Investing in your children’s education will secure a brighter future for your child. Saving for your child’s education is becoming more and more of a necessity and can never be considered as too early. Saving will help to avoid strain on parents’ pockets and will help parents be more flexible in terms of offering their kids a variety of options in addition to school. Options such as extra-curricular activities, private tuition and other after school activities.
Here are a few steps required to plan for your children’s education and future:
1. Work out a monthly budget.
Draw up a monthly budget, with a total of your revenue minus your total expenditure. Thereafter, subtract an amount that can go towards your child’s school fees and then add an additional amount that can act as a contingency plan. For example, R300 towards fees and an additional R150 to the fees for unexpected expenses.
2.Research on Schools.
Look up a number of schools that you would like your child to attend. Consider your child’s needs as well as your desires for your child’s education. Consider the price as well as the type of school. Does the school go up to crèche, primary school of high school level? What kind of activities does the school provide? What quality of education does it offer and how and where can you find a school that will match all these as well as your budget. Once you have narrowed down a few schools. Draw up a draft budget of tuition fees, transport and other related expenses and then choose what works best for you.
3.Buy uniforms and textbooks in advance.
Buying textbooks in advance will help save money. For example if a certain textbook has a series for each grade, say from 1st grade to 5th grade. Getting the textbook series for each grade will help avoid extra costs in future and also cater for kids that may be in different grades. Younger siblings can later reuse these textbooks. Furthermore, buy enough uniforms. At the start of the school year, buy at least 3 or more uniforms and school shoes, have a pair that is a size bigger is always a good idea. Children are constantly growing and having uniforms readily available will help avoid extra expenses.
4.Have extra savings.
Having savings apart form money set aside for school fees and other related activities is a good contingency plan. These savings are important because they can help to go towards other expenses such as medical fees, entertainment and other costs.
5.Hire a house help.
Having a house help or nanny is important in helping one to save because a nanny can help in instances such as collecting the kids from school, taking them to their extra curricular activities and looking after the children while you work. Though hiring one is an additional expense, it will help save on transport for parents as well as enable parents have someone watch their kids and homes while they are away at work.
These are just a few of many steps that can be considered in planning for your child’s future and education in particular. Saving can never be considered as too early and will go a long way during unexpected emergencies that may other wise strain your finances.
Article sourced from https://citizen.co.za/business/business-personal-finance/1724630/step-by-step-guide-to-saving-for-your-childs-education/
