When your household is on a tight budget, saving money is everybody’s concern. Your children can be very involved in helping you cut costs for that household, doing their part to make sure that expenses do not get out of hand. The older your children are, the more responsibilities they can take on in helping with cost cutting practices. Here are few the best ways to get your children involved in keeping costs down for the family.
Turning off Electronics and Switches
A lot of homes have a problem with wasted electricity and a sky-high electric bill, and that doesn’t have to be so difficult to pay. If you’re having trouble paying the electric bill or you’re looking for ways to keep it low, you can get your children involved in turning off electronics and light switches whenever possible. One of the rules that a lot of families will institute in their home is that children turn off lights in rooms as they leave them. Each instance of turning off a light that’s not in use will add up over the month to save you quite a bit of money.
Children can also unplug video game consoles and power banks every night or when they are not in use. This saves on background electrical use that would constantly be supplied to these devices even when they’re not in active use.
Each device will have its own set of electronics that can be turned off when not being used, and this could include air conditioners, fans, smart devices, and much more.
Conserving Water
It’s not just electricity that ramps up the monthly bills, but water can be more expensive than it has to be for your household. If your children are doing their part, they’ll conserve water as much as possible. Instead of washing dishes under running water, you can fill a sink with water and wash the dishes there. Showers can be kept to 10 minutes or less. Children can be instructed to check taps and faucets inside and outside the house every day to make sure they’re not dripping or leaking. Older children can also be taught to check underneath sinks for signs of leaks periodically to catch those early on before they cause major problems.
These are just a few suggestions for how your children can conserve water, and you can encourage them to cut back on their water use and help keep the household water costs low.
Saving Coupons and Checking for Sales
Households that operate on a tight budget should definitely take advantage of coupons and special offers. These days, a lot of those are available almost exclusively online, and you don’t have kids cutting coupons off of cereal boxes and out of newspapers as often to help the family save money. Your kid should let you know about deals they come across and online and physical coupons that they may see. The little savings here and there can add up, and being aware of sales can help you to get the things you need at a time when they are less expensive.
You can also teach your kids to compare prices and get the best deal. If you ever send them on errands to buy something for your home, you want to make sure they know how to compare brands, quality, and prices. They should also know how to compare prices based on units of measure so that they can compare two different items to get the best deal.
Keeping a Clean House
Your kids can be involved in tidying up the house, keeping their rooms clean, sanitizing surfaces, and taking out the trash. All of these things cut down on germs, which means fewer infections and illnesses, fewer sick days, and less money lost each year. You may not want to have the kids do all the house cleaning, and it may be advantageous to hire a cleaning service periodically for a deeper clean or for special projects, but your kids can stay on top of a lot of the tidying up that needs to be done. This helps people in your home to sleep better and breathe easier thanks to the reduced dust and dirt. It also means that your children and other people in your home are less likely to catch sicknesses that are going around.
Be sure to teach your kids proper sanitary habits, especially when it comes to preventing the spread of illnesses. Teach them how to keep their germs to themselves, let you know when they’re not feeling well, and clean up after themselves so that germs are not spread around as easily.
Making Snacks for Themselves
How much money do your kids spend each week for snacks? Is it money they earn themselves or are they getting it from you? You can cut down on all of their unnecessary snack spending if you teach them and encourage them to make snacks themselves. Before they leave the house, they can prepare themselves some kind of snack that will still be good to eat by the time they’re ready for it. That way, they’re less likely to spend money on something that catches their eye that’s also going to be a lot more expensive than what they can make at home.
You can also encourage your children to take a bottle of water with them wherever they go, and they’ll be less likely to buy unhealthy, expensive drinks when they get thirsty.
These habits will help keep them from getting too hungry and thirsty, and habits like these also encourage healthy eating behavior and self-control. And, as with many of the suggestions on this list, it’s a great way to cut costs for the entire household. People get into the habit of doing things a certain way and not thinking about how they can change those things and conserve money. Hopefully, some of these suggestions will help you to make adjustments to your behavior and cut costs in a few key places.