365 Ways to Live Cheap (7 page)

64. U
SE
C
LOTH
D
IAPERS

Most people, when they think of cloth diapering, imagine a horrible mess of plastic pants, washer loads full of stinky diapers, safety pins, and other such images, so they stick with disposable diapers. The only problem is that disposable diapers are a continual cost. You have to keep buying more and more diapers, and they’re not all that cheap—often at least a quarter per diaper change for disposable. Modern cloth diapering can be quite simple and can save you tremendous money, especially if you plan to have multiple children.
Tip:
Ask for high-quality cloth diapers, like bumGenius as a baby shower gift, so that you’re spared the start-up cost.

65. M
AKE
Y
OUR
O
WN
W
IPES

Baby wipes are another common parenting expense when you have small children in the house, and it’s another item you can make yourself for much cheaper. Just mix two tablespoons of baby soap, two tablespoons of olive oil, and two cups of water. Then, cut a roll of paper towels in half the long way and put the paper towels in a baby wipes box; pour the solution on top and swish it around. Alternately, you can just fill a spray bottle with the solution and use small pieces of cloth as baby wipes, which works well if you’re cloth diapering as you can just store and wash the diapers and wipes together. Alternately, if you’re adept at sewing (or know someone who is), a much more environmentally sound solution is to head down to your local fabric store and buy a large piece of flannel cloth. Take it home, cut it into wipe-size pieces, then sew the edges so that they don’t fray, and you have a ton of excellent cloth wipes that you can continually reuse. Just keep a spray bottle with a solution of witch hazel and water in equal amounts to spray down areas, then wipe them down and wash the cloths. It’s environmentally friendly and far cheaper than buying bundles of disposable wipes.

66. S
HOP
Y
ARD
S
ALES FOR
Y
OUNG
C
HILDREN
’S C
LOTHING

Many children, particularly young ones, outgrow clothes so rapidly that they wear them only a few times before they’re too small. Many families deal with this phenomenon by selling these clothes at a yard sale. That’s where you can clean up on baby and toddler clothes that have only been worn a few times. If you have a young child, hit the yard sales hard. If you find one with a lot of clothes, offer to buy everything that will fit your child at a reduced price as a bundle.
Tip:
Clean these clothes at a Laundromat before taking them home just to be sure you don’t bring home any unwanted pests.

67. T
AKE
A
DVANTAGE OF
H
AND
-M
E
-D
OWNS

Similarly, if you have family members with older children, consider asking them to participate in a family hand-me-down cycle, where clothes are handed down among extended family members from child to child, and then offer to hand down your no-longer-wanted clothes to other younger children in the family. You can go beyond clothes for this, handing down items like bassinets, cloth diapers, and other useful child-rearing materials.

68. B
UY
F
EWER
, H
IGHER
-Q
UALITY
C
HILDHOOD
T
OYS

Many families are often flooded with toys of various kinds for very young children, particularly when fueled by the desire to have “the best” for those kids. In fact, though, the opposite is true: Young children are far better off with only a small number of toys rather than an overwhelming abundance. Minimize your own spending on toys, leaving most of the toy-buying to relatives who may buy your children Christmas and birthday gifts. Encourage them to focus on only one high-quality toy rather than an abundance of cheap toys, as this minimizes health risks and ensures that the toys your child plays with are sturdy and long-lasting.

69. F
OCUS ON
B
UYING
O
PEN
-E
NDED
T
OYS

Hand in hand with the idea of fewer toys is the idea of open-ended toys—those that encourage creative and imaginative play. Instead of focusing on electronic toys with limited interactivity, look at toys that offer plenty of room for creativity, such as art supplies and quality building blocks. Again, not only are these toys widely considered to be better for your child’s cognitive development, but they’re also often less expensive, meaning you can either save money or purchase items of high quality for the same price you might spend on “gee whiz” toys.
Tip:
Look for toys that match these criteria at yard sales when you’re shopping for the clothes; just be sure to wash the items well when you bring them home.

70. P
ARTICIPATE IN
B
ABYSITTING
E
XCHANGES
I
NSTEAD OF
H
IRING A
B
ABYSITTER

Do you have friends who also have children? Consider discussing a baby-sitting exchange with them in order to save money on babysitters. Offer to watch their children on their anniversary night, for example, in exchange for the same treatment on your anniversary. Or offer to alternate weekends. Do you like to go out with other couples or other parents? Get a cycle going where two or three parents or couples enjoy an evening together while the other couple watches all of the children. This enables you to have many evenings of fun with a reliable parent watching your children—at no cost to you.

71. E
NCOURAGE
A
RT
S
KILLS WITH AN
E
ND
R
OLL OF
N
EWSPAPER

One of the best undiscovered secrets in many towns is on sale at the office of your local newspaper. Many newspapers often have a few hundred square feet of blank newspaper left over at the end of a large roll, and they will sell this roll of paper to the public for just a dollar or two. Buying one of these rolls can provide a huge amount of paper for your children to draw on to their heart’s content for just a fraction of the cost of buying such paper at the store.

72. E
XTEND THE
L
IFE AND
V
ALUE OF
C
RAYONS

If your children love crayons, they can often wear crayons down to unusable nubs. One great solution to this problem is to collect all of the nubs, then put several of them into an inexpensive small mold (you can get a nice one at the dollar store) and bake them in the oven at a low heat. You can easily make candy cane–shaped crayons that are made up of bits of old crayons, and this new crayon will change colors as you draw with it. If you save up a bunch of nubs and do this with many crayons at once, it can save you the cost of buying a fresh big box of crayons, plus create memorable and unique crayons for your child to draw with.

73. M
AKE
Y
OUR
O
WN
P
LAYDOUGH

Playdough is a wonderful children’s toy. Instead of buying it at the store in overpriced containers, though, why not try making it at home (and getting the kids involved, too)? Just mix two cups of flour, two cups of warm water, one cup of salt, two tablespoons of vegetable oil, and one tablespoon of cream of tartar (found in the spices section at the grocery store) in a pot. Warm it up over low heat and keep stirring it until it begins to feel like playdough in your hands (if it’s sticky, keep cooking it). Then scoop out a small ball of the dough and knead it in your hands until it’s smooth. Want to make it colorful? Make a small hole in the ball and add a few drops of food coloring or a quarter of a tablespoon of a colorful drink mix, then close the hole and knead the ball again. If you want a brighter color, add a bit more—keep trying until you get what you like. Very quickly, you’ll have a cheap and very fun toy for your children to play with and it’s entirely edible (though it tastes rather salty).

74. T
URN
S
UPPLIES
Y
OU
H
AVE ON
H
AND
I
NTO
T
OYS

Almost every item in your home can be turned into a compelling toy for children with some imagination at almost no cost to you.

Here are three suggestions:

Turn an old newspaper into a paper airplane contest. Give everyone a few sheets and see who can make the best paper airplane out of the sheets.

Turn pots and pans and wooden spoons into a drum kit. Sit several pots and pans out on the floor, then hit them all on the bottom with a wooden spoon and observe the different noises they make.

Turn strips of waste paper into a piñata. Cut any waste paper you have into strips. Blow up a balloon, tie it off and put a paper clip around the tie-off point, then tie a piece of string to the paper clip. Mix two cups of flour and ten cups of water, then boil the solution for a few minutes until it becomes paste. Start pasting the strips to the balloon, letting it completely dry overnight every four or five layers. After a few days of putting on strips, you’ll have a piñata! Color it carefully with markers, then hang it up and let the kids break it.

75. R
EAD
T
OGETHER AS A
F
AMILY

Reading is one of the most inexpensive and fulfilling hobbies that a person can have. Encouraging a love of reading in your own children is a great way to put them on the path to economic success. Plan a family reading hour each day, where everyone gathers in the same room to read independently. Then, once every few weeks, go to the library together and have everyone pick out a few books to read during that reading period. Reading time can be an hour a day where your family relaxes, improves themselves, and doesn’t spend a dime.

76. M
INIMIZE
T
ELEVISION
T
IME

Where can that hour for reading come from? Take it away from time in front of the television. Not only does television gobble electricity (the average television uses about 150 watts, and the average cable box uses about 70 watts, meaning that it eats a dime’s worth of electricity every four and a half hours of use), but it’s also laden with advertisements and product placements that encourage you to go out and buy things you don’t really need. Replace that time spent in front of the television with other activities.

77. G
O
O
UTSIDE

One good replacement for television use is to simply go outside. Go on a walk together as a family. Play a game of catch in the yard, or try playing tag or touch football. Go to the park together. Go on a hike. Explore. Catch lightning bugs. Wade in a creek. These are all fun things that you can do together as a family in the great outdoors— and they’re all free.

78. U
TILIZE
C
OMMUNITY
R
ESOURCES