Four Family-Friendly Money-Saving Tips For 2021
If you’re anything like most people, your finances took a real battering in 2020. This means that putting them back in order is going to be one of your top priorities for 2021. With that in mind, here are four family-friendly money-saving tips for 2021 (and beyond).
Get everyone involved
You’ll make your life a whole lot easier if you get everyone in the family on-board with your money-saving mission. At the very least, children need to understand the reason for any obvious changes. Otherwise, they could feel unsettled by them. Ideally, they should be contributing in some way, however small, so they feel part of the team effort.
Get cooking
The more you cook from scratch at home, the less you’ll spend on food. As an absolute minimum, avoid buying complete ready-meals. Even buying meal-kits is more affordable. Ideally, avoid buying anything ready-made unless you really can’t make it at home (e.g. sausages). A lot of convenience foods are actually very simple to make yourself.
In general, the trick to getting out of the convenience-food habit is to meal-plan. If you have a family of fussy eaters (or you’re one yourself), then allow yourself some flexibility. For example, make sure that you have plenty of “food basics” in the house (e.g. pastry and sauces). Then see what you fancy putting in them at any given time.
If at all possible, get the whole family involved in shopping and cooking. Firstly, it’ll take some of the work off you. Secondly, it’ll teach your children a valuable skill for later life.
Get tailoring
Instead of spending money on expensive clothes, learn how to customize basic ones. For example, you can use fabric pens to draw a fun design onto a plain white t-shirt. This can make it look super-special for practically no money. If your drawing skills aren’t up to much, try iron-on transfers or patches.
Learn how to do simple repairs yourself and commit to doing them promptly. A stitch in time really does save nine. If you’re worried about the repair showing, then make it a feature. For example, if your kids keep putting the knees out of their trousers, just sew on colourful patches.
Remember, making your clothes last longer doesn’t just save you money. It’s also really good for the environment.
Get online
The internet really can be your best friend when it comes to saving money. Use it as much as you can. Always use it before you spend money on any significant purchase. You might be stunned at how much you could save. For example, the cost of Oakley replacement lenses can be massively lower at online labs than on the High Street.
Join local internet groups and look for opportunities to swap or buy pre-loved rather than buying new. You could also try selling some of your own unwanted items via these groups. This might not make you a lot of money, but it can be enough to motivate you to clear some clutter!
