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Being a parent is a fantastic experience, but, as every mum or dad can confirm, raising a family is an expensive task! From everyday expenses such as buying groceries, through to all the cost involved in purchasing school uniforms, it can feel like there is always something that you need to buy.
Without keeping a watchful eye on your finances, costs can soon spiral out of control. But taking charge of your finances can make family life far less stressful. Here are some suggestions of ways to keep your family finances in check:
Plan a Budget
Creating a weekly budget is an excellent way to ensure that your spending is kept within your limits. Try to plan a realistic budget that you can stick to for outgoings that you can control, such as your grocery shopping, and money spent on socialising. Budgeting in this way will help you to keep track of your day to day spending.
Switch Suppliers
Creating a budget to control your day to day expenses should make a positive change to your finances, and will help your money to go further. However, to take full control of your money, you need to trim down your bills too.
Cutting the cost of your utility bills is an excellent way to make significant savings, and is pretty easy to do. Setting aside a few hours to review how much you are currently paying and how much you can save if you switch suppliers can trim an impressive amount off of your bills each month.
As well as reviewing your spending on utility bills, it is also worth checking your other outgoings to see if there are additional savings that you can make. Expenses such as your TV package deal, mobile phone bill, and car insurance premiums can also be reduced without too much effort.
Start Saving
To take full control of your family’s finances, it is crucial to start saving some money when you can. Savings not only provide a nest egg for the future but are also vital for those unexpected bills. If you are not able to cover unforeseen bills with your savings, you may need to apply to borrow money from direct lenders. Before you take out a loan, make sure that you research lenders and ensure that you will be able to pay it back.
Buy Second Hand
One of the easiest ways to cut back on your spending is to buy second hand rather than new. Of course, some items shouldn’t be purchased second hand for safety reasons, such as children’s car seats, but many things can be bought pre-loved for a fraction of the cost. Buying second-hand items is excellent for the environment as it minimises waste, so it’s a positive thing to do both for the planet and your bank balance.
Shopping second hand, browsing markets and car boot sales for bargains can also become an interesting pass time, as you never know what hidden treasures that you will come across!
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