How Can You Afford Everything As A Full Time Mum

Being a full time mum is one of the best things in the world, but sometimes it can feel as

though everything is against you and affording all the things you need becomes a challenge.

But, it doesn’t have to be this way and in this article we are going to show you how to do this.

There are ways to take a lot of the stress out of this situation and if you are interested in

finding out more on this topic, keep reading on down below!

Budgeting Is Key

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We know that you have likely already tried it and thrown it out the window, but

budgeting really is the best way to make sure that you can afford everything. So,

how would you go about budgeting the right way? Well, there are a number of

guides that you can find online that will be useful, but the simple version is as follows.

Write down a list of everything that comes into your home finance wise and then add

up the total. Once you have done this, go through everything that you have to spend

such as rent, food, bills and so on then work out the total cost of this. When you are

doing this, if you don’t know the exact cost, you will find that overestimating is always

going to be better for you than underestimating. After you have got both lists, take

the total cost of what goes out away from the amount that comes in, and then you’ve

got your leftovers to spend on whatever you want.

Sticking to the budget is a lot harder than creating it, and we are well aware of this,

but you need to learn to be strict on yourself if you want to be able to afford everything.

Do your best to work out what you are going to spend your spare money on in advanced

to avoid dipping into other money.

Don’t Overspend

It happens to the best of us, we overspend in certain areas and leave ourselves short

in others. This is similar to what we were just talking about above, and it is very important

that you manage to not do this. If you know that your kids need something that wasn’t in

the budget, then you need to work this out beforehand and take it out of what is left at the

end of the month. Or, work out if you can take it from somewhere else and replace it before

it is missed. This is a dangerous game to be playing with your finances, though, and if you

can avoid it, we would highly recommend that you do.

Consider Second Hand

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Something else that we suggest is that you buy some of your stuff second hand if

possible. The good thing about this is that it is cheaper, which saves you money, and

a lot of the time the quality is not bad either. This will help a lot when it comes to trying

to save money and still get everything that you need. When you have kids, trying to get

everything can be a nightmare, but you don’t have to tell them that some of the items are

second hand if you don’t want to because it is likely that no one will notice. There are

plenty of stores out there that can provide you with the items that you need, at a price

you are going to love.

Get A Little Help

Have you ever thought about getting a little bit of help if you are struggling to afford

some of the things that you need? The first option that you could consider is asking

your friends and family for help. As these are the people who are closest to you, if

they can help, they likely will. It is a lot less pressure on you to borrow or receive

money from those who love you, as they might not demand it back in a set amount of

time, rather giving you the aid that you need until you are fully on your feet.

However, for some people, this is not an option, and they need to look at other methods

such as securing a loan. There are many different methods of doing this, you can go to

your bank, use an online source, or whatever you think is best for you. Something that

you should consider, and you will come across quite often when looking at this is

guarantor loans. This means that someone will sign the contract with you, agreeing

to pay back the loan should you fail to do so. The only issue with these is that a lot of

people are not willing to be a guarantor so you might find it tricky to find someone who

has the correct credit, and who will sign on with you.

Just make sure that if you do choose to get a loan, you read the full terms and

conditions, so you are fully aware of what you are getting into. You don’t want any

surprises coming back to bite you in the future.

Prioritize

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The final thing that we are going to look at is learning to prioritize certain things over others.

So, if you have a whole list of things that you need to buy, but some are slightly more pressing

than others, you need to get these first. Work out what is essential, or at least what is going to

be more beneficial, and put these items above purchasing those that can wait. You will find

this makes a big difference to the way you spend money, and significantly reduce the

amount of stress you experience.

We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now see that there are ways that

you can afford everything as a full-time mum. If you take the advice that we have set out

above, you are going to be able to afford everything that you need, without racking your

brain for new ideas every month!

*Collaborative Post*