I recently saw an article with money saving hacks from clever parents, and I'm always in the

market for a good budget-friendly parenting tip.

You know this about me.

So I read the article, got some good points, and we're going to talk through it.

And make sure to stick around to the end because I'll share my go-to hacks when it comes to parenting and money. Be sure to like,

subscribe and share this episode with a friend. All right, first and foremost, someone said,

open a 529 and share the contribution link with friends and family. So it was quoted that said

this protected us from any onslaught of toys

and baby clothes that they would just outgrow quickly. Okay, so they open up a college fund

and send out the link to their friends and family. And instead of buying their kids gifts,

they fund their kids college. So I have an opinion on this. I think it's a little tacky. And our friend, George Campbell and Smart Money Happy Hour, he did this at his one-year-old's birthday party. So if you do it, you can be on George's team. But if you're with me and I'm like, no, no, no, no. And it's different if they want to give cash, like if the grandparents want to give cash

the little kid and then you as the parent are like, okay, we're going to put that in the 529. It just feels funny to me, sending out links. I'm old school. It's how I feel even with like honeymoon stuff of like, don't get us a gift, find their honeymoon. I don't know. I just don't like the link thing.

I don't like the, just give the cash.

And then you, you as the adult decide what to do.

Don't force everyone into a link.

I don't know.

I don't like the link thing. I don't like the, just give the cash. And then you, you as the adult, decide what to do. Don't force everyone into a link. I don't know. I don't like it. Okay, number two, try a babysitting swap. So the quote is, if a babysitter costs $20 to $30 an hour, which it does, then you're spending $100 before you even leave the house. So you find another couple that you trust,

do a date-night swap. You keep their kids, and then they go out, and then they keep yours,

and then you go out. And I love this. We've done this before, and it's so great. So our friends

have older kids, and that's a hack.

Get some people with older kids because the girl would babysit while all of us went out to dinner,

like on a double date even.

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