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Smart Saving Tips

We all need to be smart with our money, and when times are tricky this may be especially important.

Handling hard times
There is no doubt that hard times are upon us and many of us are tightening our belts. At this time it is good to involve children in discussions about budgeting and how your family may need to adjust.  It is also a great time to talk to young people about saving. Here are some tips to start introducing good savings habits for children.

• Encourage children to save for something they need or want, eg a trip to the movies, a toy or book or a special outing- make sure it is realistic
• Encourage children to save any change they receive. They can save by collecting any change from the school tuckshop or when they buy things, bring home the change for their money box.
• If you give out pocket money, talk to children about how much they receive, how it is to be earned, encourage them to save some of it.
• Encourage children to take their lunch to school every day and save any money they may have spent from the tuckshop

Some tips for managing your money

• Planning ahead is one of the best ways to make savings. Plan your family’s meals for the week to avoid last minute rushes to costly corner stores.
• Gifts are an area where people often over-spend. Buy discounted presents during the year, and store them until needed. 
• Everyday items, like milk, are often located at the back of the store. You need to pass through aisles of other items (hopefully adding these to your shopping basket) before you reach them. To avoid impulse buying, head straight to what you want and move on to the check out. 
• ‘Generic’ or house brands are usually cheaper than named brands. For regular household items, like sugar and flour, there is often little difference in quality, and the savings can be substantial. 
• Think about using lay-by – it will keep your debt levels manageable

There are some useful websites around if you would like to learn more about managing your money.

http://www.fido.gov.au/fido/fido.nsf  - Here you will find tips about saving, managing money, scams and other items around finance including access to the following items.

Click here for a free copy of 'Your Money' booklet.

Your money radio series online.