This is an old post but I thought it might help someone out before the hustle and bustle of the school year starts. I've added a couple more ideas that we've been implementing with a "*"
Financially, this has been one of the worst years for us ever. This is also the time in the Thing's lives that they want to participate in just about anything. Thing 2 is my soccer fiend and Thing 1 discovered she loves soccer also and this current school year is a, gulp, cheerleader. Participating in activities can break any bank but here's how we've done it with the minimum amount of out of pocket that we can.
Fundraise, fundraise, fundraise!
Not those crazy catalogs either! Thing 1 had one at the end of last year to raise cheer leading fees and instead of asking relatives to by a worthless trinket for $20(with Thing 1 only getting about $5 of that) we told them if they wanted, they could just give us the $ that they would have spent on something and we would apply it to her fees. (Ok, now on strangers we did do the catalog thing). Participate in as many as you can. If none are planned, offer to head up one! Other parents will be grateful also! Our best fundraiser was a Trivia Night. I advertised the heck out of it. It brought in almost $600(which for something that was kind of thrown together at the last moment, that was good!) that got divided up between the girls.
Bake sales, car washes, raffles, yard sales and more can be used to raise funds!
Check into scholarships
Times are hard, it doesn't hurt to take 10 minutes to fill out some forms to see if you qualify for some reduction of fees. I don't know about you but anything helps! In our school system, if you qualify for free or reduce lunches, the $50 athletic fee is waived on whatever sports your child plays. If you don't see anything about scholarships, just ask!
Buy used or borrow equipment
My crew have never had a new pair of cleats. Their feet grow way too fast to drop $40 or more on a pair of shoes that they are going to wear just a few weeks out of the year. Thing 2's last pair cost me $5(and they were Nikes). If you know someone that has an extra set of something, or if their child is taking a break, etc, ask if you can borrow. The Things are currently sharing shin guards since Thing 2 is playing now, and Thing 1 plays in spring. They also need the same color soccer socks so I imagine they will share a pair of them also!(ok, they are brother and sister and someone might not be comfortable doing this)
Craigslist, Ebay, and if you have a sports resale shop nearby can be great resources for finding what you need!
Clean out the house
Back in June, we held a yard sale. I made $76 from the sale, plus I sold extra books, Cd's, movies, and clothing to shops around town, making a total of $108 towards Thing 1's fees(and $25 in credit at a resale shop). I managed to get rid of over 300 items from the house that we weren't using(some were donated) , finding extra money that I didn't have to take from elsewhere. This was even a kind of spur of the moment thing. With more planning, I could have took some donations from relatives and made it even bigger!
Selling on Ebay and Craigslist are also options!
Ask for a payment plan
Thing 1's cheer fees were over $400 for uniforms, shoes, poms, camp, etc. That is a major chunk of change to come up with. In addition to all the fundraising, I asked if we could pay it out because small amounts of money are easier to come up with than a big one! We made payments over 5 months, slowly chipping away at the fee with our fundraising, help from relatives, and various selling, etc.
*Ask relatives to chip in
Instead of the grandparent buying some useless trinket, ask them contribute. We did this in order to buy Thing 1's viola for her birthday. We asked the grandparents instead of buying a present(Thing 1 was ok with this, she really wanted her own instrument) we asked that they just give cash so we could put towards it. All did, and they still bought her a small present. We only had to be out a few dollars ourselves to get her the viola.
*Have your child earn a portion
They can mow, help someone with chores, babysit, clean, tutor, or if old enough, find a summer job to help out. Thing 1 is currently having difficulty securing a "real" job since she is only 15 but she is planning on doing a mini cheer camp this summer to come up with half of this year's cheer fee.
We've only been doing this for about 3 years, so if there are moms out there with more ideas, please leave a comment!
