Family, Finance and the Home

Having a family has changed my view on money

I can still remember the moment I found out I was pregnant with my eldest, up until that point I only had to think about myself, what I earned I would either save to go travelling or spend on things like clothes and eating out but as soon as I saw those two blue lines a switch went on inside of me and I knew straight away I would have to save every penny and that the way I viewed money needed to change.

I think I have always been fairly sensible and have never got in over my head when it comes to money although I did have some student debt and minor spending on credit cards but nothing too unmanageable. If debt had become too much, I would have sought help from professionals (click here), to reclaim control of my finances. At the time of my first pregnancy, neither John nor I were earning very much so I wanted to make a point of really getting on top of things, clearing debt, and saving for essentials. I became very frugal and learned how to upcycle, would pick up charity shop bargains, cooked meals from scratch, and kept my eye out for any specials that would help keep our monthly outgoings down

I have always tried to have some kind of savings behind me, even just a small amount for those "in-case" days and believe me we have had a few of those over the past few years such as the washing machine breaking or the bath leaking and needing to be replaced and even last week the car suspension went and I think if your prepared for the inevitable setbacks life throws up every now and then you will feel far more secure and be able to deal with them better.

Have you felt that you have changed the way you view money since leaving home or starting a family or do finances still overwhelm you? Aviva has put together a fun and easy quiz to work out your financial personality and lists your superpowers and your nemesis and I found mine to be pretty accurate. I came up as the "The Super Stretcher" where my frugal powers mean I can make the pounds stretch but I have a weak spot is being too generous or over-spending when it comes to those special occasions such as Birthdays or Christmas and I do find that even though I have never been over materialist I sometimes spend too much on on or two higher-end products as I can sometimes feel guilty for being so frugal the rest of the year.

We have been saying for a fair few months that we plan to move soon, but we really are getting close to putting the house on the market and this Personality Quiz has really helped put the pro's and con's of our personal savings and spending into clear perspective and has offered us advice on how to move forward. There are some really fun questions that put together what kind of person you are, where and what you like to spend your money on and how you approach saving, in a non-intrusive way that offers really useful advice.

I do find that being self-employed and working freelance has certainly to a degree made me more nervous about my finances but I think this is only normal and I think that perhaps relaxing a bit more and being more moderate at times. I feel that I could be making my money work harder for me and plan to spend some time researching ways to save, invest and be more knowledgeable about things like stocks and shares ISA's which Aviva offer, all in all however I am pretty happy with how I view money and the changes I made after starting a family.

When it comes to finances having a clear picture of your outgoings and what you can actually afford is really important as well as good communication with your bank, partner, family etc. If you really are struggling or have accrued a lot of debt and need professional advice on things like bankruptcy, or consolidating debt then please get in touch with a reputable company or citizens advice.

Life with at some point throw you a curve ball so having a little saving can really help, although sometimes that is harder said than done. There is plenty money saving advice online and is well worth a read.