Save Money on Children’s Toys

Do you have fond memories of your favorite toys as a kid? Maybe it was a special doll, action figure, or a game that you enjoyed playing with your parents.You also probably have memories of being disappointed when you didn’t get that special toy that you had had your heart set on. Now that you’re a parent, you can see what your parents were going through when you made it seem like you would absolutely die if you didn’t get the “toy du jour” that every single one of your friends seemed to have. If this sounds familiar, there are numerous ways to save money on toys so that you can stay within your family budget.

Younger Children Have More Fun

There’s a famous Peanuts cartoon in which Lucy comes into a room and takes away all of Linus’ toys.As Lucy is walking out the door, she tosses Linus a rubber band and says, “I guess you can have this rubber band. Have fun with that.”After she leaves Linus begins have an enormous amount of fun with the rubber band that Lucy left with him. It’s one of the early strips when Linus was still a baby. In the strip Charles Schultz (the creator of peanuts) captures a quintessential aspect of young children; they can have fun with almost anything.

If you have a very young child who hasn’t been exposed to the daily onslaught of toy commercials, you will typically find that your child is more than satisfied with very simple toys. Young kids love to build with blocks, collect leaves, play in water, blow bubbles, play dress up, and hundreds of other things that cost little or no money. Also, young kids typically enjoy helping out with chores. If you can get them involved in helping out in ways that don’t make your work harder, this can be a terrific and inexpensive form of amusement for your child.

Encourage Older Kids to Buy Their Own Toys

Suggest Them to Save Up Their Allowance

If you provide your child with a regular allowance, consider encouraging your child to buy some of their own toys. If there is a special toy that your kid wants that is beyond your weekly or monthly budget, have a talk with your child about the budget and explain that the cost of the toy will make the family go over budget. This works well for children who are at least 9 years old. Encourage them to save up allowance money for the toy. You can also offer to split the cost of the toy with the child. Children feel a sense of pride and accomplishment when they accomplish the goal of saving up their allowance for a very special toy that they want.

Show Your Child How To Swap and Sell Their Toys

Explain to your child that there are ways that they can swap their old toys for other toys that they want. Swap It is a popular site where kids can swap earn virtual currency in various ways that can be used to buy toys and other items from the site.  The site helps your child learn basic economic principles, the importance of saving, and develop a bit of business savvy. The site is specifically geared to be safe for children.

You might also encourage your child to sell some of their toys as a way to offset the price of new toys that they want. Make sure that they understand that by doing so, they will reduce the amount of time it will take for them to finally get that special toy they have been eyeing. You can help them sell their old toys through sites such as Preloved and Trade Your Toys.