“‘In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” – Benjamin Franklin, 1817

Many families are used to cutting back on the little luxuries to pay for the rising costs of healthcare and education. I am no stranger to this, as I would guess are you, my readers, however it has now been backed up by research. An article on Veterans Today Money shows that the majority of families, (52%), have cut out going out for meals, as well as other luxuries to be able to afford healthcare for their family and save to pay for their children’s tuition fees.

The study was conducted by online coupon and money saving website Coupon Dash, they discovered as well as forgoing meals out families also gave up buying new or replacing new gadgets and new clothes. They found:

• Meals out 52%
• Gadgets 49%
• New clothes 48%
• Days out 43%
• Vacations 34%
• Takeaways 26%

Obviously if you’re looking to save money, these areas are where you would naturally look to cut down expenditure. However to be able to afford to pay for necessities such as healthcare and even towards your children’s education, giving up all of the above, won’t leave you with a lot to enjoy, as a family. And as the study shows many families feel this way:

“I cannot afford healthcare and don’t qualify for Medicare. I worry a lot about my situation.”

“I can just about afford my family’s healthcare, but I feel we should not have to sacrifice anything for it. It should be a human right and we should have universal healthcare like Canada, Israel and the UK.“

“Even with sacrificing we couldn’t afford to pay for it so hope they get scholarships, don’t go or pay themselves.”

“We have sacrificed to be able to support our children through college, even if they get a good job it will still take them a very long time to pay it all back.”

It is stressful, it can feel like you never break even and never take time to enjoy the money that you are working hard for. And that your children will start in the same debt spiral as you when they go to college. Here are our 5 tips to help:

1. There are ways you can teach your children to be financially aware and responsible when they head out to college.
2. Look to swap and save health care if you don’t get it through work. Make sure your coverage covers everything you need.
3. It’s a good idea to do personal financial fitness checks every few months, to see where you can save money, and leave yourself something for some little luxuries.
4. See where you’re spending all your spare cash and what you can cut down without giving too much up.
5. Have you thought about, earning more? Look at having a ‘side hustle’ something that brings in a bit extra income to your family that you can put to one side for the luxuries above.

Hopefully we won’t see costs continuing to rise, or at least wages going up matching the increases in taxes, healthcare and education.