Families are not cheap, from the cost of having a baby, then raising them, all the way through pushing them out the door when they graduate high school, you will spend a lot of money. Why go broke though when you can simply spend more wisely.
The same thing goes with owning a home. Sure, with a rental you have someone else that pays for repairs, but you’re also paying more in overtime on rent than it would cost to own a home. You can own a home, and even afford repairs, you just have to be wise with your money.
Keep Track Of Your Income
One way to help you spend more wisely on your home and family is to start out by keeping good track of your income. Calculate how much money is coming in your home on a weekly or monthly basis, depending on when bills are due. With any luck you’ll have two incomes coming in, from both you and your spouse or significant other.
Depending on where you are in life, as far as age goes or time on the job, you may have some sort of an annuity coming to you on a regular basis as part of your income or maybe even all of your income. You might even be living off of Social Security, which doesn’t really depend on age if you have some sort of medical condition keeping you from being able to work.
Keep Track Of Your Bills
Once you have a good idea about how much money you have coming in you can start determining how much you have going out compared to that. If you have more going out then you have coming in then it’s really time to start evaluating the life choices that you are making.
By getting a good visual of the bills you have going out monthly comment including the money you spend on groceries and toiletries, you can get a better idea of where you can make cuts to balance the money that you do have. You may find that you don’t need cable TV, or that you can find cheaper groceries by picking a different store to shop at. When it comes to other essentials like heating systems, check if they need any repair or maintenance works than can reduce the energy bills. If you use heating oil, you might want to get the commodity in bulk, and check for promotions and offers to save money. Maybe you can get the best price at romeosfuel.com or similar fuel supply companies to reduce spending too much on heating oil.
Adopt A Minimalist Lifestyle
Do you really need 15 pairs of jeans? How about 35 pairs of socks? If you spend a lot of time buying things just because they don’t cost a lot, but there are things you don’t really need or aren’t even going to really use that often, then you are actually saving any money.
Learn to be more particular about the things that you shop for, and make sure that you’re buying things you actually need and will use. If your house is already stuffed full of clutter go through the things that you have and find something you can sell any yard sale, if you have Collectibles or vintage items you might be able to sell them to a local store, or you could just donate items and use it as a tax write-off.
Shop Thrifty
We are shopping for your family try to be a little more thrifty. Babies grow quickly and so do toddlers, meaning that you will be spending a lot of money on clothing especially if you’re buying it new. Instead of buying brand new clothes for ones that are going to grow out of them quickly, try shopping at resale shops or at garage sales and you’ll save a bundle.