Saving money can be very difficult, even when you don’t have the responsibility of children, not to talk of when you do. Some people even hold off having children until they’re in a comfortable financial position, because it’s difficult to save once you have children. So, how can you save now that you have children? Keep reading to find out how to save money without depriving your children.
In this post you’ll find a variety of tips to help you save money. Some are easier to implement, compared to others, and some might just be A COMPLETE NO for you. Whatever the case, just make sure you allow enough time to see the fruits of your labour.
Nothing else is cheaper than homemade meals. Unless your time is very precious and your per hour is a lot more than the cost of buying from a restaurant. Cooking your own meals is always the most cost effective option and sometimes the most delicious too, because you can make the meals to your exact liking.
Meal Plan
Meal planning is a good way to save money because it’ll help you plan your shopping, so you’ll buy just what you need and no more.
When you shop without a plan, most often than not, some of the food items you’ll buy will end up in the trash. You either won’t get around to using them before their used by date, or you’ll run out of vital ingredients, which will stop you from cooking some of the food items. Unless of course you’re very creative with food.
If you meal plan, you can ensure the items with very short used by date are cooked at the beginning of the week, and those with longer used by date can be consumed by the end of the week. Reducing your food wastage.
Bulk Buy
Thanks to the popularity of minimalism, a lot of us are now buying what we’ll actually consume, rather than extra, because the store had an offer. Whilst it’s great that we’re wasting less food by buying less, this method of buying is not always the most cost effective option when it comes to buying items with long shelf life.
Providing you have storage, buying in bulk will save you money, as the unit price is typically less for larger sizes than regular sizes.
Buy used clothing
If you have growing children, it’s a good idea to familiarise yourself with places where you can buy second hand clothes, shoes and bags. You’d be surprised how much high quality items you can purchase for less than 10% of the original price. Especially now that it’s in vogue to declutter.
Places like ebay, facebook and other second hand outlets have good quality used clothes, shoes, bags, etc. that you can buy in bulk or in lesser quantities.
DON’T LET PRIDE GET IN THE WAY OF YOU SAVING A TON. If your children are very young, they won’t care that the clothes are second hand anyway.
Accept hand me downs
Like second hand things, hand me downs are even better. You don’t have to pay a dime for them, and they’ll likely be in constant supply, as the child whose things are being handed down continue to grow.
Find alternative use for items
As your child grows, you’ll find that some of the items that were once useful will become redundant. Instead of leaving the items in storage or giving them away, you might be able to find alternative use for them. Check out: ‘How to make the most of your unwanted baby products’ for alternative use of some of your baby items.
Buy neutral colours
If you have more than one child and they are of different sex, buy neutral colour clothing and products, so you can easily pass down things from your older to younger child. This will definitely save you from buying as many items as you did for your older child.
Learn new skills
Learning new skills, like cutting hair and braiding hair will definitely save you a significant amount of money. Braids and haircuts aren’t cheap to continually pay for. If your children are still young, even better, because they won’t care as much if the cut goes wrong or if the braid doesn’t look as tidy as a new style should. You’ll get better in time.
Even if your children are old enough to care still practice on them, and if you do a terrible job you can always pay to rectify it. If you train yourself to a good level, you can even start to generate a side income from charging others too. It’s a win-win possibility.
Stretch out hair dos and cuts
If you pay to get your children and your hair done stretch out your dos. If your children get their hair done every week, consider reducing that to every fortnight. You’ll save half of the money that you typically spend on your children’s hair.
Save fruit juices and fizzy drinks for special occasions
If your family are in the habit of drinking a lot of fruit juice and fizzy drinks brake the habit and save those drinks for special occasions, like birthdays, Christmas, Easter, mother’s day etc. There are so many things to celebrate in the year. You and your family will have a good amount of time to drink such drinks.
Buy seasonal fruits and vegs
In case you haven’t noticed fruits and vegs are cheapest when you buy them in the season of harvest. They’re a considerable amount cheaper. Some fruits are even more than double their sales price when they’re sold out of season. Even though it’s an old fashion thing to buy seasonal fruits and vegs, it will save you a lot of money if you do.
Buy new items during sales period
Although second hand and hand me downs are good ways to save money, some things are just best new. For items that need to be purchased new, or if you simply can’t stand the idea of giving your children second hand or hand me downs target sales period.
Buying items during the sales will help you spend a lot less than buying items when they’re not in sale. If you’re really organised you can plan ahead and buy items during the right sales period.
Yes, not all sales are equal. Different items have different period of the year when they’re best to purchase for ultimate savings. Check out this very helpful POST for the best time to buy everything.
I hope the above tips are helpful. Everyone’s situation is different. You don’t have to try all. Whichever you choose to go for adjust your expectation with some of the tips. Second hand and hand me downs will never be as pristine as a new version. Also, be kind to yourself if you don’t pick up new skills as fast as you’d like.
0 Comment:
Post a Comment