3 of the best money-saving tips I’ve ever received as a mom

Do you like saving money? Here’s how to do it, even with kids in the mix.

Key points

• Raising children is an expensive prospect.
• There are steps you can take to scrape by, even as your expenses keep piling up.

I’ve been a mom for a little over a decade now and I can say that it definitely hasn’t always been easy financially. When my kids were younger, I spent a small fortune on things like diapers, supplies, and daycare. And today, a large part of my earnings goes to pay for summer camp.

But while I definitely had to dip into my savings account on more than one occasion as a mom, I’ve also learned a few ways over the years to keep my expenses to a minimum. Here are three tactics you can consider for yourself.

1. Don’t waste on clothes

There are a plethora of cute outfits that would certainly look adorable on your kids. But do yourself a favor and resist the urge to spend $50 on a single sweater or $60 on a frilly dress. Instead, do what I do: Order a cheaper version on Amazon or see what clothes your local Costco has in stock.

Children’s clothing tends to rip or destroy easily. And even if that doesn’t happen, kids outgrow clothes quickly. It really isn’t worth spending $30 on a single pair of jeans when you can find similar ones for $12.50 at Target.

2. Stay away from activities that require many uniforms

When my daughters were younger, I enrolled them in a gym class for a year. Then I took them out the following year for a big reason: I didn’t want them to have to compete.

It’s bad enough that the cost of the gym itself is over $100 per month, per child. But I found that once the competitions started, I would have to start spending $100 or more on uniforms for those events. And to be clear, we’re talking about single-use uniforms here. Multiply that by five or six gymnastics meets a year, and the cost can become prohibitive.

If your kids are older and passionate about a specific activity, you might want to see if you can find the room in your budget to make that happen. But you may also want to steer them toward activities that won’t break the bank, like I did.

3. Buy the right grocery items in bulk

Kids tend to be snackers, or at least that’s my experience. If you don’t want to rack up a massive credit card bill buying groceries, be sure to stock up on household staples in bulk. Doing so saves me a lot of money and helps me avoid constant trips to the store.

That said, be careful when buying in bulk. You’ll want to stick to tried-and-true products that your kids have been consuming consistently for several weeks at a minimum. If you take a chance on a newer product and buy it in bulk, you run the risk of your kids deciding they hate said item right after you’ve stocked it.

Being a parent is one of the most expensive experiences I’ve ever had. But it is also one of the most rewarding. And while finding ways to spend less money over the years has been a challenge, if you’re willing to make adjustments and get creative, you too can take advantage of your share of the savings.