 |
| We learned quickly that dance and gymnastics classes are very expensive |
Many parents I know have their child doing at least one activity for each day of the week. Some of these activities are obviously cheaper than others. Dance classes and gymnastics seem to be of the most expensive where as team sports such as baseball and soccer seem to carry a lower price tag. Keep in mind that you are spending money on the gas to drive your children to these activities as well.
There are usually ways to save money on the activities you do choose. Hit consignment shops, ebay, and thrift stores for practice gear or accessories. I've purchased soccer cleats, dance shoes and leotards, etc from consignment shops. Many music stores sell used instruments. Carpool with others in your neighborhood who are doing the same activity. If all day events or travel are involved consider packing your own meals instead of eating out.
2. Limit exposure to commercialism.
My family and I committed one summer to a month without TV and since then have had a limit of one hour a day on the amount of TV they watch. The TV must either be our local PBS station which has no commercials or a movie that is in our collection (generously given by the grandparents). Since they have stopped watching commercials, the only toys I've been asked for are the ones in the catalogs we get in the mail. Most of the time these are at least a little educational.
While I would think it would go without saying, we only purchase toy items for birthdays and Christmas and even then, there is a limit on what they receive both a price limit and an item number limit. When either limit is hit, we stop purchasing for that child for that holiday.
3. Buy clothing from consignment shops, ebay, ThredUp, craigslist, yardsales and other sources of used clothing.
My kids don't know any different even at the ages of 6 and 9. They just know that when we are going shopping, we are going to the consignment shop. I did recently explain to my nine year old that the clothes we had just purchased had been worn by someone else previously. When I was done explaining to her that new clothing cost significantly more than preworn clothing, she was amazed that anyone would purchase new clothing.
4. Avoid school pictures and other fundraisers.
Most of the time, the pictures that you take at home turn out better than school pictures anyway. Amy Dacyzan wrote in the Tightwad Gazette that you would be better off making a donation to the the school than to participate in fundraisers.
5. Hang out with other frugal families.
I admit that I do discourage my kids from hanging out with families who aren't as frugal. We are still civil to the other families, but there's just something about when other kids come over and they don't understand when they see empty soda bottles sitting in our "bottle" rack rather than ones full of sodas. We were saving them because at the time we were making a lot of our own sodas. Kids also want what they see that others have. If other kids are sporting their iPods and cell phones then my kids wonder why they can't have one too.
6. Talk to your kids about money.
I find that around age 7, they are old enough to understand that you can not spend more money than you have coming in. We are honest with our children about our bills. At that age, the amount of the electric bill every month will really make an impression. We also talk to them about saving and the importance of living debt free. Our children see first hand how our being debt free has benefitted the entire family. If you are still trying to become debt free, involve the kids.
7. Don't buy prepackaged and processed snacks.
These are expensive and then kids will go through them very quickly. We find that although fresh fruit,vegetables, and nuts aren't cheap, the kids will eat them because they are hungry, not because they crave the taste. A lot of times the kids will tell me they are hungry. I point out the fruit or veggie sticks and they suddenly change their minds. I am sure that if they were truly hungry, they would eat whatever was available.
We also make the kids drink water before they can have anything else to drink (if that's even an option )
8.Be creative with Christmas and Birthday presents.
Would you feel guilty about purchasing a used car or four wheeler for a teenager for their birthday? Probably not. So if your elementary school child wants something you could just as easily purchase used. DOn't feel bad about purchasing those things used either. Could you make the item they want cheaper than you can buy it? Would another option work just as well? We get American Girl catalogs in the mail. My daughter had picked out a doll that she wanted. The doll alone was $100 and in addition, she had also picked out $100 in accessories. There was no way we were spending $200 on her for Christmas. MrLivingOurWay has a hard time not getting them what they want so he did research on the knockoff (a father doing research on dolls should get the Father of the Year award!). He found that the Madame Alexander dolls were similar and well made so he consulted with her to see if this would be an exceptable alternative and purchased the doll for about 40% of the cost of an American Girl doll. We purchased the accessories from Target which has similar ones that fit both the American Girl doll and the Madame Alexander doll for much cheaper.
9. Use your local library for books, movies, and magazines.The library is a nice source of entertainment that is free! Too many books, movies, and magazines can really clutter a house anyway.
10. Give home haircuts.
I've mentioned before, I don't have a lot of experience cutting hair but my kids loved their hair cuts and I saved the money I would have payed someone else. I had home hair cuts growing up and never minded them a bit.
Posts
