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August 2013 Moms
Budgeting for baby?
I'm not stressing about it yet, but I know that my paycheck is going to take a hit when more insurance starts coming out of it after baby is born. Given that DH is going to pay his half, but I was curious as to the cost of things that will be regular every month for a while:
Hospital cost with insurance? I've heard that you have to pay so much before delivery. Even with insurance.... I don't see the doc til Feb 4.
Diapers?
Formula?
Doc Visits? (How frequent if everything is okay?)
Shots?
Clothes?
Anything else you can think of????
This is our first and both of us are the babies of our families. I'm researching, but I don't know what a realistic number of diapers per month is. Or formula. Which I plan on breastfeeding at least the first month, but I will have to go back to work and I'm unsure if the local daycare would allow feeding my breastmilk to my baby. I will appreciate any advice you experienced mothers can give on budgeting!!!
I'm not a huge self shopper. However, I'd eventually like to still be able to pursue my hobby of barrel racing, but I realize it's going to have to be scaled back, which will hurt neither me or my horse. Maybe it will give us the fire to go when we do get to go! 
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Re: Budgeting for baby?
First off, I would be shocked if your local daycare would not feed your child pumped milk. I would think that would be illegal(?). Secondly, babies are expensive, sorry to break it to you! If you have insurance they will pay for your baby's well-baby visits (my insurance does not charge me for those visits). Shots are included in those visits. Appts are after they are born, one month, two months, 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months (If I remember correctly). I had to write a 1300 check to my OB to cover all of my visits. Delivery was extra, I think around 2000? My DD ended up in the NICU for a week after she was born and that was an additional 4000. Clothes really don't matter that much when they're little, in my opinion. Not worth spending a lot of money on clothes they're going to ruin anyway.
The box of size 1s has around 210 diapers for 40. I stock up on coupons, buy when on sale, and combine with bru rewards. We would go through 1.5 boxes per month.
Last time, we got a reloadable gift card and kept adding to it every month.
When lo is born, you will go to the docs at 2 weeks. You go at 2, 4, 6, 9, and 12 months for shots. You should have reached your deductible by then, so the first set of shots should just be the copay, correct?
"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to be over, it's about learning how to dance in the rain." -Unknown
Married 3-1-08 | Nathan 11-24-08 | Kaelyn 11-30-10 | Alicia 8-17-13
Ugh, I just typed a really long post and it got deleted
Anyhow, if your daycare refuses breast milk, I would consider switching facilities, that's a little ridiculous.
DD hasn't really impacted my budget yet- the only recurring cost is snacks, milk, and clothes. I buy almost everything at consignment sales or on clearance, and we cloth diaper. All of the Dr visits and shots are 100% covered.
I've spend around $400 on all diaper supplies to last through potty training, Less than $300 on her crib, nursery decor, swing, jumperoo, and PnP (almost all other baby gear was given to us) I buy all of her clothes on clearance, so I've probably only spent $150 so far, and I have a few people who regularly give her outfits. Christmas didn't even cost too much this year, although I'm sure that will change
I'm not saying you shouldn't save for the future, just saying our initial costs were minimal. Call your insurance if you want an estimate on how much your hospital bills might be, it really varies on what your coverage and deductible are.
ETA: I had to choose between switching to working full time and sending DD to daycare, or working from home and loosing about 5 hours a week of work. We figured out that daycare + gas would cost more than the extra money I would make full time- so I forgot to add lost wages to my list, but I am a better shopper now and cook dinner at home more, so I'm pretty much in the same financial situation. Obviously daycare will be a recurring cost for most women.
A call to your insurance company should clear a lot of this up (ie, approximate delivery costs, whether there is a co-pay for well-child visits). I would make a whole list of questions and then call them. You may also want to ask them if they will cover the costs of a breastpump for you.
If you are worried about cost and not picky, you can probably get enough gift/hand me down baby clothes and gear that you won't need to buy much for quite a while.
Post-baby, some costs do sort of displace each other -- the beer you won't be drinking because you're nursing leaves you more money in the grocery budget for diapers, the movie you and DH are not going to because getting a sitter is a hassle frees up $25 to buy a giant tub of formula, etc.
Childcare will be the thing that you need to really budget for, so start figuring that out now.
Totally agree with this.
Ditto everyone about calling your insurance to estimate costs (also figure out how much different types of births would cost so you won't be surprised by the extra $$ if you have a c-section).
I also agree w/ pp regarding clothes. You don't need much and you can get pretty far on hand-me-downs and gifts. Thrift stores often have lots of baby clothes (sometimes brand new) because everyone buys/gifts too many. Really, you can get by with a handful of cotton sleepers for the first few months.
We also cloth diaper, which seemed pricey the first time around, but now we will be spending $0 on diapering baby #2.
Formula is super expensive. If you are worried about being able to afford it (or any other food items), you should contact your state WIC agency to figure out if you and your baby qualify for benefits. WIC also covers pregnant women to make sure that they can afford healthy food, so if you are at all worried about that, definitely call. You can find more info about WIC here: https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/
But, yeah. Child care is the killer expense.
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I have to pay $500 to my obgyn. That covers all appts baby related, delivery and circumcision.
Once you find your babies doctor you can meet with them before the baby is born and they will tell you how often you will come.
I would recommend a bj's, sam's club or whatever is around you membership for diapers and formula. You'll save money in the long run buying in bulk.
I know it all seems like a lot when you look at it all at once. But you still have time. Do you know if family/ friend are throwing a baby shower. I got most of what I needed at mine, in terms of expensive baby items. Plus a lot of clothes, swaddling clothes, diapers, lotions soap etc.
DS1 2010
DS2 2013
DD1 2016
That is probably the OB's charge, but you'll still have charges from the hospital. I think we got 4 separate bills -- my OB, the anesthesia group, my hospital stay and the baby's hospital stay. Oh, and a bill from the pediatrician for her visits to the hospital.
mine is based on how much deductible and out of pocket maximum I have left at that point in time. The most I will pay is $600, so will need to check your insurance.
diapers, I used as a newborn 8 day approximately $50 a month give or ttake formula, went through about a little under a case a week, which was 7.29 per bottle. $174 per month. However, the daycare I send the kids does let you have breast milk there, so you should be fine.
doc visits, I pay nothing for shots and wellness visits, but have a copay for sick visits. So depends on insurance. They go at 3 days, 2 weeks, 2, 4,6,9,12,15,18 months and 2 years and once a yr after that.
clothes, it depends, honestly, don't know how much we pay on clothes. I try and shop sales and stuff.
other expenses, specialist visits if needed, extra items for daycare, like I needed extra sheets and stuff that I use for day care... Wipes would be another expense. Can't think of other stuff right now.
https://www.babycenter.com/babycostcalculator
Married 07/17/2010
Diagnosed with PCOS 10/20/2010
TTC since Oct 2010
BFP #1 March 31st 2011 Due December 10 2011
Missed m/c discovered June 2nd 2011 at 12w4d
D&C scheduled June 7th 2011 at 13w2d
Found out our baby boy had Triploidy XXY through embryopathology
BFP #2 September 28th 2011 Due June 8th 2012
Missed m/c discovered November 20th 2011 at 11w2d
D&C November 29th 2011 at 12w4d
Found out our baby girl had Monosomy X through embryopathology
BFP #3 April 24th 2012 Due January 5th 2013
Betas falling on 04/26/12 Chemical Pregnancy
RPL testing done, multi nodular goiters on thyroid discovered.
BFP #4 November 22nd 2012, Due August 5th 2013
Betas: 17 @ 9dpo, 62 @ 11dpo, 124 @ 12dpo, 321 @ 14dpo 720 @ 16dpo 13,805 @ 23 dpo
First ultrasound at 6w3d, hb 122 bpm.
Second ultrasound at 7w3d hb 143 bpm
Third ultrasound at 10w1d hb 167-170 bpm
Forth ultrasound 12w1d hb 167 bpm
Graduated rpl program, moving on to regular ob!
It's a boy!
Little man was born August 1st 2013, 7lbs 8oz and 20.5 inches long
Also agree with pp in that daycare is the primary thing to budget. We go used/consignment sales for clothes. I breast feed and made baby food and now he eats what we do. Still not a huge expense except for daycare.
DS1 2010
DS2 2013
DD1 2016
Hospital cost with insurance? I've heard that you have to pay so much before delivery. Even with insurance.... I don't see the doc til Feb 4.
My hospital bill with LO's was $110,000. no joke. BUT, we ended up paying $4000 that year after he was born for all our insurance co-pays, and the increased insurance cost of now being a "family". I presume this time it will be far cheaper, maybe $1000. The OB fee was $360 for the first visit (I didn't have a co-pay, just had to pay out of our HSA account) but the remainder of care (all appointments) were covered.
Diapers?
This one seems to be all over the map, but I used Amazon mom, and found myself buying a 150ish pack a month. It usually wasn't more than $40/month.
Formula?
We bought formula at the very end, right before LO turned 1, so I don't have a good budget for that. We had some high value coupons, and got the ready to feed Similac stuff for cheap, but it was only a few weeks.
Doc Visits? (How frequent if everything is okay?)
Gosh, I don't recall the specific schedule, but with my insurance, all well-baby appointments were covered up to 2, including all immunizations. I think there was a 1 week, 2 week, 1 month, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, 12 month, and then 18 month and 2 year... I could be wrong with the number in the very beginning.
Shots?
Included in our insurance, you should check yours.
Clothes?
Be smart- shop a season ahead (although this can be tricky trying to determine your baby's size.) They'll need at least 5 sleep and plays in each size through about 1 year. Same number of onesies, shorts/pants (depending on season). If you know the gender, start shopping at consignment, or garage sales, or take the hand me downs!! I had way more than I needed that I had bought. You'll appreciate the larger wardrobe as they get bigger, rather than when they're small.
Anything else you can think of????
There will be gear costs, and other consumable costs (think milk storage bags, etc) food storage when you get there around 4 or 6 months...
Key Point Though: I never felt like I was drowning with the costs. It just wasn't that bad, but I'm a really smart shopper (if I do say so myself) and so I felt like I did a reasonable job at keeping costs down. DH on the other hand was the one I had to reign in... He would buy whatever, whenever, right off the shelf if he wanted it. I didn't send him out shopping that much.
the bump just had an article on the front page yesterday about budgeting Might be helpful:
https://pregnant.thebump.com/pregnancy/first-trimester/articles/advice-for-saving-up-for-a-baby.aspxBFP#4: 07/12/12 -- M/C 5w3d BFP#5: 12/06/12 -- EDD 08/18/13
My friend who gave birth last year sent me this link: https://www.lucieslist.com/
The blogger is really funny and while I'm in no way saying she's a pro - it's a real mom's perspective of all things baby. She gives some estimates on how many diapers you'll need, where to find the best deals, and some insight into feeding. She was a bf mom so I think her formula expenses were low - but as a first time mom, overall I found her website enlightening and funny!
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