Saving Money in a Large Family

Raising children is an expensive proposition in today’s society and that can be even more burdensome when you have a large family of five or more children. In order to ensure you are saving as much money as possible and managing your family finances learn the benefits of the three tips below.

Plan to Budget
Running a large family is almost like running a business; there are so many moving parts, needs and demands that you need a game plan. This will require a focused mind and generally that only comes from being completely aware of your finances, income and expenses. The best way to do that is to develop a budget for your family, whether you are well-off or surviving on a low income, a budget helps you keep focus.

A budget can also lay out the family priorities for the entire family. Talk to your children about priorities. These priorities can be reflected in the budget and can be a great learning tool for children to understand that as a family you need to have similar priorities. Vacation or child activities, shiny new car or bigger home are just a few of the examples that a budget can put into perspective. By following a budget you can also start to save money by focusing on what your family truly values.

 
Government Grants or Benefits
Whether you have one child or ten there are plenty of government grants and benefits that can often mean the difference between food and shelter and adding a family vacation once a year. However with the new child tax credit being slashed to two children as of 2017, you will need to consider all options for a large family. The Child Tax Credit however can still add over £5000 a year to larger family incomes. The Child Benefit can also add £1000 for the first child and £700 for every additional child annually, helping out with clothing, food and housing. The maximum income cap for the child benefit is £50,000 for you or your partner. The Working Tax Credit helps families that pay for childcare while both partners must work at least 16 hours per week. The benefit provides up to £1960 as a base amount and £122 for one child or £210 for 2 or more children per week.

Other benefits or grants are available as well as charity grants from thousands of registered charities. Get more detail on other benefits here.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Many families are used to this mantra, if you have a large family, it should be mission statement and teaching point. Not only should you do it for smart financial management, but teaching your children the value of these principles will help the planet as well. The classic “Hand-me-down” clothes are the typical way to help reuse old clothing and manage clothing budgets. Yet, visiting used clothes stores can also help keep costs down when you need to fill in the gaps.

 
For children seeking out the newest electronic gadget, it is better to get the previous generation from sites like eBay or Amazon for half their original cost or less and avoid those big ticket purchase prices. For everything your family needs or wants there is likely an online website catering to a deal, family pack or second-hand use. From supermarket comparison shopping, to fuel switching for savings to outings for free or severely reduced costs you can often find a deal online for what you need.

Start planning your financial future with a solid plan and lots of research before making any large financial purchases and even research small purchases online that will lead to large savings over time.