Showing all posts tagged saving tips

In tips

How to Save on Attending a Wedding

Author RosselPosted on 2 Comments

We all know that throwing a wedding and being in a wedding can be incredibly expensive. However, even as a guest, you can end up spending hundreds of dollars on gifts, babysitters, transportation and accommodations! Here are some tips on how to keep the costs to a minimum.

saving tips

Go stag. If someone you are close to is getting married and you feel strongly about attending but your spouse doesn’t really have ties to that person (for example, a co-worker), think about going solo. You’ll save on a babysitter and since only one of you will be attending, you won’t have to spend as much on the gift.

Limit nights in a hotel. If you are traveling for a wedding and it is late enough on Saturday, consider leaving early Saturday morning so you don’t have to spend two nights on a hotel. Or, if you have friends in the area or somewhere along the way, see if you can crash for a night or two. You can kill two birds with one stone — save money and catch up with friends!

Get creative with your gifts. If you have a special talent like calligraphy or you work for a printer, offer to help out with invitations as your gift. Similarly, if you are good with crafts or cooking and can use your talents to contribute to the rehearsal dinner or reception, you shouldn’t feel obligated to spend as much on a gift as you otherwise might.

Borrow! If you’re worried you have nothing to wear, especially for a more formal event, ask around to see if you can borrow a dress or tux. There’s no need to buy something new for one night and most friends and family are happy to share something that they don’t get too much use out of anyway.

Anne Perkins is a freelance writer focused on how to live large on a little living. She writes financial savings tips for QuickQuid, an online short-term loan lender providing quick loans to those in need. At her blog, AnnieIdea.com, you can get tips on how to take any idea and make it easier or cheaper to complete.

In home and living, tips

Money-Saving Tips for Mums

Author RosselPosted on Leave a comment

Being a mum can often feel like a juggling act – balancing the books, coordinating after school clubs and play-dates, coming up with healthy meal ideas the kids will eat and keeping house, often on top of working at least part-time and organizing appropriate childcare.

All these things can seem overwhelming at times. Following these handy hints on how to save money can take at least one of the worries away, leaving you with more free time to spend appreciating your children.

Money-Saving Tips

Keeping the house clean

Save money on expensive cleaning products by utilizing natural disinfectants such as lemon juice and vinegar. Rubbing half a lemon around the kitchen sink has the same effect as spraying it with anti-bacterial cleaner and at a fraction of the cost. Diluted vinegar makes a great polish for varnished wood, brass and copper fixtures and more.

Food – eating in or dining out

Food is one of the largest expenditures in most households. Make the most of your food budget with some savvy shopping. Plan meals in advance and always make a shopping list – this prevents you from impulse buying when at the supermarket.

If you have a large freezer you could consider bulk buying. It is usually cheaper if you buy food in large quantities. Whenever you make a meal, make four times as much as usual and set three aside in Tupperware to freeze.

Stews and casseroles are perfect for this. Experiment with stores own brand produce – sometimes they are inferior to the branded goods and you may want to avoid them, but in many cases the stores own are made in the very same factory as the branded products and simply packaged differently.

Check out the discount shelves when you go shopping and sites like netvouchercodes.co.uk for money-off offers at leading supermarkets – often items which have several days left before their use by date end up on there, and if they can be frozen even better.

If you fancy a treat and want to eat out, never leave home without checking if there are any restaurant vouchers for the more popular chains.

Days out

Use the internet to check out free local attractions for places to take the kids at weekends. Cinema tickets and admission fees can add up, but there are plenty of free museums about and the park costs nothing.

Holidays

If you fancy going away for the weekend, avoid expensive hotels and instead go camping. Most children far prefer being out of doors anyway and it costs very little.

Grow your own

Growing your own herbs not only saves you money but is a fun activity that the children can get involved in. Purchase a few cheap plastic pots or use old jam jars. Let the kids make labels and take photographs of their young seedlings each day as a progress record.

The first time you make a delicious meal with herbs that they have grown themselves will be a very proud moment.

Image Credit:
Free Digital Photos.Net

In parenting, tips

How to Encourage Your Children to Save

Author RosselPosted on 1 Comment

Pink Piggy Bank

I want to thank Insular Life and sis Ellen Cayaba for this cute pink piggy bank. As soon as I laid my eyes on it, I know that it’s for RJ. Our daughter loves saving money for the things she wants to have. My Mom said may be it is because of her Ilocano blood (Ilocanos are known for being thrifty and frugal), but I know it is because of the values she learned from us. Hubby and I taught RJ to save at an early age because we believe that the earlier we educate our children about saving and spending, the earlier they will learn the value of money and the better prepared they will be to handle their very own money in the future.

So, how can you encourage your children to save?

Save Money in Front of Your Children  Keep your own piggy bank to show them the way you value money. Learing about the value of money, the way to budget, spend and save wisely, are the most important abilities that your kids will learn from you.

Encourage Them to Set Goals  If there’s something your children really want, take a seat with them to work out exactly how much it will cost, what they need to do to achieve it and how long it will take them to buy it. Let them know that if they’ll save everyday, the sooner they will get what they want.

Give Monetary Rewards (need not be a big amount) It’s a way of saying well done for every good deeds your children do. Giving your children monetary rewards after they helped you with the household chores will not just encourage them to save but to help you again the next day.

Hang Picture Cut a picture of what your children are aiming for then hang it on the refrigerator door or on their bedroom wall or anywhere they can see it often. This is to remind them of what they are saving for.

Praise your child for any amount of savings Telling your children that they are doing well in saving money will help them know that they are doing the right thing thus, they will feel good about themselves. This will encourage them to safe more.

If you think that it’s too early for your children to have money talks, think again. You don’t want to talk to them when they are older and the habit of wasteful spending is already formed. Why wait when it could be too late?