One of my most popular posts is the one about saving money whilst on maternity leave. This surprises me as I’ve always been pretty terrible with money. Despite my Dad being an accountant and trying to teach me the value of money I was pretty hopeless when I left home and had to manage my own finances. It wasn’t until I finished university and moved to London that it all started to fall into place!
Fortunately my husband is pretty savvy. We saved like mad whilst we had two wages, managed on my maternity pay and his full-time wage and now just about manage since deciding not to go back to work but extend our lovely little family. The maternity pay soon dwindled away to nothing, and since then we’ve managed to cope financially on one full time wage and child benefit (until we lose it next year).
My money saving tips are:
- don’t spend what you don’t have – I save for birthday and Christmas presents and I’ve learned to not be excessive with presents for the children in our family
- be debt free – I only paid off my student loans the month I started maternity leave but I’ve been totally debt free ever since
- invest in an ISA for a rainy day – I saved every month when I was earning and now have a lump sum tucked away in case of emergencies
- don’t waste money on food – this is the most challenging action for me but I hate throwing out food past it’s sell by date. Instead I’m trying to be more like my mum with my weekly meal plans and freezing any leftovers.
- I save any money from the odd sponsored post in my PayPal account. It’s amazing the places which let you use it to pay with so we’ve enjoyed a couple of meals out at Pizza Express, paid for our ferry tickets as well as treated myself to the odd craft book or supplies on Amazon and eBay.
- I buy loads of toys from charity shops – Big Brother has a silly amount of Thomas the Tank Engine jigsaw puzzles but I take great satisfaction in knowing I only paid a fraction of the price they sell for and he gets unlimited joy from them
- be a coupon Queen – my husband hates it but the fridge is covered in every imaginable voucher or money off coupon. They definitely help me save. I also have every loyalty card I can sign up for and use the points to buy presents at Christmas.
- teach your children about money. Both of ours have their own savings accounts and the toddler has a money box which he loves playing with – fingers crossed he will learn quicker than I did.
Good tips – especially about not spending what you don’t have!