How Parenting Is Like Saving Money

We know that you love your children dearly, but being a parent can be hard work! As I was going through my expenses this month it got me thinking about how parenting is a lot like saving money. So just for fun, I put together a list of how the two are a lot alike. Hopefully it gives you a good laugh on days that you find yourself stressed out about either one!

You Have To Have Patience. Parenting children and saving money will both take some patience. Just as it will take a while for your checking account to grow and mature, the same goes for your children. You may find yourself becoming discouraged as you are trying to save for the future or teach your child a lesson that just won’t stick. For either scenario, patience is the key as becoming upset will serve no purpose.

It Takes Sacrifice. It takes a lot of sacrifice to save money and to parent. You may have to go without that expensive shampoo or that soy vanilla latte in order to fund that vacation next year. The same thing goes for parenting. You may have to cut back on work hours to spend more time with your kids or you might have to forgo that new dress in order to buy your kids the shoes they need for gym class.

It’s Not Always Easy. I really don’t think there’s anything more difficult than trying to build up or bank account or raise a child. Both are frustrating at times, may make you experience emotions that you never thought were possible and require a lot of work.

You May Suffer From Sleepless Nights. Have you ever found yourself tossing or turning over the lack of money in your bank account? Well when you become a parent you will have a lot of sleepless nights as well. Whether it be because you have a baby that gets you up every hour, a child waking up with a nightmare or you find yourself riddled with guilt because you weren’t the most patient with your child earlier in the day, you will lose sleep at some point.

Some Days You’ll Just Want To Quit. You sacrifice, work hard, have patience and lose sleep and things just seem so hard. There will be days that you will want to quit at both trying to save money and parenting your chid. It doesn’t matter if you have to pull money out of your savings to buy a new dryer or if your kids wait until the last minute to tell you that their important science fair project is due tomorrow, you may find yourself waving the white flag in surrender. Well the good news is that you may not be able to see it now, but all of it will be worth it in the end.