Our instinct as parents is to provide and protect. This has become even more apparent as we navigate our way through the current COVID crisis. But our kids, especially our teens, are more resilient than we sometimes give them credit for.

Opening up and talking about the family finances (within reason) gives them an opportunity to ask questions, gain understanding and ultimately be better prepared for their future.

For most, they will face tough financial decisions and being equipped with the skills to navigate their way through those decisions is perhaps one of the best gifts you can give them.

Children pick up on and mimic the behaviour of their parents and their peers. From a young age they are forming their financial understanding, through the games you play together and from listening to and watching your attitude and behaviour to spending and saving.

Everyday events from shopping to paying bills, saving for bigger ticket items and bringing them along when you lodge money to your account are learning opportunities and can help start the discussion around money and goal setting.

As they get older, enlist their help to research things like insurance, household bills, holidays, etc. Could they help save the family money or find a better way to get away for a family break? Can you reward them by sharing a portion of the savings in return for their help? By doing this you are equipping them to want to research in the future when it is their money and they are looking for ways to save and spend wisely.

Most teens have a basic understanding of where money comes from. Talk to them about ways they can earn money. You may choose to pay your teen for chores or they may help neighbours with babysitting, car washing, grass cutting, etc. As they grow, encouraging them to apply for a summer job, where they may have to pay tax and learn to use a tax estimator, are all great ways to show them the time and effort required to get money.

It is also good to have the conversation around future plans. Jobs they think they may like and what they may need to do to get there. So chatting about interest areas, looking at college courses and drilling into what they offer, and even looking at recruitment websites to get an idea of what salary they can expect are all ways to help them plan their financial future better.

Once your teen reaches 18, the offers for credit cards, store cards and other tempting offers will come flooding in. Talk to them about their credit score and how easy it is to get into debt. Explain how a credit card works and what happens if you don’t clear the debt each month.

Investing in stocks and shares can be an exciting way to teach your teen about risk and reward.

“The stock market is just one big shop. Instead of buying a chocolate bar in that shop, you can buy a piece of the company that makes chocolate bars. If the company that makes the chocolate makes a profit, it’s worth more, and the price you bought it for may go up. Maybe that company will decide to give the profits directly to the people who own the shares and that’s called a dividend. If the company makes a loss, which can happen, the share price can go down, that’s called a risk,” explains Susan Hayes Culleton, CFA, “The Positive Economist” and author of Money Matters.

There are also other investment opportunities open to them, including crypto currency, starting their own business, and investing in other financial products or services.

Talking through the options with your teen and doing the research helps them make an informed choice, but they do need to understand the risks to their investment and only risk what they can afford to lose.

Money Matters is a financial literacy textbook with the support of CFA Ireland. It is written as menu of personal finance, investing and entrepreneurship life skills.

The book is tailored for young people in the following ways:

• It is story-focused whereby students can learn about pensions through characters like Sarah who starts her first job and is wondering what “tax relief” means for her.
• It is full of relevant modernity including ESG, fintech, online brokers, differentiating between trading and investing as well as using technology for active learning.
• It gives a real taste of the diversity of careers available today and tomorrow in finance. Each chapter contains a case study of a CFA Institute charterholder and highlights how the the theory learned in subjects like accounting, business, maths and economics connect with the practicality of everyday life and life-changing decisions.

Find out more and buy your copy here  so you can start talking to your teen about money and finances.

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Here are 4 very good reasons:

1. A family budget allows you to control your household spending so that you have enough money to pay your bills and manage your disposable income.
2. Spreading the cost of your outgoings throughout the year means you can not only plan for the inevitable bills. But also fun stuff, like holidays and of course the future!
3. It will stop you being stressed about money. Believe me on this. Feeling on top of your money situation really helps to relieve a lot of the stress even if you know it’s going to take you a while to work on saving.
4. Budgeting for family expenditure really does help you not to overspend and, more importantly, it lets you see exactly what you are spending your money on. By knowing where you spend money, and then being careful, you can even start saving money too.

I use an Excel spreadsheet for our family budget and each month I check in on our expenditure and make sure we’re keeping on track. You don’t have to use a spreadsheet, you can go old school with a pen, paper and calculator if you like, but tracking expenditure is very useful and easier on a sheet.

1. First work out how much money is coming in to the house each month, only include regular payments, that way anything extra is a bonus! Sift through your pay slips for the last few months and put the income into one column. This will help you to work out what your average household income is.
2. Now work out your monthly outgoings. Include things like rent/mortgage, electricity, home heating, phone packages, car repayments, loan payments, child care, health insurance, weekly grocery etc. Every home has different outgoings, so you’ll know best what to put in this column! Don’t forget to include yearly bills like TV license, car tax & insurance etc. Just divide them by 12 to get the monthly cost. Put these outgoings into another column.
3. Now that all the necessary stuff is taken care of, try to work out your fun costs e.g. takeaways, going out, extra-curricular activities etc. You know, those things that we like but could probably cut back on if absolutely necessary ;)
4. Now add up the income column if you have more than one income line to get total income.
5. Now add the outgoings column items together to get your total outgoings. Great!
6. Then add the real fun stuff items together!
7. When that’s done, add the outgoing and fun stuff column together and subtract the total from the income column. If you’re still in positive numbers, you’re doing well. However, if you’ve just discovered that the total is -€256.87 (like I did the first time I sat down to do this!), then it’s time to start cutting back on the fun stuff for a while.

Only you can decide where you need to cut back. If you do find you need to cut back, then look at areas where you can cut down on expenses.

It doesn’t all have to come from the fun stuff column, maybe switching your phone, tv or energy provider could make you some savings. It’s worth shopping around.

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Once you’re finished crunching the numbers, work out your new monthly budget and try to stick to it (that’s the important bit, sticking to it!). If at all possible, try to set a little extra aside in savings each month for those inconveniences that always seem to crop up just as you think you’ve got it sussed!

It might be a good idea to get the kids involved too, I know some parents don’t like to let their kids know if they’re in any kind of financial spot, but I find telling mine a little bit of what’s happening doesn’t do any harm. Letting them know that if we go to the cinema to watch that “must see” flick this weekend, it’ll be coming out of the music lessons fund. This helps them to prioritise too and to understand the importance of knowing where money comes from and how it gets spent.

Now that you know how much you have and haven’t got, it’s a good idea to keep on top of it, review your budget plan every few weeks, if it isn’t working for you, make some changes to make it work for you!

If you’re finding it hard to manage or every time you think you’re making ends meet somebody moves the ends, then maybe it’s time for some independent advice.

There are services such as Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) or Citizens Advice that give free, impartial advice on money management, so if you are struggling, do contact them, it won’t do any harm and chances are it may help.

The best way to get kids interested is to show them the graph of a share price for a company they use a lot.

For example, most teenagers today are on Instagram. They may not know that Meta owns that company (even if they’re Meta or FaceBook users themselves). It can be interesting for them to see how the share price has changed over the timeframe that they have been using it.

Often, when Susan gives this scenario to a group of teenagers, they wonder how Instagram makes money since its a free app! That leads to a whole other conversation around the business models behind social media. You can lead them further then by comparing how much it has changed relative to others, i.e. Twitter or Snapchat.

Rather than try to pick the “right stock” or focus on short periods of volatility, at the beginning it’s a good idea to consider how the stock market has performed over time.

The Blackrock Asset Return Map is an interactive visual that points out exactly how all the things you can invest in (stocks, bonds, commodities, cash, etc) have performed over the past decade.

You can compare US stocks to European stocks when you click ‘Relative to Zero’ on the display button. This is a good way for them to test out ideas and compare what would have happened to money invested in different parts of the world.

There is no greater education in the stock market than when you buy your first stock. Susan says she remembers it vividly, it feels like you have some “skin in the game”. The next best thing is to have a watchlist and to monitor it prior to investing.

Sit down together and create a watchlist on Google Sheets with the stocks that they’re familiar with, as mentioned in the point above. Agree on a time that you will check in regularly on this and have a chat about what might have happened to cause those changes.

Doing this consistently will cultivate a space your child associates with financial education or, even just that special time to talk about what’s important to them.

Ask your teen to pick out the characteristics of a stock that they would ideally like to have. Some might say that it gives lots of income each year. Another suggestion might be one that “makes a load of profit”.

Next, help them build their on screen dream portfolio. The first wish could be translated into a dividend yield greater than 3%. The third might be that the earnings grow by 20% per year.

Have fun with this search and show them that it can be a very efficient process to find what they’re looking for… when they know what they want.

Investing in the stock market can be an exciting way to teach teens about risks and rewards.

“The stock market is just one big shop. Instead of buying a chocolate bar in that shop, you can buy a piece of the company that makes chocolate bars. If the company that makes the chocolate makes a profit, it’s worth more, and the price you bought it for may go up. Maybe that company will decide to give the profits directly to the people who own the shares and that’s called a dividend. If the company makes a loss, which can happen, the share price can go down, that’s called a risk,” explains Susan Hayes Culleton, CFA, “The Positive Economist” and author of Money Matters.

Help your teen to make an informed choice by using the options suggested above. And remember to explain the risks involved with this type of investment and how they should only ever invest what they can afford to lose.

Susan Hayes Culleton is the author of Money Matters, a financial literacy textbook with the support of CFA Society Ireland. It is written as menu of personal finance, investing and entrepreneurship life skills.

The book is tailored for young people in the following ways:

• It is story-focused whereby students can learn about pensions through characters like Sarah who starts her first job and is wondering what “tax relief” means for her.
• It is full of relevant modernity including ESG, fintech, online brokers, differentiating between trading and investing as well as using technology for active learning.
• It gives a real taste of the diversity of careers available today and tomorrow in finance. Each chapter contains a case study of a CFA Institute charterholder and highlights how the the theory learned in subjects like accounting, business, maths and economics connect with the practicality of everyday life and life-changing decisions.

Find out more and buy your copy here  so you can start talking to your teen about money and finances.

What does your future look like? What are your goals? Have a clear vision of the work-life balance you wish to achieve. Write down goals, what is important and what you absolutely won’t compromise on to gain clarity on what your future career in IT should be.

Just as important these days as updating your CV is updating your profile (or joining) LinkedIn. Spend time on LinkedIn and other social networks and share / comment on content relevant to the IT sector you wish to work in.

You should also use social channels to reconnect with contacts and past colleagues. And to help get up to speed with current news/updates in the IT sector and companies you would like to apply to.

Take time to access the skills you have. Look at where they could do with updating and research relevant opportunities for updating your skill set through training and education. Programmes like the Women ReBOOT one are ideal with the bonus of paid work experience when you finish.

Think also about how you can incorporate the skills you have acquired while on a career break into answers to questions you are going to be asked in interviews. These skills are transferable into the workplace but are often overlooked.

Before applying for any jobs, do your research about the company. From online research to chatting with friends and past colleagues, it will help inform your decision on whether the company culture is what you are seeking. And gives you an opportunity to impress at interview stage too with the knowledge you have gained from the research you have undertaken.

Even if you are nervous about going back to the workforce now that you have kids, don’t shy away from applying for a full time job. There are many ways that a job can be flexible, especially with technology and work-from-home being more accepted nowadays, you just have to find the right one.

If you find your dream job but you need more flexibility, ask for it. As you get back into work it is important for you to be flexible as well as you grow into the role.

Finally, before you go back to work, be sure to have a good support network around you.

If you are returning after raising children, don’t make your first day of work their first day of childcare! You and they will all need a few days to adjust to the new routine before you take up the new role.

The 4 week full time Women ReBOOT training programme is a combination of formal training, self-directed learning and individual coaching sessions. It is free to participants and is currently delivered via Zoom, with a couple of in-person events.

At the end of the 4 weeks, participants take a paid work placement with a participating company which lasts for 12 weeks.

Learn more about the programme and hear from past participants and register your interest in take part here.

Hosting an international student gives your family an opportunity to connect with people from around the world. Students are usually matched to a family with children of a similar age and with similar interests. Many go on to become lifelong friends and learn from each other about their different cultures, customs and of course their language.

Hosting a student gives you an opportunity to earn some extra cash. Rates vary depending on the time of year and length of stay, so do look at those before making up your mind.

Hebe Adventures pride themselves on having the best host families in Ireland! They pay them accordingly, with premium rates of up to €1100 paid for hosting an international student for 2 weeks.

Hosting an international student can be daunting. As you know, all children are different and while some come and settle in with no issues, it is important to confirm that a support team will be available 24/7 to help with any issues or questions that may arise during a student’s stay or indeed before or after.

The team at Hebe Adventures is on hand 24/7 to offer support throughout the student’s stay. From Dublin to Galway and Donegal to Kerry and everywhere in between, they have you covered, ensuring a stress-free stay for everyone.

An international student will often attend a local summer camp whilst staying with you. If your child is attending too, they can help show them the ropes and introduce them to all their friends.

Currently Hebe Adventures have hosting opportunities throughout Ireland but especially for these regions where students have opted to attend summer camps in: Dublin, Carlow, Kildare, Meath, Westmeath, Waterford, Clare & Sligo.

Once you sign up to become a host, you may be offered opportunities right away. It is really up to you which ones you accept. As the host, you are in complete control and can pick and choose opportunities to suit your family life and lifestyle.

For instance, you may be able to host more than one student, this is usually acceptable so long as both students don’t have the same native language. Or you may decide to take a student for 2 weeks this time and for a month next time. You may only want to host in the summer or you may want to only host during term time, these are all things that you set and manage.

Sharing your home with an international student gives them a look into everyday life in Ireland. They get to experience what their peers in another country enjoy and how it differs from what they do back home and what the similarities are. It is the perfect way to enhance your family life and give everyone a new outlook and opportunities.

If you have children aged between 7 and 18, sign up to become a host family with Hebe Adventures, and reap the rewards for your family.

First up, check what the legal rules are for teen work. Some jobs need you to be a minimum age and limit the hours you are allowed to work.

Many countries stipulate that you can’t employ children aged under 16 in regular full-time jobs, but that if you are over 14 you may do “light work during school holidays” or part-time hours as long as they don’t exceed a maximum.

Whatever work your teen opts for remind them:

• Always turn up when they say they will turn up.
• Always let their boss know if you can’t make it.
• If they don’t like the work, remember it’s about making money, just grit their teeth and think of what they’ll enjoy spending the cash on.
• Don’t count on it until it’s in their hand. You can be overly optimistic about the hours you’ll get and be banking on it when your boss may turn around and say don’t need you as much next week, so only count on it when you have it.

Your teen could use one of their skills or knowledge areas to give lessons or tutor younger kids. Maybe they could teach them the basics of piano or guitar. Or help younger kids catch up over the summer with Maths or another school subject.

This was my stand by job when I was a teenager. I put the word out around the neighbourhood that I was available for babysitting. I even babysat 3-year old twins one summer as my whole summer job, all I had to do was think of fun games to amuse them then feed them and they’d usually have a nap at one point during the day too.

Parents who work are often stuck during summer months for childcare options so offering your services as a child care option means you can earn some money close to home and they don’t have to find another option.

Jooble offers lots of listings for babysitting and nanny positions.

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Offer your services as a dog walker for people who are away during the day or as a dog sitter for any families who are going away on holiday and prefer not to place their pet into a kennel.

If you enjoy baking or cooking, why not make some money from it? Offer up samples to nearby cafés to see if they are interested in a regular delivery of your delicious baking.

Or if you know of a busy family or older person who needs help with meals, why not offer to cook for them?

There may be jobs going at a nearby golf course, e.g. helping with greens, or in the shop or food area, or being a caddy.

Be aware that being a caddy is a bit of work as you’re carrying the golf bags about all day, as well as being expected to have knowledge of the course, layout, be able to give your player accurate yardages, hand them the club they ask for. But if you’re into golf it can be a good way of getting extra time to play and improving too.

Many teens start working at fast food and other food establishments. Some fast food chains allow teens to operate the tills or do food prep. Other restaurants and cafes may look for experience of waiting but can allow you to do table clearing.

Ah the joys of being a dishwasher in a cafe or restaurant. Still it’s a simple and relatively easy to get job as you don’t need to have much experience.

If you are good swimmer, consider doing a lifeguard qualification as this can open up jobs in leisure centres, pools, and also summer camps where swimming is part of the camp activities.

Check out local organisations and clubs that run sport activities as they often need extra help during the summer to help run camps, etc.

Not just for sport but any summer camp organisation may be looking for additional staff during the school holidays when they are running camps for kids.

If your family or extended family has a business, ask if you can get a job for the summer. As well as earning cash, you have experience on your CV.

Be aware that it’s not always easy working for a family member boss, so try not to get annoyed if they behave differently to you than they would outside work (it’s all part of learning to deal with people in life!).

Yes the old lawn mowing job sounds a bit obvious, but offer services in weeding, tidying up yards, lawn mowing and you’ll be sure to pick up some work off those of us who love our gardens but don’t have time to tend them.

Check if a local Taxi Office needs cover for the dispatch office. A friend of mine, her teens all worked at one time or another for a taxi company, helping in the office.

Again, not the most exciting of jobs, but it’s a good job because you don’t need to have much experience, just show willing. I cleaned hotel rooms for one summer job and while I didn’t love the bathroom cleaning, I did enjoy being nosy!

One of my best summer jobs was working in a local shop in our village, serving customers, stacking shelves. I enjoyed meeting people and it was interesting learning how stock works and what a shop is all about.

Hotels are good start summer jobs for teens as that tends to be their busy season. I worked in a Bed & Breakfast one summer, I had to go in early and help serve breakfast, then clean rooms and go back later to help serve dinner.

I also worked one holiday period as a waitress in a hotel. I didn’t love it but the tips were good.

If you’ve got good tech skills then offer your services in helping to clean up computers, organise and print off digital photos (no one ever has time for this!), etc.

Or you might be able to help with some basic accounting, or spreadsheet work. Teens are often more computer savvy than lots of parents/adult relatives, so you (and they) may be surprised by what skills you can offer.

Check if a local Taxi Office needs cover for the dispatch office. A friend of mine, her teens all worked at one time or another for a taxi company, helping in the office.

Summer season is wedding time and photographers may be open to an assistant to help them carry equipment, set up and take down.

Everyone’s houses have windows! And it’s relatively low cost for the materials to get started for window cleaning around the neighbourhood.

As it turns out, parents are right to be concerned with setting a good financial example. University of Cambridge research for the Money Advice Service shows money habits and attitudes are formed by the young age of seven.

Long before your children ever step foot in a classroom, they have overheard numerous conversations, observed countless financial choices and have experienced the very real results of our financial decision-making – all of which forms their money mindset.

Being a positive financial role model for your children isn’t always easy and most of us didn’t grow up with the best role models ourselves, so the learning curve can be steep. Keeping the following key concepts in mind can help.

Regardless of whether you tie payment to chores or encourage your child to look opportunistically for jobs that need doing (or both), a weekly allowance or pocket money can be an excellent tool for teaching your kids about how to manage money. There’s no better way to learn the value of money than to be managing and making mistakes with your own.

With that said, there’s a delicate balance between paying your child to do work and ensuring your child doesn’t expect to be paid for everything they do.

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“If you think money can’t buy happiness, you’re probably not spending it right,” claim the behavioural scientists behind the book Happy Money: The New Science of Smarter Spending. The book gives good insight into why you can get more happiness from your money by following five key principles:

1. Buy experiences – The memories last and the benefits will outlive any material thing.
2. Make it a treat – You’re less inclined to appreciate something that’s always available.
3. Buy time – Hate cleaning? Pay someone to do it for you! *my personal favourite*
4. Pay now, consume later – You’ll benefit from the anticipation and avoid the buzzkill.
5. Invest in others – We all know how good it feels to help others, financially or otherwise.

So, while more money and income doesn’t necessarily bring about more happiness, the way you choose to spend it can. Using your money in a way that aligns with your values – for example, buying environmentally-friendly products or shopping locally – will make you feel more in control and content about your spending.

Ahead of any planned spending, we should be well-informed of the reviews, costs and alternatives available for comparison. Nowadays, those comparisons are at our fingertips with a quick search online. Most stores even have online shops that tell us whether an item is in stock at that store, which can be super handy with kids in terms of managing expectations.

Doing this research together with your kids ahead of any purchase is not only a good habit to encourage, it’s a great use of the internet and a great activity to do together.

Children also need to learn that money is limited. You can demonstrate budgeting and planning by making a list ahead of the food shop to focus on needs. If you think about it from a child’s perspective, simply walking up and down the aisles throwing items into your basket model impulse purchasing, which is not only a bad habit, it’s an expensive one!

If you’re up to it, you can share your budget with your child and challenge yourselves to find savings as you go by switching to generic brands or items on sale. You can also make it fun by planning with your child what you might do with the extra savings.

Learning to spend within your means and plan ahead is foundational to effective money management. Many of us learned this lesson long after we flew the proverbial nest (and some of us will never learn).

The importance of learning this particular lesson at a young age could help your child avoid making a small financial misstep now – for example, spending all their pocket money on unnecessary ‘stuff’ – but will undoubtedly benefit them as they grow when the cost of spending beyond their means has much more serious implications.

Cents for Kids is dedicated to supporting parents with the tools and resources they need to model good money sense for their kids by taking advantage of every day teachable moments.

Putting a little aside each week is a good way to save as you can usually budget a bit out of that week.

Our 52 Week Savings Challenge starts off small, builds up in the middle, then tapers off again – we had Christmas in mind if you are starting this in January, but you can start at any time.

As you work your way through the 52 weeks, you’ll really start to feel good about the nest egg you’re building up and setting aside. And it really goes to show how saving just a euro/pound/dollar or two each week can really add up!

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• Use a jar to collect coins to add to your weekly saving goal
• Make a trip every month to deposit the 4 weeks you have saved up in a savings account that you don’t access regularly, this will help keep you motivated to keep the savings going.
• Don’t be tempted to dip into your savings, you’ll sabotage your goal
• Set aside your weekly saving money first before you go shopping, that way you won’t be tempted to spend it.

Christmas is of course an expensive time of year between all the presents and gifts, food, drink, never mind filling those stockings! So anything that helps to keep the costs down for Christmas is a good thing in my book.

Have you found your Christmas gift list has grown each year – friends of the kids, cousins you sometimes see, neighbours, colleagues and so on.

Consider a ‘Secret Santa’ or ‘kids only’ idea within your family or friend group which can really keep costs down if you have a large extended family or number of friends you usually buy for. One substantial gift is often more popular than numerous small ones, and it also frees up your time too with less presents to buy!

Agree a price limit for each present to help keep the cost down too.

Check what cashback cards or apps you can use to save up rewards as you go. Many of the stores and supermarkets we visit regularly offer some kind of loyalty scheme or offers and vouchers. These can really help to reduce the costs of both gift and food purchases.

It’s fun to make gifts for people, and the kids will enjoy helping – plus they are more personal too.

Last year my daughter and I made stuffed owls and birds for her cousins from a pattern I had found online. I sewed and she stuffed and we had a great time together.

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If you have loyalty vouchers from supermarkets and other shops plan to use them for Christmas shopping. Or check and see if you have any gift vouchers that haven’t been used from last Christmas. Many people forget to use them during the year and often they have a time limit too.

Once you have a list of your Christmas spending, whether that is gifts or food, plan your spending accordingly.

Many of us get caught up in doing a big “Christmas food shop” in the last days before Christmas, and yet there is scope to do this for weeks beforehand. Buy one or two non-perishables (tinned goods, sweet treats, drinks, etc) in each weekly shop in the weeks or months beforehand. By the time Christmas comes around, you will have a ready stock of festive items, leaving the perishables for nearer the day itself.

Reuse last year’s paper if you have saved some or be creative with cheaper materials to wrap presents in. Check out our Christmas wrapping ideas to see how you can transform a gift with simple paper, or try something creative!

Tip for this year’s Christmas: keep the best of the wrapping paper and put it aside with your Christmas decorations to reuse next year.

“I use brown paper and cheap red ribbon for a rustic look” – Tara G

Save all the gift bags from this year’s Christmas and put aside with your decorations for reusing next year.

“Make gift bags out of cereal boxes, cover with paper and add ribbon handles by punching holes in the box.” Perfecthousewife

You can pick up cheap construction paper or light cardboard and glitter for less than some packs of Christmas Cards. The kids will have fun and the cards will be more personal as well. Or save last year’s cards and cut out the fun parts to stick to new cards for next year’s cards.

For gift tags, take a look at these great (and easy) homemade ideas!

“We have fun making decorations from Cheerios and Popcorn for the Christmas tree, fun for the kids to do” – Denise C

Outlet malls or villages and discount chains like TK Maxx carry the brands but at lower prices. TK Maxx also has food items and kitchen goodies which can make nice presents as well as the clothes and handbags.

Everyone loves goodies at Christmas time so get baking with the kids, it’s a fun activity and you can make some lovely foodie presents for people.

“We bake presents eg sweets, biscuits and cakes.” Audrey G

It’s easy to get sucked into buying extras when doing your Christmas Food shopping, especially when you’re rushing and have a lot to get through.

“Make a food shopping list and stick to your list.” Tracey C

You can pick up some great bargains in the sales after Christmas Day, so if you have a big purchase in mind for a gift for a loved one, why not make a nice voucher to give them in their card promising to take them shopping in the sales and they can choose what they want too.

For us as a family of eight, our food shopping bill is one of our biggest monthly expenses and just last year we changed our shopping habits for the better by reducing our food bill in half.

At present we spend €140-€150 every seven days, including our midweek top up, but it didn’t happen overnight. In fact, it was trial and error for a few months – but we got there in the end.

If you want to try cutting your food bill in half like Kellie, follow these simple tips and tricks to change the way you shop and you could cut your food shopping bill for good.

Find out what the weekly specials are in your local food store before you make any plans for the week ahead. It does take time and energy to find the best deals, but you will reap the benefits long term.

Take a quick inventory of what you already have in the fridge, freezer and cupboards. The aim of this is to hopefully stop you buying duplicates and ending up with 5 jars of the same thing, but also so you can use up fresh items in the fridge and not waste them by throwing them out uneaten.

Once you have discovered what fruits, vegetables and meats are on offer and in season, and made a list of what you already have at home, it’s time to start planning.

Keep a list of recipes and meals your family enjoy to hand, and alternate some family favourites each week. Don’t be afraid to get creative and tweak your meal plan to what you have or what you can get a good price.

Include all meals, not just dinner, and don’t forget about snacks, treats and even picnics in the summer months.

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Take five minutes to make a shopping list of all the items you need – not only will you be able to distinguish what you really need, but it will also help you stay on plan and save time in the supermarket.

The key to writing an effective shopping list is to write it in the order of the aisles you will be walking.

Try to shop on days your supermarket gets their food deliveries (simply ask the next time you are in-store), or in the evening when it is quieter and you can hopefully go without the kids.

People do a lot of silly things when they’re hungry! If you want to maximise your chances of sticking to your shopping budget and the plan you have made, never ever shop on an empty stomach.

Otherwise, you may find yourself opting for high-calorie, pre-packed snacks to curb the food craving on the journey home which, aside from not being a healthy choice, will also sabotage your shopping budget.

Similarly, if you know what time your supermarket discounts the perishable food each day (or sometimes the night before), that may be a good time to go and pick up meat, dairy, fruit and veg at a cheaper price.

I’m a sucker for those yellow sticker discount labels and think it’s a great way to add extra food items such as yoghurts and sweet treats to the trolley for pittance. Ask the floor staff or shop manager when they fill their sale shelf each day and be prepared to think ahead and optimise meals on the spot.

Finding the best deals on food and household items will mean shopping around. Fruit and veg may be cheaper in one supermarket, while another offers better deals on other products.

Work out a routine where you can divide and conquer to reap the best results.

In this case, bring your own bag! Always bring your shopping bags – not only is it good for the environment, but it will also save you a couple of euro each time you shop.

No matter where you decide to shop, use reward cards and vouchers whenever possible – even if it’s a small shop to pick up milk and bread midweek.

The points add up and can be used to cut your food bill when you have a larger shop to do, especially around Christmas time.

They may be out of view behind closed doors, but it’s really important to organise your fridge, freezer and food cupboards. If you don’t know what you have or can’t find what you have bought, you’ll end up buying more of the same unnecessarily – and, most likely, throwing out food that has gone out-of-date.

Don’t overlook no-name or own-brand products, a majority of these store-brand foods are made by the exact same big brand companies that charge two or three times for the same item. Most of the time, the only difference is the label.

We all love a deal like buy one get one free, but if you get sucked into buying the stuff you don’t really need, did you really get a deal at all?

Don’t buy snacks on the run or the convenience snack packs often made for lunch boxes. They are less healthy and significantly more expensive. For example, if your kids like cream cheese and breadsticks, buy some reusable pots and fill them yourself rather than buying the pre-prepared versions.

Not only is it more pocket-friendly, but it is also a great way to get the kids involved in preparing meals and their own lunch box.

An afternoon well spent brings a week of content! Soups, stews, curries, pasta sauces and all manner of dinners can be made in larger quantities and frozen for another day.

Or, if freezer space is at a premium, you could keep leftovers in the fridge and transform it into another dinner – for example, use leftover bolognese again as a filling for jacket potatoes or in lasagne.

Spend some time once a week washing and/or cutting up fruit and vegetables. If you are peeling potatoes for tonight’s dinner, do tomorrow’s as well and keep them in a bowl or saucepan of water in the fridge.

Timesaving tips and tricks like this will help to speed up dinner and lunch preparations, make you less likely to opt for convenience meals, and provides healthy snacks that are ready to go.

Meat-based diets cost considerably more compared to vegetarian and vegan diets, so it makes complete sense to cut your food bill by reducing the amount of meat in your weekly.

Be adventurous and try a sweet potato curry, homemade pizza with a creamy salad or a vegetarian lasagne for a change.

Eat leftovers for lunch. Invest in a food flask and bring pasta, soups and even noodles to work or school.

Have you ever considered that it’s not the shop’s fault that your berries don’t last? On average, UK households throw away roughly £70 of edible food every month simply because it has been stored incorrectly. Over the course of a year that’s a lot of money going straight in the bin!

Check the temperature of your fridge and freezer, and make sure all food is stored properly to keep it as fresh as possible – for example, ensure food is wrapped or packed airtight in the freezer to prevent freezer-burn.

Add fresh flavour to any dish with herbs such as mint, parsley, thyme, rosemary and basil that are all relatively easy to grow. You don’t even need a garden for this one – you can grow herbs in pots on your windowsill!

If you have a little more space, try growing some fruit and vegetables. Tomatoes, carrots, beetroot, lettuce, peppers, spring onions and plenty more can be grown in your garden. Some will even grow in pots if you only have limited space or a balcony!

Being able to pick your own veggies will really help keep costs down, and gives great satisfaction – plus, it’s a fun hands-on activity to do with kids.

Set yourself a challenge to try making something you would usually buy. Most of us spend a lot of money buying products that could be made at home, for example soup, sauces, pizza dough, cakes, biscuits, and even your own bread!

Making your own soup, as an example, is a great way to get more veggies into the whole family, but it’s also much cheaper (and tastier!) than buying ready-made.

And finally, one of the biggest expenses for families each week especially with babies is nappies, formula and baby food. However, we use cloth nappies, cloth wipes, my baby is breastfed and I make all her meals at home from scratch, in fact, I give her whatever we are having at all mealtimes minus the dressings, spices and salt.

If your family is following a strict budget and trying to save for a mortgage like us, it’s worth considering all of the above. You will be surprised how much you can actually save over the course of a year!