The Kindness of Friends

I am very blessed with the friends I have. They have been very generous to me and B in so many ways.

I have been one of the last of my friends to have children so I was lucky enough to receive a lot of hand me downs and equipment which meant I didn't have to outlay a lot of money, particularly for the "big ticket" items. I have not had to purchase any car seats or a cot. These are normally expensive items and I was very lucky to get these for free. I also really liked the idea of getting a second hand cot that other children that I know and love had used and slept in.

I have a friend who has 3 boys and her youngest is 4 years older than B. I have been blessed to receive many of the boy's clothes which has saved me so much money on buying clothes. Especially at the rate toddlers grow and wear out clothes. We were out this morning and came home to this sitting on the front doorstep:

2 big bags of clothes!



There are a few that he isn't quite in yet but he will definitely be set up for winter (and probably next summer too). All I will need to buy is some tracksuit pants and a new pair of jeans and he will be set. What a money saver!

I have another friend who has an older son and she often gives me the clothes her son has grown out of. As they are way too big for him I pass them onto the friend who gave me the above clothes as I know I will get them back for B eventually. When B has grown out of the clothes I then pass them onto another friend who had a daughter first and son second so it helps her out of having to buy too many clothes. I love the idea of passing these along, saving people money and I love seeing the same clothes on different children.

We have also been given a lot of hand me down toys and books from numerous friends. I don't know why but they are usually the toys that he loves the most and plays with all the time. When he has finished with his toys we then pass them on to a friend who works in domestic violence to give to the children in their service who often have to leave their home without any of their toys.

As I said I have been very blessed to receive lots of wonderful things that help me save money and live simply. But I also love passing those things along to others too.