With six kids, I am always looking for out-of-the-box ways to save money on what seems like standard family expenses. So here are a few unique ideas from a Mom of a large family on how to save money while raising kids!
Skip the Barbershop / Hair Salon
We paid a friend to teach us how to cut our own kids' hair so that we could save money on haircuts! If you figure an average of $20/child/month- that's nearly $1500/year! We've done this for more than 10 years- so we're talking about saving the equivalent of the cost of a small car!
You can see the details of how we made this work in this post: How to Save Money on Haircuts for the Family.
Opt-out of school and sports photos
I feel that the idea of having portraits taken at school is outdated.
Like most of us, my phone has pretty amazing digital camera features, and I can take dozens (or hundreds) of shots and choose the one that best captures my child (or at least one where they are looking at the camera and smiling!)
But when I buy school photos, I usually have to purchase the package upfront, before I even know whether or not the kids took a good shot. Even at a professional photography studio, in my experience, they typically only take five to ten shots per child (although they do have pretty cool props and backgrounds!), and with such a limited number of photos- it can be frustrating to pay so much money and not capture their true smile!
And don't even get me started about trying to get all six (and the dog!) to look at the camera and smile for our family holiday photo- that can literally take hundreds of shots!
The other thing that I love about using my digital camera is having the ability to touch up the photos (goodbye red-eye!) and then order the prints online. I prefer Shutterfly This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. – I have used them for years now, and have always received great quality prints.
Shutterfly offers great print plans- including prepaid plans for 4 x6 prints as well as portrait plans that offer a combination of 8×10's, 5×7's, and wallet photos that I order and give to grandparents and aunts and uncles.
So when the time is right, I do my own home version of “school pictures” (I usually wait for my maple tree to hit that perfect peak of fall color to use as my background)- and follow the tips I shared in this post on how to conduct your own DIY photo shoot!
I do the same thing when it comes to sports photos, dance recital photos, etc. I just use my camera to take great shots of my kids, and buy them from Shutterfly instead.
Exceptions to this rule? I still buy the school class photo- it is usually only $5 each, and I put them in my child's scrapbook after the school year is over. I know that the kids will enjoy looking back to remember their friends from grade school when they get older.
And if we are on vacation and a photographer snaps a photo of our family (such as in front of Cinderella's castle at Disney)- I will often buy that too. While these types of photos are usually crazy-expensive- they capture a special moment, one that I want to hang on to!
Get creative on thank you gifts for teachers and coaches
I think teachers and coaches deserve the best gifts! After all of the hard work and effort that they put in with our children, I think they should all be thanked by receiving something really fabulous, like a trip to the spa!
However, it is just not in my budget to deliver that kind of gift to 6 teachers, 4 teacher's aides, 5 soccer coaches, 1 gymnastics teacher, 3 Daisy Scout troop leaders, 1 dance teacher, and 1 chess teacher. (Right?)
At our school, the class Moms for each elementary school grade ask for parents to voluntarily contribute money to a class gift, and often parents for our various sports teams and activities will do the same thing for the coaches and instructors. I like to contribute to these because I think that the pooled funds with other parents can buy a much nicer gift than we would otherwise each do individually on our own. (And I especially think it is great when they purchase gift cards so the recipient can pick something that he or she would like).
But I also like to do a little something extra to show how much I value what that teacher or coach has done for my child. The challenge is to find a nice gift for each person that conveys that sentiment but collectively doesn't cost a lot of money.
I think the most important thing to give are my words (and my child's words) of appreciation. Whether I am giving a gift of stationery or a small plate of home-baked holiday cookies, I think what is noticed the most and appreciated the most, is the written note that accompanies the gift.
I think of the gift as a small accompaniment to that note- so I try to get creative. In my family, baking holiday cookies is a long-standing tradition, so I bake dozens and dozens of extra cookies that I can give as holiday gifts. Last year I made up packages of homemade hot cocoa mix as gifts.
I think the key is to make each gift personal and from your heart. It is not the size of the price tag that matters here.
Shop for Shoes Online
Since shoes are generally not something that are handed down from child to child (with the exception of rarely worn dress shoes), we have the potential to spend a lot of money on shoes for the kids!
And the best method I have found for finding good prices for shoes- is to do all of our shoe shopping online! But how do you do that when your kids' feet are always growing and you're not sure what size shoe they need?
Have your own shoe sizer This is an affiliate link: MomOf6 earns a commission if you purchase, at no additional cost to you. to measure their feet every time you're ready to buy shoes! This simple tool was a total game-changer for us! That- and knowing the best “deal site” for shoes…
6pm
6pm.com is the online clearance store for Zappos.com. I pretty much buy all of my shoes from this site and most of what my kids are wearing for their footwear too. You do have to pay for shipping- $3.95 no matter how many items you purchase- or you can get free shipping with you buy 2+ items totaling $50 or more.
You can sign up here to receive their daily email that alerts you to that day's special deals.
I'm not kidding- every friend or family member that I have shared this site with has come back to thank me (and no, I am not affiliated with 6pm in any way!)
Shopping Tip: If I am shopping for something other than the “deal of the day” and I find a pair of shoes that I like, I will check to see if I can buy them over at Zappos first. Many times the same pair of shoes will be on both websites (for items that are not at a deep discount), and at Zappos you will receive free overnight shipping and free returns.
Zappos
The best shoe store ever! I love, love, love Zappos.com and I feel that not only do they offer an incredible selection of products, but they also have fantastic customer service.
If you aren't completely sure of the right sizes shoe to order- they encourage you to order the shoe in more than one size, and then just mail back the ones that you don't need- for free! I have also purchased kids' winter coats from here- but they are not inexpensive! (The hand-me-down factor is high here- so a good coat will be worn for many years, therefore we consider it to be worth the investment.)
Looking for more great ways to save money?
- 3 Quick Tips to Save Money at the Grocery Store Every Week!
- Free Printable Grocery List (to help you figure out the lowest possible price to pay per item!)
- How to Save Money by Shopping at CVS!
- How to Save Money while Shopping at Target!
- 5 Things to Do Before You Complete an Online Purchase
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