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Budgeting for baby...

kjohnson1002kjohnson1002 member
in June 2014 Moms
..is exhausting.  Hubs and I started to come up with a plan but in reality we should've been saving years ago before babies were even on the brain.  Any good budgeting tips??  We are cutting back on our monthly saving to sock away a couple hundred bucks a month until I would be off from maternity leave.  Also trying to get a handle on debt, which isn't easy.  I need a money tree!
~Kelly
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Re: Budgeting for baby...

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  • JNerdJNerd member
    I think you are doing good- paying down debt is a huge thing and makes being on mat leave so much easier. Also, the more you can tuck away into savings the better.
    We separated our savings accounts - 1 for baby spending- our chunk of change to buy things for baby and 2, rainy day money. Money that we had out aside for unexpected bills or expenses that were not in the budget. By keeping the two accounts (among others) we know what we have to actually spend on certain items. Having the rainy day money is huge for us- nothing is worse than a bill with restricted income.
    Good luck! And as PP said, remember babies don't need a lot, especially not at the beginning.
    Also- people love to buy things for babies- clothes and blankets and toys. If you are going to buy things let others feet you those and just fill in the blanks.
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  • tbmadeamistaketbmadeamistake member
    We're also paying down debt.  After C was born, somehow we found the cash for everything (stopped eating out, don't see as many movies, etc).  There is no more wiggle room in our cash flow, so with this one we really need to actually sit down and plan things out.  We're paying off debt with our tax return a gift from my grandmother, and then we're going to try and refinance (assuming that paying down the debt ups our credit score, we're waiting until after to get a better rate).  Hopefully by easing the monthly payments that way, we can figure out a reasonable method.  I'm also pretty set on paying for groceries in cash, so that we can only spend so much money.

    Married DH 7/30/11

    CSC arrived 5/7/12 

    CHC arrived 6/2/14

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  • kjohnson1002kjohnson1002 member
    lellymine said:
    We used the Dave Ramsey method to pay off our debt. It sucked, you set your budget and then put cash into all these envelopes. Once the cash is gone you're done for the month. It made me realize how much we were nickeling and diming ourselves. Also paying off the smallest portion of debt first then using that monthly amount towards to the next portion helped us feel like we were accomplishing something. It was SO hard but we're debt free and have a good amount saved up now.
    We tend to follow something similar to this as well but its taking a lot longer than I thought it would.  It's a great concept.  It really helped us pay down some of our debt.


    ~Kelly
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  • kjohnson1002kjohnson1002 member
    Lilygrace48 said:
    We're also paying down debt.  After C was born, somehow we found the cash for everything (stopped eating out, don't see as many movies, etc).  There is no more wiggle room in our cash flow, so with this one we really need to actually sit down and plan things out.  We're paying off debt with our tax return a gift from my grandmother, and then we're going to try and refinance (assuming that paying down the debt ups our credit score, we're waiting until after to get a better rate).  Hopefully by easing the monthly payments that way, we can figure out a reasonable method.  I'm also pretty set on paying for groceries in cash, so that we can only spend so much money.
    We refinanced over the summer so that helped us with a few hundred bucks, but then had to buy a new car, so it kinda went right to that.  We do a lot in cash as well and once we are out, we are done.

    ~Kelly
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  • kjohnson1002kjohnson1002 member
    Thanks ladies for your feedback!
    ~Kelly
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  • Baldwinbaby4Baldwinbaby4 member
    I rarely buy new baby clothes. Look for discount baby stores. They have good quality used baby clothes and usually gear too. It can save a lot of money. Babies grow so fast. Also, if you really need the cash, find things to sell and declutter your home.
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  • AnnaKaieAnnaKaie member
    We wrote out our baby budget before we got pregnant. Even though I know it can be done on paper it still kinda freaks me out when I think about it.

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  • kjohnson1002kjohnson1002 member
    Thanks ladies for your feedback!
    ~Kelly
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  • amackattackamackattack member

    I'm going to disagree with others and say that as a rule, I never ever use cash. I use budgeting and tracking techniques, but use the CC as much as possible. I have earned thousands in cash back rewards points and have never been charged a dollar of interest since I pay it back every month. If you're going to spend the money anyways, might as well get cash back for it. Especially on things like groceries which you can get double points for.

    As far as buying things for babies, I agree with others in that we are buying nothing until the due date gets much closer. We accept all free things from others offered to us, and we never buy anything new, ever. We buy used from people we know, garage sales, and from consignment stores.  The baby is going to outgrow toys, clothes, pillows, sheets, everything. Don't spend a fortune on these things that will only be used a relatively short amount of time!

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  • lifeisbetterontheredlifeisbetteronthered member
    Ways to save with baby.

    1. Buy used. Almost everything is nearly just as good used, except car seats. People who are done having kids are often more then happy to get rid of stuff, often free. Just always say yes.

    2. BF is much cheaper then FF, even if you buy a pump.

    3. Cloth diapers can save you 1-2k by potty training, even more with each subsequent kid because you can reuse them. Plus they have decent resale value so when you're done you recoup even more.

    4. You social life budget can likely be decreased, but be wary of all the tempting "mommy & me" classes available on leave. Especially with a spring/summer baby, find a group of moms with similar aged babies and make your own activities. Like going to the park, or a pool, or just hanging out at someone's house.

    5. Babies really don't need that much stuff. The toys and clothes are all so cute and tempting, but really not necessary. Even with DH & I probably only having bought DD 2-3 toys and probably 2 dozen outfits in the past year, the girl has a huge bin full of toys and a bigger wardrobe then me. People seem to love buying toys and clothes for baby. Plus DD loves one blanket, her soothers, what ever paper she can get her hands on and a couple of her "little people" more then anything, and would probably be happy if that is all she ever played with. So resist all the cute. And don't buy a change table. Dresser (with pad), beds, sofas, floors work just as well/better.

    6. It's tempting to spend the extra $10-20 on the "better" bouncy seat, floor mat, etc. Resist. Baby won't notice/care. They really don't need all the bells and whistles. There are a few things that the extra cost may be worth it to you (for us it was car seat and stroller), but by and large, get what works for the least cost.
    PgAL (MC@7w 29/10/11 - lost you before we knew we had you)
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
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  • FutureMrsW9FutureMrsW9 member
    For you ladies who don't have cable, what do you do for internet and how much does it cost on its own?  I've been thinking about ditching cable for a while, but all of the other options seems to come out to a similar cost once I calculate everything (i.e. once you get internet by itself plus antennas/itunes/etc. to watch the few shows that you want to watch).  To get internet without a triple play type of package is anywhere from $60-75/month, which seems really excessive for access to the web, which unfortunately we need these days both for work and play at home.

    Me 31 ~ DH 30
    IVF/FET #1 - BFP!!
    <3 CJW 6/15/2014 <3
    DX - PCOS 2004
    FET #2 - scheduled for 11/24/15
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  • flerlgirlflerlgirl member
    It's so hard to budget because there is just no way to know how many diapers they'll go through, if they'll wind up with special formula, etc. So I think what you're doing is perfect - just know you'll need extra and like PP said, baby doesn't care if s/he sleeps in a beautiful crib or a pack n play or if they are naked all day long. So don't stress!





    I'm not new. I just hate The Bump. 

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  • kittenslovekittenslove member
    FutureMrsW9 - internet alone, with a speed boost, is $60/month for me. Its is dropping to $50/month for a year because I just yelled at my provider. We also have netflix. If we were to get cable, it would jump to a promotional rate of $100/month, and the promotion generally lasts only the first year. The extra $30/month isn't worth it for hubby and I, but we are not big TV people. We actually took off the antenna, because it just got dusty, we never used it. 

    I think it just depends on your lifestyle. Hubby and I aren't home that much, and we are both gamers/readers, so that tends to be what we are doing with out free time. My sister also dropped cable, added netflix, kept the house phone. She only lets her kid have two hours of screen time a day (computer, tablet, or TV), so the only time it was really being watched was after bedtime with my BIL. My dad is a huge hockey addict, will never get rid of cable, and honestly between him, my brother and my mom, they use it. My best friend loves HBO and Showtime, so has that package as well, but they have people over every Sunday to watch their shows, and they work different schedules (shes 9-5, hes a bartender and works 5-3ish), so they are both home alone a lot. 
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  • amackattackamackattack member
    @futuremrsw9 Our internet is the higher speed option and costs about $60 a month. We don't have cable, we just have our wifi router and we pay for Netflix and Hulu Plus. We use Vudu or Amazon Movies whenever we want to rent a movie, as these don't require monthly membership fees. We use our PS3 for all of the above mentioned apps. For us, it works beautifully although we don't watch any sports. If we did I think it would be a problem. We have an antenna for news.
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  • skyview222skyview222 member
    We are working on budgeting for baby, purchasing a house etc.  so I know how budgeting can be atrocious.  I use mint.com (free) and it helps me manage where the money goes and how my loans are progressing. 

    I am looking into some of the bigger budget breakers at the moment--especially health care (family plans available from each of our employers) options. 

    imageimage
    Due June 29, 2014

    June 2014 Mommies' January Signature Challenge: Throwback baby pic
    image

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  • Julie&MicahJulie&Micah member
    Another ditto for Dave Ramsey! We are still paying off out debt snowball and hopefully will have one college loan paid off this month!! It's a lot of hard work and having DD slowed us down a bit but we are SOOOO much further ahead than we would have been with out a budget and taking the Dave Ramsey class!
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  • kjohnson1002kjohnson1002 member
    Ladies..you are great.  I was happy to read that hubs and are relatively good during a month based on your thoughts.  We have basic cable for TV, I eat out for lunch maybe 1x a month, so I don't feel terrible about that, I meal plan and try to stick to a food budget each month, I was carpooling (but the other girl left for maternity leave).  I think there is still stuff we cut back on and will continue to work on those things (friday night ordering in).  I guess right now I am not overly concerned..its more when I go back to work and we now have day care that I get worried.

    I do appreciate all your feedback and will reevaluate with hubs later on our budget sheet.
    ~Kelly
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  • Cindy ThomasCindy Thomas member
    We pay $169 a month for cable and internet. We have all the movie channels, and the entire sports package (Hubs is big into European soccer and the like) and we both love to watch movies. Plus if we are home thats what we do, that is our quality time. Sure we have an occational date night, but we dont eat out much or go to movies, etc. So we figure it evens out. We know its a lot and have talked about cutting down, but we can never bring ourselves to do it. We are just such homebodies we would have nothing else to do while sitting at home all the time.
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  • jdias428jdias428 member
    edited January 2014
    I was researching on my own where to find used baby gear online, since I don't know a ton of people willing to sell. Here's a good list of resources... 


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