It’s not always easy staying frugal with our finances, but somehow we get it done. Here’s some frugal tips from family of 8!
Before I had kids, I would see families with so many kids and often wonder – How in the world do they afford all of them!? Then I had a big family of my own and you may be wondering the same about me. Here are some frugal tips we follow with our family of 8!
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I have to be honest, I am a VERY impulsive person. Anyone that knows me, knows this. I can be minding my own business when out of nowhere an idea comes along and I just go with it. It’s a flaw of mine, whatever.
I will say as impulsive as I am, we still have our basics as to what we can not budge on when it comes to our budget. Every so often I find myself looking through our budget, trying to find any way to save just a bit more money each month.
Check out How To Stay Motivated On Your Debt Free Journey
While most people hate paying bills and going over a budget, I could spend hours with ours. It’s oddly enjoyable for me.
I always laugh when people ask how we afford all our kids, because to me it seems like they don’t cost anything. Until I sit down with the budget and realize if we didn’t have kids we wouldn’t need half the things we do. Ahem, diapers, wipes, babysitter, a giant 12 seater van to safely seat the whole clan, etc…
Alright, you get the picture, big families can get expensive. Let’s get started.
First and foremost – Accept the Hand Me Downs!
This one goes out to my sister and cousin who have been in a trading circle with me since we were kids!
If I had to pick a pet peeve for first time parents, it would be their inability to see how much money they waste buying everything brand new for their baby who may or may not even use it.
Yes, you can buy a few new outfits, I mean you can have some fun. But, if you are tight on money now, it’s only going to get worse and that baby is not going to care if his/her clothes are brand new. They only care that they are warm.
When our first son was born, my mom very kindly purchased a whole load of hand me down items for $150 that we are still using to this day – 7 years later. I’m talking the nice stuff that I still wouldn’t buy today, even though I could.
We got a jumper, high chair, 3 bags FULL of clothes, a bumpo seat, play mats, baby toys…so much for so little.
Even as recent as a year ago, we were bombarded with hand me downs that are going to last us years! Hallelujah!
We were also gifted second hand car seats, pack n play, clothes, changing table, crib. Everything we got for the twins was mostly second hand. And guess what, the twins haven’t complained once.
Now, it’s understandable if you want to buy some stuff brand new – I get it, after all those items going through so many kids, you do have to make some purchases, but always see if you can get them second hand, first.
That $150 would have been much, much closer to $1500 if we went brand new.
Shop the Clearance Section
Now, this one I learned from a friend growing up.
I was about 12 when walked into Hollister and she led us straight to the back of the store. Now, I had never even been to the store and couldn’t understand why we weren’t looking at anything. She was taking us to the clearance section.
Ever since then, I will NEVER pay full price for anything, if I can help it.
When you have kids, the clearance section, aisle, category is your friend.
Your kids need new shoes but you also need groceries for the week – clearance section, baby!
You have 3 kids birthdays in between Thanksgiving and New Years and also need to pay for Christmas? Clearance section!
At one point in my life I was made to feel bad about shopping the clearance section. I don’t remember who, what or when, but I remember that I was looked down on for it. Ugh!
Let me be clear, there is nothing wrong with the clearance section. Its literally the same items with a cheaper price tag.
This brings me to my next tip:
Shop at the Salvage Store
I’m not sure if salvage stores have different names in different locations, but here they are called Salvage stores. Simply, these stores have items the big stores can no longer sell due to damage to boxes or expiration dates.
You can find some real gems in these places.
We have a few local to us that I love going to when I have time to really look to see what they have.
For example, my kids love Kraft Mac & Cheese, what kid doesn’t? A pack of 5, let’s say at Giant Eagle, can be $5 for a pack of 5, on sale. At the salvage store I can get 5 boxes for less than $2. All you have to do is check the expiration date.
Another time, years ago when we first started going to salvage stores, we found 2 GIANT tubs of formula unopened, not even close to expiring and almost half the price it would be at the store. That was a BIG WIN for new parents with little money to spare.
Now, I know this isn’t for everyone, but when you are tight on money, or you enjoy a good deal, salvage stores make for a great place to look for necessities.
You Don’t Need Name-brand
Yes, it is true, you don’t need name-brand.
Ok, somethings generic just won’t cut it, but for the most part generic is the exact same thing as the fancy name-brand items.
Cereal for example, we all know how much dang cereal kids, and husbands, eat. Walmart as giant 50-60 oz. bags of cereal for $5 – $6 vs a small 12-20 oz. box of name-brand that costs $2 – $4.
Diapers are another area that the store brand is just fine.
I remember when my oldest son was born, I stuck my nose up at the Walmart brand diapers because I was not letting my son wear anything other than Huggies. HaHaHa!
Fast Forward 7 years and all of our kids have worn Parents Choice (Walmart) diapers from birth. If you shop online you can find giant boxes of 300+ for $40. My twin mama heart is so thankful for deals like this!
Utilize Grocery Pickup/Delivery
This one may not work for everyone, but for us, grocery shopping online saves me from impulse buying.
Not only does this way of shopping save you money, but it saves you time and helps put a little cash in someone elses pocket. Win win for all!
I usually sit down once a week with my list and do my grocery shopping from home using Instacart. I love this option because I only buy what I know I need, and not strolling the aisles, thinking I need this or that because “it’s only $2, its not a big deal”.
As I mentioned before, I can be an impulsive person and it can get bad while grocery shopping, especially if I’m hungry.
Those $2 – $3 items that you through in your cart adds up significantly. Don’t believe me? Take a look at your receipt and remove all your impulse purchases. Guaranteed you spent $20 or more on things you didn’t truly need.
Cut Out Unnecessary Subscription Plans
All too often, I’ll find $3 here, $5 there taken out of the account for subscription plans that I forgot we even had. One time I found we we’re paying $15/month on an audible account we weren’t even using. oops!
The point is, they start to add up.
For example, because we don’t have cable, we have Hulu Live, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Starz. We were trying to go the “cheaper” route since cable was getting close to $200/month. Well, after adding all the subscription plans we were paying more and more without even noticing.
So, we cut out Hulu Live that dropped our monthly payment from $65/month down to less than $7.
We also cut Netflix from $17/month with unlimited screens down to less than $10/month for only 2 screens.
With cutting two subscription plans alone we cut out almost $70/month.
For you, you may have subscriptions for tv, music, magazine, coffee, or even those monthly boxes that come to your house every month. Ohh, I love those boxes, but again, trying to cut costs and clutter.
You Don’t Need to Compete with The Joneses
I think this one just needs to be on the list – Thanks Dave Ramsey.
Competing with The Joneses is going to leave you broke, sad, and a house full of things you don’t even need or like.
If you don’t know who The Joneses are, they are the ones that always seem to be getting whatever is in at the moment. They always have something new, the latest and greatest. They are the epitome of materialistic.
Now, I think this goes without saying, but it’s absolutely okay to have everything there is to offer, even the latest and greatest, best of the best. BUT if you don’t have the cash for it, you are just digging yourself a hole that you are going to have a VERY hard time getting out of. And for what? For show?
Not. Worth. It. Trust me. Stay within your limits.
Hopefully, if you don’t already follow these few frugal tips, they will be helpful to you and you can implement them in your routine.
If you’re on Instagram, share your frugal tips and tag me! @organizedchaoschronicles
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