How Can I Afford My Kids’ Activities Without Going Broke?

Your child wants to do it all. I'm talking soccer, piano, robotics. But you're quietly asking yourself, can my budget keep up? What if you could say yes without the financial stress?Well, stick with me today because I'm sharing my strategy for managing extracurricular cost so that your kids can do all those things that you would hope they'd be able to do. That's what I'm going to cover on today's show.

This is Financially Confident Christian, your daily dose of gospel, grounded insight and faith driven tips to help you break the cycle of financial shame with confidence.

Hey there and welcome back to Financially Confident Christian. I'm Ralph and we're in our series Smart Money for Back to School and beyond.Now if you missed yesterday's show, we talked about doing clothing on a budget. We talked about thrifting and smart sales. So if you missed it, I'm going to encourage you to go check it out.You can do that always@financially confidentchristian.com. now today we're going to cover another big one and that's managing the cost of kids activities. Listen, I can still remember your funny story here.I can still remember going, going into fourth grade. I remember I was walking down the hall in my, my new school at the time it was in Wilmington, Delaware as a matter of fact.And I'm walking down the hall and all of a sudden this big tall, lanky guy comes around the corner. He says, hey, you look like a tuba player.I said, well, not really sure what a tuba player looks like, but looking back at it now, I guess because I was big enough to carry it. So I can still remember I got off the bus that day, ran to the house, ran in the front door and I said, mom, mom, listen, I've got some great news.I'm going to be a tuba player. Now of course my mom looked at me like I was nuts. She's like, what? First of all, I don't even know if she knew what a tuba was.And second is okay, but what does that mean? So I told my mom my plan.I said listen, I talked to the band director and he said that you can go to the such and such a store and we can rent a tuba and he's going to show me how to play the tuba and I'm going to be in the band and I'm going to do all these things. So of course my mom was one, hey, you know, she's on board. So we that after dinner we raced off to the music store.I remember we walked in the Front door of the store. And, man, there was. There was instruments just lying in the walls. I mean, you just picture this. If you.This line in the walls, every kind of instrument that you can imagine. And then all of a sudden, I look, and in the corner of my eye, I see the tuba. As a matter of fact, at this point, it's what's called a sousaphone.That's one of those ones that wraps around your head, and it's got a big horn on the top. So I said to the guy at the store, he's like, hey, what can I help you with? I said, hey, man, I want to Renatuba.Well, it was like he was crushing my dreams. He says, listen, we don't rent tubas. So I said, okay, well, let's just buy one. Looked at my mom and I said, hey, mom, you know what?Here's what we can do. We can just buy one. And she says, son, I don't know about buying one. I might be able to rent you one. But buying one.She goes, well, let's find out how much the price is. So the guy comes out, he goes, yeah, that one right over there is $5,000. My mom says, no, you're not going to be renting a tuba.So, of course, my dreams are shattered. But the guy says to me, says, hey, you know, you know what you really look like? He said, you look like a trumpet player. So guess what?That night, we walked out the door with a little box and a trumpet inside of it. It was still expensive, but she was able to rent it. I went back to school the next day, and I said to the band director, I said, hey, guess what?I got a little tuba. It's called a trumpet. Looked at me like I was crazy. Says, well, we'll make that do. Now, turns out I can tell this story.No, they end up playing tuba in junior high school, up through college, and to this day, I've never actually owned a tuba. But the truth is, as we look at this, every interest that your child has is a new cost.Things like registration, things like gear, and things like travel. And if you're like me, you want to support them, you want to support your kids. But as my mom learned, those expenses add up fast.And all of a sudden, you're starting to feel torn. You're thinking, do I invest in their passions? I want my children to explore new things.I remember when my kids were young, one of them wanted to play the drums, and we went out and bought a drum set. Another one wanted to play the guitar. I wanted to invest in their passions.But you also have to be wondering about will I be able to protect my budget? And see, that tension right there is what I'm talking about that's palatable today.And it leads to overspending and sometimes, if you're not careful, can lead to resentment on both parties. But here's the thing I want you to understand today. As I learned with the tuba, not every opportunity is essential. And the key is prioritization.Prioritization is a powerful thing. Let's look at the word of God about this. From the Book of Proverbs, chapter 4, verse 7 says, this wisdom is supreme, therefore get wisdom.What a great verse. Wisdom is supreme. So get wisdom. Let's move on to Philippians, chapter 4, verses 11 to 13. This is what it says, not that I speak in regard to need.For I have learned whatever state I am to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things.I have learned to be both full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. And of course, this ends the most, probably the most beautiful verse of the Bible. I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.So what I want you to do is focus on saying yes to what matters most and do it with peace. And the way you do that is to teach your kids to discern value and timing, because you don't have to do everything.In fact, to be very candid with you, I think kids are doing too much. So now you're asking Ralph, okay, what can we do? How do we solve this dilemma? What's the solution?Well, as normal, I've got a solution that's create a simple extracurricular plan and stick to a budget that fits your family. You got to learn to balance joy, balance growth, and also balance wise stewardship. Because like I said before, kids do too much at times.So here's your one action step for today. I want you to start by listing out all of those activities. And listen, these kids today, they do all kinds of stuff. Not.Not that I'm against that, but, I mean, sometimes I feel like these parents are like taxicab services. But start with that. List all the activities. Brainstorm everything your kids are interested in. Write every single thing down. Maybe they like drama.Maybe they want to play the tuba like Ralph. They want to do, you know, sports. They want to what? All those things are. Brainstorm everything your kids are interested in and write it all down.So that's the first step, second step. Is really research the true cost of those things. And I'm talking about under the hood research.What is the registration fees, what are supplies you need? What are the uniforms? Hey, when I played in high school marching band, there were uniform components I had to buy. Is there travel?A lot of these sports teams do travel. And what are the deadlines? So really research those true costs and get to those things so that you can put those on the list.And then as a family, step number three, prioritize these things. You know, you're going to have to learn and teach your kids that they have limited resources.So choose one or two per child that fit your budget and fit your values. And sometimes you're going to have to say this with tough love. Say, hey, listen, not this season.Sometimes you're gonna have to say your kid, look, way people do that next season. Let's. Let's pick two things right now. I can only imagine I came home and said to my mom, hey, I want to go get a tuba.And then I want to go get a football uniform, and I'm gonna get this and that. And she'd have been like, wait a minute, there's only so much you can do.So this is a time to prioritize that as a family and let your children get involved. Make one or two things that fit, and I want you do that. Reduce the cost. Hey, one of the things you can do is look for secondhand gear.There's a lot of secondhand gear on. Because here's the thing about kids in school. A lot of times they'll try stuff and they find I don't really like that so much.Now, I didn't really spend a lot of time looking for used tubas. Maybe I could have and found one. But there's also scholarships, there's volunteer discounts, there's carpooling. There's always to reduce costs.And then once you figure out, okay, here's the way I can reduce those costs, then budget it. This is a time to add that extracurricular line right to your budget, right to that monthly budget.Plan and fund it intentionally, because this helps keep your budget in check. See, that's the key. And kids appreciate limits and kids appreciate values.Now, that might be contrary to popular belief, but I truly believe when my mom said to me, listen, son, I'm not buying that $5,000 tuba at the time, I was like, eh, that stinks. But I got a trumpet anyway out of the deal.But kids really do appreciate limits and they appreciate values, and that's going to be things that are going to. They're going to pay dividends for them for life. And it. And it reduces family stress and it reduces family guilt.And it builds a margin for generosity and other goals. How about we pray together? Father? God, we just thank you for the talents and the passions you've placed in our children.We are so grateful that you've given those passions, those interests, Lord. And we confess that managing activity costs can be overwhelming. It can feel really overwhelming for us at times, Lord.So we ask that you would just give us wisdom to discern what aligns with our values and your will. Lord, help us to really live in.And Lord, help us to support our children's growth without sacrificing the peace of our home, without sacrificing our budgets and that margin. We need to really be successful stewards of the resources you've given.Lord, we ask that our decisions will be guided by your stewardship and your joy. And we ask this with confidence in Jesus name, Amen. Listen, you can say yes to your kids and yes to your peace at the same time. You can do it.Just make your extracurricular plan today. You're moving forward with intentional family freedom.Now, as we're talking about being intentional, I would really like you to intentionally share the show with somebody today. Maybe you've got a friend or maybe your neighbor or somebody else that's going through these same type of situations with this back to school stuff.You could just send them a text or send them an email.Hey, pick up the phone and say, hey, I heard your kid wants to get involved in soccer or football or whatever those wrestling, whatever those things are, and say, hey, I listened to this guy Ralph. He does a daily Christian finance show and he had some really great ideas about how to create a good atmosphere for that.You can send them to financiallyconfidentchristian.com and listen, the more we share, the better we're all going to be. Now, tomorrow we're going to be talking about teaching your kids financial literacy. Say we're talking about back to school.Well, let's talk about building some financial literacy because starting young and starting strong is going to help them get established habits for life. So I encourage you not to miss it. Now, as you go out today, let's all be financially confident Christians. You can do this.I believe in you, believe in yourself, stay financially savvy. God bless you and you have a great day today.