How did you save money when your kids are/were young?

[wishesuponastar]

I would buy most of their clothes from ebay.

We didn't go out to eat that often.

At one time we only had one car.

We went camping in a tent for our vacation.

 

[Judique]

Got a 2nd and 3rd job.

 

[crisi]

I didn't buy my kids a lot of toys (somehow, there was still a household full of them), and I didn't register my kids for a ton of activities (but my son still managed to make the high school basketball team and my daughter still gets cast in the plays despite not doing traveling baseball and dance).

We seldom went out on a date - unless my mother could take the kids. Babysitters would easily double the cost of a movie night.

 

[wishesuponastar]

Us too, we didn't go on dates until recently now that the kids are teens. We also didn't buy them a lot of toys and not a big budget at Christmas either.

 

[bjscheel]

We were very cheap on Christmas because they got so much especially from DHs side. Also no activities, we live 11 miles from town so no extra driving and they just played at home! I bought clothes from thrift stores and eBay, and then sold the outgrown stuff on eBay for about as much as I'd paid originally. We didn't go a lot of places without them, but we always had free babysitting with Gma or Aunt.

 

[Eureka]

I sold a lot of their clothes on eBay when they were outgrowing them before wearing them much. Plus back then it was easier to sell, fewer fees, etc. I'd also pick up clothes for them at the thrift stores when I went to find treasures to sell - I did really well for awhile buying stuff like Hanna Andersson and turning it around for a nice profit. Those were the days; now I only list Halloween costumes and the odd speciality item like sports jerseys when they're outgrown.

We also didn't really go out to eat more than once in a blue moon until they were like 4 and 6 years old. Not worth the hassle, and we didn't have the money then. I also did mystery shopping for fast food places and my supermarket. Didn't earn much but it was fun, kept me busy (I wasn't always working back then) and scored free food.

 

[julezdisney]

Goodwills, ebay and stain treatment sprays! I bought and sold their clothes. Even now, she's 12 and we sell the pricier things on Facebook sale groups in our area when we are looking into splurging on extras. Layaways for Christmas...

 

[barkley]

lived near a carter's outlet so when they were really little bought stuff on the clearance racks. later on with clothes for dd-if she needed an item that was identical to one manufactured for boys (like thermal w/no button shirts) got her the boys-lasted longer and then could be passed down to ds. for fancy dresses for her/me- went to goodwill or salvation army b/c there were ones that were obviously only worn once prior (likely on a cruise, in a wedding or for family photos).

kids/us didn't do any pay for participation activities. didn't do all the area carnivals or fairs-opted instead for maybe one 'special outing' a year (once it was the circus, another time 'sesame street on ice')-ended up costing WAY less.

when they got into wanting to rent movies or video games (the old blockbuster brick and mortars) they were each allocated $5 per week in 'entertainment money' to spend as they chose on this stuff. amazing how much more selective they were when they were spending 'their' money.

power cooked on weekends to avoid resorting to to-go or restaurant foods.

grew our own veggies/fruit-canned what we couldn't consume immediately.

dates???? what are those???? we didn't have family to watch our kids so it was never a consideration.


biggest saving though-cut my hours at work. had cpa run the numbers and despite reducing my gross by 25% i ended up netting more by virtue of no afterschool childcare and being in a lower tax bracket.

 

[tvguy]

Nothing earth shaking. Bought clothing on sale. Didn't buy my son the $350 aluminum bat for Little League, he used the bats the league provided for free. No $75 private baseball lessons for our son, or soccer lessons for our daughter. Both kids took piano lessons, because we had a piano, no need to buy another instruments.
Date night for DW and I was at Sizzler where we could get a steak for $15, not Ruth Chris where it is $45 plus $5 for a baked potato.