How to save money in the first year of a child’s life? How to save money on a child You can take protein, food and drinks with you

If you want to save money for your college education, your future car, or your cool new bike, you need to learn how to save. And the hardest part is actually doing it, especially if you're a child or teenager. However, the more you discipline yourself, the easier (and more effective) it will become.

Steps

Determine how much you want to save and for what purpose

Set a goal for yourself. Saving money is much easier when you have a certain amount in mind. If you can't decide on it, just save about half of what you earn or receive. For example, if you earned 600 rubles today, set aside 300 rubles to your savings.

• Buy a piggy bank or other means of storing money. Choose a specific (and relatively secret) location. Do not use your wallet for this purpose. You probably think your wallet is a good place to store your money, but in reality it is not because it is easily accessible and constantly moves around. Once you choose a location, try not to take money from there until you reach your goal.

1. Make a table. Once you've decided on your goal and amount of money, figure out how many weeks you'll need to save, then create a chart and hang it on your wall. List each week by number and line the table horizontally and vertically. Every time you put money in your piggy bank or anywhere else, put a sticker next to that week so you can see how far you've actually come.

   Start saving using the jug or envelope method. Regardless of the method you choose, draw on paper what you are saving for and set aside the appropriate amount each week. You can have one envelope or one jar for small amounts and one envelope or one jar for larger amounts. For example, short-term savings might be for a certain video game, while long-term savings might be for a trip to Disneyland.

   Visualize what you are going to do with the money you save. Cut out a picture of the item you would like to buy from a catalog or magazine (along with the price). Hang it on the wall in your room or somewhere else where you will see it often. Visualization is great for motivating you to achieve your goal.

   Put your money where you won't be tempted to take it and spend it. You may have to hide them from yourself if you are easily tempted. The main thing is that it is not such a hard-to-reach place that you will forget about your savings or not remember where you put them at all. A sibling's or parents' closet might be a good option, or you could even ask your relatives to hide the money from you for a certain period of time. So you have to go through them to find the money and spend it.

   Find free classes. When spending time with friends, do something that doesn't involve spending money. For example, go to the park or play football. Or, if you're walking close to home, instead of buying a bottle of lemonade at the store for 50 rubles, save the money and go home to drink.

   Spend wisely. Of the money you have to spend each week, set aside a small percentage to put toward savings (at least 5-10 percent if possible). You will be surprised how quickly they grow. It's better to start with a small amount than to say you're going to save a ton of money and then never do it.

   Do not buy food with your own money unless you are required to do so. You spend only a few minutes on a snack, and along with the food, your money disappears. Start baking at home and make your own treats. It's much cheaper.

   • One way to avoid wasting money on goodies and spontaneous purchases is never go to the store hungry.

2. Tell someone you are saving money. This is called "accountability." This essentially means that someone else will know what you are doing. From the point of view of savings, this way a person can keep you from spending during a period of temptation. However, make sure that this is not someone who will encourage you to go astray.

   • You can even both save money for something and whoever gets it first gets to buy the other a movie ticket or something else you both really like.

Earn more money to increase your savings

1. Do different jobs in your area. Start asking people around you if they have any job that you can help them with. If they say no, don't despair. Perhaps they simply do not have extra money to spend at the moment. However, you have made it known that you are available for work, and a couple of people will likely ask for your help in the future. Here are some useful tasks you can suggest: ;

   • mow the lawn (if you live in a private sector or suburb);
   • tidy up the yard (if you live in a private sector or suburb);
   • mend clothes;
   • disassemble cabinets or mezzanines;
   • weed the garden or paths (if you live in a private sector or suburb);
   • clear the paths of snow (if you live in a private sector or suburb).

2. Offer to look after your neighbor's house while he's away. In this case, you will need to take care of plants, pets and deliver mail. In most cases, you will need to go to the person's home every day and check that everything is okay. But sometimes the owner may want you to be in the house all the time while he is away.

   Think of creative ways to get your parents to help. The ability to save money is a really important thing in life. If you show your parents early on that you can do it (even if it's a small amount at first), they'll be more likely to want to help you. Here are some ideas to consider:

   • Give mom or dad a gift card someone gave you for them to use. However, they must give you an amount of money equivalent to the value of the card.
   • Open a bank account that will be managed by your parents or guardians on your behalf. There are many services available for children's bank accounts. You can choose a time deposit or deposit and receive interest from banks on the money saved. If you're still a teenager, ask your parents to open a child savings account for you.
   • Be very nice to your parents or whoever gives you pocket money and ask for a higher amount. It's worth a try. The worst thing that can happen is that they will refuse you.

3. Become an entrepreneur. Becoming an entrepreneur means starting your own business, and it's never too early to start. For example, if you have a talent (playing the guitar or dancing), let people pay you for it. Also consider making and selling items such as hats or scarves that you knit. If you live in the suburbs or private sector, set up a lemonade stand in the style of American movies, or buy chocolates from a discount store and resell them for a profit.

4. Find a way to stay motivated! After working for money for a little while, you may find yourself wanting to give up. Draw a funny picture or write a quote to look at in your weak moments!
5. Try to earn the same amount of money each week and work at the same pace - don't overwork yourself.
6. Ask your parents to give you pocket money, for example, 50–100 rubles a week, and you will reach your goal faster.
7. Hide your money so your brothers/sisters don't take it.
8. Try to hide your money somewhere you don't go often, like your aunt's house.
9. You can do a midday job, such as volunteering to mow lawns, wash cars, babysit, and so on.
10. If you receive 3,000 rubles (or so) for your birthday or New Year's, try putting just ten percent of the money in your wallet and putting the rest in a piggy bank or jar. Keep doing this whenever you get money and you'll be saving a huge amount before you know it.
11. If you already have a lot of money but want to save it for something else, ask your parents if there is anything you can help them with to earn more.

The appearance of a small child in a family is associated not only with immense happiness and tenderness, but also with inevitable additional expenses. If you are young parents, inspired by the event, you buy from the shelves everything that one way or another can be useful for the baby... If the same questions appear in your head:

• How to moderate the ardor of a “malicious spender” and find a middle ground?
• What can parents of a small child save on and is it possible?

Then you just need to familiarize yourself with some saving rules, carefully collected and structured by experienced dads and moms.

Things

The very first myth that has to be dispelled is that the child will need a lot of clothes, furniture and other devices that are not very clear to the average person. It is important to understand that the baby will grow up quickly and some of the things, once carefully selected and bought with love, will lie in the dresser drawer without waiting for their “output.” Therefore, it is better to buy a little, but only necessary and comfortable clothes.

Reviews from young parents show that high-quality clothing for newborns at Pampik helps to avoid allergies and other possible consequences of cheap, low-quality clothing.

Nutrition

Ready-made food for children in bags and jars is healthier than what mother and grandmother cook - the second myth. It is not easy to overcome the urge to buy something with beautiful labels, as you will have to spend a lot of effort and time. But the savings will be noticeable. For a long time, the food from our table will not be suitable for the baby at all, so we will have to cook additionally, and even three times a day.

Vegetables from the garden, cereals and the desire to give the child something more than a set of useful substances will be of great help to young parents. A well-chosen menu for a child under one and a half years old is the key to correctly formed taste preferences. By the way, if it’s winter outside, your carefully frozen vegetables and fruits will come to the rescue. And it’s a shame for modern mothers to complain; today they have excellent helpers at their disposal: a blender, a slow cooker and a yogurt maker.

Diapers

The third myth: it is best for a toddler to be in a disposable diaper. For reference, this is one of the largest expense items. For mothers who are busy with housework and caring for several children, the following advice will seem somewhat unrealistic. Experienced parents are convinced that a diaper should be used only in extreme cases: a long walk, a trip to the doctor. The rest of the time, your baby can be in rompers or with a bare bottom. There are positive examples of how a child learned to easily do without “diapers” already from two weeks of age. Another argument in favor of this practice is that potty training is quick and easy.

There are times when diapers are absolutely necessary. If you used to have to take a bunch of sliders with you on a trip, now there is no such need. Many mothers have appreciated the large selection of Libero diapers on the website pampik.com; here you can order panty diapers or regular disposable diapers.

Toys

And here is the fourth myth: in the understanding of young parents, there should be a lot of toys so that the child has plenty to choose from. Experienced mothers disagree. There should be just enough toys so that they can be changed every two weeks: some to play with, and some to hide. This will warm up the baby’s interest in hidden toys and give him the opportunity to concentrate on those cubes, bears, dolls, horses that stand in front of him in small quantities.

After all, the most important thing is not what a child should play, but who to spend time with, who to be close to. And if you are not only loving parents, but also handicraftsmen, God himself ordered you to do something educational with your own hands; diagrams and instructions are available in sufficient quantities on the Internet.

Medicines

They don’t skimp on medications – myth number five. Quite controversial, but still has its place. Due to modern widespread awareness, you should know that for every foreign medicine there is a domestic analogue, which can be purchased at a pharmacy at several times cheaper. But all experienced parents agree on one thought: the best medicine is prevention. Try to organize a healthy lifestyle for your child, strengthen the child’s fragile body, and one day your healthy baby will thank you for this.

Savings are possible even in a family where a small miracle has recently appeared. In this case, the child will be well dressed, fed, healthy and completely happy. Save your family budget and grow up healthy!

With the advent of children, the burden on the family budget increases. However, many parents admit that having a child has helped them rethink their spending and learn to save. How to reduce expenses without infringing on the interests of all family members? Here are 12 ways to spend less while getting more.

Count your expenses

Start counting how much money you spend. There are convenient smartphone applications and computer programs for this. It will be more convenient for someone to carry a notebook with them and write down the amounts spent in it. If you don’t have time to do “accounting” during the day, then get into the habit of saving receipts, and then every 2-3 days, take them out and enter the amounts into a notebook or Excel spreadsheet.

After your first week, you'll likely be very surprised to find out how much money you're actually spending. This will help you rethink your approach to shopping and will prevent you from making spontaneous purchases in the future.

Save first, spend later

Only a small number of families have savings, while the rest live from paycheck to paycheck. And of those who do save money, the majority do it occasionally, if there are free funds left at the end of the month. But it would be more correct to save not from leftovers, but immediately after receiving your salary: this will discipline you.

Find ways to save big

Buying potatoes on sale for 20 rubles cheaper is also a saving. But it's better to focus on more significant things. For example, consider whether you need open car insurance or whether you can limit it to one driver. Consider whether it's time to give up credit cards and stop paying interest. Estimate your monthly expenses for taxis and home delivery of prepared food. Find out what tariffs you pay for utilities and whether you can save money by installing meters or vice versa by switching to payment according to the standard.

Plan your purchases

Have you noticed that a spontaneous trip to the store often results in large expenses, and at the checkout you sometimes hear an amount two or three times more than you expected to spend? But don’t bring the goods back!

Online shopping services for groceries and household goods are now gaining popularity. Prices on the website usually do not differ much from store prices, and delivery over a certain amount is completely free. This type of online shopping will help you keep track of the total value of your cart and, if necessary, feel free to remove items from it.

Set a motivating goal

To make saving more enjoyable, set a goal to use the money you save to buy something you have long dreamed of. It would be even more effective to put a small picture in your wallet depicting what you are saving for. Every time you feel the urge to buy another T-shirt or snack, look at the image and ask yourself: “Do I really need this thing more than a family vacation at the seaside?”

Save random money

Did a friend repay a debt that you forgot to think about? Found a large bill in your winter coat pocket? Don't put this "random" money into your overall monthly budget. You didn’t count on them, which means you can do without them. Better add this amount to the money you are saving.

Pay off “imaginary” debts

Have you finally paid off your mortgage or major car loan? Try to continue to “pay off” this debt further, only put the required amount into a savings account. If you have been accustomed for years to immediately allocating a certain amount from your salary for a monthly payment, then it will not be difficult for you to do this in the future.

Open accounts without the possibility of withdrawal

If you decide to save, then open an account or deposit with the possibility of replenishment, but without withdrawal. As a rule, such accounts are opened at a higher interest rate, but in case of early withdrawal, the interest is lost. With such an account, you will be able to resist the temptation to spend what you have saved.

Challenge yourself

Turn saving into an exciting game. Challenge yourself: “Can I save 10% more this month than last month?” Rejoice in every small victory over wastefulness.

Buy reusable instead of disposable

Many familiar things can be replaced with analogues, which will save you a large amount over time. For example, try reusable diapers for babies, cloth bags for grocery shopping, textile rags instead of paper towels.

Formula milk is expensive, so breastfeed your baby if possible. In addition, pay attention to the composition of baby purees from store shelves. Instead of “banana puree,” prepare a regular banana in a blender; instead of “zucchini puree,” prepare a regular zucchini from the garden.

From about a year old, a healthy child can move to a common table, provided that the family eats healthy food. This means that from this age it is no longer necessary to buy your child special “children’s” cereals and purees.

Don't buy too much

The first trip of future parents to a children's supermarket can be shocking: does a child really need all this? And where can I get so much money to buy all this? Don’t be in a hurry to get upset: many families do without half of the “necessary” children’s goods. Ask your friends who have already had children, and they will tell you which purchases were useless. You will be surprised when you find out that a breastfed baby does not need bottles and warmers, and empty jars, pieces of ribbon and other little things interest the baby no less than insanely expensive “educational” toys.

Saving money does not mean limiting yourself and your children. Saving is a more rational approach to how and what we spend money on, what we consider valuable and what is important to us. For modern parents, shopping often becomes entertainment and a way to escape from routine, and shopping malls have become centers of attraction for families with children.

Once you start controlling your spending, you'll be surprised how much time (and money) you free up. Consuming wisely will help you rethink your lifestyle and change your value system, which will benefit both you and those around you.

New Year is approaching. A time of joy, miracles and fairy tales.
In our Soviet childhood, many children's films and fairy tale films were shown during the New Year holidays. The best directors created children's films, and the best actors starred in the roles.
We continue to remember the fairy tales of our childhood.

Part II – “Red-haired, honest, in love”

Anonymous

I am on maternity leave with a child, my husband was recently laid off from his good job and was paid a large allowance. Which we were supposed to live on until he found another job. It’s my home and my mother’s; my mother lives with her grandmother, who needs care.
My husband sleeps, plays on the computer, smokes, hangs out on gaming forums. I wrote a resume, sent it to several companies, and received silence in response. Submitted my resume to headhunter. A couple more sites. Silence! When I tell him to look for at least a part-time job, at least something, he yells, “Where should I look?! Whereeeeeee?!” like he did everything he could. The third month is playing on the computer, the child is completely on me, cooking, washing dishes, cleaning, washing, I even go to the grocery store with the stroller along the road from a walk. Oh well, when it worked, it was ok. But now he’s resting, he’s so tired of working for my son and me. And everything is still on me. Tired of it. And it’s scary what will happen when the money runs out.
How to convince him to go anywhere, even as a consultant in a household appliances store, at least as a manager, at least as someone?! He is a technologist of something, and says that all this work is not for people of his skill level. I myself won’t be able to go to work, since he definitely won’t sit with the child, I left him a couple of times when I had to go to the hospital, then the child was hungry and in a dirty diaper.

Miranna

Good night everyone. My son is 13 years old and studies in the 6th grade. Lately, he has been increasingly asking to be transferred to another class. Our class seems to be very friendly, I am on the parent committee. I observe from the outside and it seems like no one is directly offending. He wants to go from A to D. None of the teachers advise me to do this, my son has arguments: the accountants are strict, the class sucks... I tried to find out from my classmates that there seem to be no difficult conflicts with anyone. I have no idea what to do...

Anonymous

There was a need for an outside perspective on my problem. Perhaps I’m so fixated that I don’t see the advantages and benefits of my position, or maybe I’m completely in chocolate and don’t know it. Think about it. The thing is, I’m a pharmacist and I work in a pharmacy. I hate my job fiercely. Firstly, we process a lot, it works out to about or even 200 hours a month, this is with a 40-hour work week. It is clear that we are all working for the bet. I crawl home, there is no other word, because let alone sit down, sometimes there is no time to go to the restroom, and as one pharmacy visitor told me, I need to wear diapers so as not to create inconvenience for customers. In general, I receive the goods, label them, distribute them to places, and at the same time serve customers. I won’t say anything about the people, I’m already used to rudeness, arrogance, aggression and insults with curses and promises to do damage. The fact is that we have plans, plans for private label (our own trademark), for the product of the day, it is necessary to submit it with deadlines, since we ourselves pay for late payments and the goods are often delivered with a deadline and cannot be returned. In general, a person comes to the pharmacy to buy medicine and you have to give him dietary supplements, the cost of which is pennies, but they cost tens of rubles. If you don’t make a plan, you get fined, the manager, like a supervisor, gnaws at the whole shift, because if you didn’t make a plan, she won’t see the bonus. I am silent about expensive cosmetics, the whole pharmacy is littered with it, they should also be pushed to people. In short, I began to notice that I already hated everything around me and my life itself, well, I can’t go against my conscience and deceive people every day. Don’t suggest changing the pharmacy, it’s like this everywhere now, I’ve already changed it. You can’t go anywhere other than a pharmacy with my specialty. Here's what to do, how to move on. You can quit, but what can you live on? That's how things are, I'm just desperate.

Anonymous

Together for 12 years. I thought I was used to him offering almost nothing. But it turned out that no. I decide to go somewhere, but he won’t agree with everything. We’re going somewhere, he won’t take off his coat, won’t put it on, and won’t offer his hand. Situations where I need to defend or support me will not be interceded. In intimate life, 90 percent of the initiator is me... We have a child. He himself does a lot of things for the family, of course (earn money, pick up and meet the child sometimes, pay bills), sometimes even cook something). The man himself is secretive. Tell me, does anyone have similar situations?

Krysatulya

The holiday is coming to us, the holiday is coming to us! My dear Snow Maidens! Do you remember how much fun we had on Halloween, what scary and, at the same time, funny stories we came up with? And what completely unexpected images did you choose for yourself? Soon, soon our favorite holiday is New Year. So let's organize a new, fun, magnificent forum matinee chaos! Choose any image for yourself and exist within this image throughout the entire matinee. He comes up with the most incredible stories and reasons for his appearance. The rule is the absence of any rules other than the clearly regulated official rules of the forum, that is, we have fun as much as we can. The topic will not be from me, but I won’t say from whom, the author will also be wearing a mask.
So: we are waiting for everyone at the forum matinee on December 24, approximately at 10.00 Moscow time. What to bring with you: positivity, good mood and a sense of humor. Bugs and bores are not allowed.
And some pictures for inspiration:

Hattie Garlick is a British journalist who challenged modern society, where the consumption of children's products has become a cult. She spoke out against the general thoughtless waste of children's goods and services on her blog Free our Kids. Hattie decided to raise her son without spending extra money, which parents often use to drown out their feelings of guilt. Such a radical act of a young mother caused a real stir around her blog.

Here's what Hattie Garlick herself writes about her project on how to live without spending extra money on children:

Let's free our children. Start

A child's birthday is not a good time to experience an existential crisis. But imagine: it’s the beginning of January, I’ve just opened my mouth to eat my piece of cake, and one of the invited dads suddenly asks: “So you think that the way we raise our children is vicious?”

How did I end up in this situation? Two weeks earlier, I had blithely started a blog, Free our Kids, to document how I was keeping my promise to myself to not spend money on baby clothes or products for a year. Then I didn’t even think about the possible consequences.

After publishing the first entry, I went to make myself a cup of coffee, and when I returned, I discovered that it had caused a reaction similar to a small storm. One hundred messages, five hundred new Twitter followers and 10 thousand page views by the end of the day. By the end of that week, the blog had become internationally famous, being discussed by everyone from an Australian morning TV show to Hollywood blogger Perez Hilton.

I'm not an environmental activist or a socialist. I don’t think, as that father suggested, that “we should weave our own shoes out of palm leaves and go live in the mountains and sing kumbaya.” And I do not pretend to be a self-proclaimed expert on proper parenting. I'm just a working mother who doesn't have enough time, patience and resources.

New Year's resolution

I felt this shortage especially acutely three days before last Christmas, when I was laid off. It was terrible. Because of this, we stopped all unnecessary expenses (new clothes, eating out, magazine subscriptions) shortly after our son was born.

But here's what I started to notice: my wallet was filled with receipts from purchases of toys, gymnastics for toddlers, and cute pants from the Gap children's department. Every time I went to the supermarket, I spent at least 15 pounds (about 1,700 rubles) on things like mini-packs of yoghurt, special juices, cereals and fish fingers. Everything added up to a decent amount.

But it wasn't just a matter of costs. The happiness of British children lags far behind other developed countries, according to the UNICEF State of the World's Children report.

Cause? As parents, we engage our children in an endless cycle of compulsive consumption, and it makes them unhappy. At the same time, we parents are tormented by remorse, partly because we cannot buy everything that we think our children need and want. I thought about the overflowing toy basket and how rarely Johnny played with the things in it. It turns out there are 474 million unused toys gathering dust on the shelves of our homes - seven for every person living in Britain. Have I taught my son materialistic values?

And I made a New Year's resolution to eliminate all baby items from my expenses—no more new toys, no more new clothes, no more baby snacks, no more disposable diapers, no more paid classes, no more professional haircuts. In the end, our mothers and grandmothers somehow managed without all this. Everything can be replaced.

But the plan, which looked clear and simple in the light of the laptop screen, no longer seemed so when I looked at the room full of gifts and beautifully dressed children. Will Johnny be left out of something important? Am I ready for him to be a black sheep among his peers?

What if the child is picky?

Before thinking about toys or clothes, it was worth sorting out food. Johnny has always been picky. In order for him to eat anything, I had to feed him special children's organic lasagna or miniature rice cakes.

After heading to Tesco to buy some new 'real' food that suited both us and our son, I suddenly realized just how wide the range of specialist baby foods is. Before 2006, there was no such industry as the production of ready-to-eat children's meals. And now its annual turnover exceeds 25 million pounds sterling (2.8 billion rubles) and increases by 23 percent every year.

Why did I buy these products? Yes, my capricious child began to squeal at the mere sight of a cucumber. I didn't have enough time. But, as I now understand, I also lacked self-confidence. I was easily lured by the promise of brain-boosting omegas and a balanced diet. But not at this time.

That day, instead of two separate courses, we had shepherd's pie for dinner. And... nothing special happened. Well, that is, Johnny pulled out a carrot and built a tower out of it. But there was no hysteria.

Later that week, he threw the ratatouille against the wall and I made a beeline for some Jamie Oliver fish fingers. But instead, she simply shoveled the leftovers into her plate, took a deep breath, and continued the day as if nothing had happened. Yes, my husband and I had to make compromises: eating spicy curries less often and boring pies more often, but I stopped panicking when feeding my son, and spent significantly less time in the kitchen. And since no extra money or time is spent on meals for Johnny, I’m easier on the fact that he refuses to eat. I just give him a banana and more often than not he eats it at his next meal.

Home “exchanger”

Over time, I began to understand that many of my expenses were due to lack of self-confidence. My husband's and my parents live quite far from us. Without the support and advice of my relatives, at times I lost my head with fear and felt worthless and alone. I became easy prey for marketers. I remember standing in the children's section of a department store, rocking a screaming colicky baby, my vision blurry and my head spinning from the many variations of pastel-colored products designed to soothe and comfort my irritated baby when I couldn't do it myself. .

Exhausted to the limit, wanting to do everything right, I believed that my efforts alone were not enough. To feel like a proper mother, I needed all these things: educational mobiles that play Beethoven sonatas, classes to teach infant sign language, and factory-made purees.

It is perhaps unsurprising that in Britain the average annual cost per child has reached its ten-year high: £1,307, up 58 percent on 2003. More than 500 pounds (about 57 thousand rubles) are spent on clothes alone. On the one hand, in order to combat this phenomenon, and on the other, to establish contact with neighbors, I decided to organize an “exchange” for local parents.

I made a post in our area’s Facebook group inviting parents to share unwanted children’s things.

When the appointed hour approached, I was seized by panic: there were going to be a lot of people completely unfamiliar to me in my house. And then the doorbell rang.

Three hours later, I got rid of a bag of old toys and became the owner of three pairs of pants, two T-shirts and several books. And besides, if before I knew only two people from our street, now I suddenly had a dozen new friends whom I could call for help or to the next “exchange”, invite to do something together or just chat.

How much money do you need for a child: the most pleasant things for us are free

The latest report from the National Trust suggests that the "pay and play" approach is increasingly popular in Britain: with the ubiquity of expensive learning and entertainment, parents feel that simply letting their children play outside will make them seen as lazy or uncaring. to your children.

Over time, we discovered that the most enjoyable things for us are actually free: cooking, gardening, exploring walks and neighborhood tea parties combined with “music lessons” (participants bring any instruments or even ordinary pots and pans, and that’s it). play as loud as possible).

Sometimes trying to get Johnny and his friends out to play in the backyard leads to hysterics and tears (including mine), and I can't let him go out on our busy London street. Due to deadlines at work, there is often not enough time to invent interesting games. But you can always come to the park, and Johnny, instead of playing alone, plays with the neighbor kids. There is no need to pay for time in playrooms or developmental activities when simply communicating with neighbors is enough for a child’s social life.

Saving on security?

I encountered difficulties when I realized that I had not thought at all about children’s toothpaste and “tearless” shampoo. Surely you can’t refuse these purchases?

I contacted Dr. Chris Flower, a cosmetics specialist, and he said that while some baby products are less concentrated, others are just brightly packaged, deliciously scented versions of adult products. Indeed, I found industry reports boasting that "character licensing" (using images of cartoon characters) increases the influence of children on parents' consumer behavior, resulting in increased sales.

I wrote a triumphant blog post about this discovery (yes, I love debunking myths), but was not prepared for the reaction of my readers. “How can you save on the safety of your own child?” – one mother asked me. No matter how much research you do on a topic, a question like this still hurts.

But the real test came when Johnny's shoes became too small, and the pediatricians I asked for advice disagreed about whether new shoes were a necessity for children his age. The realization that there are no hard and fast rules is both liberating and scary.

Without an expert opinion to rely on, I had to decide for myself. One of the neighbors offered us some barely used shoes. I received them with mixed feelings. To my surprise, my followers responded with interest rather than disapproval.

Two-year-olds are not interested in trends

Many of the things I was afraid of turned out to be not so scary at all, for example, reusable diapers. I carefully prepared for their first use: I laid out a pair of rubber gloves, a nose plug, and a garbage bag on the table. The moment of great revelation was somewhat disappointing. The diapers turned out to have fasteners (buttons or Velcro), inside them there are biodegradable inserts that can be flushed down the toilet, and all other parts can be washed. Hehe. Hanging out the laundry and thereby making my small contribution to the fight against environmental pollution, I experienced a previously unfamiliar feeling of deep satisfaction. It almost compensated for the need to constantly carry bags of dirty diapers with me.

Johnny does not stand out at all among his exquisitely dressed peers. Children grow so fast that their clothes do not have time to wear out. On some used items I received, even the labels were not cut off. And you know, even though the first world children's fashion week took place in London this year, two-year-olds are not at all interested in trends.

Sometimes the old habitual craving for material things comes back to life in me. For example, now in London everyone is obsessed with a certain brand of micro-scooter. And only Johnny, it seems, doesn’t have it yet. He is absolutely happy and satisfied with everything. He didn't ask to be bought this scooter. But I still want him to have it. I realized that my not wanting Johnny to stand out from others is not always important to him, sometimes it is more important to me.

Six months later

It's been six months since I started this project and people are asking what happens when the year is up? Will we buy a huge gift for Johnny? Don't think. He didn't notice anything had changed at all. Will we continue like this?

I'm pregnant now and recently found out it's a girl. I must admit, I am frightened by the thought of how many temptations my daughter will be tempted by: dresses for little princesses, stylish clothes, expensive makeup. I will try my best to help her not fall into the delusion that she “needs” these things to be feminine.

When our year of free parenthood is over, I will no longer waste an entire day on free trade sites looking for the perfect raincoat when my local Oxfam (second-hand charity store) has one for £3.50. ), because this is unreasonable. But I hope we will remember for a long time what this project taught us.

As it turned out, Johnny will build something out of boxes with great pleasure and for many hours, but a new toy will captivate him only for a couple of minutes.

We've got frogs in the garden and we're growing vegetables there, and Johnny's really into it. When grandparents come to visit him, he takes them into the garden to look at birds and butterflies and discuss how plants develop.

And I wouldn't trade it for any micro-scooters.

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