Raising Kids in Denver on a Budget

We all want to give everything we can to our children. Sometimes though, it’s just not possible to give them everything they want. At times it may even be hard to give them what they need in life.  There are a lot of expenses that come with raising kids, clothes, food, activities, school supplies, the list goes on.  Here are some tips to help you stay on track and still keep a sensible budget when it comes to raising kids.   1. Deliver the things that matter most.  Obviously we have to fulfill basic life needs first, shelter, food, clothes.  These things should be the priority and met first.  Once these are met, how do you know what else to give them?  Sometimes you have to make a choice between what is the most important for their welfare and what you can afford.  After you have met their basic needs, decide what will they get the most out of.  A cheap toy they will forget in a few days or something nicer that they can get their use of!   2.Don’t overcompensate.  Sometimes we feel that we have to make things up to our kids, so we give the too much in an effort to make things better for them.  Or if we can’t spend as much time with them as we like because of work or school, we feel we have to give them more things to compensate for it.  Know where to draw the line on when enough is enough.  Sometimes just one quality item is all it takes.   3.Limit your children’s TV watching to avoid seeing all of the commercials.  There are so many commercials for all of the toys out there, and you kid just has to see it once to be convinced that they need it.  Constant bombardment of ads makes them think they really need these things.  If they aren’t watching all of these commercials, they probably won’t be thinking that they need every one of those toys that they see on commercial.   4.Explain budgeting to your kids. The sooner in life that your kid can learn about budgeting, the sooner they will be able to live on a budget. Sometimes we just have to spell it out for them how much money we have each month, then they can realize that mom and dad are not an unlimited resource of money.  When they realize everything that has to be paid for they will start to realize that they can’t get everything they want.   5.Explain what managing limited resources means.  If you have only $100 to spend on groceries, show them how to get the best deals by using coupons and shopping sales.  Teach them that they may have to put some effort into it but if they are patient and look for things on sale, they can save money.