Kids cost money. There’s no denying that.
There are lots of ways to keep the costs of kids down. Using cloth diapers, buying your baby and kid stuff used, and saving on kids clothes are great ways to cut down on the cost of raising children.
But what I want to focus on today is how kids will actually save you money.
What? Kids can save you money?
I know that kids will inevitably cost you more than they save you, but humor me here. There are some legitimate ways that having kids saves you money. Here are a few:
You Eat Out Less
In my experience, limited as it is, I would say that people with kids eat out less than people who don’t have children. We definitely ate out more before we had kids. Of course there are plenty of people with no kids that still don’t eat out much (and if you read my blog than you are probably one of them, my frugal friends). Eating out with kids, especially at sit-down restaurants, is often more hassle than it’s worth. Not eating out is a great way to save money.
You Go Out Less
Having kids changes your social life. That’s not a bad thing. You just settle down. Your evenings and weekends are filled with family more than friends. And when you do get together with friends, it’s often with friends who also have kids. Between being home for an early bedtime and forgoing more expensive entertainment, you’ll save money by going out less.
You Don’t Shop For Fun
There were days when browsing the mall was fun. Just looking around Target used to be enjoyable (and you know you’re never “just looking”). When you have kids, shopping isn’t as fun anymore. You’re doing good if you end up with more than half of the things on your list and less than half of your family crying (or is it just me?).
You Don’t Buy High-End Stuff
While I have young kids, you can bet that I’m not spending money on expensive carpet or furniture or clothes or [insert anything]. I don’t want the stress that comes with making sure my kids don’t wreck my nice stuff. As I type, I am looking through scratches and crayon smudges on the computer monitor. My husband would be tempted to purchase a new one if we didn’t still have kids wielding metal objects and crayons. For now we’ll chalk it up to the kids saving us money.
My dad experimented with another way that his kids could potentially save him money. When he heard that girls golf scholarships were going unclaimed, he decided to put my sister and me in golf lessons. After losing a half a dozen balls (each) in water hazards, my sister and I proved that chasing after golf scholarships wasn’t going to save any of us money on college tuition and there would be no LPGA winnings funding his retirement.
How About You?
Of course everyone’s experience is different. Maybe having kids hasn’t curbed your eating out. Maybe you love to shop with your kids. I could be way off in my assumptions. Feel free to tell me what you think (just do it nicely).
- Have your kids saved you money in any of the ways mentioned?
- Can you get creative and think of any other ways that your kids save you money?
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Ha my sibling batted lefty, so my dad tried to get them really into baseball. It didn’t work out. 🙂
We definitely go out less now that we have kiddos. It can be so stressful even just getting them in the car! I have a feeling the savings benefit is going to be switched on its head when we get to the teen years, though.
I totally agree with these! I’m much more cognizant of our spending habits (even with just 2 kids!) and we are more frugal with our food budget, too.
Kids can save you money, because they are like free entertainment. When my son was a baby we could spend hours just watching him. Who needs cable tv or the movie theater when you have your kids keeping you entertained.
I love that kids give you a built-in excuse any time you just really couldn’t be bothered. “I’m so sorry, great-aunt Hilda, I’d love to attend your 90th birthday party, but unfortunately it’s too far to travel with the kids.” I use my kids to get out of Christmas with the in-laws every year. (My BIL is a fundamental Muslim who has, over the years, demanded the rest of the family refrain from doing pretty much anything Christmas-related, and in the interests of keeping family peace, everyone else has gone along with it. But I say, what’s Christmas without presents and stockings and Santa and Christmas music and special foods and a Nativity and reading Luke 2 and wishing people a Merry Christmas and watching cheesy Christmas movies and a Christmas tree and decorations and Christmas stories? Take those things away, and you just have a miserable, boring day with the in-laws, and I can have that any day of the year.)
Kids also give you a built-in excuse any time you really want to do something. “We should take the kids to the zoo, it’s good for them.” (I have a friend who doesn’t have kids, who loves shopping for her friends’ kids because it gives her an excuse to go to toy stores.)
We travel with kids, and find it’s not that much more expensive than travelling as a couple. But then we are pros at picking up cheap airfares, and the places we tend to go are so cheap, we actually save money by going on holidays. (SE Asia is a very cheap place to fly for us; and living costs while we are there are less than living costs while we are here; so, fly to Thailand, set yourself up in a nice hotel right on the beach, eat local, bum around at the beach all day, go to a market and do your Christmas shopping by buying everything a $3 pashmina or silk cushion covers or little elephant trinket, and come back to a bank account that has more money than when we left.)
My husband and I definitely ate out a whole lot more often than we do now! With three kids, it is certainly difficult to eat out, so we go out to eat about once a month. And, when we do go out, we tend to go to the “kids eat free” type of places, so even that costs less! We also don’t go out for drinks very often anymore. It is much cheaper to make them at home, and saves us on getting a babysitter.
That’s a great idea to go to the “kids eat free” places when you do go out!
Those times we did splurge and go to a movie we would make sure to wait and go to the dollar cinema or go during the matinee showing as opposed to paying the full price movie ticket. Back when movie rental businesses were prevalent, we utilized them often too by renting a movie first before we would decide if we wanted to buy the video. When my 4 boys were young, I certainly spent more time planning outings during the museum’s free days as well. In our case, the free time was on Tuesday between 2-5 pm; nap times were well-planned out in advance:). We also taught our sons to use the lawn equipment and help with that weekly chore as opposed to hiring a yard service to mow each week.
Having kids take care of the lawn is a great way for them to contribute and learn to work!
Everything you posted is completely true! I have not purchased a new couch because even though it would be much nicer, I would have a stroke if my kids jumped on it! We do eat out less because my 3 year old will rarely be still or quiet which humiliates me and offends others. This also makes it more special when we do get to eat out on a rare date night. I do mostly only shop for things we need and rarely buy myself the high end things I used to wear. I realized that when you get older high end brands aren’t that important. Also, we spend less on vacations. An example, we have mostly drivable vacation destinations as opposed to flying because we would have to buy too many pricy tickets. And we pack our food because we would have to feed 4 people every meal if we didn’t. Kids just make you think a lot more about everything that you do.
Yes! The last time we all flew was when we only had two kids (and one was a newborn). Driving may not be a good option if you’re alone, but the more people you put in the car, the better per-person rate you get. Flying gets more expensive with each additional person!
This is really looking at the glass as half full! I love it, and never thought about it. Once I had my first, I switched to cleaning with vinegar, and water to cut out chemicals, and that’s been a lot cheaper. I never cared about toxic stuff before.
That’s a good one Patti! Thanks for sharing!
We’ve switched to “no poo” or “sham free” for washing hair — same concept as what Patti suggested.
1 cup water
1 tablespoon baking soda
I triple it to fit the container and it lasts my husband and I about a week. Our hair has never looked better! And it feels very soothing on the scalp. And its almost free!
That’s great Susan! Was there an adjustment time for your hair to “detox” from normal shampoo?
I spend a lot more on clothes with the kiddo around. I hate buying clothes for myself unless they’re unfit to be worn in public (and even then…), but I love buying them for the kiddo. She has more clothes than I’ve ever seen in one place – probably because Grammy loves buying her clothes too! We also spend more on zoo/science museum memberships with her – but we’re saving over buying individual tickets. We do do a lot more “Free” things – either really free or something we’ve already paid for like a pool membership or such.
I know what you mean! I hate shopping for clothes for myself, especially if I have to try them on. I would much rather buy clothes for my kids or my husband!