Frugal Parenting

These days, parents are under a lot of pressure to hold lavish birthday parties for their children. Some parents are spending $5,000-10,000 on a birthday party for a small child! While this is hard for me to believe, it is happening (and not just for children of celebrities; these are ordinary families we’re talking about.

Where is the pressure coming from? Mostly from other parents, and then from kids who have been desensitized and think it’s completely normal to have a limo or a band at their birthday party.

Are you facing that kind of pressure?  If so, check out the site Birthdays Without Pressure .  It’s a great resource for parents who want their children to feel special on their birthdays, but don’t necessarily think that it should cost a lot of money. The site gives examples of the kinds of out of control parties that are happening, and also gives tips and ideas for keeping your children’s parties simple .

Check it out.

I found an interesting concept that I’m thinking about using for my baby shower - the Alternative Gift Registry . If you care about frugality and buying things used, this registry is pretty awesome. I’m not sure how my friends and family would take such a registry, but it sounds like a neat idea.

Some of the things that can be added to an alternative registry include - used baby clothes, babysitting, dinners, cloth diapers, etc. Here is a sample baby registry , so you can see how it works. You can also use it for a wedding registry as well. Pretty interesting concept, huh?

I like it. Because sometimes I think that all this new stuff we’re getting for our baby really isn’t necessary - we would be just as happy with used items. (In fact, just about every item of clothing we have for our baby is either used already by cousins or bought at a yard sale.)

Whether or not I use the Alternative Gift Registry , I really like the concept. What do you think?

A great way to save yourself money is to look for ways to reuse what you already have and make it into something you need. Not only can this save money, but it also helps prevent waste, as you’re not buying something brand-new.

There are so many ways to reuse things. Here are a couple of examples. We just moved into a new house, and there is a small kitchen window that doesn’t have blinds or curtains. We almost bought a new curtain for it, but decided instead to take a curtain we already have and cut it down to the right size for the kitchen window. Easy, and doesn’t cost us anything!

We are also wondering how to decorate our bedroom wall. We used to have a painting that hung over our bed, but we decided it looked better in the living room. Now our bedroom wall is bare. I decided that to save money (and also to be retro and cool), we would buy a few record albums from the local thrift store and find a way to decorate the wall with cool album covers. It will only cost us a couple dollars, and we’re making use of something that already had a use.

We’ve also taken forks from a thrift store and bent them into a shape that makes them good picture or postcard holders. You can also take old clothing such as T-shirts and cut them into cleaning rags, baby wipes, or even baby diapers.

There are endless possibilities for reusing stuff, plus it’s fun to try and make things last longer.  What are some things you like to reuse for different purposes?

If you’re a young parent, you might worry about being able to provide for your child through college and beyond. After all, college is terribly expensive, and it only makes sense to want to help. However, there is something to consider: Studies are showing that adult children who receive monetary help from their parents are ultimately being financially crippled.

Adult children of parents who routinely give them money actually accumulate and have less wealth than those whose parents don’t do this. Check out the article here .

I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t help your child in college or whenever you feel you should. There are times when children struggle and can use a boost. I know my parents helped me as much as they could while I was in college, and I was always very grateful for it. But I also worked during the summers and took a part-time job during the school year. I helped myself, too.

What I am saying, though, is that it might not be necessary or even wise to save up hundreds of thousands of dollars so that we can make sure our children have every luxury while in college. The message I’ve been getting is that if you don’t have $100,000 for your child’s college education, your kid is screwed. But that article is easing my mind a bit. Our children need to learn to make their own way, too.

Oh my goodness! I have found one of the BEST resources for parents of infants or young children  who are looking to save money by making their own products. Make Baby Stuff .  If you are hoping to save money by making baby food, baby wipes, cleaning products, or a variety of other things - this is the site for you!

Make Baby Stuff shares tons of simple projects you can do to save money. I want a baby wrap for my baby, but they can cost from $25-$60. Guess what? Turns out you can make your own with a few yards of fabric. You don’t even have to know how to sew.

That’s just one project that will save you money.  Check out  Make Baby Stuff for tons of other money-saving baby projects.

Okay, so we all know that yard sales are great ways to get great stuff for low prices. But not all yard sales finds are created equal. Here is a tip I discovered today: The time of day you show up at the yard sale matters a great deal.

If you get to the yard sale early, you’ll get the pick of all the best items for sale. This is helpful, because often a lot of the good stuff sells first, and if you get there late, you’re picking among stuff that may or may not belong in the garbage can.

But if you get to the yard sale late, you can get amazing prices on items. Because the sellers realize that all the junk left is probably not going to sell and they’ll be stuck with packing up boxes of crap, they sometimes drastically reduce their prices.

That’s what happened to me today. I showed up at a yard sale at noon, which is about the time yard sales start winding down. The family still had tables and boxes worth of baby clothes. Earlier in the yard sale, they were selling each item of baby clothing for $1 to $2. By the time I got there, they were handing out large garbage bags and asking $10 per bagful of clothing.

My husband and I filled a garbage bag completely full of clothing, paid the $10, and counted up our items. We got around 40 items of pants, shirts, and onesies, 10 hats and bibs, and about 10 pairs of baby socks. That’s 60 items for $10. (And these were Baby Gap, Old Navy, Baby Guess brands.) So we paid between 15-20 cents per item. Not bad!

So my advice is this: If you’re looking for rock bottom prices, show up at the end of the yard sale. You can find some great deals that way!

Have you ever set a goal to only spend money on ‘necessary’ items for a month? I haven’t, but I have heard of those who have tried, and I’m in awe of them. I’m also thinking about doing it myself. Maybe I should start with a necessary items week, because a month would be hard for me!

The way it would work is that you commit to only spend money on items that are necessary during whatever time period you specify. Your definition of ‘necessary’ will of course vary from mine - but that’s the point. There is no one-size-fits-all budget. You have to find out what works for you.

Anyway, for the goal period, you commit to only spend money on necessaries, and to record all money spent for that time period. Anybody willing to commit for a week with me? A week doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a start. And then it can build to two weeks, then three, and then a whole month! We can do this!

I commit to only spend money on necessary items for the week of June 1st through June 7th. Anybody with me?

I don’t yet have a baby (though I will very soon!), but I’m putting a lot of thought into the things I would like to do when the baby arrives. One of those things is to make my own baby food. Not only is it the more frugal choice, I feel that it is also healthier. I get to control the freshness of the food, the types of ingredients that go into the food, and other things like organic, locally grown, etc.

But let’s get down to the fact that it’s cheaper! Because from everything I read, making your own baby food is much cheaper than buying the jars from the store. I read an article today on Baby Fit that gives tips for making your own baby food . The article is worth a read, but this is what I got out of it:

• Cleanliness is paramount, so keep your kitchen clean and sterile when making baby food. This includes thoroughly washing the foods before processing them.
• Make nutritious choices and follow doctor’s recommendations when making your food. Choose fruits and vegetables that are fresh or frozen.
• Choose foods and textures that are appropriate for your baby’s age and development. For example, a younger baby won’t be able to handle anything more than puree.
• Make sure to store the food properly. Homemade baby food can be refrigerated for up to three days. To store it longer, fill an ice cube tray with the baby food, and then once frozen, store the frozen pieces in a zip lock baggie. Pretsto! You’ve got baby food whenever you need it.

The article also includes some easy baby food recipes, so check it out and give them a try.

Back to the topic of saving money on food. Rachel, at Antithete , recently did a post on how to eat on $250 a month . That amount would be amazing to me, as I am sure we easily could spend double that amount on food.

Rachel gives detailed directions on how to do it - it involves a lot of planning, some trial and error, and spending 1/2 day at several grocery stores. That may be too much for you, but I think it’s worth giving it some thought. I would love to reduce our food bill, so I may give some of her tips a try.

Her method involves making a menu for the whole month, and it also includes remembering to budget snacks in, which is something I don’t always do. Anyway, if you’re curious, take a look at her post here , and then tell me what you think. Is it doable? Do you have a method that works well for you?

Gasoline prices are hideous right now, and I think they are only going to go up. This doesn’t bode well for a lot of things like food prices, airline tickets, etc. But right now, the concern for me is how to spend less at the gas pump. Here are some tips I’ve gleaned from several other sources:

• Carpool. And not just for work, though it’s a bonus if you can find a carpool buddy or two for getting to work. I’m also talking about carpooling to a party, church activity, or even carpooling with a neighbor to go grocery shopping. Every little bit helps!
• Bundle your errands. Pick one day a week as errand day, and try to only run all your important errands all at once.
• Take the bus. If you have a public transportation system in your area, consider using it.
• Ride a bike or walk. If there’s something close by, consider doing the healthy thing and biking or walking!
• Spend time at home. This one is hard if you like to go out a lot, but you may want to plan more family activities at home or in the neighborhood park.
• Vacation close to home. If you’re taking a family vacation, it may be in your best interest to chose a destination that’s not too far away. Sometimes even a vacation in your own city can be nice. How often do you do the tourist thing at home?!
• Fill your tires to the correct pressure. Incorrect air pressure can eat up gas, so make sure your car tires are filled correctly.
• Maintain your vehicle. Get regular tuneups, and make sure the car is in proper working order.
• Don’t drive over 55mph. You lose efficiency at that point, so don’t speed!
• Drive consistently. Accelerating and decelerating quickly causes you to burn quickly through gas, so keep your pace consistent.
• Don’t load the car up with stuff. The lighter the car, the better gas mileage you’re going to get.
• Coast to a stop at stoplights. If you anticipate stops take your foot off the gas immediately, you’ll save a bit on gas.

There are tons of money-saving tips for saving on gasoline, but these are a good start. I hope you can implement one or two  to save money. Do you have any money-saving tips for reducing your gas bill?