Thrifty mother, 32, to only buy her two kids second hand goods for an entire year in protest over Christmas waste
Katie Musgrave says she was shocked at how expensive it is to raise small children and realised she had lots of lightly-worn clothes sitting in her loft
MEET Britain’s most frugal mum, who says she won’t buy anything new for her or her two kids for a whole YEAR.
Katie Musgrave, 32, has banned herself from splurging on anything new for herself of Eliza, three and Araidne, one apart from food and nappies.
She’s taken on the challenge in a bid to cut down Christmas waste, after she realised how much barely-used toys and clothes she had lying about at home.
The thrifty mum, a GP registrar from Loddiswell, Devon, will source items from charity shops or a second hand marketplace she has set up for parents online.
She said: "When you have kids you go from a normal home to having a loft and garage full of stuff that will have been used once or twice and then outgrown.
"I have been shocked at how expensive it is raising small children. The cost of clothes, toys and equipment can be astronomical.
"And as my children get through clothes really quickly, I have found it very difficult to find ways to sell our good quality baby and children's items.
"Realising that my loft was filling up with valuable, but lightly worn children's items, I decided I wanted to find a better solution."
She decided to launch her own website, , for parents to sell nearly-new clothes that their tots have outgrown.
She added: "I didn't necessarily want to buy all my children's clothes new, but it was difficult to find the time to search through charity shops.
"What I wanted was a good quality website, where I could search for items by size, sex, category and postal option (like you do when using a department store website).
"So, for example, I could search for a coat for my three-year-old from all over the UK. When I found one I liked, I could contact the seller and another mum would post me their child's gently used coat."
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And the site has been a hit, with other parents inspired by Katie’s commitment to minimise spending and waste.
She said: "We've only just started, but to be honest it's been reasonably manageable.
"We have quite a few local charity shops where I can get bits and bobs. We're still doing our food shop and the children are at an age where they don't really mind about Christmas presents too much.
"A few people have been in touch via Facebook who are keen to try it themselves.
"Especially when you have young children who go through so much stuff in the space of three to six months."
She hopes she can soon run her website from home, allowing her to spend more time with her kids.
She added: "It's early days but we've had some really positive responses.
"We've even been collecting items on schools' behalf. A lot of teachers have been very enthusiastic.
"Families today are very short of disposable income (especially at the time when a mum might be on maternity leave, and the few years afterwards when parents are paying for nursery fees).
"This is the time when children are growing fastest, and it is hardest to keep up with their need for clothes, toys and equipment.
"It is my dream that I might be able to encourage other parents to cut down on wasteful materialism when bringing up their children, and that my website might provide a helpful solution to this problem."
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