Money saving tips

Many of us struggle with finances when we have young children. The added cost they bring along with often losing one salary (or going down to part time work) can put a strain on the family budget. So here are a few ideas I've picked up along the way. Thanks to all of the friends who have suggested these tips over the years - I'm not trying to claim them as my own!

1) Can you change your supermarket shop? I thought that I was budget-aware with my weekly shop, but a friend recently recommended shopping at Aldi. I gave it a try and it definitely saved money, but it took a huge amount of time as I was previously getting Tesco to deliver. I tried going to Tesco and looking on the shelves for the budget (Tesco Value) alternatives and discovered I could save between £5 and £20 a week by changing items. So, I'm back to shopping online and having it delivered, but with a few more value brands.

2) Use cloth nappies. We invested around £180 in a full set of Wonderoos cloth nappies when our first child was born, and we are still using them with child number 3. With the 2 older children we switched to disposable nappies when they turned 2 years old as the cloth nappies just weren't absorbent enough, and we also use disposables overnight so that we don't need to change them. But, it has saved us a fortune in buying nappies every week, and is also great for the environment. Many county councils also offer incentive schemes such as money back if you buy cloth nappies.

3) Eat home cooked food. Ok it's an obvious one, but eating fresh food really does make sense. We're trying to get better at taking sandwiches with us on our many outings as the café trips are really adding up. The children and I eat vegetarian food which hopefully saves us a bit as well.

4) Set a realistic spending budget and stick to it. I now have a weekly figure that we can afford to spend, and I'll adjust it based on what's happening. So if a school holiday is coming up I know we'll need to put aside more. Using cash instead of your debit card also really helps to keep track of spending.

5) Look at your last 2-3 months bank statements and see what you are actually spending money on. This is a tough one to motivate yourself to do, but I was surprised at the results. It is easier to face up to your spending patterns if you have the facts in front of you. This definitely helped us create a realistic budget.

6) Shop around for a deal. I'm sure you do this already, but many quality items can be picked up via sites like eBay - new as well as second-hand. We do get our children's feet measured at Clarks and buy their shoes but for second and third pairs of shoes we then look online. Our last trip to Clarks cost £58 for sandals and we realised the shoes our children had been wearing were too small. I couldn't afford to buy them proper shoes as well as sandals so managed to get them second-hand Clarks shoes on eBay.

Having said all of this, we are ALWAYS broke! So, please let me know your money-saving tips!