How To Save Money On Children’s Extracurricular Activities
I can’t tell you enough about the benefits of the extracurricular activities. They enhance social skills, reduce the risk of childhood obesity, and help refine motor skills!! These are all great benefits for our little ones!
In every parent meeting, we all pride ourselves in how many activities our kids are signed up to! I am guilty of that too! So I keep hearing and sometimes saying the following: Oh, he is signed up in hockey and swimming lessons, how about your child? Oh, no activity! That’s sad, you should!
Unfortunately, these activities can be pretty expensive: From sign up fees to purchasing the equipment, some parents will have hard time meeting the requirement. Here are some tips that can help you reduce the bill for the extracurricular activities.
Consider volunteering for your child’s team
If you can become a coach, assistant coach, or manager of the team, you can save money. Last year my husband was an assistant coach, we had a great discount on the sign up fees!
Rent the equipment or buy used
Since kids grow up fast, some equipment cannot make it for more than one year. Why not rent them? Each year, we rent the ski equipment for our little ones. It is less expensive and we return it by the end of the ski season, which leaves extra room in our home.
Limit the activities
Each fall we get the activities book from the city, and I want to sign up my son for multiple activities! Swimming, hockey, karate, etc! It’s too much for the budget and for the child too! You will end up spending your time running from one activity to another. He or she may have not time to do his homework. Signing up for one activity is a great start. If your budget can you can sign up for two.
Don’t miss free activities in your community
Many local libraries have free activities such as reading or shows. Some local communities provide free classes so kids can test if they like or not. It can be dancing classes, skiing classes, etc. Why not go and give them a try!
If your budget is tight and you cannot sign up your child for an extracurricular activity, don’t worry. Many communities offer great outdoor or indoor activities for a small fee, such as public ice skating or swimming.
Extracurricular activities are great. They can prevent many things but they should not be a burden to the home’s budget!
As a mother of two, Olfa is always looking for the best ways to save money. She shares her journey and tips on OurFamilyWorld. You can find more of her recipes on where she shares her cooking recipes and parenting tips. You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter.Image: Kittisak / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Great list on saving of kids extracurricular activities, thanks for sharing!
often times, if you write a letter to the sports committee explaining how your child would like to participate in an activity and how the family may not be able to afford it at the time, they will reduce or wave the fee altogether. of course this is often on a first come first serve basis and they wouldn’t let the same people coming back every year looking for the same help. in return they may ask you to help out working at the concession stand, cleaning up after the games, raking leaves on the field, etc.
Great tip, Terri!
This is a great idea as it will give the child the chance to test and try the activity..