There are practical ways families can save money. As commonly stated, having kids is expensive. In order to best provide for your kids, it’s important to have good control of your family’s finances. There are so many expenses involved with having kids and often these expenses can get out of control. To make a family budget balance here are 9 + money-saving tips for families:
Disclaimer: I am not a financial planner or expert. All information in the post is my opinion and should not be used as financial advice. This is based solely on my experiences. Any action you take based on the recommendations from this blog is at your discretion.
1. Food
Food usually makes up a large part of a family’s budget. In Canada, the average family of four spends $220/week on groceries. If you spend more than this average amount per month than you can definitely make some changes to save money on food. Meal planning is a really effective way to cut the cost of groceries and it also saves time.
Related post: 9 Steps to effective meal planning
2. Kids’ clothes
Clothes can be another large expense. With each changing season, kids most often need new clothes. Here are 4 tips on how families can save money on clothes for kids.
Hand me downs
Hand me down clothes from friends and families is a great way to save money. When you do need to buy clothes, consider choosing neutral colors so you can pass them down between siblings.
Gifts
When friends and family ask what to get your child as a gift for Christmas or birthdays, suggest needed clothing items. They are usually quite receptive to the idea and it will save you money and time as well.
Clearance
The best time to shop for discounted clothing items is at the end of a season. For example, near the end of summer stores mark down their summer gear. Buy the clothes in 1-2 sizes larger for the next summer. In addition, take advantage of sales around the holidays.
Second-hand items
Look for needed clothing items on Kijiji, consignment stores, Facebook buy/sell groups, and Facebook Marketplace. You can often buy something for a fraction of the price compared to buying it new.
After each season, re-organize your kids’ closets. Purge out-grown clothes to make room for the new items. Then sell the clothes (Kijiji, consignment, Facebook) or hand it down to another family.
3. Cut your kids’ hair
Cutting your kids’ hair can save your family hundreds of dollars too! Invest in a good pair of shears and a comb, watch YouTube videos on how to cut hair and just go for it. Just remember, hair always grows back. Best to start when they are young (so they don’t remember if you’ve given them a bad cut).
4. Repair your kids’ clothes
If you can sew a straight line, then a sewing machine can be quite useful. Hemming pants or simple repairs in kid’s clothes will save you money. If buying a sewing machine is not in your budget, then you can at least buy a needle and thread. Fixing simple tears and re-doing buttons can go a long way.
5. Toys
We can spend so much money on toys! Here are 3 ways families can save money on toys:
Rotate toys
A kid may receive many new toys after a birthday or the Christmas season. The novelty of the new toys wears off quickly and can lead to big messes in the home. Rotating their toys is a great way to target both of those problems. Let them play with a few new toys and then put away the rest. Once they get bored with their current toys, switch them out with new ones and repeat every few weeks. This will help the kids be entertained and prevent you from having to buy new toys.
Buy used toys
Just like clothes, it’s okay to accept hand me down toys and to buy used ones. Look for items on Kijiji, consignment stores, Facebook buy/sell groups, and Facebook Marketplace.
Sell toys
Once a toy is no longer played with, get rid of it. Sell or donate it. It’s amazing how a family can accumulate so many toys.
6. Family activities
Library
The library has so many free things to offer! I totally support borrowing books over buying new books for the kids. Borrowing library books will save you money and the kids will always have new books to read. Libraries often offer free classes and activities for families.
Parks and playgrounds
Go for walks with your family and explore the parks in your neighborhood. Have picnics. These are a great way to spend time together and get fresh air. Your community may have free community events that your family can attend.
Family memberships
If it’s within your family budget, consider getting a family membership to your local zoo, science center or other attractions. As long as you make good use of the membership, it will save you money from buying tickets at each visit.
7. Cash Gifts
When your child receives cash as a gift, carefully consider how that money is best used.
Education Fund (RESPs)
Take the money and invest in their education. In Canada, put the money into an RESP account. By contributing $2500/year per child in an RESP, the Canadian government will, in turn, provide a $500 grant.
Needs vs. Wants
Receiving cash is a great opportunity to teach your child about money. Discuss the importance of needs vs the value of wants. Allowing your child to keep some money to be responsible for starts the life-long education on how to manage finances. In addition to cash gifts, give them a weekly allowance.
8. Get out of debt
Save money by getting out of debt as soon as you can. The longer it takes you to pay off debt (car, student, credit card loans, mortgages) the more money you pay towards interest. Kylie explains 2 different methods on how to pay off debt: Debt Snowball versus Debt Avalanche
9. Budgeting
And saving the best for last – BUDGETS. Not only do budgets help moms save money, it allows you to make smart and conscious decisions on your spending. You are less likely to spend money on unnecessary things. A budget is a PLAN and if you don’t have one, then finances can get out of control. Here are 3 important budgets to have for a family:
Grocery Budget
As mentioned above, food can make up a large portion of a family’s budget. It’s a good area to tackle if your family spends a lot of money on food.
Here are 15 easy ways to stay on track with your grocery budget
Vacation Budget
Going on a vacation with the kids can be quite costly. Ensure you come up with a budget for vacations before planning and booking one. Nikki at She Saves She Travels shares great tips in this article: How to save money for travel: your vacation savings plans
Kids’ school expenses and other activities
School expenses are inevitable. You need to budget for all the school expenses (tuition, bus fees, books, school supplies, field trip fees, camps etc) and include the kids’ extracurricular activities including sports. Some of these may be little things, but they will add up!
Here is a post on How to budget for kids’ school expenses
These 9 + money-saving tips for families will make life and finances easier, efficient and effective. Saving money and having control over your finances will help you to provide the very best for your family.
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These are really helpful tips for saving money. Thanks for sharing!
These are such great tips, saving this baby for the reminders!
Thanks Cate! Glad it was helpful!
Wonderful tips! This is a really great list to come back to. Food budget is always our struggle.
We struggle with our food budget but meal planning definitely has helped our family!
Great tips! I love the part about teaching kids early about being responsible with money. It’s important to lay the foundation for learning to save more than you spend.
I totally agree with teaching kids early about money! As we know, many have money troubles in adult life due to a lack of financial understanding and knowledge