- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
3rd Trimester
They need to have a Mom-on-a-budget board!!!
Hopefully I'm not the only one, but anyone else buying all their baby stuff every payday little by little? Also, shopping clearance, sale items, coupons, layaway, Craigslist, and all CASH??? I'm on this Dave Ramsey budget so I've cut all my credit cards and am almost debt-free (just six more months!!!) I kinda get a little jealous hearing how these girls manage to have all their baby stuff by like 20 weeks, and unless they're 6 figure income or celebrities, I can infer that its been on credit. I figured its reasonable to use the full 40 week span to purchase all the items. If anyone needs any baby financial advice, I'd be more than glad to help out.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: They need to have a Mom-on-a-budget board!!!
We're doing the Dave Ramsey program, too. He is absolutely wonderful! We did the envelop system last month and it was great, but I decided that we'll take a break from it and start it up again once LO is 3 months old. We just have too many unexpected expenses that need to be purchased, and it's stressful to me to have restrictions.
We also cut up all of our credit cards! Woohoo for a fellow gazelle (remember that?)!
Dh and I were extremely fortunate to have two baby showers (both of our parents are divorced so we had showers thrown for both moms sides and dads sides). My mom also bought our nursery furniture and our baby gift!
If we were buying everything for our baby we'd have been making purchases throughout our pregnancy. Even now though I'm taking full advantage of the BRU coupons!
I bought a crib off of Craig's List ($150 - never used) and one outfit ($20). Everything else has been hand-me-downs, gifts or pieces of furniture we had tucked here and there.
I am going to spend about $400 this week on a pump, pack and play and a few other little things to finish us up.
I don't get buying things so early. I remember reading those posts at 20 weeks and feeling a little left out. You don't know yet what you will get from other people and who throws showers that early. Just this week a co-worker gave us their jumpie and something else big that I can't remember right now.
I got my furniture at Walmart.com. Crib less than $150, for a 3 N 1. Changing table for $70. I also shop at Amazon.com. Good nursing coverups are $60 - 70. At Amazon it was $35. I got a cheap coverup for $12 at walmart.com but it was small, so be carefull while you are trying to save.
Also for decorating the nursery, I'm using my scrapbooking tools. I may post pictures of it soon. I really didn't spend much I used some of what I already had on hand. I did buy a Pooh Cricut cartridge from Amazon $30 vs $70 at other places. One Pooh wall hanging was about $12 so I'm more than getting my money's worth because I can make as many pooh and friends wall hangings as I want.
Yay!!! Im glad some of us are financial savvy! Having a baby doesnt have to make your broke, or struggling. A few guidelines I have used, that might be helpful:
1. Putting bedding on layaway. We figured we don't need to have it stashed away somewhere until the nursery and crib are up anyways. So we been doing low bi-weekly payments on it (like $25 a paycheck, cuz we're on the 1st and 15th military pay schedule)
2. Babiesrus coupons!!! We got 15% off our furniture set there and also put in on layaway. Their deadline is Dec 8th, so it gives you some time to pay it off. 15% is a big deal on large purchases so take advantage of it. They also have greater discounts through online coupons or in the newspaper.
3. Use Craigslist...We will be purchasing our glider on craigslist sooner to the due date. Unnecessary baby items that are considered "luxury goods" (stuff not necessary for baby's survival) should be purchased last if your budget allows it.
4. Limit baby spending to a reasonable monthly price! For example, we only spend $100 each (hubby and I are both in the Navy) every payday on baby stuff. We made a timeline of the baby items according to when it'd be reasonable to purchase them. Obviously you don't want to buy major pricey baby items around the time you need to purchase birthday gifts, or during holiday gift shopping.
5. Shop around! Babiesrus.com is very pricey on large items like travel systems and gliders/bouncers. Amazon has been a great help. Really, just compare prices and you'll be amazed. They are new items and they offer free shipping!
6. Shop clearance and sale for baby clothes...Clothing of course comes out is seasons so it is common practice for stores to get rid of their items this way. The clothes are still cute and in good condition.
OF COURSE FREE STUFF LIKE HAND ME DOWNS IS BEST, BUT IF YOU DONT HAVE THAT PRIVILEDGE THEN FOLLOWING A SIMPLE BABY BUDGET IS A GREAT HELP!!!
Um. Wow. Way to make assumptions and be condescending.
I would gather that a lot of couples budget and save for baby purchases. We're certainly not wracking up any CC debt.
We had the majority of what we needed by 20 weeks. None of it was bought on credit cards.
I didn't take your post as condescending at all....
That being said, I am a total bargain shopper and that has come in real handy with this LO. There is a baby consignment shop about 20 minutes from where we live and I love it. I got a baby bjorn that was VERY gently used for $12, and I got about 30 outfits during their "$10 for as much as you can fit into a bag" sale.
We also just looked through everything a couple weeks ago and realized we had like NO onesies that were under 3-6 month size. Considering how many onesies you need, that can add up! So I got on ebay and purchased 2 lots of onesies from the same seller-- spent $30 including shipping-- and got like 40 onesies and 7 sleepers and they are all in perfect condition and great brands.
I am totally not ashamed of cutting corners money-wise for this baby. She is going to spit up and poop in these clothes and outgrow them in a month or two. No need to spend a fortune!
ALSO-- my husband's money saving trick is ALWAYS trying to bring the price down when people work on commission. When we were buying our couch he asked the salesman what we could get in for our price range and the salesman showed us 10 couches that had price tags that read double our price range. We walked out with a brand new couch that had free delivery for half of what the sticker said. My husband is much more intimidating than I am so I would never be able to pull that off, but it works well for him!
This part kind of rubbed me the wrong way. We had all our big stuff by 22 weeks and we are not celebrities or super rich, but we did not go into credit card debt either.
I'm like you in that we're on a tight budget and I'm trying to spread the cost month to month.
I'm glad I didn't have everything bought by 20 weeks because the further I've gotten along, the more gifts I've received and the more people have offered their hand me downs.
We bought out cot and pram second hand and got two almost new items for very cheap.
I actually enjoy making the savings because kids grow so quickly and down the line we'll have money for other stuff for them.
Elizabeth 5yrs old Jane 3yrs old
I still don't understand why you just assume that everyone who bought things early bought it on credit or had a 6 figure income? It's a little obnoxious to come onto a board and proclaim that you know the best way to do things and that if someone didn't do it your way, they must have bought on credit because they didn't know any other way.