Finances

Deidre Sanders, Family Lives Patron and Problem Page Editor at The Sun, has produced a guide for families who are feeling pinch in these difficult economic times. 

The guide, called 'Tough times', provides simple, practical advice and signposts to other support organisations.

With rising prices, spending cuts and pressure on jobs meaning many families are feeling the pinch. It’s extra challenging when a family is facing special hardship because of bereavement, illness or accident.

This guide will help you protect your relationships and family life against fortune’s knocks, and it explains where to find understanding support and practical help. 

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Increasingly, more grown-up kids are living at home in their twenties and thirties. Many leave college or university heavily in debt and that, taken with the high cost of borrowing, means many are taking far longer to be in a position to buy their own home. So where else can they live but with mum and dad? It might sound like a great idea at first, particularly for parents who are still trying to adjust to the ‘empty nest’. But this situation can put severe financial and emotional pressure on families. It also delays children becoming independent and taking real responsibility for their adult lives.

Tensions often start when ‘Boomerang Kids’, who return to live at home after university, expect things to be the same as they were before they went away. Parents tell Family...

Shopping

• Compare prices in different shops – this can add up to good savings. One way of doing this is via comparison websites, which list the prices of goods bought online or on the high street. Shopping online can be cheaper than the high street. You can also buy good quality ‘as new’ clothes – and second hand goods – on websites like eBay.
• Make a quick list of what you need to buy and how much you are prepared to spend before you head out to the shops, to avoid shopping on impulse.
• Look out for store loyalty card schemes, where you can collect points and use them to buy items when you get to a certain number.
• If you want an excuse for a cheap get-together with friends and a chance to get some new clothes for free then think about organising...

The summer holidays are upon us - and chances are if you’re a working parent, you’ll be worrying over your childcare plans.

According to research by the national childcare charity Daycare Trust, finding affordable childcare during the summer break is one of the biggest headaches for parents. Yet because of the lack of places and the high cost, most parents don’t actually organise their summer childcare until a few weeks beforehand. Hardly surprising, when full-time holiday childcare averages at about Ј90 per child per week. Even if the price doesn’t scare you off, there’s always a shortage of places – which means most of us end up taking unpaid leave and using most of our annual holiday entitlement to be with our kids, maybe supplemented by a bit of help here and there from...