Kids cost money. There’s no denying that.

There are lots of ways to keep the costs of kids down. Using cloth diapers, buying your baby and kid stuff used, and saving on kids clothes are great ways to cut down on the cost of raising children.

But what I want to focus on today is how kids will actually save you money.

What? Kids can save you money?

I know that kids will inevitably cost you more than they save you, but humor me here. There are some legitimate ways that having kids saves you money. Here are a few:

You Eat Out Less

In my experience, limited as it is, I would say that people with kids eat out less than people who don’t have children. We definitely ate out more before we had kids. Of course there are plenty of people with no kids that still don’t eat out much (and if you read my blog than you are probably one of them, my frugal friends). Eating out with kids, especially at sit-down restaurants, is often more hassle than it’s worth. Not eating out is a great way to save money.

You Go Out Less

Having kids changes your social life. That’s not a bad thing. You just settle down. Your evenings and weekends are filled with family more than friends. And when you do get together with friends, it’s often with friends who also have kids. Between being home for an early bedtime and forgoing more expensive entertainment, you’ll save money by going out less.

You Don’t Shop For Fun

There were days when browsing the mall was fun. Just looking around Target used to be enjoyable (and you know you’re never “just looking”). When you have kids, shopping isn’t as fun anymore. You’re doing good if you end up with more than half of the things on your list and less than half of your family crying (or is it just me?).

You Don’t Buy High-End Stuff

While I have young kids, you can bet that I’m not spending money on expensive carpet or furniture or clothes or [insert anything]. I don’t want the stress that comes with making sure my kids don’t wreck my nice stuff. As I type, I am looking through scratches and crayon smudges on the computer monitor. My husband would be tempted to purchase a new one if we didn’t still have kids wielding metal objects and crayons. For now we’ll chalk it up to the kids saving us money.

My dad experimented with another way that his kids could potentially save him money. When he heard that girls golf scholarships were going unclaimed, he decided to put my sister and me in golf lessons. After losing a half a dozen balls (each) in water hazards, my sister and I proved that chasing after golf scholarships wasn’t going to save any of us money on college tuition and there would be no LPGA winnings funding his retirement.

How About You?

Of course everyone’s experience is different. Maybe having kids hasn’t curbed your eating out. Maybe you love to shop with your kids. I could be way off in my assumptions. Feel free to tell me what you think (just do it nicely).

Have your kids saved you money in any of the ways mentioned?

Can you get creative and think of any other ways that your kids save you money?

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