Organizing/Frugal Tip: Toy-Cycling!

I’ve visited many homes with children over the years. Sometimes I was there on business, other times as a friend, and yet other times I was there to baby sit or help around the house. In all those visits, I have seen different approaches to toys. Some homes are scattered with them (nice way of saying it was a mess), while others had an orderly place for each toy. Some homes had relatively few toys while others were full to the brim with toys (many of which were barely if ever used).

I can understand the fun of new toys. I love to watch my little boy playing with something that is new to him. His eyes light up if it plays music or does something else unexpected. He just stares at it for a minute, then looks to me to see my reaction to the new thing. It is so cute… very precious! But buying new toys all the time (and storing them) can get very expensive (even when you get them the most frugal way possible, it is still money that could be used in some other way). And it is a mess to try to keep all those toys organized!

I recently had the joy of watching my baby boy experience “new” toys without having to spend a penny (in fact, no one did). I “Toy-cycled” his toys. We don’t have many toys in our home (although my DH would disagree… and the number does seem to grow every now and then). I keep most of them in two fabric baskets we got at Walmart for under 10 dollars. For a long time both baskets of toys lived underneath the coffee table in the living room. But a month or so ago, I divvied up all the toys in to the 2 baskets (with some favorites in each one) and then tucked one of them away to be forgotten. Several weeks later, I switched baskets and it was like watching DS on Christmas morning (only without the boxes!) :)

Try it yourself… your kids won’t even notice (at least not after the first day). Pack up half (or more) of the toys into bags or boxes and then stow them away for a while (2 weeks, 2 months, 6 months ~ a lot will depend on how old your children are). Not only will you reduce clutter in your home, but the toys can be loved fresh and new again when you switch things around without spending any additional money! :)

For more tips, vitit Works for Me Wednesday!

For more frugal tips, visit Crystal's blog!

Labels: Keeping My Home, Passing it On, Raising Children

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 3:26 PM