Life can sometimes get expensive, with a house, children and general expenses it can all build up. Sometimes we need to pause, take a look at our finances and make some cuts. It can be difficult to know where to budget when you have so many different things going on all at once, we have come up with a guide to help you budget family life.
Shop Around With Insurances and Bills
Did you know that you are often paying way too much for your insurances and energy bills. A lot of people tend to stick to one provider as it’s what they know, but shopping around can cut your bills by half. There are so many online comparison sites you can search on to help you, sometimes it’s worth going back to your provider and showing them the cheaper quote to get your existing renewal quote down.
Downgrade Your Car
The Running and upkeep of a car can be expensive not to mention the insurance that comes with it. If you have a spruced up brand new car, think about swapping it out for a used car, older cars are usually cheaper to insure, so consider purchasing a second hand BMW or mini van to help you cut down costs.
Revise Your Shopping List
Take a look at your weekly or monthly shopping list and split it into essential and luxury items, stick to buying the essentials and if you have money left over to spend choose something from the luxury items list. This can be a good way to really appreciate those luxuries and teach your children the value of saving to buy something you want. When planning your shopping list it also works out cheaper to plan your meals in advance rather than just buying a cluster of groceries. Pick meals that use the same ingredients as this will help you cut down on food wastage too.
Save for the Future
When making a budget it’s also a good idea to include setting aside some money for your future. You never know when a rainy day might come so it’s always good to have some back up money for the ‘just in case’. If you have enough money coming in you might want to think about putting money into a savings account for your children or into a retirement fund, anything little you can put away will help massively in the future.
Get Out Of Debt
If you are in debt, plan in your budget to pay off any credit cards or loans. After time credit cards can build up and the interest being added can become overwhelming and often we can’t keep up or get the balance down. Think about transferring your debt or part of it to a 0% credit card, this way you can pay off your debt a little quicker. But make sure you have the funds as the 0% offer only lasts for a certain amount of time and then the interest jumps up.
