Are you a new mom looking for money-saving tips to raise your kiddo?
After tracking my baby-related expenses for the first year, I noticed that there are many areas that we could save money from.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the cost estimated to raise a child from birth to 17 years old is about $233,610. This excludes higher education cost and prenatal cost.
That amounts to an average of $13,742 per year!
Luckily, we were able to keep the spending to under $6,000 during our baby’s first year. Even though we didn’t spend all that much on our baby by typical standards, there is still room for optimization.
So today, I’m ready to put all of my knowledge together with these 9 actionable tips to help you save more without sacrificing the best care for your child.
Let’s get started!
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Top 9 Actionable Money-Saving Tips
1. Save Towards a Purpose – Set a Financial Goal
Nobody likes to save money for money’s sake (at least I hope not).
Saving can be an excruciating exercise especially when it’s not by choice. Even though I’m a strong believer of savings, I actually find it painful when I’m doing it sometimes.
What I believe is a more effective motivator is to save towards a financial goal.
Is it to become debt-free, fund a family vacation, or buy a house?
Having something you want to achieve can make savings more enjoyable because you’re working towards a goal.
Understanding your short-term and long-term financial goals will also help you better allocate your savings. After all, our money works best when it grows and the only way to do so is through investing.
Here are three investing ideas to consider:
- Building passive income through rental properties
- Investing in the broad-based stock market
- Investing in Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending
To map out your financial goal, check out this article.
2. When You Can Make It, Try to Do It
One of the things I really advocate on making is baby food – but that’s only if you have the time and energy to do it.
Even though it takes quite a bit of free time to make fresh, healthy baby food, I think it’s so worth it.
Not only is it more nutritious because you don’t have to add preservatives, salt or sugar, it’ll also help save a ton of money!
Take for example a jar of baby food that cost $3 per serving and you average 4-5 servings per day. That’ll end up costing you $360 – $450 per month.
Since we live in Switzerland, the cost of grocery is much higher (due to higher of living standards here). We spend roughly $1,000 a month in grocery for a family of three, $300 in which are allocated for the baby.
However, since we are huge foodies in our household, we don’t budget the cost of grocery. I’m sure it could cost way less if we do try to get smarter about grocery spending though.
Anyway, $300 is still quite a reasonable amount comparing to the cost of buying baby food in a jar.
Besides food, I’m also interested to make toys out of everyday object. This would stimulate our child’s creativity and it’s actually fun if you enjoy building things.
My point here is that you don’t have to be perfect at making things, but giving it a try won’t hurt. You might be surprised at how much you could save as well!
3. Track Expenses
I was really intrigued by the cost of raising a baby so I embarked on a quest to track all of the first year expenses. After all, there’s no way of knowing unless you have the data!
The end result was eye-opening. I couldn’t believe that we spent only a little below $6,000.
What I learned through this exercise is that I became a lot more intentional about what we bring into the household by simply tracking our expenses.
It could also help to start a budget, but we didn’t do it because we simply want to spend freely, but intentionally as we go.
After understanding our spending pattern for the first year, I was able to budget the second year cost of raising a child.
4. Enjoy Free Activities
Ever since we became parents, we actually enjoy doing free activities together than spending on expensive excursions.
That’s because going to places with a baby requires a lot of planning (i.e. what to bring, where to find changing place, and how to heat up food).
When you paid for an activity like traveling, you naturally want to make the most out of it. But doing all sorts of planning could be a huge headache. Not to mention, things rarely go according to plans!
That’s why we now enjoy taking our toddler to parks, hiking, and the library. Okay, before you think I’m crazy for taking a toddler to a library, I just want to say that it could be a great place for toddlers!
I don’t mean going to the library and check out books for her to tear apart. No! I mean to just take her there to surround her with books.
Since taking my daughter to the library from time-to-time, she actually enjoys going there because I would point to her simple things such as a book cover. She gets immediately drawn to it and becomes curious.
Sometimes, she’d even gravitate towards books over toys as she reads by herself at home. I can’t be 100% certain if taking her to the library was what ignited her interest in books, but it’s definitely a nice place to be if you like to read books yourself.
The point here is that simple places like the park or the library can be just as enjoyable as going to an exotic, expensive vacation.
Related: My Book List
5. Give Cloth Diapers a Try
Any parent can attest to how much disposable diapers can cost.
Not only that, disposable diapers are basically plastics filled with chemicals. Even though they are convenient and less messy, they also come with a high price tag and a higher chance of causing diaper rash.
That’s why I decided to give cloth diapers a try.
After using it for over a year, I can truly vouch for the benefits of using cloth diapers.
Besides the savings of buying disposable diapers and diaper rash cream, they are environmentally friendly.
Today, there is a wide selection of cloth diapers you can choose from which makes them a lot more fun to use!
6. Potty Train Early
It’s incredible how this little potty pot-pot can be your saving partner.
Obviously, the earlier you can potty train your toddler, the less diapers will be used, hence more savings!
However this is often easier said than done. Potty training requires patience and time. It’s not an easy feat to accomplish in the beginning.
But what I found interesting is that by using cloth diapers, toddlers could become more inclined to use the potty. That’s because there’s no absorbency in cloth diapers making them less comfortable to wear when soiled.
For more tips on potty training, check out this article!
7. Buy Secondhand or Use Hand-Me-Down
Babies and kids grow really, really fast.
With a blink of an eye, they could outgrow their clothes and toys.
As new parents, we have a natural instinct to give the best to our baby. However, this could be a huge trap for overspending.
I ended up saving a lot by buying secondhand and using hand-me-down, but I would always ensure that the quality of the item is still in good condition.
However, I don’t think there is anything wrong with buying new. I just believe that it’s best to be more mindful about what we spend on.
In the end, a balance of buying new and used may be the best medium.
8. Always Think About the Trade-Off
Savings is generally a good thing, but it could backfire if it ends up costing more later on. Basically, savings should be a natural habit instead of a barrier to live the life you love.
For example, it may seem wise to save money to buy secondhand than new toys. However, you need to take special care in today’s environment when it comes to buying things secondhand.
Is it worthwhile to spend 15 minutes to clean, disinfect, and dry every secondhand item you bought? If you have doubts or worries about buying secondhand during a pandemic, then it might not be worth your time sweating over.
Similarly, using cloth diapers or breastfeeding may seem like a wise choice for some, but it could cause headaches for others. For one, it’s generally easier to do more for your child if you’re a stay-at-home mom, but it may not be the case when you hold down a full-time job.
In life, there’s always trade-offs that we need to prioritize. It’s important to not just think in terms of maximizing savings, but to achieve a good balance for our mental, physical, and financial health.
Related: 5 Ways to Increase Your Savings Quickly
9. Be Easy On Yourself
This one last tip is a constant reminder that I have to tell myself.
As moms, we are just doing the best that we can and we should really be easy on ourselves.
There’s no such thing as “the best mom” or “an ideal mom.” Any mom who loves and cares for her child is the perfect mom.
I know this because my mom is literally the perfect mom for me, even though she may not be the best. But she tries her best and I’m learning that from her.
In doing so, I also need to learn to be easier on myself and not doing more than I could handle.
Even though these tips I described here should be actionable for most people, you absolutely don’t need to take action on all of them.
If you want to save, I’m positive that you’ll find a way. And if you don’t, you wouldn’t be reading up till this point!
In any case, be easy on yourself. You’re already doing great!
PIN these saving tips!
