Practical Application: Recycling Toys

You know the 80/20 rule? Twenty percent of people do 80% of the work. A person wears 20% of the clothes in their closet 80% of the time. On and on it goes. You'll find that it applies to nearly every situation, including your children's toys.

If your child has 100 toys, it's likely that the same 20 trucks, books, and Lego sets are used every day while 80 other toys are scattered throughout your house unused but in plain sight. If you're like me, you're okay with your child preferring certain toys, but are completely baffled when your child goes to the church nursery and starts playing with a toy identical to one at home that gets no attention at all. It all clicked with me one day while watching our son Asher do this very thing.

Now that Christmas is upon us, I think this is a very helpful money-saving tip. There's always a rush to get kids new toys, but sometimes the old toys are in great shape and still age-appropriate.

Instead of getting rid of a toy because it is part of the 80% left untouched, consider packing it away for a month or two. Your kids will love their toys so much more if you only make a few of them available to them.

Grab up 80% of your child's toys and put them out of sight - their closet, a latched toy chest, or the attic. Every month or so, cycle in "new" toys and put up others. Every month will be like Christmas morning! And, you have far fewer toys to pick up before vacuuming.

When you decided to purchase new toys for your tots - because, let's face it, there's only so long a four-year-old will play with a baby ring stacker - shop first at a pre-owned store for children. A reputable place will have all the toys clean and looking new as well as have weeded out anything that has been recalled. Most toys sell for less than 50% what they cost new!

In the Springfield area, I love The Children's Orchard on Republic Road. They buy and sell lots of baby and toddler items. When one of my friends was finished having children, she sold all her baby stuff to the Children's Orchard and took in-store credit as opposed to cash (b/c they give more credit than cash for items) and I bought her $80 in-store credit card from her for $70. We both came out ahead.