Look around your friends and colleagues and you’re unlikely to find a working mum with plenty of spare time and money. There may be little they can do to increase the actual amount of either, so what counts is making the most of the time and money that are available. With that in mind, a few tips…
Be birthday-minded
If you’re a working mum, you probably pride yourself on finding the ideal gift for Christmases, birthdays and other occasions – and on doing so without breaking the bank.
A great way to do that is simply to think ahead. By keeping your eyes open all year round, you could seriously increase your chances of finding presents that your offspring will really appreciate. And without the time pressure, you’re less likely to end up buying expensive gifts because your busy schedule only gives you 48 minutes to find something.
Debt and savings – get the balance right
Do you have savings? Debts? Both?
Obviously, the higher your savings and the lower your debts, the better off you’ll be financially. But different people need to go about achieving that in different ways.
If you’re carrying debts, it generally makes sense to pay them off before you try to save up. Debts usually come with much higher interest rates than savings, meaning they’ll grow faster, so if you have any ‘spare’ money on a monthly basis, consider putting it towards your debts. That minimum payment on a credit card is a minimum; you can overpay by as much as you like each month. And the faster you reduce your balance, the less you’ll pay in interest.
That’s all very well if you have spare money in the first place. But what if you haven’t? If you can’t even afford your minimum payments, it’s important to let your lenders know that, so they can help you find a realistic way of repaying the money you owe.
Article by Think Money.