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15 Frugal Ways to Raise Kids in This Economy

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Raising children has never been more costly than as we roll along in 2024. Since 2016, the cost of nurturing a child for a year has increased by 41.5%. This year’s estimates set it at $25,714 for just one year of raising one child. 

Now multiply that by $25,714 for one child,  times the average household size of 1.94 children per family for the same year. That turns into $49,885 for one year of getting your children through a 12-month cycle. That’s a serious investment if you keep it capped at that price for the entirety of their non-adult lifespan. 

It’s no wonder more and more adults and couples are choosing to live child-free today. As of December 2023, according to a Michigan State University study, one in every five adults in the US is now choosing to live child-free. However, for couples planning to have a child or are already parents, there are several ways to reduce the high cost of child-rearing, even in 2024. Here are some of our favorite cost-reduction methods. 

1. Thrifting is Frugal

Stuffed toys in Thrift Stores.
Image Credit: Aisyaqilumar/Depositphotos.

Thrift stores are the hidden gem of frugal living and cost-cutting. Clothes, blankets, furniture, baby gear, and all manner of trinkets can all be found secondhand for really great prices. Children, especially when they are young, grow through clothes so fast. On special occasions, purchase brand-name items. For everyday wear, thrift store buys are cheap and ideal. 

I love to score great finds at the thrift store. It’s like a treasure hunt to wade through the racks for each child and find the gifts. One of my children found a very nice pair of Old Navy jeans for a dollar at our local thrift store. We’ve also scored anime shirts, pretty winter sweaters, and a queen-sized bedroom set at a considerable discount over buying brand-new ones. 

2. Groceries for Less

ALDI
credits: Mickis-Fotowelt/depositphotos

Feeding children requires knowledge of budgeting. As children grow, their food intake increases as their activity level rises. Finding ways to get healthy nutrients into their bodies can be challenging when you’re working on a budget that might not allow a lot of grocery shopping. 

Thankfully, discount stores like Save-a-Lot and Aldi offer many low-priced options for butter, eggs, milk, bread, fresh produce, meat, and other food staples. These discount grocery stores help parents who want to live frugally stretch their food budgets to feed their families. 

3. Clearance and Garage Sales

Smiling woman in a garage sale MSN
Image Credit: Dmyrto_Z/Depositphotos.

Finding clearance and garage sale items is like thrift store shopping, except you can sometimes find exceptional items for a meager price. The saying, “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure,” rings true in instances like this. 

Clothes, furniture, appliances, and children’s gear are easy-to-find items that can save you a bundle over retail store prices. These valuable items can usually be found for next to nothing, making them perfect for helping parents raise their children cheaply. Another great thing about sales like these is that you can flip your own used items you no longer use to make some money, gaining back some of the money you spent on those new-to-you items. 

4. Coupons

Coupon
Credit: Shutterstock

While you might not be a couponer with a grocery store in your garage, learning to use coupons on things you regularly buy can help save you some green in the long run. In-store and manufacturer coupons can go a long way in helping you save on everything from groceries to household goods. Online coupons are especially handy when shopping online for everything from coffee to shoes and beauty products to basic toiletries. 

You can even involve your children if they’re old enough to use scissors. Helping them cut out the coupons gives you a way to explain why and how you use them, passing down that financial knowledge to the next generation. 

5. Cut Cable Television

Cut Cable
Credit: Depositphotos

While adding up all streaming services can undoubtedly be more expensive than cable TV, if you pick one or two streaming services you can’t live without, paying twenty or thirty dollars would be a budget-friendly package compared to Cable TV’s simplest $83. However, you have to be picky. You can’t stream seven or ten platforms and expect to keep your television and movie budget to a minimum. 

If your children are young, pick a streaming platform for parents and one for children or two for the whole family. By choosing your streaming services wisely, you can keep your entertainment spending to a minimum and save the difference in what you would have paid for cable. 

6. Cell Service Doesn’t Have to Cost

ignoring service charge

If you listen to Spotify, YouTube, or any other platform with ads, you’ve likely heard Ryan Reynolds chatting about his Mint Mobile cellphone company. His sarcastic personality offers a fun and refreshing ad spot to express his company’s love of people by cutting the starting price of a Mint Mobile plan from $30 to $15 “due to not hating you.” 

Parents often get sucked into the idea that their children need a phone or a tablet or some other device from the time they can hold one in their hands. However, children don’t need much screen time, so you can nix a child’s device and stick to cell phones for you and your partner. Mint Mobile and Google Fi both offer low-price plans that cater well to living frugally. When the time comes for your children to get a phone, paying the extra $15 or $17 won’t be an issue. 

7. Less Toys More Noise

small toys
Credit: IgorVetushko/Depositphotos

In this age of consumerism, it’s easy to get caught up in buying every new gadget that comes to market. Commercials that target children make it hard for parents to resist the newest toy craze. 

When children are little, they don’t care about toys as long as they can move around and make noise. Most children play with the box longer than the toy, so keeping toy purchases to a minimum can help you save. If you haven’t looked lately, children’s toys are remarkably expensive. Buy one special toy and stash the money you save in a certificate of deposit, high-yield savings account, or college savings plan. 

8. Free Food Finds

Eating Food
Credit: Depositphotos

Going out to eat when you have children can be a lesson in waste management. When my husband and I had our two oldest daughters, we’d order macaroni and cheese at most restaurants because our girls loved it at home. Our meals would come and go, and our girls would graze off our plates more than they’d ever touch their mac-n-cheese. 

One great way to enjoy eating out is to find restaurants that allow children to eat free on given days. Anniversaries and birthdays can also be free food days, so call ahead to see if your favorite eatery offers a deal for those special occasions. 

9. Pay Yourself First

investment portfolio
Credit: Depositphotos

We all know that putting money where you can’t get to it easily is the best way to keep from spending it. Adopting a “pay yourself first” mindset will help you keep more of your savings in investments and accounts that can grow your nest egg, no matter how little you start with. Work up your income until you can invest 20% of your disposable earnings and stick to it. 

By investing that 20%, you’ll be able to manage your bills and enjoy the rest without feeling guilty about not saving anything back. Investing this amount is also a great financial move to teach your older children who may be working a summer or after-school job. Helping them learn how to move this money can set them up for financial success far into their futures. 

10. Plan the Ultimate Staycation

Family setting the table
Image Credit: mjth/Depositphotos.

Vacations get expensive quickly when you’re traveling with children. Eating out alone can significantly dent your spending. Thankfully, you can find fun and adventurous ways to enjoy quality time together without even leaving your house or hometown. A little sprucing up can turn your home into the coolest kid-friendly hotel, complete with turn down and room service and tiny soaps that small children love. 

Make a fun dinner, rent a movie, and let them stay up “late.” Get creative with a surprise treat for their room and let them “order in” for breakfast in the morning. Give them “checkout” instructions for when their “stay” is to end and discount coupons for a return visit. Trips to local parks, museums, hiking trails, and stargazing are also great options for outdoor staycations. 

11. Buy in Bulk

Bulk
Credit: Depositphotos

If there’s one thing that adds up quickly when you’re raising children, it’s food. Groceries in 2024 range from $976 to $1585 a month, depending on your budget. Purchasing your food, especially your meat, in bulk can save you considerably. 

In Florida, where I live, some ranchers will sell you half a fully butchered and packaged steer for around $3,000. That’s 220 lbs of fresh meat from a grass-fed cow that can immediately go into a deep freezer to feed your family for a year. Hog farmers usually offer a similar deal on a half or whole pig if you enjoy pork. Poultry and fish farmers also offer bulk buy options for chicken, turkey, duck, and fresh fish and seafood

12. Gardening 101

Gardening
Credit: Depositphotos

A few years back, I purchased some Roma tomatoes from our local grocery store, excited to use them in a salad. However, they tasted like water instead of juicy tomatoes when we tried them. When we ran into that problem with other vegetables, my husband and I also decided to try our hand at growing our own produce. 

Fruit trees like apples, cherries, grapefruit, etc., take years to produce fruit. Vegetables are a different story. You’ll undoubtedly have to put in time, effort, and some money to get started, but being able to harvest fresh vegetables and herbs is worth all the time and toil. Biting into a beautiful tomato ripened by the sun is an experience not to be missed. Gardening is also a lot of fun for children as they watch the produce grow and harvest food from their hard work. Like buying your meat in bulk, gardening can save you heaps on your grocery bill for fresh produce.  

13. Sun-dried Sheets

sheets
Credit: Depositphotos

One of my favorite frugal activities is hanging my sheets on a clothesline to dry. When they come in, they’re dry, warm, and smell like sunshine and happiness. And when you crawl into bed at night after a shower, it’s like heaven. 

Hanging your sheets and clothes on a line to dry is an excellent way to save money on your electric bill and help the environment. You won’t need to run the dryer as often. Children go through clothes like water, especially during the school year when they switch from school clothes to play clothes at least once daily. Spend a month hanging their clothes up to dry and see how it affects your energy bill. 

14. Do-It-Yourself

DIY
Credit: Depositphotos

With a bit of elbow grease and a few key ingredients, you can make most of the convenience items you purchase at home instead. Soaps, lotions, cleaners, detergents, candles, and other items can all be made at home. 

Creating your own bathroom and kitchen supplies can save hundreds of dollars over a year, especially when you add in how often little ones need to bathe. If your children are older, it’s a great way to spend quality time and teach them self-sustainability and even a trade that could help them earn a nice side income.  

15. Cow and Goat Shares

milk
Credit: Depositphotos

When I was growing up, I loved to drink cold milk. No one in my family has an allergy to it, which was a common practice. However, getting milk straight from a cow isn’t often available in the US unless you work through a cow-share agreement. 

In a cow-share agreement (this can also work for goats or herd shares), you pay a cow farmer a fee to board your cow. In exchange for this fee, you can pick up the fresh milk from your cow. You can make fresh cheese, butter, sour cream, cottage cheese, heavy whipping cream, cream cheese, and half and half from this milk. Imagine the savings on all that product if you could make it yourself!

I’m Frugal: Here Are My Top 19 Money-Saving Tips That Actually Work

Mature man looking at the meat display.
Image Credit: SimpleFoto.

Have you ever been short on money and couldn’t buy what you needed? I remember when I had to buy medications for my sick aunt. At the time, my family and I were struggling financially, and my parents couldn’t help. So I used up my savings to help her. It made me feel helpless and powerless. I didn’t ever want to be in the position that I couldn’t afford necessities for me or my family.

I’m Frugal: Here Are My Top 19 Money-Saving Tips That Actually Work

15 Unique Ways To Cut Your Monthly Spending Bill

cooking at home
Credit: Depositphotos

Creating a budget is a big part of adulting. Maybe everybody doesn’t like working on their budgets, but ensuring you have enough money to cover your monthly expenses is important. 

15 Unique Ways To Cut Your Monthly Spending Bill

17 Things You Should Absolutely Never, Ever Buy at a Thrift Store

Woman looking at the quality of Thrift store items.
Image Credit: photography33/DepositPhotos.

Whether you want to save some money or minimize your carbon footprint, thrift stores offer many benefits for you and your family. Thrift stores are a lifeline for those on a budget. They also allow people to promote environmental sustainability practices by reusing pre-loved items. However, not everything sold at thrift stores is a wise purchase.

17 Things You Should Absolutely Never, Ever Buy at a Thrift Store

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