Family Money Making & Saving Guide

Mums making and saving money for their family and for a new baby

Ever had troubles providing ideas for your child’s hobby? It is very likely that you might not be able to afford to buy supplies for all the whims of a child’s hobbies. If he demands to travel a lot or wants to own a horse for riding, then it can get really tough for you to take care of such demands.

Affordable Hobbies for Your Kids during Holidays

Let’s have a look at some of the hobbies that you can easily provide for your kids. These hobbies are affordable and fun at the same time, but most of all they are very helpful for your child’s development. You can easily arrange them and you won’t be needing to sit and supervise your kid while he’s at it.

Music

Music is the most common past time for many children. But mind you, this interest can get expensive if your child demands a grand piano or a fancy violin. But no one can deny the importance and benefits of playing musical instruments. So here’s the deal, you don’t need to get a $4,500 electric guitar for your child. Get one that is in your price range or one you can borrow from a music school.

You can also replace the guitar idea with a harmonica, melodica or even can drums. After this, the only issue remains is of a music teacher, and how to get one? There are many street musicians who can provide this service. Plus you can also check out your regular high school music prodigies who can teach your child music instruments.

If you still can’t find a teacher, don’t worry. Just get a fast Internet connection and log on to youtube.com and you can watch tutorials from music teachers across the globe.

Astronomy

It might sound really strange to put this hobby under the affordable hobbies, but you can manage. You do not need to build a Dexter’s Lab to watch the stars. Start with buying your child an interesting book about shooting stars, planets, galaxies, telescopes and binoculars. Who knows, this activity might turn out to be the best past time you kid ever had.

Making Clothes

This will be really helpful for you. You will be having twice the ease of mind with this type of hobby. Even grandma can help children in making clothes (you get free babysitting this way). Supplies can be found in most department stores and are usually very cheap and affordable. Once you have a decent sowing kit at the ready the fun can begin.

This hobby will be a great addition for kids who are into fashion. So just watch and wait to see what you child creates.

Veggie/Fruit Garden

It might require a bit of hard work from you in the beginning, but look at the bright side, you will be getting free home grown fruits and vegetables. This is a very interesting hobby for boys and girls. They will get to play with mud and a water hose and learn a lot about plants at the same time.

Start with easy to grow vegetables like tomatoes and eggplants. You will probably love the resulting produce landing on your dinner table.

Money Making Ideas for Mums

One of the toughest and tiresome jobs in the world is being a full time mum. If you are one, or you have gone through this phase you will definitely agree. It can get frustrating for you when you’re depending only on your husband’s income while you watch the kids. If you used to be an independent woman in the past sitting home can get on your nerves. Mums! Keep on reading because you can still earn money.

Relying only on your husband’s income doesn’t fulfill the female desires for many women as does getting a manicure, pedicure, massage, fancy hair-cuts, etc. Looking for a part time job is out of the question for many mums as looking after kids drains all the energy from them to do a conventional job. So how could you earn money while still staying at home?

Use eBay

Please do not be put off by this website. Yes it is famous and everybody knows about it but people do not use it to its full potential. There is a buyer for just about everything on eBay. You could easily earn some extra cash by selling your unwanted household goods; think baby clothes, trinkets that are no longer wanted, old records, CDs, souvenirs and so on.

Setting up an account is pretty simple. Make an account, take nice pics of the item you want to sell, put some good captions and descriptions of it under the photo and upload.

You can sell your old clothes, shoes, and all the Edison inventions rotting in your home basement. If you were a collector in the past, you can turn your collections into cash too. Your collection of photos, paintings, coins and even old electronics can be converted to cash through eBay.

Become an Avon Lady

You can start this job by catering for the needs of your neighbors. Try to communicate with your neighbors frequently. You can turn your casual afternoon cuppas into a business activity. Avon products are always in demand. What you really have to do is to provide your friends with info on their latest products. Ask them for their needs and what kinds of products they like.

Selling these products won’t be a tough job at all. Your friends and neighbors are likely wanting to buy some Avon products, you just manage this selling activity and earn money from it.

You can visit their website if you need precise info on how to register as a consultant.

Catering

Martha Stewart should be your inspiration. She started her multi-billion dollar business from her kitchen and since then there was no turning back. You can do this too, brick by brick. Try arranging birthday parties. You can offer your services to friends and neighbors. Start small and then expand to other areas of catering.

If this idea picks up, you can start taking care of baby and bridal showers at home later on. Look at it this way, you’ll be earning money by cooking meals and arranging parties, plus you can save some food for your family too. That will take care of next day’s lunch.

Home Salon

Start providing beauty services at home. Beauticians are always in hot demands and you could easily do a course at TAFE to learn this vocation. Services like a manicure, pedicure or facial massage can get you started. If you are a beginner and don’t have any experience you can start with waxing.

It is easy enough to learn to become a beautician. The products don’t cost much so you can buy yourself a little starter kitty, then take it from there. It’ll take a day or two to get you started. The best thing about waxing is, that the profit margin is better than with other beauty treatments. Once you establish yourself in this area and you get a solid customer lineup, you can train for other beauty treatments.

Planning For A Baby – Know The Financial Aspect

Babies Are Expensive

You might thing that your family will save you from a lot of the expenses when you first have a baby, and you’re partially right. You’ll get a lot out of the presents at your baby shower. But there are many more expenses involved in starting a family, and you’d do well to know what they are and start budgeting for them as soon as you can.

If you start early and get prepared, your family and your relationship will be much better off for it. Get your financials in order, know where you can save and how much you have to spend. This article should help you with identifying the ways you’ll be spending your money.

Health Insurance

You absolutely must have a health insurance policy covering the costs through the pregnancy, on through birth and stretching for at least a year following the birth of your child. Your policy should cover hospitalisation as well as your obstetrician. You may need to pay more short term, but we all know that pregnancies can get complicated and you may end needing more medical care than you foresee. You should make sure the C-sections are covered as well.

Waiting periods on health insurance policies can vary. The shorter the waiting period, the higher the premium, which might be fine if you don’t mind spending more so you can have a baby sooner.

What Do Babies Cost?

Babies can cost a lot of money, and the costs just keep adding up. You’ve got to deal with insurance and medical care, formula, diapers, clothes they seem to outgrow in a matter of days and countless other expenditures. The baby bonus wasn’t designed to make people have babies sooner, it was instituted to help cushion the cost of have a child.

The average of today is quoted at around $448,000 to raise two children from birth until 20. That comes out to about $300 a week, which is roughly 23% of the average gross household income in Australia. You’re starting to see how budgeting your money might be a great way to save for baby, yes?

Save BEFORE Baby

When you’re expecting, you’re going to spend a lot of money buying a crib, setting up your nursery, baby clothes and all the accessories that go along with having a baby. A great piece of advice is to not spend any money until after thebaby shower and you know what everyone else will give you.

Next, you should decide on a budget for your nursery and keep it. It will help you do this if you avoid specialty baby/nursery stores – more so when buying furniture. Try to find secondhand deals on sites like eBay or local secondhand stores. You can find great quality and affordable prices this way.

Don’t Forget The Future

One day, you baby is going to go off to college or a trade school. It’s also great to help teach them to save early, so don’t forget these expenses. As your baby grows older, you’ll find their wants and needs get more expensive as well. The sooner you can get started saving money and teaching them to do the same, the easier it will be for you and yours.

Related Posts

• Ways To Save Money On Baby Essentials
  Having a baby is quite expensive by itself. Add to that the costs of diapers, wipes and food and soon you’ll find your budget has all but expired. The costs of these items are quite high but there are a few things you can do to help lessen these costs. Here are a few helpful tips to help bring down the costs of taking care of baby.
• Planning For A Baby - Know The Financial Aspect
  It’s a good idea to know what to expect when you’re planning for a baby. By doing your research and considering where you need to be and where you are, you can make having a child a much easier thing to cope with, focusing more on enjoying it than keeping up with it.
• Best Tips on How to Have Kids and Still Save Money
  Most people will laugh and say that having kids and saving money is a complete contradiction in terms and they will say there are no money saving tips that will be able to help them. However, things are not quite as dire as that and it is quite possible to have children and save money with a few family saving tips.
• Planning To Have A Baby - Setting Up A Savings Account Is The Key
  There’s no greater gift for a family than having a baby - bringing a new life into the world. However, when a couple is considering having a child, they need to realise that it is a great responsibility from various viewpoints but especially financially. Therefore, before a couple decides to bring a new life into the world, it is their responsibility to ensure they are financially prepared, which means getting their debt under control and setting up at least one savings account.