In my experience, there are ways to reduce the cost of almost any good or service your family enjoys in the city—it just takes a little creativity and moxie. I’ll get you going with some of my favorite money-saving tips for New York families, but once you start noodling it over, I’m sure you’ll come up with some of your own. I realize none of these tidbits will finance the Ivy League, but they may lessen the guilt next time you order in.
CLASSES
You’ve got tons of well-priced options to further exhaust/enrich your kids after a day of the three Rs. Parent-run Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops charge a nominal fee for a year of amazing activities— everything from community work to field trips and life lessons like knot-tying and first aid. For $5 per school year, the Boys’ Club of New York offers sports, academic support and arts education (and for $25, members get six weeks of often private musical instrument lessons).
MUSEUMS
Just about all the city’s museums have dedicated hours each week or month during which they don’t charge admission—or at least they let you decide what you’d like to pay. Not having to plunk down plastic allows you to taste what different museums have to offer without feeling guilty when the kids let you know that Mesopotamian coins aren’t really their cup of chai after only 20 minutes. You might consider joining museums you frequently frequent. Not only will free entry prompt you to visit, but you’ll get discounts on special exhibits.
ATTRACTIONS
For a great price on all kinds of fun activities for families, check out biddingforgood.com, an online auction clearinghouse where schools, foundations, religious organizations and other charities auction off summer camps, trips, memberships, sports tickets, and more. In recent years, I snagged a museum membership, baseball class, professional consulting, dolphin watching, and a chess camp for half price. Additionally, AAA offers member discounts of up to 25 percent on museums, arts, and sporting events.
SHOPPING
If you live in a pricey hood and aren’t in a hurry, consider venturing farther afield. Depending on where you live, a few stops on the subway could save you significantly on everything from parking to birthday cakes. Even in your own neighborhood, shop around. I recently was stunned to discover I could pay $19 for a lb of wild salmon at Fairway, $30 at Agata, or $40 at the local fishmonger—shops all within a half mile of one another.
HEALTH & WELLNESS
If you suspect someone in your family may be suffering from a health issue, call local hospitals to see which ones might be running a study about your particular issue. Many issues—from sleep apnea and eating disorders to overactive bladder and autism— are being studied somewhere nearby. Volunteers are eligible for free screening (often with expensive tools like an MRI), which could cost thousands of dollars otherwise. NYU Langone’s Child Study Center, for example, offers free autism screening. Some programs even offer stipends to participants.
CAMPS
Think outside the tent. Some of the more affordable day camps are sponsored by non-profits like the Brooklyn Arts Exchange, the Van Cortlandt House Museum, Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden, YMCAs, New York Botanical Garden, and Greenwich House. Likewise, many neighborhood churches offer weeklong half-day programs where kids do crafts, sing, and play outside with some religious education sprinkled in. A weeklong program rarely tops $80 per child, with the possibility of discounts for sibs. The Park Avenue United Methodist Church on the Upper East Side is home to a non-sectarian a six-day half- day youth theatre camp for $250. Though technically not a non-profit, the NYC Parks Experience Summer Day Camp offers a seven-week, $500 per child summer program through a lottery.
NEW PARENTS
If you need some help with your new addition (but can’t justify a $3,000 monthly childcare disbursement), consider sharing a nanny with another family. Shares take many forms. With some, one nanny will split her time between two families evenly; in others, one family’s needs may be much greater than the other, so the nanny will spend most of their time with one set of children. A good arrangement can help you manage your expenses while getting the childcare help you need. Also consider joining a babysitting co-op where you sit for a neighbor’s sleeping child one night, and they return the favor another. Not only will you save on a sitter, but you’ll get to better know other parents. Of course, as with any childcare arrangement, it’s always important to get to know any sitter before leaving your child with them.
EDUCATION
Being that this is New York, even academic rock stars likely will want a private tutor at least once before they set out on their grand college tour. If you can’t, or don’t want to, spend upwards of $150 an hour for established tutoring services, try connecting with one of your child’s amazing former teachers. They know your child and are often familiar with specific tests your child will take. Additionally, the Teachers College at Columbia University trains many of the city’s finest educators, and some of their students earn and extra $50-60 an hour coaching kids. The downside is that you must interview the candidates yourself, whereas established coaching services have already done the vetting. There are also agencies like Bee Tutored that specialize in providing affordable tutoring services.
SPECIAL NEEDS
When it comes to certain special needs’ services like ADHD or speech therapy, call a local professional school. To get clinical practice, graduate student apprentices can address your needs under the watch of a veteran—at next to nothing. Should you want actual practitioners, call a school’s placement offices and ask how to hire recent graduates.
THEATERS & SHOWS
Audience Extras members get into far off-Broadway and under-published shows for about the price of a coffee cart breakfast. If you’re a student, retiree, educator, or a part of another qualified group, a Theatre Development Fund membership offers drastically reduced advance Broadway and off- Broadway tickets. Should a TKTS booth be out of your way, compare prices at broadwaybox.com, entertainment-link.com, nycgo.com, and theatermania.com.
BIRTHDAYS
Perhaps no occasion demonstrates the tradeoff between money and convenience more saliently than birthdays. Often, we go DIY. We scour the apartment, buy groceries, and have parties in our home. We invite parents, brew up sangria, and have a party as much for our friends as for the child in question. For our son CJ’s 6th birthday, my husband dressed up as a nerdy scientist and entertained the kids with experiments he pulled off the web. For our son Andy’s summer birthday one year, we got an NYC Parks permit, loaded the double stroller with fruit kabobs and other homemade noshes and headed to a local playground. Since no fete is complete without song, a musical friend (shout out to Moey) climbed aboard a jungle gym and strummed “Happy Birthday” to the crowd, who almost slowed down enough to listen.
Hillary Chura writes our Le$$er Parenting column where she helps New Yorkers parent on a budget. She lives in Manhattan with her sons and husband.
