Showing all posts tagged finances

In General, Interior Design

Deciding On A New Home

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on
Deciding On A New Home

Home hunting for a new home is a deeply rational process (until it isn’t). Figuring out if you can afford the home or not is usually one of the first questions you’ll ask yourself. Considering school catchment areas, transport links, crime rates, local shops and services are all statistics and conveniences that you’ll have to consider.

There’s also a hidden layer of decision-making that happens when viewing a potential new home. It’s that gut feeling that tells you ‘yes, I could live here.’ If you don’t have that feeling in your gut, you might as well reject a property, despite having no real ‘valid’ reason to do so. I’ve ignored this gut feeling in the past and lived to regret it.

With all that in mind, consider these questions you might ask yourself before deciding on any new home:

Are There Any Hidden Issues I Need To Know About?

It’s not uncommon for homeowners to select and purchase a home only to realise there is a myriad of issues that could potentially cause a real problem. This is where you might realize that your budget is going to have to be stressed before you can comfortably live in the property. This is why it’s so important to hire a home inspector to ensure everything is in tip-top shape before you move in. It can also be worthwhile to find properties that are pretty much certain to not have hidden issues due to how well they have been constructed, or because of how recent they are. For example, these new homes for sale could potentially help you find something perfect for your needs without the extra headache on top. Whether you are buying or renting, do your research and due diligence in advance!

How Secure Is The New Home?

Your new home needs to be secure. Not all homes have the exact same security needs of course. Some might have strong gates preventing easy access from the street, some might not. Some might have alleyways or avenues between houses that allow a potential trespasser more hidden room to clamber over a fence at night. Considering first how secure the property might be, and how you could potentially improve those security solutions is essential if you hope to protect your home and family as much as they might deserve. I’m not a fan of dark alleyways and so on, therefore, would never choose a property with these as I know I’d end up regretting it down the road.

What’s Going On In The Area?

It could be that late gentrification, the planned build of hundreds of homes nearby, or the construction of a new main road near your potential home all deter you from a certain environment. You might not realise how loud you can hear the traffic until you’ve taken a few viewings. Simply being aware of the local area and how it might influence your property can be the first most important implement to get right here. We nearly took a house on a few years ago but a quick check online showed us that the adjoining property has planning permission pending to convert the property and the outside to make it a B&B. This put us off and we went elsewhere.

With these tips, you’ll be sure to make the wisest home-buying or renting decision.

 
 
In Finance, Frugal Living, Parenting

4 Tips for Freeing Up Your Finances

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on
4 Tips for Freeing Up Your Finances

If you’ve been reading the blog you’ll know that in January I started a family Frugal Living challenge, aimed at cutting back waste, sorting our finances and putting more into our savings and pensions. It can be tricky to balance budgeting with raising a family. Financial security is important for everyone — especially those of us with children.

Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to manage costs as a parent. Here are four ideas that could help.

Plan Spending in Advance

To stay on top of your finances, why not plan all outgoings in advance? By doing this on a regular basis, you can avoid splashing out on products that you don’t need.

In turn, you could make massive savings. Store a simple cash flow document on your phone to make sure that you can view it anywhere. This way, you can instantly squash that desire to spend impulsively by seeing how it will affect you later in the month.

Instant mobile access is also useful if it feels like you rarely get five minutes to sit down at your laptop or tablet. Let’s face it, that description applies to most of us as parents. But you needn’t let your busy family life get in the way of managing your finances.

Work from Home

If you’re a stay-at-home parent and miss the thrill of work, don’t worry. You can easily transform a passion into a successful home-run business. In fact, self-employment has almost doubled over the past 18 years. As a result, there’s more support than ever available to people who want to make cash by doing what they love.

Do you want to free up your finances, get your teeth stuck into a long-term project, and be there to support the kids? If so, this could be the perfect money-making solution for you?  I’ve been a freelancer for nearly 13 years, 9 years full time which is something that I chose to do so that I could still earn and be flexible around my family’s needs.

Prepare for Rainy Days

Nobody knows what the future holds. Sometimes, darker periods can occur. And when they do, it’s useful to have a financial back-up in place. Should an event or issue affect your income, with savings you’re fully prepared to deal with it. With this contingency money, you and your family can remain financially secure whatever the circumstance.

In addition, putting aside small amounts for your retirement could help you to stay financially afloat well into the future. This is what we’re working hard on at the moment.

So long as you contribute regularly to your fund, there’s never been a better time to start saving than now.

Enjoy Free Activities and Days Out

I mentioned this briefly in my Frugal Living February Update blog post. Saving money doesn’t have to be boring and we don’t always need money to have a good time. Free days out can be fun for everyone.

What’s more, you won’t be paying to enter a popular destination – you’ll be doing whatever you’ve arranged solely as a family – so this is also likely to bring you all closer together.

Parenthood can be challenging enough without the stress of financial organisation. But when you know how, you can easily arrange your finances and attend to your family at the same time. Once you’ve dealt with the money side of things, you’ll be able to enjoy life to the full. And this will benefit everyone in the family.

 

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