8 money saving tips for families

When you’re raising a family, whether you are a two-parent family or a single parent family, whether you have two incomes or just one, it is always tricky managing a budget. Family life can be expensive, asides from the rent/mortgage and bills to pay, there is food, clothes, clubs, school trips, day’s out and a million other expenses that seem to come up when you have children.

We can all use some ways to save money, to keep within our budgets, have a little fun and make sure we can afford all the activities that our children want to do. I thought I’d do a little round up of some of my top tips for saving money – some of these might be things you already do, some might not – but hopefully they’ll all be useful and help you to keep a check on your budget.

1| MEAL PLAN

Always my number one tip – meal planning lets you take control of your grocery shopping. By meal planning, you only buy the things that you need PLUS you will waste less food. Meal Planning doesn’t have to be difficult – you can take a look at some of my family meal plans for inspiration, I find that knowing what we’re eating each week/month means that I don’t fill my trolley with impulse purchases which always push me over budget.

2| MAKE A BUDGET

It really is worth taking the time to track your income and expenses and see where you are at financially. Set yourself limits for how much you want to spend on different categories such as food and going out. Knowing how much you have to spend means you’ll not go over budget and leave yourself short.

3| CHECK YOUR THERMOSTAT

Turning your heating down even by 1 degree could save you up to £40 a year!

4| MANAGE YOUR DIRECT DEBITS

It’s easy to set up direct debits for services and forget to cancel them even if we’re not using them. Look at what payments are going out – maybe you are paying for a TV service that you could live without. You could also use a mortgage cost calculator to see if there are savings you can make on your monthly mortgage payment. Every little helps after all! 

5| MAKE USE OF REWARDS PROGRAMMES

If you shop in one place a lot, it’s worth seeing if they have a rewards programme. I use a couple and save my points up for Christmas each year! I also purchase items online through Quidco

6| SHOP AROUND

It is a good idea to check if you are getting the best deals you can with utility bills – use a money comparison site to check your gas, electric, tv and internet packages.

7| BUY SECOND HAND

Buying items second hand – from clothes to furniture, cars to electrical items can save you a huge amount of money. eBay and local Facebook selling sites are a great place to start looking.

8| CHOOSE LOANS CAREFULLY

We all have times when unexpected expenses pop up and we need to take out a loan. It’s vital you look carefully at the interest rates to make sure that you are not paying an excessive amount. If you are looking for a payday loan, then CashLady is an award-winning broker, helping you to find the best loan. for you

What are your top tips for saving money?