In my quest to figure out the cost of healthy kids, we have two final topics to cover.
Limit their TV and Video Games (and Computers)
In this case, you actually can save money with a healthy kid, if you don’t buy XBox’s and their associated games, and don’t have a premium cable or satellite package. For a while we had digital cable full-blown and were spending upwards of $110 per month on cable alone! That is a big parcel of money.
My kids do have a PS2, but they don’t play with it much luckily. However, they do spend an awful lot of time on the computer (which I have not upgraded in 5 years) on MSN, Facebook and playing the SIMs, so that is not good (although not that expensive either). My view on High-Speed Internet access for the house is that it is a necessary evil that I am willing to pay for to do my job, and the kids benefit from that. I may get them a new computer soon, but whether it is going to be allowed for MSN and such, is another question.
Limit their intake of junk food
Another interesting problem. Junk food is cheaper to buy usually, and the kids like to eat it, so putting together a healthy menu is not an easy task? Don’t believe me?
- How much does a litre of coke cost? How much does a litre of Milk cost?
- Given the high prices of fresh fruit, compare that to a bag of chips?
- Fresh Veggies? Good cuts of meat?
This stuff is not cheap folks, yes there are ways to get your healthy food cheaper (farmers markets, coupons, buying on sales and freezing), but that is all hard work for folks, and a lot of people just “cop-out” and take the easy route.
Our grocery bill is quite high I think, but if the food is healthy, I am willing to pay the extra money.
Conclusions
Raising healthy kids is an essential thing for parents to do. Having kids understand how to stay healthy, and live healthy lives (in a financially friendly way) is one of the most important gifts parents can give their kids.
If you are having problems financially look where you can cut the unhealthy things like TV and such and then use that money on more healthy practices. It’s important, so work at it, to get it done.
Follow On Stories
I wrote two follow-up stories that you can also read:
