Kids are always pestering their parents for the latest piece of tech that everybody else has. They’ll tell you that if they don’t have it then they won’t be cool, which is probably the worst possible thing that can happen to a child. The problem is, all of that tech is incredibly expensive. The situation is made more difficult by the fact that they need laptops for schoolwork now so even if you aren’t going to get them that new games console they’re desperate for, you still need to update their computer from time to time. When you’re trying to budget for the whole family, those extra expenses can put a spanner in the works but don’t worry, there are some simple ways that you can make big savings on tech.
Repair, Don’t Replace
Kids are prone to breaking things quite a lot and if they’re smashing their phone screen once a month, the bill will soon rack up. But you don’t need to bother buying them a brand new phone every time they drop it. It’s much cheaper to send it off to somewhere like baltimorecellphonerepair.com and have it fixed instead. It also teaches your kids the value of saving money by repairing things rather than being careless and buying new stuff every five minutes. This is especially important with computers because, while it might seem as though they’ve packed up completely, to an expert those problems might be simple to fix. You could get away with paying a small amount instead of shelling out for a whole new laptop.
Buy Refurbished
When you suggest this to the kids, they’re going to protest. They’ll tell you that anything apart from the latest model just won’t do. The truth is, phone companies release a new model every year but there isn’t usually that much difference between the new one and the old one, apart from the price tag of course. Companies that refurbish phones and laptops will make them good as new, and you can get them for almost half the price of buying a brand-new one. Visit dealnews.com for a quick guide on buying refurbished products so you don’t get caught out by faulty goods.
Have Them Share
With phones, they’re going to need their own, but that’s not true of everything. They probably won’t remember this but there was a time when most households had just one computer that everybody shared. Why not try that instead? As long as you draw up a schedule so everybody has enough time to use it for any schoolwork that they need to do, you should be fine. It’s also a good way of keeping an eye on what they’re viewing online which is vital these days. And you can monitor how much time they’re spending in front of a screen as well. Hand-me-downs are a good idea as well, that way you can buy one new computer and give the older one to the younger kids.
The important thing is to do a bit of research and work out what they actually need, and what they just want, otherwise, they’ll trick you into buying expensive tech that you can’t afford.
