Top tips for managing money as a busy mum

Life as a mum is a juggle. Whether you’re a single parent, or in a two-parent household, the chances are that as the mum you carry the majority of the mental load, and that means constantly thinking about things like what you’re going to have for dinner, laundry that needs doing, and dental appointments that need to be made, as well as the bigger picture stuff like finances, holidays and celebrations.

With such a lot of balls in the air, it’s no wonder that some of them sometimes get dropped. It’s okay if you have basic dinners, or forget the odd birthday or haircut – those things aren’t going to have a big impact on your day-to-day life.

What does matter though is money. Keeping on top of your short and long-term finances is vital if you want to keep family life running as smoothly as possible.

This post will take a quick look at a couple of simple things to keep in mind when it comes to managing money as a busy mum.

Bookmark this post for future reference on Pinterest.

Budget, budget, budget

Everybody says it, but that’s because it’s so valuable! Knowing how much money you have coming in, and going out, is absolutely vital if you’re going to have any real handle on your finances.

Budgeting doesn’t have to be complicated though – it could be a simple spreadsheet, or it could even be a pen and paper, the key thing is that you understand your income and expenditure, and are aware of how you’re spending your money.

The very act of writing things down can be a great way to cut back on spending, as it makes you much more mindful of where you’re frittering money away when you don’t really need to.

Keep a detailed spending diary for a couple of weeks, and you’ll be surprised at how quickly all of those coffees and other small purchases add up.

Learn how to prioritise debts

If you find yourself in a position where you’re struggling to make your money stretch to cover everything every month, then it’s important to have a sense of which bills should take precedent over others.

As a rule of thumb, your basic bills like your mortgage or rent, and council tax, and utility bills should be your first priority. These are your essentials and should always be at the top of your list if you want to stop repossession creeping up on you, (which you definitely do!).

Credit cards and loans should come secondary, but don’t think that that means ignoring them – the most important thing to do if you’re struggling is to contact your creditors and arrange a temporary solution like a reduced monthly payment.

This is a much better option than burying your head in the sand, and hoping the problem will go away.

Managing money as a busy mum – a recap

As mums we juggle a lot, but one thing that we need to ensure we don’t drop the ball on is our finances.

Here are some simple things that you can start doing to help you manage your money as a busy mum:

• Keep a budget showing how much money comes in and goes out, so you can understand where you spend your money, and so you can make changes if needed.
• Prioritise bills for mortgage or rent, council tax, and utility bills to avoid repossession, then pay your credit cards and loans, ensuring you contact creditors to ask about reduced monthly payments if you need to.

A lot of people are nervous about anything to do with money, but the reality is that it’s actually very straightforward, it’s just a question of tracking your ins and outs, and hopefully making sure the former is bigger than the latter!

How do you manage your household’s finances?

Like this post? Share it with others on Pinterest – Thank you!