Being a parent, aside from how incredibly rewarding it is, gets very expensive. In today’s culture, it’s become more and more common for parents to shower their children with game consoles, new mobile devices, and so many other things that will punch a major hole in our personal finances. Overspending isn’t good for you or your kids. If you know you’re guilty of this kind of impulsive consumerism, here are a few ways to cut costs and still provide well for your family.
Go Online for Baby and Toddler Purchases
If you’ve got especially young kids, try to go as cheap as possible, as babies and toddlers outgrow their clothes and toys faster than you’d believe. If you’ve never bought used kids’ items on eBay and similar online platforms, then give it a try.
The web is bursting with gently used clothes, toys, and books that can be sourced for a very low price. The pricey electronics and la Perla swimwear can wait until you know your kids are going to get a lot of use out of them. When buying used online, just exercise a little diligence, for example making sure that none of the products you’ve got your eye on have been recalled for safety reasons.
Scale Down the Parties
Forget about the last few parties that you dropped your kids off at, where the parents had gone a tad overboard. Convey your own values through the birthday parties you throw for your children and don’t break your budget for their birthday party just for the sake of it. Obviously, you want your children to have a great time on their birthday, and you should plan some kind of budget that will allow your children, and everyone in attendance, to have buckets of fun.
However, you shouldn’t make the common mistake of worrying about your children stacking their parties up against their friends. Kids are usually too caught up in the excitement of their own parties to compare them to others, and even if they do get into this mindset, it’s not something they’re going to hold against you for the rest of their lives!
Keep a Handle on Phone Costs
Here’s a little advice for spending on your older children. Early teens and kids who are approaching their 13th will talk about nothing but phones.
They want to be able to download music, play games, connect with their friends, take selfies and play around with the filters. It’s a sad fact that the lack of a smartphone can be socially isolating for a modern kid entering their teenage years, so this is an expense you’re simply going to have to put up with.
Obviously, your kids’ phone use can become extremely expensive after a while, so make a point of sticking to contracts with limited minutes, or the most basic pay-as-you-go plan available for the model they want. When extra minutes and data has to come out of their allowance, they’ll quickly learn to be more frugal!
Take these tips on board, and soon enough you’ll be able to avoid overspending on your children with ease!
It always a great pleasure, Christy! But sometimes it seems the reader “eats” postings. ;-) Have a nice day! ;-) Michael
Lovely post christy b. Speaking about birthday parties, can you make a sugestion on how to throw a fun birthday party on a budget? My son’s birthday is coming up, and I would love to hear your ideas! x
Thanks for the comment. I’m going to direct you to a hub I wrote and also to Mabel’s post; hopefully between these two links you’ll have a creative spark for the fun party ahead for your son:
https://holidappy.com/party-planning/Ways-to-celebrate-birthdays-without-spending-money
https://mabelkwong.com/2017/04/27/7-unforgettable-ways-to-celebrate-your-birthday/
Thank you
Great post Christy filled with great tips for parent’s. My niece belongs to a few great groups on FB where you can find moms who swap clothing at different ages and sizes with other moms. Great idea because they grow out of things, expensive things so quickly. :) xx
Clothings swaps are a great idea, Debby, and it sounds like FB is a wonderful way to set it up! Social media has its benefits ;)
Indeed it does. :) x
Kids are the biggest expense. I just know, bringing mine up that all tips were welcome. xxx
And now you can help your daughter too ~ You’d be the awesomest grandma!
Thanks Christy for very useful list of advices for the modern parent or patents-to-be. These things are behind me but it will become handy for both my sons, one of whom is already a parent of a frisky toddler. My parenting days were well before the advent of mobile phones so that saved one area of heavy outflow of money. But birthday parties, family outings and play stations were very much in so parenting, be it in times past, present or future, will always be an expensive phase of life in a relative sense.
Thanks Raj. I’m glad this info can be of help to your sons and I’m glad to hear you’re a grandfather :) A proud one at that!
I think parents find #3 the most challenging. I know my niece with quadruplets and a child 2 years older isn’t looking forward to those teen years :) ♥
I have a few friends who are in the same boat ;) Have a great weekend, Tina!
My sisters are on lots of “Mom swaps” on Facebook – they trade baby clothes, which kids grow out of so fast so they tend to be only gently used. And Amazon has terrific prices on diapers – you can get a subscription service so they come right to your door!
Oh! I had no idea about any of this! Thanks for sharing that – great ideas for saving money as a mom. Wait.. Facebook isn’t the devil then.. ?! Hehe
Great tips, Christy! We’re at the party stage now and it can get out of hand quickly! :)
Maybe you get a party with slippers on, feet up, and a good book later on ;)
That sounds like an awesome party! I may have to do just that! Thanks for the idea! ;)
i have been getting out of hand with kids parties myself. I have already decided to tone it down next year
Good for you. It’s hard to say no to our littles though, isn’t it?
My dad used to make us our own pirate map with clues and we’d go on a treasure hunt for the handmade pirate chest filled with surprises…
OMG that’s awesome! Write a post about it, maybe.. That’s so creative!!
LOL, maybe! Now I look at all these theme parties and it seems really odd to me! (You know, like at the Party Store…Hello Kitty, etc.)