How to raise your child on a budget
All parents think their child is worth her weight in gold – and that could be literal! Figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimate that families in the $68,000 plus income bracket spend almost $15,000 a year raising their child from birth onwards. So clearly that growing bump could come complete with a serious financial impact!
A lot of that expenditure is essential – kids need stuff, after all, and as your family gets larger you may need to up-shift into a larger home and buy a bigger car. Plus, you’ll be saving for college. But if you’re spending more than you can afford in an attempt to keep up with the Joneses, or simply can’t say no to your child you could be in danger of running into a money crunch.
In fact, raising your child needn’t cost a fortune and budgeting can get even easier with an older child, since you won’t have to invest so much money in setting her up with big ticket items like her crib and stroller. Here are gurgle’s tips for balancing your family budget with your older child…
1. Learn to say no to your child
This is something you need to do from early on in order to avoid
tantrums in the toy aisle if your toddler or preschooler has gotten used to getting a treat each time you go to the store. Don’t fall into the habit of thinking it’s OK just to buy something in the dollar section of the store, since it’s cheap – your child really won’t grasp the concept of some things costing more and will just keep expecting you to pay up whether that treat costs a buck or ten times that. Try to explain to your child that you live on a budget and that needs have to come before wants.
2. Be smart about style
Clothing kids always costs a fortune because they outgrow things so fast. Have you visited your local thrift store yet? They’re a great source of lightly worn kids’ clothes, books and toys. Yard sales also are a great place to get clothes, as is your local Freecycle network (www. freecycle.org). And even if your tastes run to designer kit for your child, wholesale and outlet stores usually have a great choice of last-season labels. Another money-saving tip is to buy neutral-colored clothing that can be shared easily among siblings, regardless of whether they’re boys or girls.
3. Hunt for hand-me-downs
Let relatives and friends know you are in the market for any hand-me-downs that might be able to pass on. Know a friend with a big girl and a little boy while you have the opposite? See if she’d like to swap her daughter’s outgrown girl clothes for your son’s outgrown boy clothes.
4. Join the library
It’s hands-down the very best way to get a changing supply of
children’s books and many libraries also let you borrow toys for a couple of weeks at a time so you can exchange them for something else once your child is bored of them without having spent a wad of cash on them only to see them cast aside and ignored once the novelty wears off.
5. Pack her a lunch
If you have an older child who attends elementary school, have her brown bag it instead of eating at the cafeteria. It’s also one of the best ways to ensure your child eats healthy instead of choosing French fries and pizza every day just because that’s what her friends eat.
6. Find bargains on the Web
There are thousand of shopping-related websites that allow you to compare costs among similar items. If you need a specific item, type it into your browser’s search engine along with ‘+ discount’, and you can reap the rewards of saving some cash. Auction websites such as ebay and Amazon auctions also are a great source of cheap secondhand goods. Plus, there are any number of coupon websites that enable you to print out money-off coupons for essential groceries and some also tell you when those items are on-sale so you can double up on your saving.
7. Join the club
Join a warehouse club such as Costco or Sam’s Club so you can bulk buy canned goods and other non-perishable items. Team up with a relative or friend, split the cost and divide the booty if you don’t have much storage space to stow large quantities of food.
8. Set up a childcare co-operative
If you work part-time and know two or three other moms who also do, or who don’t work outside the home, see if they might be able to provide
home daycare for your child when you’re at work in return for you having their child when you’re at home. Even if you still have to use
formal daycare a couple of days a week you’ll still save money.
9 Tailor your taxes
Financial help is available or parents. If you and your spouse both
work (or one of you is disabled or a full-time student) you qualify for the Child and Dependent Care Credit. How much you’ll get depends on your income but can cover up to 35 percent of your qualifying expenses and these don’t only apply to childcare and babysitting – the credit also can be set against any home care necessary for you both to work, including your cleaner and summer camp expenses for older children.
And don’t forget the child tax credit. For each child under age 17, (maximum three qualifying children), you will get a credit of $1,000 for 2005. The credit phases out as your income exceeds $110,000 ($75,000 if you’re single).
The information in this feature is intended for educational purposes only. If you have any concerns about your health, the health of your child or the health of someone you know, please consult with a doctor or other healthcare professional.
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Last Modified: 08/03/2009
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