Kids can be a little tricky to raise, but one thing parents should remember is the fact that every situation is not black and white. Sometimes raising kids isn’t as complicated as people think, and the solutions may be simpler than you know.

Below are the top three complaints about kids and the reasons why these complaints aren’t valid.

Raising Kids is Expensive:

Raising kids doesn’t have to be expensive. We’re not saying that every one of your kids has to wear his older sibling’s hand-me-downs, but there are steps you can take to ease the financial challenge of raising children.

Proper budgeting of your money can help you to continuously prepare wholesome, tasty meals for your children. There are many recipes online that will teach you how to make delicious pizza or chicken tenders for pennies on the dollar, so you won’t have to worry about wasting money multiple times per week on fast food just, so the kids can have their favorite meals.

Another tip on saving money is to decide when and where you shop. If you shop around, you could score deals on items such as canned goods and snacks by buying them from a particular grocery store and buying your meats, bottled water, and other items, from other stores. Likewise, because clothes are often on sale when they aren’t in season, you can save money on clothing by buying winter clothes in the summer and summer clothes in the winter.

Kids Need the Rod or They Will Be Spoiled

Let’s face it: whippings don’t work for every family. Sometimes ditching the belt and spankings is effective when disciplining children.

Aside from the studies that show that spanking actually does more harm than good, finding creative ways to discipline could help your child to become more obedient. For example, you could determine which activities are very enjoyable for your child, such as concerts, video games, time with friends, or cell phone activities, and let them know that if they misbehave, they will lose these pleasures for a predetermined amount of time.

This is an effective ultimatum because it is telling them that they could lose one of their favorite past-times for an extended period of time; this punishment sounds much worse than a 10-second spanking.

Kids Don’t Like to Listen

Many kids are truant from school or disobedient to their parents. However, sometimes these issues go deeper than just normal childhood/teenage rebellion. Parents and teachers should be vigilant of change in behavior and take expert guidance if need be.

Another reason for disobedient behavior could be inability to express emotions. Life can overwhelm children just as it can adults. If you feel that you see any changes in your child, let him know that he can communicate with you or to anyone else he feels comfortable talking to.

Any behavioral change can de discussed with school counsellor and expert help can be taken to correct it.

Author’s Note: This is a guest post by Erica Johnson who blogs at Inner Parents.