Face it, parenting is expensive. Here are some cost-cutting ways to
make this responsibility more tolerable as it seems American-style
consumerism is an expensive way to raise offspring. We
can save money and focus on what's truly important by following the guide of other cultures.
Be
content with less! Does raising kids always have to be so hard on the
wallet? Not necessarily, as one mom learned after moving to Japan with
her husband and young children. Click ahead for a smorgasbord of this
mom's 10 frugal parenting insights from Japan and other countries.
Although they can help us save a few pennies, their greatest value lies
in what they teach us (and our kids) about being content with less.
1. Use handkerchiefs ~I
hadn't seen anyone use a handkerchief since I was a little girl. I
didn't even know they still existed. But in Japan, everyone carries one
-- from preschoolers to old men and women.
Hankies are
used to wipe hands after washing, to mop off a sweaty brow or clean a
smudge of dirt. Little children learn early on how important this is:
They're required to bring a hankie to preschool, and elementary school
teachers sometimes hold "handkerchief checks" to make sure the habit is
ingrained.
If a family of four in the U.S. uses two
boxes of tissues a month, each priced at $3.69, the annual cost
approaches $90. Use handkerchiefs instead and save $90 (minus the
initial investment and the ongoing cost of cleaning them).
2. Buy fewer back-to-school supplies ~In Japan, the
list of back-to-school supplies a first-grader needs is daunting: a set
of colored pencils, regular pencils, scissors, erasers, glue, pencil
box, gym clothes and a few notebooks, all to be stored in a special
backpack that is meant to last throughout elementary school. (The same
tradition prevails in Germany.)
That sounds like it
could be costly, but think about it: There's no buying new backpacks
every year or two. And while there's a large initial purchase of school
supplies, each pencil and every last eraser is labeled with the child's
name so he'll take care of them and use them until there's nothing left.
Assuming a backpack costs about $40 in the U.S. and school supplies run
about $48 a year, according to a survey by Parenting.com and Women
& Co., a Citibank personal finance service, you can save at least
$50 a child by reusing last year's backpack and cutting down on
supplies.
3. Tone down the birthday parties ~I
almost couldn't believe it when I realized that the kids we knew
weren't making lists of things they wanted for their birthday or at
holiday time. In Japan, gift-giving isn't a focus of these events.
Instead of holding a big birthday bash and getting lots of presents,
Japanese kids celebrate with a family dinner and one gift at most.
In
France, holidays like Christmas (another occasion for gift-giving in
the U.S.) are traditionally celebrated with a family dinner. And while
Christmas dinner is followed by a few carefully chosen presents,
enjoying a meal together is the focal point.
In Germany, birthday parties are simple, at-home affairs, which keeps costs to a minimum.
In
the U.S., informal surveys indicate that in some regions parents spend
at least $200 on their child's birthday party; that's $400 for two kids.
Assuming two children each bring a $10 present to 10 birthday parties,
that's a yearly outlay of $200. Go light on the parties and the gifts
and save several hundred dollars.
4. Borrow your toys ~Parents
in New Zealand are lucky -- instead of buying new toys, they can borrow
them from the widely available "toy libraries" that lend out toys and
DVDs for the price of a yearly membership that costs about $100. Not
only do parents stave off boredom/clutter syndrome (i.e., a new toy
gathers dust after an initial wave of interest), borrowing toys
reinforces the message that kids don't have to own everything.
According
to the NPD group, parents in the U.S. spent an average of $284 a child
on toys in 2010, or $568 for a family with two kids. Reach out to a
couple of friends and see if they'd like to start a toy rotation. The
potential savings are significant.
5. Share your toys ~Due
to small living spaces and the lack of a heavy toy-buying tradition,
children in South Korea claim title to just a few toys. Any toys a
family owns are always meant for sharing among siblings. Sharing of toys
and clothes extends beyond the family in South Korea, as well -- many
neighborhoods hold a swap event twice a month for families to exchange
clothes and toys for free. Here in the U.S., this is another opportunity
to cut costs by joining forces with friends.
6. Make your own toys ~The
first time I saw my friend's 4-year-old daughter come home proudly from
preschool lugging a used grocery bag full of what looked like trash, I
didn't get it. But once my own kids started school, I understood. It's
common for Japanese preschools to use recyclables -- bottles, caps, milk
cartons, egg cartons, cardboard boxes, newspapers -- extensively and
regularly for crafts instead of buying new supplies. Not only does this
give kids a chance to exercise their creativity, it teaches them about
the of recycling in a concrete way. Kids also see their parents reuse
everything, including paper and shopping bags.
Based on
prices posted at Walmart.com, a rough estimate of the cost of new craft
supplies, including paper, sequins, markers, glue, paints, etc. in the
U.S. comes to about $100 dollars a year. Repurpose what you might have
thrown away and you'll save a hefty portion of that sum.
7. Play outside ~ Consider
doing away with toys completely and just have the kids play outside, as
many parents do in Brazil. Brazilian parents aren't in the habit of
buying many toys for their kids because they expect them to play with
friends or cousins, on their own -- and you don't need much for that.
8. Two wheels beat four ~People
commute to work or school by bicycle in places such as China, Denmark,
and especially the Netherlands, a famously bike-friendly nation. In
Japan, bicycles can be fitted with two child seats -- one in front, one
in back -- for the ride to and from preschool or the grocery store. Once
a child is in elementary school he walks to school on his own or takes
public transportation. It is almost never the case that a child commutes
to school by car -- if his family even has a car. (Two cars per family
is a true rarity.)
The average American family spent
$4,416 on gasoline for the car in 2011, according to CNN Money. Think of
the savings if you eliminate the twice-daily back and forth to school.
9. Forage for food ~In
Finland, an extremely modest and frugal mindset prevails. The high cost
of new items means parents often go to one of the country's many flea
markets or secondhand stores to buy clothing. And it's a tradition for
families to forage for berries and mushrooms together in the summer,
gathering enough to stock the freezer with a winter's supply for the
entire family.
Cost of fruit in the U.S. varies by
region and season, but I estimate a family might spend about $8 a week
on fruit (e.g., several apples, oranges, bananas and a bag of frozen
blueberries), or $416 a year. Consider joining a community garden to cut
down on produce costs during harvest season.
10. Eat meals together ~In
countries with robust food traditions such as France, Italy, Spain and
South Korea, there's simply no such thing as a separate kids' meal. Kids
eat and enjoy the same food as parents do, which saves money and time
(no separate ingredients to buy and prepare or separate dishes to wash)
and has the added bonus of teaching kids to eat widely and well.
My
friends in the U.S. report spending between $20 and $40 a week on an
assortment of kiddie food items, such as frozen kids' meals, chicken
nuggets, pasta and sauce, macaroni and cheese, and apple juice.
Potential savings are ample when everyone at the table feasts on the
same menu.
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