Fun ways your family can save money this spring!

Learn how to save money with help from Loans 2 Go…

Spring has sprung! And with the gradual easing of Covid restrictions it’s beginning to feel as if we can get things moving again in every area of our lives.

Now feels like a really good time to make a fresh start wherever we need to. One of the areas where we might want to do this is with our finances.

Wouldn’t it be great if you and your family could work together to save money this spring? If you can make a team effort to spend less, and also find creative ways to make some extra money, you could have a nice little money pot to enjoy this summer.

Just the thought of anything to do with money can be depressing and make us feel a bit panicky. But why not try to change that and set your family a challenge to turn your finances around this spring?

Here are five fun ways to save money as a family this spring.

Weekly money raising challenge

Set a weekly target that each person in the family has to raise. This may be different for different family members. But it should be over and above anything that they normally bring into the family. Each person then has to find a creative (and legal!) way of doing this.

Some examples include:

Selling unwanted items, for example online or at a stall outside your home.
Making items to sell locally.
Doing odd jobs.
Searching every inch of the home for money lying around. Finders keepers! Don’t overlook foreign currency if this can be converted back into sterling.

The ultimate car boot sale

This really can be a family team effort. Now that car boot sales have opened up again, you want to be the stall that makes the most money!

To do this you will need to:

Stock the stall with as many goods as possible, which means LOTS of decluttering beforehand.
Make your stall look attractive and interesting to passing customers.
Price your items low enough to sell but high enough to be worth it.
Sharpen your sales skills to persuade people to buy. Children can be particularly good at this!

Set a target figure that you want to make by the end of the car boot sale to keep you motivated throughout.

Finding alternative places to buy

If you are thinking of buying something, for example new clothing, firstly stop and think whether you really do need it. If so, try to find an alternative source for the item rather than automatically buying it new.

There are many online sites – including eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Depop and Vinted – where you can buy good quality barely worn clothing at a fraction of the price. Also look locally in charity shops, local ads and social media groups.

By doing this you could save money, and put the amount you have saved into the family summer fund.

Ready Steady Cook

Food shopping is a major area of expense for most families, so anything you can do to reduce the money you spend on food will make more money available for other things. That doesn’t mean that you have to scrimp on food. Not at all. Our article Shop Smarter to Save Money contains lots of tips about how you can still eat well but without spending as much.

One fun thing to consider doing is having a weekly family Ready Steady Cook evening. Split the family into teams doing different weeks. Their task is to make a meal out of whatever is already in the fridge, freezer or store cupboard. An alternative to this is to give each team the same small amount of money and see who can come up with the best meal. For inspiration, take a look at Kooking with a Koori – the efforts of an Australian father of six who reckons he can feed his family for A$8 (around £4.50).

Entertain yourselves

If you add up the amount you spend on entertainment each month, you would probably be shocked. Not that there’s anything wrong with entertainment! We love it. It’s just that it’s very easy to end up spending a lot more than you realise. If the whole family agreed to cut back on some entertainment and treats to save money, this could reap dividends.

Some simple ways to do this include:

Don’t pay for on demand films every time. Find a free film channel, or watch a DVD instead.
Swap books, music and DVDs with others, or try using your local library.
Be careful not to exceed your phone and data allowance. If you are regularly doing this, you may either need to change your tariff or your phone addiction!
Halve the number of times you get a takeaway. Perhaps alternate them with your Ready Steady Cook nights? If you have them regularly it can begin to be very expensive.

The above five ideas are only a few suggestions as to how you can start to save money as a family. But hopefully you will find other ways to cut back your spending and also bring in a bit of extra money too. Which all means that you could have a healthy fund to help you enjoy the summer.

Check back here soon for more lifestyle and financial tips from Loans 2 Go.