HOW TO SAVE MONEY WITH CHILDREN
Having children costs a lot of money. From the time they are born you pay for their clothes, food, and shelter.
As they get older it only gets more expensive. Even if you don’t plan on paying for their education or extracurricular activities it can get quite pricey.
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What if I told you that there are a bunch of easy ways to save money with kids?
By doing all of these things we already have over $10,000 in the bank saved for our kids. See what things you can start doing today to get there too.
KEEP BIRTHDAYS SIMPLE
A great way to save money with kids is by keeping their birthdays simple. Instead of having a big party every single year do the major milestones.
Memories are priceless, but you don’t have to go into debt to have great ones.
Every year we always have cake and some type of gift. The years we haven’t done a party we put money into a savings account instead.
For our daughter’s 2nd birthday we did a farm themed party at our house and still have people talk about it. We made the food ourselves, did most of the decorations, and made the party favors.
I know people who throw birthday parties for their kids every single year, but don’t have squat in savings for their kids or themselves. Don’t be one of those people.
FIND DIFFERENT CHILDCARE OPTIONS
Both my husband and I work full-time. Fortunately or unfortunately for us we work opposite schedules, which saves us a lot of money in childcare.
When we do need someone to watch our kids we turn to family, which is significantly cheaper than hiring a babysitter.
If you don’t have any family available, turn to friends. You can either pay them or take turns babysitting each other’s kids.
This year we are enrolling our daughter into a pre-k school more expensive than her previous one. Why you ask? Even though it’s more money it is full-time and by the hour it is significantly cheaper than a babysitter.
SAVE ON DIAPERS
Start saving money as soon as they’re born.
When my kids were babies we used anywhere from 8 to 12 diapers a day. The record was 20!
No-name brand diapers range from $0.16 to $0.32 per diaper depending on what size you need to buy. With name brand it ranges from $0.20 to $0.36 per diaper.
Do the math. On the low conservative end that’s $467.20 per year and on the high end $1,051.20 per year! That’s a lot of cash.
There are multiple ways you can save money on diapers:
– Buy no-name brand diapers. Yes, there is a difference in quality. I would use the stronger diapers at night time and the thinner ones during the day. Because you are changing diapers constantly it doesn’t make too much of a difference.
– Stay in the smaller size as long as possible. My daughter was very skinny and never wore a diaper bigger than a size 3. Just because your child hits the recommended weight for the bigger size it doesn’t mean you have to use it. As long as the diaper fits comfortably and they aren’t leaking through stick with that size until you need to move up.
– Use cloth diapers. My husband was not interested in washing dirty diapers in the laundry, but if you want to save money and be more eco-friendly this is the way to go.
– Ask for diapers or gift cards instead of gifts when your kids are babies.
–Buy diapers after the holidays. We scored Christmas print diapers at 50% off their original price. We paid less than $0.05 a diaper! We literally stocked up on the size we were currently using and then on a few boxes the sizes after. Who cares if your child is wearing diapers with Santa on them in July? Nobody.
–Introduce potty training early. My daughter was potty trained at exactly 2 years old and my son at 20 months. I was ecstatic.
GIFTS
Kids know what they want and will ask for the world if you let them.
My kids get gifts on special occasions and sometimes just because. Don’t get it twisted. I buy their gifts when they are on sale or when I can get them for free using the gift cards I earn throughout the year. See this post for the sites I use to start earn Amazon gift codes, free stuff, merchandise, and more.
Stickers, boxes, and slime will make kids happy for many many years. Take advantage of that.
Instead of buying our daughter a big gift last year we put money into her savings account.
Gifts don’t have to be a tangible item either. Our kids like gifts, but they also like going on cruises, events, and experiences. Have vacation coincide with their birthdays.
When people ask you what kind of gift they can get your kids don’t be afraid to say a gift card or cash. They’ll be getting plenty of toys and clothes from everyone else.
FREE ENTERTAINMENT
Take your kids to the park, a street fair, movie outdoors, the library and more.
Many towns offer free events at town hall and our library has events every day such as story time and crafts.
Related posts:
* Effective Ways to Raise Money Smart Kids
* How to Keep the House Clean With Kids
STAY HOME
Staying home is one of the easiest ways to save money with kids, but it doesn’t have to be boring.
We make slime, bake and cook in the kitchen, play in the garden, make tents indoors, color, and invent new games.
BUY USED/SECOND HAND
Most of the time clothes, toys, and baby items are cheaper at garage sales, consignment shops, and thrift stores.
I think there is a big misconception that people who buy at these places are either cheap, poor, or the items that are bought there are not quality items. This is not true at all. Rich people buy used items a lot. It’s one of the things rich people do that even some poor people don’t do.
Baby items and toys go for next to nothing at garage sales because a lot of times it’s parents who just want to make some money and don’t want to deal with the hassle of selling online.
We just started posting items to sell on Poshmark where regular people sell their new and used clothing at cheaper prices. Use my promo code NICKTUNA23 to get an extra $5 off! They also have name brand items at less than retail price.
ASK FOR HAND-ME DOWNS
Kids go through clothes so quick when they are young. Sometimes they wear clothes only once or twice.
If you have friends with kids, a good way to save money is by asking for their hand-me down clothes and toys. If you feel awkward asking for them offer to give them money or babysit their kids in exchange.
KIDS EAT FREE
If you’re going to eat out look for places that offer Kids Eat Free days or deals.
Sometimes it’s not worth it to order off of the kid’s menu so make sure you compare items before placing your order.
USE CASHBACK APPS/DEAL SITES
I stopped using coupons for grocery shopping a long time ago. I now only use coupons that give me a free item or a big discount because I was buying items that I didn’t really need because I thought it was a good deal. We were able to cut our grocery bill in half this way.
iBotta
When I go grocery shopping I always use iBotta. It’s a free phone app that gives you cash back and virtual coupons that can be redeemed after you shop by submitting a photo of your receipt.
I love that they have the $0.25 off any item coupon almost every time. Get rebates, earn cash faster by joining my team, AND get a $10 welcome bonus by clicking here!
eBates
eBates is the site I use to earn cash back on all my online purchases. All you have to do is go to the website you want to shop at through their site first and start earning cash. They also have promo codes and deals too.
We earn a few hundred dollars a year. Read my Ebates review and score $10 welcome bonus when you sign up.
Groupon
Groupon is a great way to get deals on events, restaurants, home goods, and more.
Just last weekend my husband took the kids and my father in law to a Cirque de Soleil type water circus. It only cost $35 for all 4 of them to go. You can’t even get 1 ticket for Cirque at that price!
Related posts:
*Best garage sale tips to make the most money
* Things we stopped buying to save money
MEAL PLAN
Our daughter can be a picky eater and our son eats everything. Both of these things means spending a lot on food because we have to buy enough food and a wide assortment.
An easy way to save money with kids is by getting them involved when it comes to food. Let them help make their own food and pick out some of the things they want to eat.
Plan ahead and try to use the same ingredient in multiple meals.
CUT YOUR KIDS’ HAIR
I can still remember my dad cutting my sister’s hair and my hair when we were little. Think short uneven bowl cuts on a girl. Yea, totally not cute.
My daughter has no interest in getting her haircut so we don’t have that expense yet.
I cut our son’s hair twice. The first time it came out real cute, the second time not so much.
Buy a pair of cordless hair clippers and watch some Youtube videos. It wouldn’t have been that hard to cut our son’s hair except for the fact that he was screaming, crying, and shaking around. My tip would be to start with the larger size guards first and then go down in size. Also buzz in the direction of the hair NOT against.
If my son didn’t scream and cry at the haircutting place then I would say it was worth the money to take him to get his haircut. Even when they use scissors he cries.
As a compromise I think I will take him to get his hair cut for special occasions and cut it myself in the in between time. His hair grows so fast that this will probably save us about $100 a year.
BUDGET
I cannot stress how important it is to budget/manage your finances. You need to see how much money you make and how much of it you can save.
An easy way to save money with kids is by setting aside money each week or month just for them. Do you need to save money to take them out to eat, buy clothes, or take classes?
I wrote a post about the bank accounts you should have to save money faster and get out of debt. By having multiple accounts we have been able to automate our savings. Figure out what you need to save for and create an account dedicated to that.
Don’t forget to pin for later.
Saving money with kids doesn’t mean you have to deprive them. Save what you can here and there by eating at home, enjoying no-spend weekends, having fun at home, and buying second-hand.
What are your tips to save money with kids?
These are great tips! As a mother of three, two grown boys and a new teen, they definitely get more expensive as they get older. 🙂
I know!! My son eats a lot and he’s only 2. I think I might need to get another job in order to afford his food
Very good tips and ideas. I remember when my son was little Walgreens had a sale on diapers and their store brand worked wonderfully. It was such an amazing sale that we REALLY stocked up. I don’t think I bought diapers for six months. It was fabulous.
Yes that’s exactly what we did except we went a little more overboard and haven’t bought in over a year lol
I am the queen of free to cheap entertainment. Just keep your eyes peeled these events are everywhere and are usually a blast!
Yes, we love local fairs and shows. It’s the food we end up spending money on 🙂
This has some really great advice! I love that you saved money by getting the clearance Christmas diapers!! Thank you for sharing!!
I don’t have kids yet, but these are great tips! Especially opening up a savings account. That’s important!
I love your tip on buying the diapers that were marked down post Christmas! We have always done this type of thing with Paper Plates/Soaps/etc. It has saved us loads of money over the years!
Yes! Currently waiting for the after Halloween deals lol
Some great ideas. I use Ebstes. It is nice
Great tips! A few restaurants near us have the kids eat free or discounted deals on certain days and it’s great!
I forgot about that. Something to think about the next time we eat out.
Great suggestions! We’ve always kept birthdays simple as well. I had no idea there were Christmas print diapers. LOL. I’ve never seen the point of putting print on diapers anyway. It’s a diaper! Great that you were able to get them cheap that way though.
I know it’s like who cares. If it has poop or pee on it it’s still not cute lol
This is such a thorough list! I still have a little one in diapers, and I can’t wait for that expense to be gone.
Yes. My youngest started going on his own at 20 months but only when naked. Still working on the communication, but it saves us at least 5 diapers a day.
These are all really good. We have gotten so extravagant as a society with our kids!
Great ideas! Will share with my daughter. It is very hard for grandparents (me) to not buy buy buy! But the grands really enjoy just hanging out or exploring
lol yes that’s what grandparents do
Great tips! I love saving money!
Great tips! Love saving money!
Great ideas. As a mother of 6, I already do a lot of these things but you also gave me some new stuff too!
6?!?! Wow. I’m sure you have more great money saving tips too.
These are great tips! Thank you!
We’ve been trying to come up with ways to cut back on expenses lately. I’ve done cloth diapers before, but it’s hard to find time to wash, dry, and put them back together every couple days when you work full time. When I’m on maternity leave, though, I’m definitely going to use them again!
That’s one of the reasons we didn’t do cloth diapers. I purchased the holiday ones and ones from Amazon real cheap.
That’s quite the list! We always kept birthdays simple, used coupons and loved free entertainment. We have kept a budget our entire marriage, as well, but I had a difficult time when it came to cheap diapers and getting their hair cut. Those are two things I was willing to pay a little more to have. BUT ~ we made the necessary cuts in order to do so. You do what fits you – right? Great list! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing and a really great point. I cut my son’s hair a few times, but prefer when someone else does it. We compromise and cut somewhere else.
Great tips! Parents can really learn a lot from this post!
These are great tips. Clothes diapers are messy but you can save so much money. That is the point though. To save money.
Yea I thought about cloth diapers but my hubby was like hell no!
Hand-me-downs are a great idea. I remember growing up and wearing clothing that was passed down from my older cousins. It saved my Mom so much money.
I love planning big parties for my kids but now I need to focus on buying a house so we are just going to keep it simple and go to the movies. No more spending $600 on kids parties!
Parties are a great way to make memories but they don’t have to be expensive to be great.
Great tips! Birthday parties were a big thing when our kids were small because everybody was doing super extravagant things. Luckily our kids were content with less expensive options and everyone had a good time.
Excellent and practical tips! As a mother with grown children, I practiced many of these.
Ah these see all such great tips! Activities do not have to be expensive to be fun! Some of my best memories as a kid did not cost a dime 🙂
Great tips! These make a lot of sense and are doable. I love that you say staying home doesn’t have to be boring–with a little imagination, so true!
Great tips! I breastfed my kids and I figured I saved at least $2K from not buying formula.
Yes and even though it was really hard in the beginning until I got the hang of it. Loved not having to get up in the middle of the night to make a bottle
These are some great suggestions! And, you’re right. People often go way overboard with parties and such when it comes to their kids. It’s almost like a competition. I grew up in a simpler time where a great birthday party was eating cake, and playing games in someones backyard.