General Life Musings

Expanding The Family : How To Keep Your Budget Down

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There is nothing more exciting than planning to expand the family that you have and having another baby. A new baby brings so much joy into your life, and your heart just swells with the love of a whole new person that you’ve built from scratch. With the expansion of your family, comes the development of the household expenses. And it’s this little nugget that often puts parents off of having a sibling for their baby because the cost can often be too much.

Here’s the thing with that: there is no right time to have a baby. You can wait and wait for the best financial situation and then lose your job a month later. You can expect and wait for the nicer house with the bigger bedrooms, only to be evicted and have to downsize temporarily. There’s not a good time to have a baby, so you may as well just have one. You have nine months to figure out the finances, and often, it all works out just fine. Just in case, though, it’s worth looking into the ways that you can raise a family on a budget, and we’ve got some of the best suggestions for you below:

The House

Housing, whether rent or mortgage payments, is your most significant cost. While you may not be able to downsize your payments, you may be able to enjoy more house for less. How much of your home goes unused? Moving to a smaller property that fits you and your family can often be better than living in a giant mansion that eats all your money!

The Groceries

So many people think that their household groceries and shopping expenses are the cause of their budget taking a hit. It’s not the case. You can save money when shopping online by using NetVoucherCodes.co.uk and maximise your shopping budget in a big way. Shopping smartly, by dropping brand name items and going for the cheaper option often makes no difference to your diet but does to your wallet.

The Charity Shops

Children grow like little weeds, and so keeping up with the clothing situation can be difficult. You need to look further afield than the brand names in the high street and focus on the charity shops. You can bulk buy clothing in excellent condition for pence, and you can buy the clothes that would typically be in designer shops. Children don’t stay small for long, so think about secondhand clothing and how you can maximise your budget by buying clothes this way.

The Childcare

If you are both working, then it stands to reason that there is a very good chance that you pay out a significant amount in childcare. If you have the choice, one working and one at home is often the best way to save money on your childcare. If this doesn’t work for your budget, then think about alternating shifts to help.

This is by no stretch all you can do to help your family expansion plans, but it’s a good start!

 

I am Sarah, home educating mum of three (born 2012, 2014 and 2016)

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