Category: Money Saving

1. Top Tips for Getting Your House Summer Ready

   Posted on 12:00pm Wednesday 8th May 2019

   The weather at the moment can’t seem to make up it’s mind what it is doing. One minute we have glorious sunshine and the next the weather is wet and miserable. So we are looking ahead to the summer and what we can be doing now so that we can enjoy lazy summer days at home with our friends and family.

   We have therefore put together our top 5 tips for preparing your home (and yourself) for summer.

    

   Check appliances are working

   Check that your fans / air conditioning units are fully working. If not, now is a good time to replace them rather than when it is baking hot and you find that everywhere is sold out. Getting them “out of season” usually means that you can get a good deal and it is worth checking out voucher sites for offers and discounts too.

   Get The Garden Ready

   When the sun eventually comes out to stay, everyone will want to be outside and if you are not enthused at the idea of regular garden maintenance, why not try some artificial grass for your garden, it is a great alternative to real grass, allowing you to enjoy summer days as well as making mowing, watering and weeding things of the past!

   

   Find out of season offers

   Like the fans and air con units, buying things out of season is the best way to get a great deal. So if you need extra picnic pieces or garden furniture, now is a good time to look for the best offers. In the height of summer, it is not only the temperatures that rise it is also well known that the prices do when there is high demand.

   Declutter

   We can all be a little guilty of hoarding items “just incase” we may need them but a spring clean is a great way to go into summer with a clear mind and a clear house. Summer bbq’s can sometimes lead to friends staying over and you don’t want them tripping over bags and boxes that are stashed in your spare room. Get rid of the unnecessary and it is one less thing to move / clean on a weekly basis too!

   

   Don’t delay till later

   Start now! It is easy to think that summer is months away but in the blink of an eye the children will be finishing the summer term and the long summer holiday will be upon us.

   Will you be prepared?

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2. How much does school uniform cost?

   Posted on 12:00pm Friday 3rd May 2019

   I read this week that following a recent survey carried out by Citizens Advice, findings have shown that more than a quarter of parents are having to borrow the money needed for school uniforms due to rising costs. This is crazy!!

   

   The average cost of a school uniform now exceeds £300 per year per child and many families on low incomes or with more than one child are finding it a real struggle to finance the items that their child need to comply with the rules of the school they attend.

   My eldest daughters school already has a strict uniform policy and we have had further notification that there are new restrictions from September on footwear, due to the financial pressures that parents are feeling over "branded footwear".

   

   So how do you save money on the rising cost of school uniforms? Here are our top tips!

   • Buy big and hope that it lasts for a couple of years 

   • Don't think that buying cheaper is more cost effective. Sometimes buying a slightly more expensive (and better quality) will last much longer.

   • Shop out of season. Shop the sales. Buy quality for less at any opportunity.

   • Label EVERYTHING so that less gets lost! Trust me we have lost a lot of uniform over the years.

   • Keep an eye out for the pre term deals. Marks and Spencers and the supermarket chains often have 10-20% off weekends

   You can't put a price on eductation but saving money on uniform is possible with a little planning.

   Good luck!

    

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3. How To Do Voice-Over Part-Time For Working Mums

   Posted on 12:00pm Monday 22nd Apr 2019

   A friend and I were talking today about how we love our teenagers going out and creating memories but we don't love how much it costs us. We are sure that the girls think there is a money tree growing in our garden so there is a growing need for part-time jobs or side hustles, especially for mothers who are unable to work full-time because they have childcare duties to handle. This is one of the reasons that has been raised in the current discussions surrounding the gender pay gap and why women generally earn less pay when compared to men. But that is a whole other discussion and not one for today.

   

   Part-time work also comes with it’s set of challenges if you are going to include other expenses such as nursery and travel fees. Some mums are lucky to be able to tweak their working hours such that they are able to work from home, but many employers aren’t so accommodating to the idea of working remotely. If you are one of those hard working mums trying to earn more money, this might just be for you! We are going to discuss doing voice-overs, a part-time job that pays really well.

   For mums who are learning about who a voice-over artist is for the first time, here is a brief explanation of what it is about. A voice-over artist is someone who records their voice while reading a script of a show or movie provided by the client.

   You may have come across this many times but you may not know it as a voice-over. The voice is usually not necessarily a part of the television or radio production. It is a job that remains in high demand considering there is a high number of productions in theatre, television, radio, and other forms of presentation.

   There is usually a little bit of acting involved, you need to be able to convey the script as though you were acting in front of a camera. It has to come off natural and believable. In many cases, you are basically voicing a presentation to English or to another language. If you have watched an episode or two of Mexican telenovelas with English audio, then you know what a voice-over artist does.

   

   If this sounds like something that you can do while juggling other mummy duties at home, then you are making the right move. Doing voice-over part-time can actually become your major source of income. Not only do you have enough time to be a mummy, but you also get to spend a lot of time on yourself doing the things that you love. If you are looking for more info about doing voice-over part-time, you can find all the information that you need at voquent.com .... although I am still not sure that my distinctive Brummie accent is what they might be looking for, maybe I need to use my posh telephone voice!

    

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4. How to teach children the value of money

   Posted on 12:00pm Thursday 14th Mar 2019

   Some life lessons are harder to learn, and they cannot necessarily be taught. You can tell children not to jump on furniture until you start to lose your voice, but they may not listen until they fall and get hurt once or twice. Other important lessons in life are much easier to learn (without injury) and just as easy to teach.

    

   Money is one of those lessons and is something that we use every day. Teaching children the value of money begins at home, however. From learning the value of each piece of currency to seeing the way that parents handle their own finances, the value of their earnings begins at home. I remember my mom worrying about money when we were kids and I always said that I would never want my own children to have that consciousness from a young age.

   However, for a parent, teaching your children the value of money also means learning to give them a little responsibility early. For children to learn any lesson, they must essentially learn on their own although parents still play an important role. For instance, a younger child saving for a new toy learns about financial choices like buying the toy or not.

   Ob the flip side, if the child decides not to buy the toy, his parents can change his mind by letting him know that they cannot buy him everything he asks for. Older children who receive allowances can be given more control over their money, and therefore the consequences of either saving or spending. Teaching them how to budget for long-term goals is also important but may take a little more patience.

   Teaching your children the value of money when they are older begins more with parents than at school. Teachers can show them balance sheets and accounting, but examples set by parents can have lifelong effects. If a child sees their parents always overspending and buying whatever they want despite the consequences, they may figure that this is okay.

   If parents reinforce saving money, children will more likely want to save money that they earn on their own. Opening a savings account for older children, even if it is only for allowance, can show them how beneficial saving is, and how interests accumulate over time.

   

   For some families it is a learning process because money is a large part in today’s society. The earlier your children learn how to manage it, the better their chances of having a more secure future. From saving grandma’s change for a new toy to saving their first monthly wages for their first car, the value of money is among important concepts children can learn.

   I also think that sometimes, I need to reign in my own spending habits and remind myself!

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