How to Save Money Raising a Family
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When I originally planned this post, my intention was for it to be about saving money while raising a large family, but the thing is – all these tips will work for families with one child to many children! And really, while we have four kids, our family isn’t that big in the scheme of things. So, if you’re struggling with whether or not to start a family, to add more littles to your brood, or just need some ways to save a little here and there while you raise your babies, I hope this gives you some pointers on how to do so!
- Buy used/secondhand. We buy everything we can second hand, but there are a few things that we don’t. Those items are car seats, mattresses, intimates and upholstered furniture. Everything else is fair game. The biggest savings for us buying used is our children’s clothing! We check out consignment sales (you can find some in your area HERE), local children’s consignment stores, thrift stores, yard sales and the Facebook marketplace. I usually get the best bang for my buck at one our favorite local consignment stores. I pay $15/year to be a preferred shopper, this allows me to bring all of our name brand, great condition clothing and children items any time of the year. They store them, put them out on the floor during the right season and I make 40% on the sale of each of my items, I get 10% off my purchases if I don’t use store credit, and 20% off if I do. My favorite time to go is when they have $1 sales right before the new season, this past week I purchased $250 worth of clothes for $0. The entire purchase was covered by my store credit, and even if I had to pay, it would have been less than $30!
- Utilize items that are reusable. There are so many ways to save money just by reusing items that you use frequently. Cloth diapers, cloth wipes, reusable breast pads for nursing, fabric paper towels, water bottles, reusable snack bags, grocery bags, menstrual cups, cloth menstrual pads, glass spray bottles, etc etc. That’s just a few. Now I’ll admit, we no longer use cloth diapers or wipes, I have yet to perfect my laundry routine and that was just an additional headache. HOWEVER, I highly recommend trying it, we loved them with our older two kids! Some of my favorite brands of cloth diapers were Mama Koala, Buttons, and Rumparooz! You may pay a little more upfront with these items, but in the long run you could save hundreds of dollars.
- Meal Plan. This is a biggie. Create a meal plan and stick to your grocery list. We don’t always stick to our meal schedule 100%, but we do make all of the meals, even if it’s out of order. Having a plan discourages you from eating out, and you can plan meals your family enjoys and looks forward too. I also like utilizing Walmart Grocery Pick Up – I can add my groceries as I create my meal plan and adjust as needed to stick to our budget. If you haven’t tried it yet, you can click HERE to get $10 off your first order of $50 or more!
- Go Cable Free. Yep… it’s time to turn off your satellite or cable TV! You don’t have to deprive yourself though! There are so many great options out there right now. We utilize multiple streaming services and pay for a year upfront so that we don’t have the added expense each month. Philo is a great, affordable option for cable. It offers some of our favorite channels, including HGTV, Nick Jr., DIY, Food Network and the Hallmark Channels! Get $5 off by clicking HERE. Another streaming service we enjoy is Hulu, this service has a Live TV option, or you can opt for the cheaper basic version where you can watch your shows the day after they air. Philo doesn’t offer major networks like ABC, so we watch those shows here. We also enjoy Netflix, Vudu, Disney+ and Amazon Prime!
- Go to the Library! You don’t have to purchase every book you want to read, nor do you need to buy every book on the recommended lists from your homeschool curriculum (if you homeschool). Public libraries are a wonderful resource and most of the time if they don’t have something you need, if you ask, they can find it in a neighboring library or add it to their purchase list! We love going, and I love that not only can we get lots of books to read, we can also participate in events they hold for children and occasionally we check out their book sales. That’s one time I will purchase books – you can get books for .25-$1!
- Budget. It’s very important to put a name to every dollar that comes into your finances. We follow Dave Ramsey and The Budget Mom when it comes to our finances. We made some stupid mistakes early on in our marriage when it came to our finances, but this year we are seeing big strides happening in our debt payoff and how we handle our money. I have a budget binder to keep track of everything, we pay off our debt with the snowball method, and we keep an emergency fund!
Those are just a few ways we save money in our household, but there are so many more ways to keep some cash in your wallet. Let me know how you save money in your household in the comments below! I’d love to hear what your family does! As always, thanks for following our adventures and God Bless!
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