The affects of having Autistic Children on your personal finances

By: Kerry Hooper0 comments

Juggling finances – The Parents handbook that never arrives…

Being a parent also means being a financial juggler which is another one of those things that we could have done with in the parenting hand book that simply never arrived.

Juggling finances with a large family and Autism.

Another Day, Another Pair of Shoes…

Your kids come home from School with a flap at the front of their trainers, school bag which has a ripped strap, hole in the knee etc. All you're seeing as a parent is a big money symbol on top of all the other bills you already have, wondering how your going to find the extra money for school uniform again.

Needing items before payday

For most of us parents the next thought is ‘right This can’t wait for pay-day, how do I juggle this’. The truth is we all worry about where the next round of extra unexpected cash outgoings is going to come from. The only thing you can do is be as savvy as possible & once again make the cash stretch even further than you already have to, another blessing of being a parent in 2018, where everything goes up except your income. Parenting is a landmine of planning & making wine out of water.

Just pop it on a Credit Card right?

Take a step back and think, is it worth running to your best friend the credit card with the high APR which is likely to mean your paying back those replacement school uniform pieces 3 times over. Yes it’s the quick easy option, but financially it's not always the best solution in the long-term. Adding all the small bits & bobs on top of an already bulging balance is easily done but often regretted when your faced with months of repayments.

The Shock of the Credit Card bill

Many times I've looked at my credit card balance & thought to myself “this isn’t right” then comes the second glance, £25 in Tesco, £40 in Clark’s, £50 in JD sports, you know the drill. You then decide to pay back the £5 minimum repayment, easy peasy. Well I’ve learnt my lesson on that one now after paying back forever.

Catalogues for School Uniform

Pick the catalogue you have with the lowest APR on or even better if you have a buy now pay later catalogue then use that. For example if the school uniform you need is £30 & your buy now pay later is for 6 months then put aside £5 a month in a savings account or piggy bank then pay it off on month 6. Make sure you do though or your catalogue will sting you for the full APR.  Any catalogue with a Buy Now Pay Later option is a blessing in disguise especially when you have kids who thinks the bank of Mum & Dad is always full.

Make sure you shop around, sit down for an hour when the kids are all asleep & bag yourself a bargain which won’t hit your catalogue balance too harshly.

Catalogues can be a mums best friend

Always, Always click on the sale section first. Never just jump straight in & buy the first thing you see. The sales sections are generally packed with great reduced items where your likely to save some of that hard-earned money which could go on another bill. I would love to say that you could spend the saved money on yourself but let's be honest, it never works out like that. Before you check out, do a cheeky little search for a discount code or a free delivery code for your order, sometimes you can be lucky & save a few extra pounds, if not then nothing lost nothing gained.

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