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Saving Money in the Home
Kids are expensive, right? Well, yes, especially if you’re like me. I know I’m indulging my child by catering to his every whim, yet I don’t know how to stop myself. I want to give him the best of everything but I know that often this means I’m just giving him instant gratification and not teaching him to value every item he receives.
Which is why I love receiving contributed posts like the one below.
Keeping The Home Costs Down As A Parent
As a parent, you are always thinking about what you can do to keep the finances in check. This can be much harder than you might initially think, especially when you also have a family and children to think about.
But as long as you are thinking about it to some extent, you will find that you can keep the costs of your home down as much as possible and that that will really help with looking after your child as well in the long run.
In this article, we are going to look at some of the things you can consider doing in order to keep the home costs down as a parent, no matter what kind of living situation you might be in at present.
Energy Bills
One of the main expenses of any home is the energy bill, and as long as you can find a way to keep this down you will absolutely be doing wonders for your financial situation in general.
The truth is that although it is a major expense, it is also one of the easiest costs to keep under control, as long as you know what you are doing.
The first thing to do to keep these costs low is to take a look at the different levels of residential electricity pricing for different energy providers in your area. You might be surprised to find that they vary quite a lot, so this is something that you should really look into at your earliest convenience to make sure you get it just right.
You can also use less energy in the home and keep bills down that way by paying more attention to what you are using in the home.
Baby Supplies
When you are a new parent, you can often be surprised at just how much there is to buy in order to properly look after your child.
From nappies to food and even the cot, it all adds up pretty quickly, and the ongoing monthly costs can be something else indeed.
However, as long as you are aware of them, and you make sure to plan ahead, you can be sure that you are going to be able to keep the finances together as well as possible – so that should mean that you can make a huge difference in the long run.
Just taking these 3 earlier examples into consideration:
- Cloth nappies might seem expensive up front but they can save you heaps of money in the long run (while reducing your carbon footprint).
- Breastfeeding also saves you a small fortune as you can skip paying for formula plus you’re likely to reduce visits to Doctor’s and Hospitals as well.
- You can do away with needing a cot altogether if you choose to cosleep or bedshare.
Consider what you can do to keep the costs down and you might find it can be surprisingly easy to make a huge difference.
Rent & Bills
Whatever rent and bills you have to pay, there are a number of things you can do here to keep those down as well. It is always worth remembering that you can possibly claim certain benefits and reductions on some of those bills for being a parent, especially if you are a single parent.
You should claim for everything you are entitled to, as ultimately that is what it is there for in the first place. You can make things much easier for yourself so it’s worth bearing these claims in mind.
Okay, great. So let’s see how we fared on these:
- We’ve been pretty good at lowering our electricity bill. Check.
- We also saved fortunes by breastfeeding for nearly 4 years. My son has never even tasted formula. He hardly ever visited the Doctor and has never had to be hospitalised.
- We failed on the cloth nappy story. Big mistake to go the disposable route. Would have been a huge saving. Kicking myself about that now.
- We had a cot which we never used for our son as he shared my bed and recently sold it for next to nothing (second-hand market not great in cots). Certainly would advise any expectant parent not to buy one upfront unless you’ve absolutely ruled out co-sleeping. Especially if you’re low on space.
- Have to say I never thought of claiming child benefits, other than Maternity leave benefits.
So we did okay… but everything we saved on breastfeeding and cosleeping, we have spent (and then some) on toys. And milkshakes. And KinderJoy surprises. And the likes. Naughty Mommy.
How much Money do You Save in Your Home?
How are you doing on these? Are you super frugal and saving oodles of money in your home?
If you have any tips on how to be a minimalist parent, we’d love to hear them.
And especially if you know how to teach children the value of money.
All tips and ideas most welcome. I do not even pretend to have this one handled. Not by a long shot.
Do you?