Today, I will carry on with my series about how we save money. Just in case you missed the previous check out 5 Simple Ways to Save Money Part One and Two. Hopefully, some of these tips are helpful to all of you.
*As I am sharing my tips, I would recommend that you don’t try to put all of them into practice at once. This is not meant to be condemnation, but rather a list of ideas for those who are looking for a change.
Here are my next 5 tips:
- Swap Babysitting with Friends or have family members babysit
Now I realize that not everyone lives near to their family members. We are very blessed to live near both my parents and my husband’s parents. Both my Mom and my Mother-in-law have willingly watched our children for years. Currently, my Mom isn’t in the best of health, so she doesn’t do it anymore. However, my Mother-in-law still does it regularly. She has been especially helpful over the years because she willingly takes all of our children for weekends so we can have couple time.
My sister-in-law and I swap babysitting as well for daytime appointments and occasionally on a Saturday.
Another thing that I sometimes do, is swap babysitting with a friend. It isn’t something we keep track of religiously, but something we’ve talked about and agreed to do once in a while for each other. At this time, we have only done it for daytime appointments and not date nights.
* I do want to note, that we do choose to pay for babysitting for some of our date days that cost us quite a lot, however, the girls that we hire are absolutely amazing!
- Fix broken toys or household items yourself
I know that not everyone has the skill to fix things, but if you can do it is absolutely a huge money saver. My husband, Bernd is very handy with fixing things. The kids think that there is absolutely no toy that he won’t be able to fix. Recently, he also fixed my stove when it quit working. I was pretty thankful for that because it really wasn’t in our budget to get a new one right now. If you don’t know how to fix something, it is sometimes worth the time to go on YouTube and see if you can find out how to do it as well.
- Have a Garden
I have only had a small garden the last few years and it doesn’t last the entire winter through, but it does save us a lot of money through the summer. Next summer, I am planning to have a bigger garden and hopefully, put more in the freezer.
A tip to go along with this is to accept free produce from anyone who’s wanting to get rid of stuff throughout the summer. This way, you can freeze (or can) it for the winter months.
- Learn to cut hair
I currently cut our son’s hair as well as trimming my girl’s hair. I do take the girl’s to get their haircut an average of 2 times a year, but the rest of the time I do it for them. I know some women who also cut their own hair. That isn’t something I can imagine attempting to do. In the past, I have cut my own bangs, though.
- Use the Library for books
We go to the local library weekly and our kids can stock up on books. As well, our province has an education library which we access online because we homeschool. If you are a teacher or homeschool parent, certainly take the time to check out whether your province or state offers this service. It has been an awesome resource for us.
I hope that some of you are finding some of these tips helpful. Look for the next 5 tips next week!
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