Every parent wants their kids to be involved in team sports at least once. Unfortunately not all parents can afford to buy brand new equipment every time their kids want to try a new sport. This is especially true if you have more than one child with an affinity for playing sports! So how do you give your kids what they need without having to take out a second mortgage to pay for it?
Think Ahead
Your twelve year old might not yet be ready to swing adult sized baseball bats but you should buy one or two now anyway. For one thing, it will give you something to use when you play ball with your kids. Also kids can use the heavier bat in games by choking up or just use it for batting practice, getting used to the heavier bat will help develop their swinging muscles so they can start hitting those home runs!
This is also a good approach to take to uniforms. Buying your kids’ sports jerseys a couple of sizes too big will ensure that, unless they get completely destroyed, the uniform is something that your son or daughter can wear for at least one (if not two or three) season of little league (or soccer, or whatever).
Borrow from Friends and Neighbors
Do your friends, family or neighbors have kids who used to play sports but have since either lost interest or grown out of their child sized equipment? Ask them if you can borrow it or buy it off of them for a low cost. You’d be surprised at how much equipment people will simply give you because they want it to stop taking up space in their own homes.
Pay Pool
If your kids have cousins, friends or neighbors who are roughly the same age and into the same sports why not go in with their parents on the new equipment? If you each put some money into the pot you can get the things you need. This works out especially well for kids who will be playing together outside of practice.
Buy Used
Goodwill, Salvation Army, thrift stores, etc—they are all really great places to find good kids’ sports equipment at low costs. These stores are great places to find the things that don’t need to be new. So, while you wouldn’t want to buy cleats here, you can buy t-ball stands, waffle balls, kid sized bats and helmets, masks and even baseball gloves here.
Hoard
This is particularly helpful for kids who are a couple of years apart in age. Keep the equipment one child has grown out of so that you can use it for the next child who grows into it. This way you won’t have to buy whole new sets of equipment each time one of your kids grows into wanting to play a certain sport.
These are just some of the ways that you can save money on sports equipment and give your kids what they need to play properly!
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We have a pool of parents in my community where we all give clothes that are no longer needed and in return we can take clothes that we need.
When I was younger, my brother and I were in karate, so my father would buy used equipment (much to my despair) to save some money, and when I would grow out of something, it would be passed down to my younger brother. Not my favorite system, but it keeps costs down!
Buy used is the absolute way to go. Growing up my parents always bought sporting stuff used (except for maybe helmets and gloves for obvious hygiene reasons). It would last just as long as buying something new since we constantly were growing out of things and changing sports.
I can’t ever see purchasing new sports equipment. Who knows how long they will be interested in a particular sport and even if it is long term there will always be used equipment in like new condition if you search hard enough.
There’s nothing wrong with hand me downs or borrowed equipment. I teach my kids to be grateful with what they have.
Great tips! Sports can be so expensive!
You definitely don’t want to be buying new when the children are really young. There is nothing worse than having to buy expensive equipment every year because they’ve outgrown their equipment. We usually buy used through craigslist.