Find Some Storage!

While I addressed how expensive children can be in my previous blog, many of the expenses that come with children need a place to live! In other words, welcome to the world of storage!

After all the baby showers, you'll start to notice how many items, whether they be necessary items such as diapers or all the unnecessary toys, you now possess. I have always found it amazing whenever I walk into a home with new parents how many toys they have for a child who can't even smile yet! Now, we're just as guilty as the next family with this as we are constantly trying to figure out what toys and unnecessary items we can sneak out of the house. There are rattle toys, and of course you need about twenty of those, and then there are those soft books with all those different pieces on them that just get pulled off and chewed, and then there are the mountains of all kinds of different blocks, some with letters, some made out of wood, some of plastic, and some made out of soft material. As you can see, the list goes on and on. Here's my question: Is it really necessary for us to have every kind of toy out there, especially when we play with them more than the babies do (or clean them up)?

Then there's all the clothes, blankets, and "cute" little bibs that everyone needs. I understand how people, family and friends, love to bathe new parents and their children in mounds of new things, and we should appreciate that, but I still contend that all the money spent on some of those things would make a great investment for the future, rather than take up so much space in the house. Once everything begins to pile up, it's time to figure out the storage situation. If you don't figure this out early on, good luck! Give in and buy some good storage bins and shelving to start organizing. The cubed shelving that you can find at Target and Wal Mart and most other such stores is great. The canvas bins that go in them are great for hiding all the junk, I mean wonderful chilren's accessories, that you accumulate. I also advise looking into shelving that you can hang from your garage ceiling. While it may seem a little expensive at first, you can put all the bins of clothes you start accumulating on them, and they don't take up any wall or floor space. These can be found at Lowe's and Home Depot or other places online.

Just get used to the idea that you once you start having children, your nice, organized home will never look the same!

Financial Tip of the Day!
Before buying all new toys and clothes, look at Craigslist, freecycle, garage sales or Facebook Buy, Sell, Trade.  All of these places can provide amazingly great items for a fraction of the cost.