How we’re planning ahead to manage the rising cost of living

It’s a really worrying time for many families at the moment. The cost of living seems to by rocketing with the price of everything increasing at an alarming rate. The price of food, energy, fuel and even our mortgages are shooting up and it’s definitely a big worry. We have been taking a few steps to improve our financial situation in order to prepare ourselves for the rising costs and hopefully make sure we manage to stay on top of our money during the coming months.

Cutting back on the grocery shopping

I’ve often talked about meal planning and I honestly believe it makes a huge difference to how much we spend on our groceries each week. I write a meal plan out each week and then do my grocery shopping using that plan. It means I only buy what we need. I always check through the cupboards and the freezer to see what we have in first, then I can use our existing supplies to make meals throughout the week.

Meal planning also cuts down on the possibility of us being tempted to order a takeaway. When I know what we’re having each night, I’m definitely far more likely to go ahead and cook than to order an expensive takeaway.

Overpaying the mortgage

This might seem a little contradictory when I’m talking about saving money, but we are trying to chip away at the mortgage by making extra payments where we can. We bought our house in October 2021 and secured a good interest rate on a fixed five-year deal. Interest rates at the moment are shooting up, so I want to get our total balance down as much as possible so that when the time comes for our deal to end, we have a lower balance if the interest rates are still high.

Paying into a private pension

Again, this might seem a little contradictory for me to be paying out more than the minimum, but I have been making extra payments into my private pension plan. I know of a few pensioners who are really feeling the pinch right now, and I want to make sure that I have a good pension fund when I reach retirement age. You can use a retirement calculator to see how much you need to have in your pension pot in order to achieve the income you want when you retire.

Buying and selling secondhand

The children seem to be growing at an alarming rate at the moment and it can be really expensive to keep buying them new clothes all the time. I’ve been using Vinted to buy and sell secondhand clothes. This means that I’m making some money by selling things they’ve outgrown which I can then use to buy their new things at a cheaper rate than I would find in the shops. With the kids growing so quickly, I don’t see the point in spending a fortune on their clothes.

I think we can all make changes to the way we manage our money, it’s often just about planning ahead and making more informed choices. If the rising cost of living is worrying you, then now is the time to act.