NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – With summer upon us, planning trips and finding activities to keep the little ones occupied, on top of balancing bills, can be daunting for your finances.
10 On Your Side wants to help get a handle of your finances with the summer edition of our Financial Fitness series.
Summer time can come with added financial stress, but as one Norfolk family shows, there are ways to have fun without breaking the bank.
“As much as we like to save, they definitely like to spend,” mother and wife Shaqunda Sturdivant said.
A statement any parent would agree with.
“We’re a very frugal family, if we can save, we’re definitely going to save,” Sturdivant said.
As a family of five, the Sturdivant’s know just how important saving can be.
Husband and wife Purnell and Shaqunda both have backgrounds in finance. While conquering the world of finances on top of raising a family may seem overwhelming to some, there are ways to save. Tips the family says come in handy when trying to keep their children Malachi, Ali and Serenity busy during the summer.
“Also, being able to incorporate some of the things that we really like to do where we do have to spend money, but we’re strategic with that as well,” Shaqunda said.
She recommends families to always check what attractions offer discounted ticket prices, or ask for any deal that may be going on.
“We love Groupon,” Shaqunda said, “We love Groupon, where we can still enjoy bowling or APEX on a coupon.”
For those looking for more educational offerings in the summer, they recommend seeing what free summer camps are being offered near you.
“I know they have some at the Rec center and then they also offer some free ones at Crossroads where they go at,” Purnell said.
It’s really not summer break until you take a vacation, right? Well that doesn’t have to break the bank either.
“If we could get a 15 passenger van and we all pile in together and everybody pitch in on the gas, pitch in on the driving, we love to do things like that.”
With the kids being home in the summer, that could mean a higher grocery bill. To mitigate that, the Sturdivant’s recommend shopping at bulk stores and always checking store ads.
“Whether it’s summer or throughout the year, I’m very strategic on how we spend and where we spend our money.”
It’s never too early or too late for you to do the same.
“Them showing us how to save money based on what we wanna buy and what we wanna keep, very grateful,” Malachi said.
“We’re big on financials and savings because we don’t come from that, we didn’t talk about finances at the kitchen table at our household, and so being able to change the trajectory of our family, we’re sitting down and saying when you get money for your birthdays or holidays, you’ll keep some and spend some, but some of that you have to save,” Shaqunda said.
From there, they recommend finding something to invest your money into so that it grows.
Click here to download the WAVY.com Financial Goal Tracker.
To contact Purnell and Shaqunda Sturdivant for licensed financial help, contact them at (757)-644-8136 or by e-mail at SSturdivantwfg@gmail.com
Our Financial Fitness Series continues every Monday throughout the month of June.
