As parents we want to give our children the very best, but we also have to keep one eye on the budget as well. Maintaining our ‘before kids’ lifestyle can be very important to most parents, but it can sometimes be a real struggle to keep all the balls in the air.
So, here are 6 sensible tips that can help you buy everything you need for your baby, toddler or children, whilst still having enough money left in the budget for your lifestyle choices.
- Buy baby clothes as needed: If you go all out and buy a beautiful wardrobe of clothes for your new baby, you won’t benefit from this in the long run. Your baby will rapidly outgrow their clothes and you have to buy even more. So be judicious and only buy what you need, when you need it.
- Test drive strollers: These are expensive items, so make sure that you test drive one before you buy. You might find a host of finicky problems which will really annoy you, so take your time and test drive different models. Once you have made your decision, then go online and find the store with the biggest online discount for that stroller.
- End of season sales: Your baby, toddler or child will continue to grow at a rapid rate of knots, so check out the end of season sales for some fabulous clothes bargains for next year. You can usually pick up high quality clothes for a few dollars in these sales and save hundreds of dollars, which you can put to better use.
- Know when to splurge: When it comes to large ticket items, such as beds, these are definitely worthwhile spending a little extra on, so you have something that will go the distance. A bed that will transition from toddler right up to 5 years of age, such as this toddler bed from Harvey Norman is a sound investment.
- Shop online: This is such an easy way to compare prices and features of so many different items. Anything from clothes, to furniture and toys, can all be found online. So look for special discounts and free shipping and save even more money online.
- Save money on toys: No baby, toddler or child need a thousand toys, so the easiest way to save money is to NOT buy every toy in the store. You won’t be depriving your child if they only have a dozen or so toys – think back to how many toys we had! Just be sensible with the number of toys you buy and how much you spend on them. Consider swapping toys amongst a group of other parents and you will save even more money.
As you can see, all you need to do to save money is to look for bargains and think ahead.