The average cost of a new baby is £5,464 in the first year of their child’s life – increasing by four per cent to £5,666 for those living in London.
It’s obviously excludes the cost of living, and any childcare required to raise the child, so it’s easy to see how money can be tight for new mums in maternity leave.
Now that the schools are open again,and the pressure of having keep children suitably entertained (with expensive activities and gadgets) has wained, it’s probably a good time start teaching the value of money.
We think this video from Money Supermarket is fantastic, and shows you how you can encourage children to be more appreciative and responsible with money:
When you spend your time juggling between looking after the kids and working for a living, it can almost feel like too much effort to organise a holiday on top of everything else – no matter how much you love getting away from it all.
But if you don’t go away, you won’t reap the benefits of a real break from the normal routine; a chance to leave work behind for a week or two and enjoy some real quality time with the kids and your partner.
Setting up a home office is relatively simple – you decide which part of your home you want to work in, set your working hours and get started.
But what if you have some company…a new baby to join you? Here are some tips to make it work:
There is no doubt that the internet has made parenting a lot tougher. Many children often become engrossed with the latest developments in technology, and it is not easy to keep them away from things like mobile phones, tablets and electronic gadgets.
However, there are ways in which you will be able to ensure that your children are protected from the ill effects of unwanted internet information. Here are some tips:
If your family couldn’t afford a holiday this summer holiday don’t feel bad.
Holidays are all about memories and experiencing something new – you can do that from home. Here’s how:
Left it late to plan a family holiday,and running out of ideas? Here are some great ideas for every budget and no matter the age of your children:
The average family will spend £2,102.16 per child keeping their children entertained during the summer holidays*, according to the results of a recent poll carried out as part of the Mums’ SOS (Summer of Stress) campaign for the drink brand Royal Crown Cola.
Who knew children can create so much mess. From using multiple cups, to endless piles of washing, the school summer holidays can create a battlefield at home.
August is here, but there still is a good four weeks to go until schools open again. How do you make sure the mess doesn’t drive everyone to distraction? Here are some tips:
Now that all schools have (finally) broken up for the summer, it’s a time for working parents to have more quality time with the kids. It it’s not without a cringe or two – for the children, anyway.
Research by Zeamu Music on 700 children aged between 4 and 10, a new record label for children, found that parents taking to the dance floor after one Pimms too many topped the list of embarrassing parent behaviour.
Finding out that you are expecting your first child can be a mix of feelings – joy, excitement, fear and confusion.
You may have already started thinking about how you’ll cope with an extra mouth to feed and how you’ll do that. Will you leave your job and become a full-time mum, will you cut back your hours so you can spend more time with your baby, or will you work full-time because you need the money?
Are you looking for childcare for your child during the school summer holidays? Perhaps you’re starting a new job and your child starts school in September.
Whatever the reason for needing childcare, you’ll want to find the best you can afford, and with a reputable provider you can trust. Today’s video will give you some tips and advice on finding childcare.
School summer holidays have already begun for some children, and the rest will follow suit in the next week or so. Typically a time when parents try to juggle the many activities for children, along with a budget that never seems to cover everything, summer holidays can also be a good time to teach children how to be grateful for what they get.
So the trip to Disney World didn’t happen this year (and may not happen next year!), but a few days away at a seaside resort did…and it’s still a holiday that cost money! How do you teach children to appreciate the time, money and organisation that goes into their care? Here are a few tips:
Being a mum. It’s a full time, unpaid job. Replete with (sometimes) moody customers, a myriad of paperwork and an ever growing list of ‘to-do’ items, it’s a wonder any mother can find the time or inclination to go out and work alongside their domestic duties.
But work they frequently do and, as the Office for National Statistics cheerily informs us, the number of mothers working full time in the UK has risen from a quarter to a third in the past 15 years.
Tight budget or not, buying school uniforms is a must for every parent with school-aged children. And the older they get the more expensive and mandatory school uniform becomes.
So how can parents shop on a budget when purchasing school uniform during times of austerity? Here are four tips to help you buy school uniform on a tight budget:
While the UK ranks well for paid maternity leave when compared to other countries, there is a distinction between paid and week paid, and when it is compared to countries providing well-paid maternity leave it slips down the scale.
Many large families have trouble fitting everyone in the car. While a people carrier may be a good choice for some, if you have a particularly active family and children who play sports, and need enough boot space for pushchairs and the weekly shop then a van is becoming a popular choice for many.
Living a green and sustainable life has long been publicised in the media but, surprisingly, there still remains some uncertainty about the actual meaning of sustainability with many people reluctant to actively change their way of life to accommodate this.
Victoria Beckham has recently been quoted saying she often feels guilty about being a working mum and has to juggle like everyone else – millionaire or not!
Speaking at the Vogue Festival in London she said: “It’s difficult juggling working, having the children, having a husband who travels. I do have a bit of help, I have a nanny, I can’t do it all myself.
“I really enjoy being a mum, I love them [her children] and I’d do anything for them. But I also love what I do. I think anyone who says it’s easy is lying.”
Her sentiments are shared by working mums across the globe. We have to work for one reason or another, but the guilt of leaving our children with someone else, or missing school events because of work, or always being too tired and time pressed to chat and spend as much time with the kids is all too real.
So does the guilt ever go? The answer is no, but here are some important things to know:
