7 Money Saving Tips for Families

Money Saving Tips for Families

My journey into financial responsibility has led me to share money saving tips for families as I navigate life as a stay at home mum.

As I have taken responsibility for my finances and created a lifestyle that suits my priorities for family life, blogging from home, homeschooling and living a healthy vegan lifestyle, it has become a natural process to adopt a money-conscious life.

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How to Get Started with Saving Money

Here are my top money saving tips to get started:

• Know your budget
• Write down your monthly expenses
• Write down your monthly income
• After a while take note of expenses that you don’t actually need/want
• Get rid of those unnecessary expenses
• Get clear on the monthly income you need/want
• Make sure your monthly expenses budget that monthly income goal
• Ensure you budget in what you love – whatever that looks like to you!

Check out 19 Creative Ways to Make Extra Money from Home for money inspiration!

7 Money Saving Tips for families

As a stay at home mum, it is my priority to be a mum first and foremost. Ensuring I am feeling good and my children’s needs are being met is essential before anything else. When these are not being met it is because I am adding too much to my schedule, I’m not aligned to my goals and I am not listening to my heart.

I like simplicity. I like a simple schedule. I like simple food. I like simple daily activities. I like simple living.

I like to be conscious of my decisions. I’m definitely not perfect with this, however, I do my best to be conscious of my choices in life. From my parenting choices (breastfeeding, homebirth, babywearing, co-sleeping, homeschooling) to being vegan to how I show up in relationships to how I work.

My desires for simplicity and conscious living naturally lead to responsibility for a simple budget. How I work, what I spend my money on, and what I do daily I do my best intentionally. It helps me to feel calm, grounded, relaxed and lead a life following my heart rather than being told what to do with my money.

Here are 7 money saving tips from a frugal stay at home mum.

7 Money Saving Tips

Start Budgeting

This is essential! You need to know your budget so that you can create awareness of what money is coming in and out of your life. It isn’t as boring as it sounds, your budget can (and should) include essentials and what matters most to you.

Creating a budget this way will help you to cut out what doesn’t matter or match your priorities. You will feel a whole new level of “adulting” when you get smart with your budget.

Breastfeeding

Yes, you heard me right. Breastfeeding. As a stay at home, mum breastfeeding is a beautiful simple gift from mother nature, and it is free!

I choose to breastfeed my children as it comes naturally to me, I didn’t choose to do it because it saved me money. However, the bonus is it does save money! Baby formula comes at a price and that money adds up over time. Pumping costs having to buy the equipment.

I am not here to speak against mums who need to work out of the home and have to pump for breastmilk. I am here to say breastfeeding is wonderful. Outside of the incredible mum and baby benefits, building a healthy immune system for the baby and being a special way to connect with the baby to soothe and calm, breastfeeding doesn’t cost anything.

Food

Make your own food. I am a firm believer in preparing and cooking your own food. I grew up in a family that created homemade meals and sat down together to enjoy the delicious meal. Making your own food is simple to do, helps you appreciate food and your body, you enjoy the food more, it’s healthy and it teaches good habits to the kiddies.

A big plus for making your own food is it saves money. I am constantly blown away by those who regularly choose to eat out at restaurants and cafes, stopping at the local coffee shop, and buying convenient ready-made food. This type of lifestyle is very expensive, and generally pretty unhealthy.

As a stay at home mum, I take joy in preparing food for my family. When I bake cakes I am reminded of my grandma who made the best cakes in the world (fact!). When I make vegan spaghetti bolognese I am taken back to the weekly Saturday family dinner dad made (not vegan then!). When I make meals I am nourishing my body with wholesome food to feel good in body and mind.

As a mum, I need to feel good. For myself, I need to feel good. Nourishing my body isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. Making food is one of the best money saving tips for families I can recommend!

One of the family favourites for making yummy banana vegan ice cream and smoothies is the Optimum Blender.

Optimum Blender

• Super fast high speed
• Perfect for smoothies, frozen banana ice cream, sauces and dips
• Strong robust machine
• More affordable than a vitamix!

Start a Blog

Starting a blog is a very inexpensive business. You don’t need much money to start a professional blog that will ultimately make money for you. If you are looking to create another stream of income but don’t want to or have the money to invest a large sum then starting a blog would be a great option.

Running a blog is fun, a great creative outlet for us stay at home mums, and can create money when you put the time and effort in for the long term. You do need to treat a blog as a business. Show up weekly for your blog, create content regularly, build SEO, and have ways to make money from your blog. If this all sounds a bit overwhelming, then this Start a Blog course can help you get started.

I used this course to start my blog and it has helped a tonne to make it simple and easy to understand. If I can do this as a stay at home mum, so can you!

Housekeeping

Are you trying to keep the house clean, look after the kids, walk the dogs, and work a full time job? Yes, that’s quite a lot to manage every day. One of the best money saving tips for families is to tackle housekeeping.

Being a stay at home mum can save time and money, especially in the housekeeping department. If you are working part time from home, do a few jobs to earn money, or don’t work, then doing the housekeeping yourself makes sense.

It is very manageable to keep the house tidy and (somewhat) clean on a daily basis. By creating a simple schedule for family time and whatever work you do from home, you can easily keep the house tidy. There is no need to spend money on a house cleaner or spend hours a week cleaning the house yourself.

Save money and time by keeping the house tidy daily and then clean once a week. My tip is to stop worrying about the house being perfectly spotlessly clean. Release mental pressure by letting go of perfection. A good vac around the house on a regular basis will help, and making sure everyone tidies up after themselves on a daily basis is more than enough to keep a tidy happy home.

Childcare

Are you a stay at home mum? As a stay at home mum, it will save you a tonne of money by raising your children at home. The cost for childcare in the UK is on average £10,000 annually. That is a lot of money folks!

You can provide high quality childcare at home for your family and build wonderful relationships together as you create memories and could use that £10,000 towards family activities and investing in financial freedom for the family.

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Common Questions About Money Saving Tips for Families

How do stay at home mums live financially?

There are a few ways stay at home mums live financially and this will be different from one family to the next.

• Husband/partner works and live off that one income
• Receiving financial help from the government
• Savings from work pre-baby
• Inheritance
• Working from home whilst being a stay at home mum
• Investing (crypto, property, stocks etc)

How do people survive on a single income?

This is simpler than you might think. Get clear on your budget, know your expenses and income, and know the lifestyle you want to live. Make sure that you are living within your means. Stop spending money on things you don’t actually need or want. Make sure essentials are covered, factor in expenses for things that matter to you, and if you do need more money then find a way to make more money. You can do this with a single income and live happily!

Tips for a new stay at home mum?

Enjoy it! Let go of trying to do everything, stop creating long to-do lists and embrace the mum life. When you are spending time with your child be present with them and get rid of distractions. When you need to do housework, make meals or work then set boundaries and stick to the task at hand. Outside of those jobs, be distraction-free with your little ones.

Let go of perfection and create a family life that fits what you want for everyone’s needs to be met. Life will be different pre-baby to stay at home mum, but that doesn’t mean you are missing out on life. Your life is going to be enriched with the love of your little ones. Enjoy the day to day life with your precious babies.

What is it like to be a stay at home mum?

Being a stay at home mum is amazing. And testing. Wonderful. And challenging. Remember you are raising another human, there will be clashes of emotions, opinions and different ways of thinking. Your patience will be tested, your boundaries will be challenged by another. I am not going to paint a picture of rainbows and unicorns for mum life, I am here to keep it real.

The reality of a stay at home mum is it is the most loving job I have ever done. It is filled with love day to day, even through the emotions. Whether you work from home or not, being a stay at home mum is very rewarding. You get to see your little ones grow, learn, question and understand life. There is no better job than seeing those little miracles you created to learn to draw, cut food, care for animals and question everything about life.

Money Saving Tips for Families

I hope this post has inspired you that you can save money as a stay at home mum. If I can do it, so can you!

Want more money information?

Continue reading:

• Beginners Guide to Making Money at Home as a Mum
• Best Blogging Tools to Make Money at Home
• How to Start a Blog and Make Money Online

Did this post help you? What additional questions can I answer for you as you’re starting to save and invest money?

I’m happy to help! Just leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you!

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