With stay-at-home orders and lockdowns happening across the world, we are venturing into the unknown. Coronavirus means that you and your family will spend more time at home, and you may have even lost your job or be on reduced wages. The problem is, nobody knows for sure how long lockdown will last. This is the opportunity to budget and try to save money to ensure you can survive COVID-19. Here are some family budgeting tips.
https://pixabay.com/photos/coins-calculator-budget-1015125/
Be Conscious about Electricity
Being at home all day means you are going to use a lot of electricity. From keeping your lights on to playing on NetBet UK, this is all going to cost money. Of course, this does not mean you cannot enjoy your favorite activities during this hard time. It just means that you have to be more conscious about wasting electricity.
For example, make the most of the natural light during the day. Keep your curtains open and turn off the lights. In addition, if you have any appliances turned on you are not using, take out the plug. If you have any electronics on standby, make sure you switch them off too. This is all going to help when your bills come in.
Meal Plan and Shop Smart
They say that you should never visit the grocery store when you are hungry. You will spend extra money on food that you do not really need. Well, the same can be said about going to the grocery store during lockdown. If you are not prepared, you can end up spending money that you may not have.
The way forward for family budgeting is meal planning. Schedule what you are going to have for meals every night. Of course, choose snacks and some treats for during the week. But if you already know what you need to purchase, you can avoid buying unnecessary things. Look out for reduced-price food too to save more money.
In addition, food that you are not going to use, make sure that you put it in the freezer. This is going to avoid food waste, throwing money away and ensure you always have meals for another time.
Avoid Unnecessary Purchases
When you have nothing better to do, you may turn to online shopping. This is going to be a bad idea if you are trying to budget and save money during this difficult time. Try to avoid making unnecessary purchases. Stick to shopping for essentials that you need, buy face masks and hand sanitiser online so you can keep out of stores when it’s not necessary to go. Not only will this save you spending cash but it can also keep your family safe by lowering the risk of spreading the virus.
Cut Your Expenses
There has never been a better time to get your finances in order. There are probably a lot of expenses you have that you do not really need. Now is the time to go through them and cancel. For example, perhaps you have a Netflix account that you never use or you are subscribed to a magazine you do not read anymore. Cancel them to bring down the total expenses you have every month to help during COVID-19.
Leave a Reply