family savings

5 Saving Tactics & Apps to Help Your Family Budget This Winter

February 5, 2018 by Kathryn 1 Comment

Winter is that time of the year when expenses get a little higher and budgets get a little tighter. Many families need to be a little more careful with savings, so take a look at these fun tips and tricks to save more, easily.

As winter reaches its peak, the energy bills also spike up, forcing you to look for both power and money saving tactics. Here are a few useful and effective savings tactics and apps that will take care of the soaring prices and help you keep a tight lid on your finances. There’s no need for that budget to go haywire as the snow starts piling up!

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Saving Made Simple: 5 Easy Tips for Creating Family Savings

June 19, 2015 by Kathryn 3 Comments

As a family there are certain expenses you have to pay, such as rent or a mortgage, household bills and car insurance, while other costs like clothing, food and entertainment may vary. While there are some high expenses that you cannot avoid, there are other costs that, if left unchecked, could cost you more than they have to such as car insurance (get a quote here). For other quality products at reasonable prices, consider these five easy tips for creating family savings.

1. Plan Meals

One of the biggest ways that families spend frivolously is eating out. On average, a planned meal at home costs between two and five dollars per serving. Even at a fast-food restaurant you look to pay five to eight dollars per person. A planned meal is not only cheaper, but it is usually healthier as well. Eating at home can help your savings and your health, which both pay off in the long run. [Read more…]

Saving for a Rainy Day for the Family

June 10, 2013 by Kathryn 1 Comment

There are all kinds of expenses that can pop up for a family, from unexpected car repairs to a planned family vacation. That’s why family savings are so important. Having a savings account for the family doesn’t have to just be money that’s saved for emergencies either. It can be saved for special treats and big family purchases too! But how do you get started? Here are three tips for making saving as a family easy.

gold party canada money

1) Make it Automatic

One of the easiest ways to get started with a family savings account is to arrange automatic deposits with every paycheque. Even a few dollars from each cheque can add up quickly in the course of a year and having that money continuing to grow each month will help motivate the family to add extra savings all year long. [Read more…]

Anna’s Budget Tips-Ways to Make Saving Fun for the Whole Family

June 5, 2013 by Kathryn 5 Comments

Rainy day funds, retirement accounts, college savings…they are all part of responsible financial planning, but allocating money towards them doesn’t always feel that exciting. Teaching children to save will serve them well throughout their lifetimes and sticking to a budget is much easier when all members of the family are on board. But how can you make the idea of saving interesting, or even fun?

family saving tips

The Family Fun Jar

Designate a large jar or other container as the holding zone for money that is being saved for something special for the family to purchase or experience together. Decide as a family what this highly targeted fund will go towards…it could be a vacation, video game system or new bikes. When I was little our family spent the accumulated savings in our jar on an above ground pool.

Here’s how it works: money goes into the jar when you pass on spending money in favour of saving. Thinking of ordering pizza? Stick the cash in the jar and have cereal or PB ‘n Js instead. Kids begging for the latest toy, movie or treat? Offer them the choice to put the money the treat would cost in the jar instead. Extra change found in pockets, couch cushions and the floor of the car can go in the jar too. The idea is that the money that goes into the jar comes out of the amounts already budgeted to other discretionary spending; try not to spend as normal and then stick an additional amount into the jar.

Prefer not to have all that cash around? Like so much of banking and finances these days, you can also keep this Family Fun Savings electronic. Keep a record on paper or in a spreadsheet of the amounts saved, and then once a month transfer the total into a special savings account set up for this purpose. [Read more…]