Thursday, August 13, 2017
Wasteful Parental Spending: 8 Things to Trash
This week at Budget Boss has been all about children and the necessities to raise them in today’s world. I’ve spoken about education savings, wills, protecting your wishes, insurance among the topics. Today I am going to flip the script and speak to the things you don’t need to waste money on for your children. Being a parent is tough! You have to raise your kid’s right. One sure fire way to make your life more difficult is by wasting copious amounts of money on useless crap for your kids. Every day there are commercials preying upon your kid’s eyeballs and your emotions. Don’t fall for it. You have to be strong and ruthless. In this post, I am going to mention 8 things that parents should be careful about when it comes to spending on their kids.
1) Brand names, especially on babies
I remember when any kid under the age of one wore one piece of clothing, a diaper. Babies literally used to waddle around in only a diaper. Now times have changed and I wouldn’t recommend that but there should be absolutely no sales of Nike shoes that could fit on my thumb. Why on earth would anyone buy name brand stuff for their kid that won’t even fit in a few months? The child won’t remember those shoes and to be totally honest neither will you. Basics like onesies, socks, and sweaters are enough for a baby. Once they become older there is no need to go overboard either. I remember the first pair of nice shoes I ever got. It was when I was 15 and had my own job and bought my own shoes. I somehow survived up until that point wearing Jordache, Lee and Osh Kosh Be Gosh. If anything it made me a little tougher. Be smart, no one cares what your baby wears, seriously no one.
2) Impulse Spending
Much like the name brand clothing topic, I also remember smacks when begging for anything in the grocery store. It got to a point where my brother and I didn’t even bother asking anymore, it just wasn’t worth it. A loud and obnoxious kid can often drive everyone in the checkout line nuts until mom caves and buys the $3 Kinder Egg. That problem gets even more drastic when kids get older and love can be determined by how much junk you buy them. Don’t fall into that trap. Let the other parents stare, they probably have maxed out credit cards anyway.
10 Ways to Avoid “Lifestyle Creep” – Budget Boss
3) Speaking of Other Parents….
Never, ever, ever, ever try to “Keep up with the Joneses.” Don’t try to keep up with the Smiths, Thompsons, Singh’s or Chan’s either. Your kid may tell you of all the amazing stuff some other parent bought for their kids. It doesn’t matter. They aren’t in your life and they aren’t planning your future. The greatest gift you can ever give your children is a successful parent who loves them and that does not include blowing all your money on crap to make the neighbors jealous. It also breeds a level of insecurity and “one-upmanship” in your child that will haunt you and them in the long run. The Joneses are broke, don’t be like the Joneses.
4) Holidays and Birthdays
This post is making me feel nostalgic so let’s keep going with it. I was lucky as a child because my birthday falls in June. This meant that the 2 times I would get gifts as a child were exactly six months apart, Christmas and my birthday. That was it and to be quite frank, I don’t think I even deserved that. My parents didn’t have much but they tried their best to get me and my brother a decent gift for these occasions. I personally don’t think anyone should get a gift for Christmas, I’m a Festivus guy myself. If you must get your children gifts that cost a good amount of money, limit it to the important dates. Don’t feel the need to buy them a gift for Victoria Day, Labor Day or Thanksgiving. I barely remember those gifts but I do remember the people I spent the time with, and that is what’s most important. Being broke every January isn’t helping anyone, believe me.
5) Education
This sounds like it goes against my post on Monday where I describe saving for your child’s education, which I’m all for. I do believe a parent should save for their child’s education if they can. I don’t believe they should spend large amounts of money on their child once they head off to school. There is a big difference in saving $100 a month for 15 years in an education fund and sending them $500 a month so they can drink with friends. During my university days, I would have been much happier with a box full of groceries, to be honest. Also don’t feel the need to splurge on the Harvard’s of the world. If your child is smart enough to go to a good school, the good school will come knocking on their door. Ruining your future only hurts your child in the long run and doesn’t prepare them for anything.
The Ultimate Back to School Guide – Budget Boss
6) Expensive Weddings
Without delving too deep into the usefulness of weddings in general, I don’t recommend any parent blow large amounts of money of their child’s wedding. More marriages end in divorce than succeed these days. Using that money to help them with a down payment for a house is far more useful. There are many ways to help your child out when they are starting their own family and wasting money on an expensive wedding isn’t one of them. Try opening an Investment Account, an Education Fund for their children or even a trust for them. They will appreciate those far more in the long run.
7) Classes or Sports they don’t even want to join
You should never force a child into something they don’t want to do. All it will do is waste their time and your money. Some kids have closets full of ballet shoes, baseball gloves, musical instruments, and various other after school activity nightmares. Your child will fall into the activities they want to do. One sure fire way to find out is simply by asking them. Foster their interests but don’t force yours on them. Also be wary of uber expensive sports like hockey. Unless your child is going to make it to the big league, why would you spend 30K a year to have them play a sport? Believe me, if your child is good enough, they won’t have to pay to play.
8) Expensive trips while your child is a baby
Let’s be honest, the photos of you and your baby at Disney Land was for your friends and not really for the baby. I honestly do not see the point of taking an expensive vacation with a baby if the baby is sure to not remember it. You will have the burden of taking care of the baby the whole trip and won’t fully enjoy yourself. The baby will look back on those pictures when they are older and smile then move on. They won’t remember a thing and you will probably regret the money spent. Do something smart like waiting till the child is a bit older and taking a great trip that they will fully be able to enjoy.
Parents have the natural inclination to give their child everything they want. It can be very damaging to the child and your wallet to do so. The way I see it is this: The most valuable thing you can give your child is a great, loving, role model. The second most valuable is an estate that they earned by working hard and following your lead as a frugal, savvy, financial sound parent. Be the parent they need, not the parent they want. Let’s remember that you are the adult here, not the child.
“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” – Frederick Douglas
Email – joe@budgetboss.ca
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