Make Your Money Go Further Each Month!

Family life can be an expensive business! With ever-rising household bills, school clubs and trips to pay for, rising child care costs and general daily living costs increasing all the time, it can be really difficult to stay in budget. But there are a few ways to either make money or ensure your money goes a little further each month! Check out this post from Life & Luxe about how to avoid debt.

Meal plan. We all know we should plan our meals but after a hard day it can be tempting to wander around the shops filling the basket with the things you fancy. This can be expensive, particularly if you’re opting for ready meals and convenience foods. Planning meals and ensuring you only buy the ingredients you need will save you a lot of money each week. Also, simply checking the cupboards before you leave the house and making a list of the things you are low on can ensure you don't end up buying items you already have.

Visit online deal sites like Latestdeals.co.uk. They are a dedicated team of bargain hunters who find and share with you the best deals, freebies and vouchers that are out there. This can save you a fortune. It's certainly worth checking here before you make a purchase as there might be a deal or voucher that you can use to save you a considerable amount on the original price. When booking a family day out or trip away, check out the different savings you can make before you book. This can turn an expensive trip out into an affordable one! 

Don’t let your contracts renew. At least without first checking if you can get a cheaper deal elsewhere. It's also worth asking whether the current company will reduce their fees at all. Once they realise they are likely to lose your custom to another company, they will do their best to persuade you to stay, often with a reduction on the current fee. 

Shop online. It can be easy to be swayed by the clever offers on display at the supermarket. By planning your meals first and then ordering only the things you’ll need to make those meals, you can bypass all the two for one and half price offers that can soon add up! Don't forget to look online for promo codes too!

Make packed lunches. This can save so much money. Buying a shop bought sandwich or meal-deal or regularly buying coffees, can soon add up. But you don’t have to give them up completely. Perhaps limit it to once or twice a week as a treat and even then you’ll soon notice a difference.

Buy second hand. Babies and children change and grow so quickly and so their toys and clothes have often only been used once or twice which means you can pick up items that are like new but for a fraction of the price. Local Facebook buy and sell sites will be abundant with second hand baby and children's items. 

Selling items. Do you have unwanted items lying around? Perhaps your little ones have outgrown some toys and clothes? Selling your unwanted items can give you a little more spending money. 

Bulk buy. Nappies and wipes or toilet rolls  for example, will work out cheaper if you buy them in bulk. You’ll soon get through them so it’s definitely worth keeping a stock in the house.

Switch supermarkets. Last year we swapped our supermarket and were so happy with how much cheaper it was and we hadn’t had to compromise on quality either! Why not give it a try one week and see if you prefer it? Also, look out for the supermarkets' basics range. These tend to be staple items such as pastas, tinned tomatoes, cereals etc that the supermarket sells for a considerably cheaper price than branded items. You can still expect quality from these products so they are really worth trying to see if you'd be happy to change to these on a regular basis. 

*This is a collaborative post