swingsets? and OMG are they expensive!

[SIZE=10pt]Hi All,

I've been taking the twins to the playground, but it is 20 min. away because we live so far in the country. So I said one day to my grandma (87 yrs. old), I wish we had a swing set for the twins. It is so hard bringing them to the park (20 min away by car) and watching BOTH of them by myself.

So grandma said she'd give me a check for $200 for a swingset. At first I was in shock! Wow grandma, that is so nice of you! (I thought that would buy us a beautiful swingset) Lo and behold, the cheapest, crappiest swingset is about $159. I can't even look at the good wood ones.

Then I thought...ok, maybe I'll just buy a portable slide, and a bucket swing to hand from our big tree. I don't know what to do. What do you all suggest for us who have a limited budget.

Bridget[/SIZE]
:unsure:

 

I got a wooden swingset from willygoat.com...it was 498...more then the crappy ones, but not as much as the most expensive. They will get a lot of use out of it..

In case your wondering..here it is:

http://www.willygoat.com/catalogsingle.asp?productID=32317

 

I'm also thinking of getting them a playset. I don't know what I want to get for them though. I like the smaller step 2 sets, however, I know they will outgrow it in just a few years, and I'm not sure I want to spend the $ on the big wooden sets.

 

Thank you for the link Mandy I am going to talk to my dh about the swingset. I have been looking also and I have found metal ones for about $100 on sale at Wal Mart or Kmart. I would prefer a wooden one but they are just so expensive it's out of our price range.

 

I though this was adorable...although I wish it had two swings instead of one but if you are have a tree then you can just buy another swing and hang it from there.

http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/produc...ategoryId=85229

 

We ended up buying the girls this one http://www.littletikes.com/toys/toys-detai...=3511&N=120 when they were about 18 months old. They were already growing out of it at age 4. SO I ended up selling it on Craigslist for $200.00 . We splurged and got http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?...av=&browse= It is only $1299 if you buy from the store. I figure they will use it till they are at least 12.

 

Bridget,

The same compnay I sent you the link has this set

http://www.willygoat.com/catalogsingle.asp?productID=27740

Its 297.99...

Keep in mind shipping is usually over 100 dollars...but at least its a wodden set...

The only reason why we had the cash, is we just sold our house, and have some extra $$....otherwise, there would have been no way!

 

I see a lot of nice used wooden ones on craigslist for fairly cheap. Do you have an active craigslist around you? You might have to wait around and check frequently to get the right one at the right price, and you'll probably have to take it down and put it up yourself, but you'd save a ton of money.

 

Hi Mandy,

Yes I really like the 2nd swing set link you showed me from that company. That is more do-able for us. I'm also going to take up the suggestion about looking on Craig's list.

Thanks everyone!

Bridget

 

You might also check Ebay . . . you can do an advanced search, and put in your zipcode, and search for anything within a certain distance of your location (most big things like these on Ebay are for pickup only). I keep hoping to find something within reasonable driving distance, but I live in the boonies and nothing has turned up yet. Still, you might get lucky!

-Rachel

 

We've just bought one at BJs' for $999 (-$80 coupon). It's still in the box but it's great - cedar, etc.

 

We ended up getting a cheap-o swing set from Kmrat. I couldn't find it on their website but here is a very similar one at Walmart. We got ours for $90. No, it won't last forever, but we're not going to be in this house for more than a couple of years and we didn't want to invest the money in a nice one we couldn't take with us. They love it! Doesn't matter to them that it's cheap!

 

I would check around for "used" wooden playsets (paper, craig's list, word of mouth). I know in our neighborhood, several people just gave away their's to others neighbor's when their kids became teeneagers. We bought a new wooden one and yes...WAY $$$...several thousand...but our boys play on it ALL the time. Good luck

 

We're looking at DIY sets and pricing the lumber right now. We're looking at plans on this site for Jacks Backyard Wood Forts for the plans. With detailed plans, it seems very doable if you or DH is handy at all.

http://www.jacksbackyard.com/JBY%20forts%2...ings%20page.htm

I've also read about DIY sets at Home Depot that are reasonable too.