Second Time Lucky

debtfreeoneday

I think with little people, you can spend as much as you want or as little - obviously there are essentials, but we don't spend that much on ours, we do lots of free days out and they are happy in the garden or a park or the beach. Presents are bought mostly from Clubcard boosts and survey income. Clothes, I buy second hand a lot and always sell on and then reuse the sale money to buy more. We stick to our food budget for the food of us, use the library for books.. it's so easy to go overboard.. that said, it's nice to spoil them once in a while.

A night away sounds lovely!

Muser1

We are the same ^^. My one tip would be to invest in the National Trust membership. We love ours and use it most weeks. After the initial outlay it's a free day out each week. We take a picnic and flasks too to keep it spend free.

I do pay out for swimming lessons which is £30 per child each month. My daughter goes to Brownies which is sooo cheap and so good for her.

We cook from scratch and if she is between 4&7 she will get a free hot school lunch so thats a bit of a bonus.

I hardly spend anything on Birthdays/Xmas. I save all my clubcard points for these too.

HTH xx

debtfreeoneday

^^what she said^^

Likewise we have NT membership and take a picnic and drinks and go somewhere most weeks as it's all free.. you know where we are with swimming lessons and will pay for Beavers and Rainbows for them when they are old enough..

Firegirl

Kids are pricey wee articles, but worth every penny. I do lots of free trips and sell everything I can on ebay. Some people have the kids going to loads of clubs so it really depends what you want for them. I spend £4 a week per child on clubs, they are locally charity run teams so cheap. I taught them to swim myself and then got them 3 lessons for each of them - rather than doing it over weeks. Sure the list goes on. The thing is you adapt to what you have. I spend hardly anything on nights out now and more on family fun.

amycool

Muser1 wrote: »

How old will Princess Cool be when she arrives? I have a 4 and 7 year old so can give you rough ideas of our costs if it helps xx

She'll be almost 5 so perfect for some tips!

We believe she already has a lot of clothes, but we'll need new winter stuff as she's shot up in the last year. She'll also get a free school meal.

Haven't met the foster carers yet so not sure how much of an eater she is! I have 2 nephews - one eats constantly and the other eats hardly anything. But both about the same size. Very odd. :rotfl:

amycool

Thanks so much everyone. I've always felt that children need not cost the earth, but there is definitely a pressure from other people. When I was little we couldn't afford any clubs or lessons, so it would be lovely to be able to do something like that. There are tons of clubs around here so I'll have to research costs.

Otherwise though, we're very lucky to have loads of walks and parks around here, and we really got a lot of use out of our NT membership a year or so ago, so that will definitely be worth it.

I prefer to buy clothes from charity shops (I hate the rows of identical items!), and hopefully she's young enough not to mind. Our local CSs have some lovely children's clothes, usually barely worn. And toys can be bought in sales and kept.

So hopefully it won't be cripplingly expensive! The big issue may be heating in the winter as we're used to being in work most of the week.


The car tax is bought, as are the curtains and bits for the bedroom.

I very naughtily spent over £40 on the Hawkins Bazaar sale. Got some really cheap stuff though, which will be saved for birthdays/christmas.

I also bought a few adoption-related books, which I will use with my nieces/nephews and then hopefully with new daughter!


In non-MSE news, my Mum bought me some of that dry shampoo, which I always thought looked rather magical. I tried it this morning on hair that was only very slightly greasy, and it looked worse!!!

In driving news...oh my. Roundabouts again (I think it's going to take me some time to conquer them) and I had to change lane, which I did quite dangerously. No accidents caused but I was so tense for the rest of the lesson. Changing lanes is my biggest fear as my spatial awareness is awful and I can never tell when it's safe to move over.

debtfreeoneday

Which dry shampoo was it - I use Bastiste and it's awesome I find..

Muser1

Aww nearly 5 is an amazing age! She won't need loads of clothes, I'm guessing she will wear a uniform for school? Get her some well made shoes and a pair of wellies, and a rain mac for the first term and then a decent coat for when it gets colder. We use Dec4thlon for our kids school coats. Very cheap, good quality and nice and bright.

We are still careful with the heating, ours have thick dressing gowns and fleecy pjs (primarni/tk maxx) which keep them snug in a morning and they both have their own blanket for tv time. Mostly they run round the house like loons so they are warm enough!

Most importantly parent how you and oh want to! Don't let others make you feel like you should do it their way.

So exciting!

debtfreeoneday

I hadn't clocked the age, my troublesome twosome are five at the end of the year!

amycool

debtfreeoneday wrote: »

Which dry shampoo was it - I use Bastiste and it's awesome I find..

It was the Aussie one. I'm wondering if I didn't brush it out afterwards...hmmm.