stick to a smaller budget, and there are a few top tips that can you help you get started!
Your Weekly Food Shop
The amount of money that you spend each week on food for your family is likely to be one of the most expensive aspects you have to deal with. Eating out at a restaurant or fast food joint should be avoided as much as possible, as although sometimes a burger and fries may seem like a reasonably priced option, cooking your own meals can cost you drastically less. Buying fresh produce in its most unprocessed forms from the supermarket to put together yourself will probably be a much healthier option as well as being much cheaper, as raw foods like fruits and vegetables, tinned pulses and legumes and cuts of meat are generally the least expensive items within the store. Investing in dried forms of food like rice and noodles instead of precooked and preserves will knock a notable amount off your bill, and don’t take as much effort to prepare as you might think.
Sustainable Clothing
Unfortunately, the side effect of feeding your children well means that they thrive and grow at a generous rate. Though this may not seem negative, the issue soon becomes clear when you find yourself out of pocket whilst shopping for new clothes that will fit them properly almost every month that passes. However, there are several ways of ensuring that you don’t have to spend hundreds just to keep clothes on your children’s backs as they grow, the most notable of which being choosing sustainable clothing. Visiting thrift stores and charity shops will provide you with some of the cheapest options available, and most items still have years of life still left in them. Teaching your children not to care about having the latest styles and brands will also help them to save money in the future too, as their priorities will be centered on something more important. Making good relationships with other parents is also a great idea, as you might be able to exchange different clothes without even having to spend a thing, whilst being able to help another family in your same situation.
Professional Help
Sometimes it might take a little more help for you to get your finances in order, but this is nothing to be ashamed of. It can be extremely difficult to keep track of what’s going in and out of your account each day, and it’s hard to be able to figure out how you can stay in control when prices are always increasing. This is where the concept of a financial planner comes in, as they can help you to review your current situation in depth and provide you with the advice and tools you need to start saving money as soon as possible. Being able to set yourself some kind of budget and plan to stick too, you will be able to better monitor the decisions you make regarding how much you spend as a family, and make the right changes to secure a more sustainable financial outlook overall.
Try To DIY
Realistically, some of the services that you fork out cash for each year could actually be completed by you. With information and knowledge at the tip of your fingers (or the tap of a button), you’re only a tutorial video away from being able to start making and mending on your own. Dedicating some time to learn a few new skills could possibly save you a great deal of money when there comes a time that work needs doing; enough to outweigh the extra time and effort it will take you to do yourself. You are also likely to pay more attention to detail as you have much greater care for the job you will be doing, so really it’s a win-win situation.
Hopefully these tips can help you and your family save money and stick to a smaller budget, so that you can invest what you gain more purposefully!
