Being a parent in today’s day and age is no picnic – and I’m not just talking about the constant battle of keeping up with Pinterest moms, but rather about more pressing issues like securing your child’s future and balancing the family finances to make ends meet every month. The cost of raising a child these days is astronomical, but if you have sufficient safety nets and saving habits in place, there’s no need to lie awake at night.
When Hippo.co.za first approached me to collaborate with them on the topic of family financial security, I took a bit of time to browse through their site where I came across tips on Saving for Your Child’s Education and interesting ways to save money in general. For instance, I can now tell you with certainty that unit trusts and tax-free savings investments are a much better solution for saving than hiding money under the mattress and (cough-cough) saving in a bank account.
Here are a few other savings tips that I’ve learned over the years and from other moms in the community:
- Buy in bulk whenever you can (but still do the math to check that bulk is in fact cheaper), and do meal planning for the week or month ahead to ensure that you use your fresh produce before it turns.
- Review your car insurance and other insurance policies regularly to ensure that you’re getting the most bang for your buck. You’d be surprised how much you could save by comparing quotes!
- Set up multiple savings accounts for various different goals like “holiday”, “kids”, “clothes”, etc – even if you deposit a mere R50 into each one every month, you’ll reach your goal before you know it.
- Start a vegetable garden – not only is it a great way to save on food, it also teaches your children about gardening and sustainability in general. And it’s fun!
- Make sure you have sufficient medical aid in place for the entire family. Although it might seem like a big chunk out of your monthly budget, it’s nothing compared to the exorbitant medical bills that might be lurking around the corner.
- No matter if your child is still in diapers or about to make the leap from high school to university, it’s never too early or too late to start saving for their education. Even something as simple as buying school supplies when on sale can help you save!
- Have an honest chat with other moms about mutual expenses like birthday gifts, and either set a reasonable limit that suits both your budgets, or come to a “no gifts” agreement.
- Instead of spending money on going to the cinema or play park, invest in educational board games and activities. Then, have weekly games days and build hype around it to get the kids excited.
Do you have any savings tips for other moms out there? Comment below!
