I recently wrote my top ten money saving strategies that are ensuring we can live off one wage, whilst I stay at home with my daughter Erin. Also providing me with the option of returning to full time education in the near future.
Now it’s time for seven false economies that have tripped me up along the way.
1. Shop Brand Nappies
You may think (like I did) that nappies are a perfect way to save some cash, after all, the supermarket brand versions can be as much as 40% cheaper, which is a real saving….but don’t be fooled. I found that, when it comes to nappies you get what you pay for, the cheaper versions stayed very wet, meaning I had to change them more often, perhaps twice as often, making cheaper nappies a false economy. The only time I buy cheap nappies is to keep for standby. The reason? their so bad compared to the named brand that I can only stomach using them when I’ve truly been caught short!
2. DIYB
Otherwise known as Doing It Yourself. Badly. We’ve all heard of so and so’s husband who tried to rewire the house to save money and uhhh…didn’t get it quite right, resulting in a hefty electrician’s bill to correct it. Take heed, if you are in any doubt that you can’t successfully complete a job, don’t bother, instead try and find a friend of a friend who will do it for ‘mates rates’.
Ok I need to find the phone number for the light switch fixing guy (!)
3. Selling Stuff on Ebay
For a short time (while I was pregnant) I had the grand idea that I might build an ebay empire and become a ‘powerseller’ making lots of money in the process. I would buy cheap items to resell on ebay. If you’re considering it, don’t bother unless you have a great supplier and high priced products (electronics) at rockbottom prices, otherwise you’re going to find it very difficult to turn a profit.
First there is the listing fee, and then the percentage they take from the sale price, not to mention paypal fees, postage and packaging, plus all the time and effort, most of the time it really isn’t worth it, and that often goes for selling unwanted items like kiddy clothes and toys. I actually just give mine to charity or pass them on to someone I know now because it is such a false economy, both monetarily and time wise.
4. Cheap Deodrant
Unless you like snowing armpits don’t even go there!
5. Picnics
Controversially I don’t believe that taking a picnic on an outing is always the most economical. If you have leftovers or stuff to make sandwiches and squash to take then this can definitely be the cheapest option. But if your picnics (like mine) involve you heading to the supermarket to stock up on expensive pre-packaged foods to take, then you’d be better off grabbing a sausage roll or bag of chips when you’re there. Admittedly it’s not the healthiest, but once in a while it’s ok!
6. Buying Ultra Cheap Food
I’ll admit that some shop brand items are equal to or better than the more expensive brands, in fact I made a short list of them in my post about cutting costs. However, buying the cheapest and lowest quality of absolutely everything will likely end up with you having poor meal options, and eventually you will give into the temptation of tasty takeaways, thus blowing your budget way over what it would have been to buy tasty meal ingredients.
7. Extending the Life of Shoes
Kids shoes are expensive, our last pair were £26… You may be tempted to.. ahem… ‘extend the life’ of your shoes by trimming the ends and fashioning a pair of not-so fashionable sandals. It’s an economical idea, but don’t! Think of the shame and extra pocket money you will have to dole out in compensation (we are living in a society obsessed with suing for damages, beware!) also you can really harm the resale value if you decide (against my advice) to sell them on ebay 
Anyonelse have a false economy to share….
18 Responses to “Parents! Beware of these 7 False Economies”
I agree about e-bay. I sporadically try to recoup a bit of money by selling stuff, and it’s all so time-consuming and irritating that I don’t do it again for months.
My Mum used to have to wear shoes with the ends cut off, but that was sixty years ago! I don’t think today’s kids would tolerate it.
Cheap clothes can be a waste of money - for grown-ups anyhow - as they don’t last. On kids it doesn’t matter so much as they’re growing. But if you have more than one child, it’s cheaper in the long run to buy stuff that lasts long enough to pass down to the next one.
Good advice beta mum, number seven definitely not a goer nowadays, although your right in the ‘olden days’ it was pretty commonplace, I think most people are living above that now - that would definitely be considered living in poverty.
You never know though, perhaps I will make it my threat if Erin misbehaves haha
Cloth nappies save a fortune you know
About £1,000 for 1 child, obviously more than double that for subsequent children. Of course, taht all goes to pot if you get sucked into the gorgeous ultra trendy (ultra expensive) designer cloth nappies!
Biggest false economy I’ve done is potatoes by the big sack-load. They aren’t cheap if you end up throwing half away after they go bad. Likewise the giant bag of oats I got wholesale that got weevils before I was even half way down (making the cost roughly twice that of Asda’s!)
well you know i love ebay so i am with you there and the cheap nappies i will never buy cheap again the asda one left gel type bits on my baby!
Yeah, I’ve made the potatoes mistake too
I’ve come to that same conclusion about eBay - I had bags of things stored around the house to list, but I’ve systematically been taking them all to the Salvation Army instead. Much better for your soul, I think.
I’m the same Emma, I amassed such a collection that I have had to do the charity shop thing over a number of months so as not to bombard them!
Here in the States we have a thing called Freecycle. I have no idea if there is a UK counterpart. Basically you post offers of whatever junk you no longer want and people arrange to come pick it up. When you want something, you post a wanted add. Everything must be for free… no trade. I just got a new horse that way!
I second (third?) the suggestion on cloth diapers. They are VERY economical and really easy to use/care for. If you want information on making your own from just what you have around the house, visit http://www.geocities.com/cyndiegran/diapertext2.html.
We also have resale shops that are a lifesaver for me (I assume you do, too). I take in any clothes, shoes, toys, or misc. baby and children’s items and they give me cash or store credit for what they want to resell and donate the rest for me. It’s very ‘no muss no fuss’. Then I can use the cash for what I need in general or use the store credit to buy the items that other moms sold to them.
Breath new life into your leftovers. Many times our side dishes are all gone but there is leftover meat. It will sit in the fridge and go bad if I don’t revive it somehow. I mean, who wants to heat up a plate of roast beef and nothing else. Often there’s not enough to reserve a whole other meal out of it. So, I chop my chicken into chicken salad or soup. I slice my beef to make my own lunch meat (which in and of itself is another money saver) for my husband’s lunch. I freeze the leftover bits of steak until I have enough for stew or chunk it small and mix it with a cream of mushroom soup and serve it over noodles. The list goes on. Point is, if you’re routinely throwing out leftovers, you’re wasting a lot of money.
I left a longish comment earlier - but it seems to have disappeared. Oh dear.
Thanks for the ideas Amie!
Sorry about that MaL, not sure what happened
I have four rules for spending money to get the best you can afford: Roofing, furniture (once kiddies are past the coloring on the sofa stage), shoes (mentioned here) and last, but not least, paper towels. Use one good quality paper towel, or 4 cheap nasty ones that leave paper pills on your hands and spilled juice on the table.
I like the furniture tip, I’ll try to adopt that when I move house.
[...] MONEY: Erica Douglas presents Parents! Beware of these 7 False Economies posted at LittleMummy.Com. (approve) Is $1 really worth it? Discover The fine line between [...]
[...] Parents! Beware of these 7 False Economies posted at LittleMummy.Com. There are places you can save money and cut costs, and there are some that just aren’t worth it. I didn’t necessarily agree with every single one, but I agree with the idea. Know when it is best to pay full price. [...]
You are so right! It’s so important to consider the value of a product, not just the price tag. Stocking up on good dried herbs, flavored pepper (like lemon pepper) is a good investment. It might cost a bit upfront but will help add flavor to any meal, keeping everybody happy.
Great tips Jen, thanks.
Even more economical than paper towels, reusable rags you can throw in the wash! Cloth napkins, too.
I’ve been using Erin’s old muslin squares as cleaning rags which I can just wash and reuse.