FOLLOWING a half term full of activities, it’s likely that a lot of parents will be feeling the pinch as we head into the summer term.
But fear not, Scott Nelson at MoneyNerd spoke to a range of parenting and financial experts to reveal how parents could be spending and saving their money to make the most of their incomes.
Here are seven tips to lower the costs of raising your family:
Follow all of your favourite shops on Instagram and Twitter
Spotting a deal as soon as it appears is key to saving huge amounts of money, particularly from the shops you regularly spend money with.
Janine Marsh, blogger at Thrifty Family, urges parents to "Follow everything you love on Instagram and look out for offers’ in order to limit spending, as shops are likely to announce savings on social media first. "
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Organise a toy swap for your kids
Janine Marsh comments, "Do a toy swap in the school holidays with a friend for a week with a kid the same age."
This is the perfect way to not spend any money on entertainment, yet it gives your child the opportunity to play with something new and exciting for a week.
Not only does this relieve parental figures of financial stress, but it also encourages kids to make new friends in the process.
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Practice meal planning to reduce needless waste
Organising what you’re going to eat at the start of each week and then only buying necessary items is great for limiting overspending.
Kirsty Jennings, blogger at Miss Pork Pie, has said "Meal planning is a great way to save money on your food shop! Take the time to make a shopping list and menu, and make sure you stick to it."
Try using ChatGPT to organise your meal plans and shopping lists
While meal planning can take quite a bit of time to sort out, there are tools to speed up this process.
Scott Nelson, founder of MoneyNerd, has said, "Using ChatGPT to arrange your meals for the week and then asking it to organise a shopping list from this plan takes all of the hard work out of prepping.
"The key to using AI to do this is being as specific as possible – tell ChatGPT how long you need the meal plan for in terms of days, any dietary requirements you have, and the types of foods you don’t want to be included in your meals.
"From there, it will give you a full meal plan, and then you simply need to ask it to turn the meals into a grocery list."
Have a go at growing your own fruit and vegetable gardens
Kirsty Jennings comments, "Consider growing your own fruits and vegetables, even if you only have a small garden or patio. Homegrown produce tastes great and can save you a significant amount on your food bill over time."
Even if you don’t have any outdoor space in your home, you can try building an indoor garden to grow vegetables. All you’ll need is a bed planter and a window that gets a lot of sunlight.
Save money and time with batch cooking.
Cooking meals in large quantities will help to save a lot of money on food shopping, particularly if you buy the ingredients in bulk.
Janine Marsh says, "Batch cooking is the way to go. For example, you can make a huge shepherd's pie and freeze half of it for another meal."
She also recommends that families buy frozen veg as "it's cheaper and won't go off. It's also better for you because the nutrients are frozen in and you'll have less waste."
Invest in store-own products rather than branded items
Kirsty Jennings says, "Another great tip I've picked up over the years is to buy the store's own brand version of your favourite products – they're often just as good at a fraction of the price!"
This can be applied to absolutely anything, not just food products – clothing from supermarkets, for example, will be just as good quality as high street brands, just without the cost associated with the brand name.
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