Clothes Make Kids Expensive

People always say that kids are expensive and I've never believed it until recently. First, I've been lucky to have an easy time with breastfeeding so we've never had to buy formula. We have to buy diapers but the generic Target brand works for us and since not buying diapers isn't an option I don't really see that as an extra expense.

I also didn't realize how spoiled we were with baby showers. I was excited to have a party but didn't see them as the huge money-savers that they were. Now when I think about the clothes, blankets, toys, and misc. baby items we received, it makes me want to write those thank you notes again. We hardly spent a penny on Trevor thanks to generous friends.

Those friends also included a few who shared their hand-me-downs with us. (And if you're one of them, this post is NOT to make you feel guilty and give us more. Really, should we be passing clothes on until our boys are in college?) So once the baby clothes from showers were gone there were still clothes to use and save us money. Until...

That boy got bigger and a baby girl came along. Now I'm finally shopping for kids' clothes and it's putting me to the test. My biggest problem is figuring out how to budget for it. I'm learning to buy ahead and shop at the end of the season for sales, but there's no telling when I'll find a good deal and need to spend extra money.

So finally I do agree: kids can be expensive. And if not expensive, then finding good deals is time-consuming. Really, I don't want to spend most of my days out shopping so I'm trying to find a balance. Looks like it's time to re-write the budget.