Category Archives: Financial Freedom & Saving Money

Now that I graduated from a mom of babies and toddlers to a mom with preschoolers and school age children, I feel the push to put my kids in activities.  Soccer to gymnastics to karate to cheerleading–the possibilities are endless.

I was talking to a friend who was signing up her four-year old for tee ball.  The team has fourteen four-year old boys signed up and no brave parent interested in coaching.  I cannot say I blame them.  She said, “The more I thought about it, I questioned why we are doing this.  Does it not make more sense to bat a ball around and play catch for an hour each day in the backyard with my son?  Is that not better than organized tee ball for a four-year old?”

The childhood obesity epidemic is all over the news. There is a push to put our kids in activities all year-long at a young age.  One of my friends pointed out that the year round sports clog up their schedule especially during the dinner hour.  They resort to fast food meals.  Or they eat the candy, nachos, or hot dogs that are sold at the games.  Is this really battling obesity?

I realize some kids are passionate and driven by sports while others are not.  I come from a “non-sports family.” I have been the most athlete driven the past ten years as an adult than as a child.  I do realize the importance of activities.  They give our kids an outlet for meeting other kids, get us more involved in our communities, teach teamwork, build self-confidence etc.

How do we keep our kids active without draining our budget?  Here’s five “frugal sports/activity tips” I came up with.

1)  Do not start them in a sport until they show signs of being ready.  I was talking to a mom who put her three-year old daughter in swim lessons.  She said she wished she would have waited a few years.  Her daughter cried all the way to the pool and struggled through a half hour lesson.  Not worth the hassle.

2)  Utilize parks and pools.  Climbing, swinging on the bars, throwing a ball back and forth are all great activities for preschoolers.  They do not need constant structure.  Some gyms and community pools offer summer only memberships or discounted prices.

3)  Buy used sports equipment.  If you don’t know if they are going to like dance or karate or soccer, use Craig’s List, eBay, or Facebook to find gently used attire and equipment.  You always buy nicer items if they fall inlove with the sport.

4)  Shop around.  There are about five different places my daughter could take swimming.  We intentionally picked a pool right in our neighborhood.  It is about the same price as other places, but we don’t spend as much gas money driving there (we can even walk and ride bikes).  Nor do I spend mindless time in the car.

5) Take a season off.  If you are having a tough month financially or a parent has been recently laid off, take a season off.  Kids are young enough that it will not set them back.  As parents we need to be intentional about giving our kids breaks and rest time as well.

I’m linking this up with Frugal Friday

Posted by artoornstra in Financial Freedom & Saving Money Tags: boys, girls, kid's activities, outdoors, preschoolers, saving money