My toddler twins turn three this month and we’re awestruck at how big and beautiful they’re becoming. When we found out a few years ago that we will have not one, but two infants to handle, my wife was thrilled and I was left in shock. Questions starting steamrolling through my mind. Could I afford to feed two mouths? Will we need to move? Can I support my growing family? After three years of hits and misses, I’ve found a few tips that have certainly helped.
Don’t Always Buy Double Everything
People ask us all the time if we buy two of everything, and you’d be surprised how often we tell people the opposite. It is true that some of their toys and clothes are the same, but quite often we’ll purposefully purchase one item to lighten the load on our wallet and to teach them an opportunity to share.
Research Those Toys Before Buying
I can’t tell you how many dollars we threw away over a toy that broke just a few days later. Our Christmas presents to them have already seen the bottom of the trash can. This gloomy end was partly my fault for not researching the toy. It’s important to check out the reviews to make sure you’re getting an item that is consumer friendly and not a consumer nightmare. Because our twins love to play, we’ve also found it helpful to visit the local thrift store to drop off our rejected toys, and buy a few more at a great price.
Diapers Can Be Reasonable Too
Here’s a few things we’ve learned after 2+ years of diapers.
First, consider the number of diapers you are getting with each brand and box. We’ve found that taking an extra minute in the diaper aisle to figure this out can save your paycheck from floating away. Usually, the bigger the box, the cheaper it is per diaper unless there’s a sale going on. Check out the small print on the price tag. It’ll usually tell you the price per diaper (somewhere around $.13 to .19 is considered a great deal). I find that taking the extra minute can help me make the most cost effective decision. However, if a brand is not working for your twins, stay away. It may just cost you more in clean up fees!
Second, don’t feel that you need to stay loyal to one store. When it comes to needing my diaper stock replenished, I’ll check out Costco, but then head to Walmart.com, Amazon.com, and Target.com on my smartphone while in the aisle to assure the best price for my buck.
Third, consider which brand is best for you and your baby. If there’s a particular brand that consistently works, then just stick with that one and stay away from the hassle of trial and error. If that diaper is able to stay on longer than the cheaper brands, you could be saving more in the long run.
What tips do you have for saving money with twins?
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Good points. And plus, the “I can’t take the frustration anymore” shopping trips during the first two years of the infant’s lives will be less frequent since both kids are growing up at the same time! đŸ™‚
I don’t have twins, but it does make sense to not buy double on anything, clothing especially. I do believe siblings shouldn’t be dressed the same and this way you’d have a more variety of clothes for them to choose from. Toys might be a different story though, since in some cases you’ll need to give each kid his own toy.
I don’t subscribe to the idea that you need to buy double toys for kids. We have two kids and they just have to learn to share. Sure they fight for the same toy sometimes, but learning to wait for their turn without making a huge deal is an important lesson for anyone to learn.
With our twins, it’s important they learn to share and understand patience at a young age. Fiscally it makes sense to buy just one toy. However, it’s okay in my opinion to splurge on birthdays and holidays to get their own. Even then, our girls know that “they’re own” can be shared sometimes as well!
Good for you Jeremy. I agree that you definitely should let them splurge on what they want once in a while.
Wow Ramona…
You totally missed the point.
I feel like having twins offers opportunities for economies of scale. It’s much cheaper, often, to buy in bulk, and that can more easily be done when you have two kids the same age (with only one, the one child might grow out of a size of diapers — that’s less likely if two kids are wearing them!).
Good points. And I think twins can share some clothes too. Even if they are of the opposite sex, they can share PJs for example.