3 Ways to Waste Your Money as a Parent

There's a reason I made a conscious decision to boost my savings before having kids. I knew that between childcare, food, and transportation (we had to upgrade to a minivan to fit all of those carseats), raising children was going to cost us a bundle.

What I didn't realize early on was how easy it is to waste your money in the course of parenting. If that's something you don't mind doing, then here's how to pull it off.

1. Buy your kids expensive clothing

Some people will tell you that buying expensive clothing for your kids will translate into it lasting longer. I'm here to tell you that it won't, so you might as well save your money.

A pair of basic boys jeans at the Gap can easily cost you $40 or more when it's not on sale. If you buy a pair of Amazon Essentials jeans, it'll cost you $24 or less -- sale or not.

Now granted, if you want the pricier jeans, you could always try to keep checking for sales. But sometimes, when your kids rip or lose their clothing, you don't have that luxury. Rather, you need to buy new clothing ASAP.

And trust me when I say that a pair of Gap jeans is not going to survive any better than a pair of Amazon jeans when your kid gets tackled to the ground during a friendly game of touch football, or when they fall off their bike and become one with the pavement.

Accidents and falls aside, kids just tend to wear out their clothes. And when they don't manage to wear them out, they manage to stain them. So either way, there's no sense in running up a huge credit card tab to clothe your children. Find the cheapest items in their size and call it a day.

2. Push activities your kids aren't into

When my son was younger, he reluctantly agreed to take piano lessons because his father and I thought it would be a fun and interesting thing for him to do. What happened instead was that we spent hundreds of dollars on lessons only to have my son grow tired of piano quickly and never so much as strike a key since his last instructional session many years ago.

That experience helped us realize that kid activities are expensive enough, so why pay for anything ours are not begging to do? Since then, we've only signed our kids up for things that they've asked to try. And while we spend quite a lot of money these days on those activities -- including the piano lessons my daughter now willingly and happily attends -- at least I don't feel like I'm throwing my money in the garbage.

3. Throw big birthday parties and invite the entire class

I'm all about being inclusive, and I hate the idea of throwing a birthday party for my kids and excluding some of their classmates, even if they're children mine aren't particularly friendly with. That's why, in the past, I've spent hundreds of dollars on a 120-minute birthday party at a venue that could accommodate a few dozen kids.

But those days are gone. At this point, I downright refuse to spend $800 so my children can invite their classmates to a bounce place for a couple of hours.

At this point, if my kids want to celebrate their birthdays with little people their age, they can choose a couple of friends and a reasonably priced activity, like bowling or a low-cost restaurant. I'll even host a small group in my house and spring for pizza and a cake. But I'm not spending the equivalent of a mortgage payment on a party.

Most of us would probably rather not throw our money away in the course of raising kids. So make sure to avoid the above pitfalls at all costs.