Kids: Love Them, Splurge on Them?

If you have kids, it's likely you have a wallet/checkbook with a regular drain on it. Yes, kids can be expensive (but well worth it, of course!), but there are things we can do to provide for our children and also keep expenses in line. This piece from Yahoo gives one person's suggested guidelines on when to (and when not to) spend on specific children's activities (swimming lessons, soccer teams, etc.):

• If the activity interferes with family dinners, it's gone.
• Just because they're involved in multiple activities, the kids still have to pitch in with routine chores, like setting or clearing the dinner table, or picking up their clothes.
• I finance our retirement savings and college funds before spending money on extracurricular activities.

We have friends that spend much of their lives (and a lot of their money) driving their kids from one event to another, day after day. The kids have something going on every day/night and never seem to have a time to rest. Add in multiple kids in a family, and you can imagine how all of this leads to a very hectic lifestyle.

For us, such a frantic lifestyle is just not worth it. Our basic rule is one activity per kid per season (for sports). So far, they've both selected soccer as their spring and fall activities and they are currently taking swimming lessons this winter (indoors, of course).

What rules do you have when it comes to activities for your kids? What limits do you place on them (in both time and money)?

Comments

[Blaine Moore (Run to Win)]

I don't have any kids, and hopefully won't start having kids for at least a few years, but I like those rules. I just wish that I could follow the advice and get rid of my own activities that interfere with family dinners!

[Amanda]

I also do not have kids yet, but agree with your post from a personal experience standpoint. My sister and I were raised being encouraged to pick extracurricular activities that were of interest to us. If we found something we were interested in taking up, we would, as you do with your children, focus on that for the season. This not only I'm sure let to a less hectic life for my parents, who both worked, but it also allowed me sister and I to really focus and dedicate ourself to our chosen activity, rather than be stretched too thin ourselves. Doing this really promotes dedication and commitment.