I remember being a new mom wandering around the baby section at Target thinking Oh my god… I need to buy all of this? I felt silly because I had heard kids were expensive, and I thought I was prepared until I wasn’t. I felt maxed out on the bare essentials like formula and diapers, let alone adding anything some might consider extras.
And then I got a text from a high school friend with a daughter a few years older than mine that said “Hey, I have a ton of baby and toddler clothes. If you want them, they’re yours!”
I happily accepted them and she wasn’t kidding, there were a ton! Plus some blankets, stuffed animals and toys. I couldn’t believe she was willing to just give these all to me. Surely she could try to sell them and make some money. She was a single mom going to school and I’m sure she could have used the money, but she graciously gave them to me. That simple act made all the difference to a new mom who was wondering how she was going to make it all work.
I knew I wanted to do the same for other moms.
And so the idea of a mom village was born.
It seems like a simple concept, that as moms we support and take care of each other, but I soon found out not everyone has a village. The idea of the emotional support a mom village brings is a whole topic on it’s own, but since we talk about money here, I want to take a few minutes to convince you that your mom village can also help make your financial load a little lighter too.
Me and some of my village
The cost of raising a child right now could be as high as $310, 605 (according to a report published by the USDA and adjusted for current inflation)
They break it down even further into categories and people will spend about 6% of that on clothing for their children. That would be over $18,636 in their lifetime just on clothing alone. What if we could cut that in half just by being willing to pass on what we’re no longer using?
And the biggest budget buster when you have young kids? Childcare. People spend about 16% of their overall spending on childcare and education for their kids which comes to $49,687 per child.
While most of us don’t have a village that can watch our kids full time, what if we were willing to swap childcare for date nights, important appointments, errands without kids in tow, or a couple uninterrupted hours of work? All of those allow us to save money or give us the opportunity to earn money if using the time to work. Our village can do that for us.
Motherhood is challenging, sure. But it has been the greatest gift in my lifetime. I would hate for someone who wants to experience motherhood to miss out because they felt they couldn’t afford it.
I’m on a mission to show you that you can have a big life on a small budget. Your village can help you do that.
If you don’t have a village and you’re wondering how to create one, stay tuned. I have more to share on this soon.
<3 Krista