Everything that’s happened in the past few years has made finances a tough for everyone. Money doesn’t seem to stretch as far, food costs more and the outlook has been generally bleak for a little while.
Most people have become accustomed to tightening their belts where they can. From ditching a pre-work trip to the coffee shop on the way to work every morning, to cancelling a very under-utilised gym membership – we’ve all made effort to be savvy with our cash.
Aside from the obvious cut backs, there are a few ways to get more from your money, even with a young family to consider.
How to get more from your money
Kids seems to be a never-ending drain on your finances. If you’re not paying for their swimming lessons and replacing their wrecked school shoes, you’re buying birthday presents or spending money on entertaining them.
If you have children, there’s just no way to avoid certain costs, so you have to get creative. Below are my best tips for getting more from your money.
Plan and keep track of your savings
One of the big thing to consider is what’s happening with your savings. You can’t just stick your money in a savings account and hope for the best. Not all savings accounts are equal and in some cases you can effectively lose money if inflation is high but your interest rates are low.
If you’ve got anything in your savings, even if it’s only a tiny rainy day fund, it’s important to keep track of what that is doing. You can use online calculators to see if you’re getting the best from your savings, and even compare figures that accounts have to offer.
Find cheap and free days out
Free things to do with kids can often involve hidden expenses. A day at the beach with a picnic can mean paying for parking and travel costs. Local family events often has enticing stalls and food vendors. This is why I say ‘free and cheap’, aim for free but plan a small budget.
Young children are pretty easily impressed. It’s nice to take them to lavish experiences every once in a while, but really, they just love to be out and spending time as a family. They’ll have just as much of a lovely time walking through the woods or visiting the nearby park, as they will if you drive miles out of town to an attraction.
If you want to be super organised, it might be worth keeping a spreadsheet of all the cheap and free places nearby, and note down the date that you visit to help keep the illusion of variety.
Budget for everything
Whether you’re looking for a two-week holiday in Spain, or just planning to go to the local zoo, in this financial climate, you can’t make these decisions on whim. The best thing you can do is write a list of all the places you’d like to visit, how much it is to get in and an estimate of the costs surrounding that trip (food, travel, accommodation etc).
Once you’ve figured out how much you need, it’s time to make a savings goal and calculate what you need to save to get there..
I like to do this in bitesize chunks. For example, if I want to take the family away for a weekend, have a separate trip to a zoo, then another trip to the seaside, I’ll try and save for each trip individually. I’ll often aim to save for the cheapest outing first, then move on the the more expensive ones. While the outcome is the same, and I’ll still need the same total amount of money to do all three, it gives me a mini boost if I can mentally note having the cash for each trip.