 Home
Personal
Mortgages
Business
Rates
Member Services |
Cutting the Cost of Raising Kids
Trim the Family Budget While Teaching Good Money Habits
In a culture where parents often respond yes to a child's plea
for more, the economy jostles things back into perspective.
Families are cutting costs to help ends meet – and discovering
that teaching important life skills makes sense and cents.
Kid-Friendly Tips for Cutting Back
Invite a few, the favorite. Rather than throwing an extravagant
birthday party at a destination site where zillions of classmates
are invited, host a slumber party for your daughter and two
of her closest gal pals. Benefit: She gets to giggle (until the
wee hours of the morning) with her two best friends, and
you get to better know who she's hanging with.
Be trendy and green. Don't open your wallet for department
store threads that your kids soon outgrow. Buy second-hand,
and be a savvy fashionista who knows that vintage clothing
is in style. Benefit: Buying pre-owned clothing is easy on your
stash of cash and lets youngsters play a real part in recycling.
Perform technology triage.
Cell phone plans, with extras
like text messaging, Web
access and pay-per-download
games, can topple the family
budget. So can cable TV with
premium channel packages. Award
incentives to kids to give up technology
extras. Contribute the dollar difference
between basic and premium plans to their
college savings. Benefit: There's still entertainment,
and the college account grows.
Play nice. Take turns. Encourage kids to start a gameborrowing
club with friends. Each child plays his or her
Xbox® 360 or PlayStation® game for a week and then passes
it on to the next player in the club. Benefit: You spend less on
pricey new games, and nobody gets tired of playing the same
old thing week after week.
Grocery shop with kids – and coupons. Comparison shop,
buy needed items only, shop sales and redeem coupons. Give
the children some of the money saved by using coupons. Up
the ante and give them all of the money saved if they deposit
it into their savings accounts. Benefit: Your family eats for
less, and kids learn it pays to save.
Be hobby picky. Help kids choose extracurriculars based
on what's most affordable. Some sports cost more to play
because of special equipment. Track, for example, costs
less than tennis or golf. Consider choir or cheerleading, if
marching band or dance means an expense for instruments,
uniforms or costumes. Benefit: Children get involved and
still have fun, while learning to live within their means.
Kids are always eager to act more grown-up. Take the
opportunity to model for them that living within a budget
is an important adult skill. Maybe not right away, but they'll
appreciate the benefits of frugality you taught them. And
won't they have fun spending the money you helped them
save on the really important things in life?
To open a Super Saver Account for your child or to get
more information, stop by any St. Mary's Bank office,
call 1.888.786.2791 or visit www.stmarysbank.com. |
|
|
This publication does not constitute legal, accounting or other professional advice. Although it is intended to be accurate, neither the publisher nor any other party assumes liability for loss or damage due to reliance on this material. Images may be from one or more of these sources: ©Jupiterimages, ©Getty Images, ©iStock, ©Fotolia.