What are the best ways to save as a family?

Welcome back to the Velvet Runway and this feature with our top tips for the best ways to save as a family.

Saving can feel like an impossible task sometimes with so many factors getting in the way of you doing it such as car breakdowns, school fees and the rising prices of goods amid the global cost of living crisis. There could be several reasons that your family may need to save like improving your credit score to get offered the best mortgage rates or getting accepted for a finance agreement when you buy a new family car.

However, leaving all the savings to just one member of the family can weigh them down mentally and with three in five Brits already worried about not having enough money to last the year, it’s best to avoid this and save as a family instead. Sharing the burden can reduce the anxiety for one specific member of the family and help you collaboratively come up with great ways to save your hard-earned cash.

If you want to start saving as a family but you’re not sure how, then we’re here to help. You can find several simple steps to follow below, which will help you and your family members save together.

What are the best ways to save as a family?

Start with your budget

You’ll want to put together a budget of all your monthly expenses, so you can get a family-wide picture of your financial situation. This will reveal how much disposable income you have left after you pay your bills and you can decide how much each of you should put aside from here.

It’s important to be realistic with these goals as you may want to leave some money for fun activities with the kids or for emergencies like the examples we mentioned above.

Where can you save?

The following examples are some of the places in everyday life where saving can be done easily as a family, so consider doing them all to maximise your family’s savings.

The food shop

Food is a necessity that you can’t avoid. However, where you do your food shop can help you save heaps on your breakfast, lunch and dinners.

Choose the cheaper supermarkets such as Aldi or Lidl and avoid the higher cost supermarkets which means you can put food on the table and leave money aside for your savings account.

Think second-hand

If you need clothes, electronic goods or homeware, then second-hand shopping is a great way to get quality items at heavily discounted prices. Take a trip to your local charity shops or vintage stores to pick up incredible products for a fraction of the cost of buying brand-new ones.

Shop around for deals

Take the time to research for deals on everyday areas in your life, such as phone bills, energy bills, toiletries etc.

When it comes to those smaller essentials, look for false economies in your life. For example, do you spend a lot on potions and lotions but always buy them individually? Maybe if you bulk buy some of these products online, you’ll pay significantly less per individual item.

Review your subscriptions

Still hunting around for ways to cut down on family costs? Then it might be time to sit down and do a full review of all your subscriptions. Maybe your daughter signed up for a teen magazine that she no longer reads or you subscribed to an online newspaper that you no longer have time to read. Take a little time to review and unsubscribe from those that you are no longer using.

Walk instead of drive

Fuel prices are extremely high at the moment so, you’ll want to save your petrol or diesel where you can to avoid unnecessary fill-ups.

That’s why you and your family members should consider walking where you can as this can help you save and keep the family healthy at the same time.

Final Thoughts on What are the best ways to save as a family?

Saving money is most effective when you and your family make a conscious and determined effort to do it. It takes a little bit of planning and research, but you’ll thank yourself when you start to see the results!

I hope you enjoyed this feature with our top tips for the best ways to save as a family and have a look here for more lifestyle inspiration.

I will be back soon with more style, lifestyle and travel inspiration and don’t forget to subscribe to make sure you never miss a post,

 

Look good, feel good, live your best life 🙂

With love,