A couple of money saving tips

We live in the day and age of trying to budget so that we can have those little extra things in life. Being a one income family can cause some strains in your home when the bills come in ( all at once!). I have started a family budget system

Meal planning Menus:

We plan our weekly or fortnightly shops to a menu plan, so we have it planned before we go shopping. Oh and before I forget feed the children and yourselves before going, to stop your hunger induced impulsive buys.... I have even started planning the school box menu so that I can bulk buy when shopping as running down to the shops in a last minute dash can be very expensive as you pass the yummy looking cake or chocolate isle ( that's marketing for you.) as these things are strategically placed where you have to pass them to buy your bread. We have found that not only have we got a few more dollars in our account that it is also time saving as well. I have the meals planned and executed in good time because I have all the ingredients on hand and know exactly what I am cooking for that day. It did seem hard at first to actually come up with recipe ideas but we make it as a family decision so everyone has a say and the kids get excited when their dinner pick is coming up. I highly recommend it for all types of family units as it has helped all of us.

Now what to do with your savings:

Open an account that you can't access with a key card. (Like a commonwealth award savers account for example.) Transfer a comfortable amount after you do your grocery shopping. You will be very surprised with how much you can save and not having easy access will stop those impulsive buys ( which I am renowned for LOL) You still have access to these accounts by transferring the money through phone or internet.[ Make sure you check it out with your financial institution first.]  Which is a good idea as you have to physically do this which makes you stop and think about your purchase. I use this system so that once a month I can then check the specials and buy bulk nappies and other things so that I am stocked up for a month. This has come in handy for the extra bills that popped up like school excursions and photos that you never seem to put into your budgets.

Other tips general:

• Watch the checkout.                   I can not tell you how many times I have found mistakes on special prices.
• Collect hubby's change.              My husband put me on to this when he started putting his change into a money tin, it really adds up.
• Check out e-bay.                          Kids grow out of sizes very quickly and there are heaps of great quality bargains to be found.
• Toy Libraries.                                Keep the kids entertained on the holidays by going to the toy library, most council libraries have this service, you get to borrow toys that normally you would buy and they get bored within 2 days. They have all sorts of games and DVD collections.         

I hope that this advice can help some of the other mums out there as it has helped us out. Give it a try and you will be surprised.