I checked this book out a few weeks ago from my local library. Even though it was published in 1996, the money saving ideas it presents are valid for today. The book contains a myriad of ideas about exactly how to save money on kid related items as well as stories from real families who practice thrifty living.

The author (Lisa Reid) begins the book with a chapter on guidelines for thrifty living. She discusses general goals to help reign in spending. This includes cutting down on waste, find ways to get the same thing for less, and to stop buying things that provide little value.

There is an entire chapter devoted to clothing your child from the baby years all the way to the teen years. She describes her yard sale method for finding bargains as well as ways to shop at thrift stores and consignment stores. I especially liked her ideas for transforming used clothing into something more acceptable to a pre-teen or teen by “trending it up” a bit.

Toys are addressed in their own chapter too. She advocates simplifying the toys in your home and purchasing more of the traditional type toys that will be played with for longer and not discarded to the “I’m tired of it” pile. Games, puzzles, dress up clothes, lincoln logs, legos, etc. are good examples of these type of toys and can easily be found at garage sales. She even gives a few ideas for making your own toys.

Other chapters provided include entertainment and education ideas, frugal birthday parties, traveling with children, and holiday celebrations. As in the previous chapters, specific money saving ideas are shared as well as real life family stories of those “making it happen”.

I can highly recommend this book as an easy read for any parent looking for ways to save money on kid related expenses. Since this book has been around a while you should be able to borrow it from your local library.