Parents! Increase Your Budget

Nurturing children to maturity through care and education is, historically, expensive. If you’re the parent of an infant, you know that diapers (the good kind) and wipes (the smell good kind) require a significant amount of couch change for the good of baby’s skin. If you’re the parent of a teenager, the demand on your wallet is for clothing, cell phones, tablets, and game consoles. You might joke around when you speak with your friends about the high cost of so many things, these days, but harbor secret fears about how you’re going to keep your children comfortable and give them the things that they hope for. Well, there is no need to worry. There are a number of things that you can do to alleviate the cost of raising your children while not compromising their happiness.


Downsize
Here’s a nifty but practical cliché, decrease now to increase later. If you mortgage a large beautiful home in an exclusive gated community, many people would say that that’s great! But, if you’re in debt, are secretly struggling every month to make ends meet, and are slowly chopping away at your children’s college funds or can’t save for college… well, that’s not so wonderful. It’s no fun to be house poor. So, you might want to consider if it’s to your advantage to move your family into a smaller home in the same school district (at least, for now) where the mortgage is less straining and, too, the HOA fees are little or non-existent. Taking steps to downsize now could give you the wiggle room you need to restructure your financial future and pave the way for lasting financial security for your children.
Eliminate Unnecessary Household Expenses

If you think about it, you may not really need that subscription that you have for movie services, newspaper delivery, or hard copy magazines. With your local library renting movies to library patrons for free, and most newspapers and magazines publishing electronic versions for free, you could save bucks that you can put towards learning videos and toys, new school shoes, or, even, braces. Every little bit counts. Sit down with your family and make a list of what you must have and what you absolutely can do without. You might be surprised at how much you can potentially save.

Consider Selling Your Land

Selling your land or extra home in lieu of the expense of upkeep, security, and property taxes might be a good choice for you if the cost of ownership is limiting the quality of your everyday life. If what it costs you in liens, property taxes, and maintenance to own secondary land is taking a noticeable chunk out of your budget, you can contact a private land investor for further information on selling your raw land—whether it is a lot, farmland, hunting ground, ranch, lakefront or oceanfront parcel). You can sell your land for a speedy cash profit, experiencing the benefit of increase while eliminating property expenses.