The following is a guest post from Adam over at Money Bulldog. If you’re interested in submitting a guest post, please contact me! I’m actually guest posting over at Adam’s site today on the topic of making your house a home on the cheap so head on over after you’ve read his post below!
You may have heard some parents complain that it costs a fortune to raise a child in the UK these days. It certainly isn’t the cheapest thing you could choose to do but there are some good money savings ideas you could benefit from to keeps costs down. The following are a few to get you started and thinking in the right way.
Find Free Things to Do
The world is full of free things to do. If you are on a tight budget should you really be spending money on amusement parks, restaurants, cinemas and other expensive entertainment options? Instead, you could go for a walk, work in the garden together, go cycling, take a picnic, organise a treasure hunt or do any one of a number of great free things. Before you do anything which costs money you should stop and consider the free alternatives. In many cases the idea which costs nothing turns out to be more interesting and far more memorable for the whole family. As well as costing you less, organising something on your own will also give you a great deal of satisfaction too.
Look Online for Deals
We should all know by now that the internet is the place to look for cheap deals on just about everything. Whether you are looking for bargains on clothes, affordable pairs of shoes or just about anything else, it’s a good idea to check out the prices online first of all. Once you get into the habit of doing this you will realise that there are big savings to be made on a whole range of things. In fact, you will probably wonder why you haven’t been shopping online for your family long before now.
Don’t Be Afraid of Second Hand Clothes
There are times in a child’s life when second hand clothes make perfect sense. For example, when they are in a growing phase it’s easy to end up buying something which they only get to use a few times before it is too small for them. Equally, once the little one starts moving around independently, they will start to wear their clothes out a lot more quickly than they did in the past. If they have older brothers or sisters, don’t forget to hunt out their old clothes and arrange them by order of size, so that you can work your way through them as they grow up. If there are no old clothes they can inherit then you will find other great ideas for saving money on a growing baby’s clothes, such as buying supermarket brand items. There is no reason to spend a fortune on expensive or designer clothes for babies or toddlers unless it is for very special occasions. It is far better to look for something cheap, comfortable and attractive and save some money for other things.
Be Creative
Every parent who wants to save money on their child’s upbringing can easily find creative ways of doing so if they are just willing to take a little bit of time to think about it. This can range from organising nights in playing board games to encouraging them to help you grow vegetables, from making their clothes to lots of other things. Perhaps if there is one final thought we can take from all of this it is that saving money during a child’s early years can actually be great fun. By getting creative and coming up with interesting ideas you can feel as though you are really making an effort and being a top parent as well as someone who saves money.
Can you think of other great ways to raise a child on a budget?
Author Bio: Adam Buller is the man behind the UK Personal Finance blog Money Bulldog If you liked this post then we hope you’ll find the time to pay us a visit soon!
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Related posts:
- How can we make sure our children don’t get into debt?
- Planning a cheap birthday party for kids.
- A little perspective goes a long way!
*Photo submitted by Adam at Money Bulldog
9 Comments
Nice read Adam 🙂
I like the idea of second hand anything and always opt for that before I buy anything. I haven’t bought new clothes in over twenty years…and I have some NICE threads 🙂
“Can you think of other great ways to raise a child on a budget?” – Not sure about this, but wouldn’t ome schooling end up costing a family way less in the long run?
Take care and all the best.
Lyle
lyle @ The Joy of Simple recently posted…Fight For Life
Thanks Lyle, yeah I suppose it would. Though I have to admit that I do enjoy the peace and quiet during the day. Especially working from home 🙂
Adam @ Money Bulldog recently posted…10 cheap ways to make a house a home
I was wondering the same question…except I was wondering whether it was possible in NYC. There are many free activities to keep a child busy here. My son is only 5 months so we don’t have to worry about it now. Second hand clothes are fine and we are lucky that we got some from friends/family who had kids. The big issue for us is housing…a small place is okay for a little baby but if we want to expand our family and when the kids are older…we’re going to run out of room. Plus, we want to stay in an area where there are good schools and those neighborhoods are usually more expensive.
Andrew@LivingRichCheaply recently posted…Save Money While Holiday Shopping
Yeah it’s a tough one trying to balance a nice area with a decent sized house isn’t it Andrew. Hope you manage to find a nice combination of both!
Adam @ Money Bulldog recently posted…At what age should you be allowed to retire?
We live in the U.S. but the same rules apply. Almost all of my kids clothes are used…..and they’re so nice! I go out of my way to find the nicest stuff for them. I just don’t pay very much for it =)
Holly@ClubThrifty recently posted…December Budget Breakdown and Shutterfly Giveaway
Nice stuff for not much money, sounds like a win-win to me Holly!
Adam @ Money Bulldog recently posted…At what age should you be allowed to retire?
This is a very good article and it really brings up a few good points. I believe that a lot of parents find the need to overdo things with their Children when really, a few second hand and a few free days out will be fine.
Great guest post.
Speaking from a relatively non-authorative position as not actually a parent, although I have a young neice and nephew (4 and 7) – I would say that kids cost as much as you want to spend on them, especially at the young ages. The 7 year old is starting to “want” the latest gadgets and computer games but on the other hand can still be amused by running around and making things out of old cardboard, which I think could last at least a couple more years.
I think some people go way overboard on younger kids and if they are buying expensive clothes etc it is just to show off to their friends. Get a life, no one is impressed with that shiz!
I survived on hand me downs in the main and turned out alright (ish) 🙂
theFIREstarter recently posted…2014 Aspirations
Once you’ve paid big money for a toy only to see the child enjoy the box it came in more than the toy, you start looking for simpler entertainment. We’re always looking for something physical and / or outdoors to do rather than sitting in front of a TV or board game all day.
Specific to clothes, most churches in the US have a kids clothing exchange where you can bring your old clothes to swap for larger ones. If you’re not a church-goer there may be formal or informal exchanges in your area where you can do the same. A quick web search will often find something nearby.