In the first two days of the month, we managed to spend $19 on our toddler. That means it’s official. Kids really are expensive.
I kid.
Kind of.
We’ve actually been basking in the glow of all the fun summertime outdoor adventures these past two weeks. Thankfully, many of them also happen to be free or frugal.
Today, though? Today was HP’s first official hair cut. That meant that not only did we have to pay for said haircut, but we also had to stock up on some bribes.
Put your eyebrow down please, dear friend. It was an investment in HP’s happiness…and the sanity of the seven (!!) other people in our local Great Clips at 9:07 am. #priceless
Here’s how the rest of the past two weeks stacked up.
Toddler Summer Money Diary Weeks 4 & 5
$8.85 freeze-dried pears & pouches
At this point in my life blogging career, it is so obvious that I should have purchased a fruit dehydrator. My son is honestly obsessed with freeze-dried pears. We actually have a whole stash left from this purchase, but we did use pears and a pouch to calm his jitters in Great Clips.
$15 haircut
In a never-ending quest to both make me proud and harpoon my heart, my toddler keeps growing. And even though we’ve given him many successful trims at home (after the one time my husband turned in him to Buster Brown), it was time for professional help.
The cut cost $10, and we left a $5 tip. We had a coupon (duh), but I always tip off the original price ($12). Plus, his stylist was amazing. Seriously. I contacted her store and the company overall to sing her praises. She was so patient with him (and me!). He was so shy and nervous the whole time, but she spun him around a bunch and let him fluff the cape. By the time it was over, he was all smiles.
$4.01 emergency sunscreen
We headed out to the splash park last week. It’s fun, and it’s free. What more could a person want?
Well, when it’s 85 degrees and full sun, the answer to that question is sunscreen. Of course, we left the house without it, so my husband ran to Walgreens while we played in the shade and waited.
$2.04 Dollar Tree splash balls
The Dollar Tree strikes again! We’ve been spending time at my parents’ cottage, and HP is like a fish in the lake. Except he wants to be entertained. We picked up some knock-off Nerf balls at the Dollar Tree, and he has an absolute blast throwing them around.
Things We Got Without Buying
I actually don’t have anything to report on this front. That’s really good news actually, since it’s allowing us time to actually go through everything he has and resume decluttering.
RELATED POST: Frugally Awesome…or Awkward: Toddler Time!
Things We Did That Didn’t Cost Us Anything
Library visits: 7 (We visited 4 different libraries, and then we had a few repeat trips.)
Park visits: 15 (Park hopping is HP’s favorite thing. To be more eco-friendly and frugal, we try to time it while we run errands. So we’ll hit up a park, do an errand, find another park, do an errand, and head home.)
Walking paths/hiking trails: 5
Malls: 0 (We did walk through several cities’ downtown areas, though!)
Tons of time outside: HP is obsessed with fountains. His new favorite hobby is throwing pennies into them. Or at the ground. Or bouncing them off the side of the fountain. Or throwing them in a lake that he insists is also a fountain.
One of our favorite summer finds has been this park…we just wish it were closer!
Upcoming Spends
It’s really easy to look at this and think that we are the most frugal people in the universe…or really bad at math. As I’ve said before, we don’t include groceries or things like that in these posts unless it’s something specific only to him. But the real truth with money diaries and money blogs in general is that timing is everything.
Right after this post goes live, I’ll be plopping down money to continue his tot tumbling class and stocking up on diapers for the next 2-3 months. That means the next toddler money diary is going to look very different.
Except for freeze-dried pears. That’s the one constant in my son’s life.
A Look Back
If you’re interested in past toddler summer money diaries, here they are!
Toddler Summer Money Diary Week 1
Toddler Summer Money Diary Weeks 2 & 3
Final Thoughts on This Toddler Summer Money Diary
In June, we clocked in at $100.68 in baby spending. That’s right around our target for the month. Unless I get really creative with gift cards, this month promises to be significantly more spend-y.
And you know what? That’s OK.
Rather than try to limit ourselves simply because I’ve promised to track all of the spending and share it here, I’m just going to let it unfold.
And that means hitting “Checkout” on the park district class right after I schedule this post.
So Tell Me…What’s your favorite free thing to do in the summer? Do you find this season to be frugal or full of spending?
I’m very impressed with your commitment to staying frugal in regards to your son’s things and activities. Taking notes as I have a 2 month old and it seems like the toddler years will be here before we know it!
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http://www.areweadultsyet.com
It goes so fast, Laura! I hope you are both having a good summer together 😀
This is a great time to start doing it. As kids get older (we have 5 kids, ages almost 3 to 10) they want to do more things in the summer like golf and soccer. We still swim at the sub pool and buy a zoo pass, but there’s definitely more cost with snacking and eating more at home (and out) and activities. We do try to find a balance though of keeping busy and lazy days at home working on curriculum for school and playing outside and we just budget more for summer.
I love the idea of doing a blend of things and also of increasing your summer budget. Luckily, we don’t have to pay for childcare in the summer, so we’ve put most of that money in our son’s 529, but we’ve also padded our budget 😉
I can imagine the expenses are only going to grow. He’s having so much fun at this little tumbling class that I had to resist from signing him up for everything the park district offers!
My favorite thing to do in the summer? Sit at home and hide from the 100+ degree temps outside. Blech. Though technically that still costs me money because the HVAC us on and running. Hmmm…
But seriously I don’t think I do much that’s free these days, unfortunately. Trivia is technically free, but readers got up in arms when I wrote about not buying anything at the restaurants holding said trivia nights. So now I buy something each time I go to support the venue. And that’s my big deal for most weeks.
I’m have gone/will be going on a bunch of dates — here’s hoping I get a fun post out of it — so technically the only time I’m spending there is if I Uber to the date so that I can drink.
Oh my gosh! I bet indoors is just dreamy with those temps!