Budget: How are you saving money? What money saving questions do you have?

pammyxjean · February 2014

Im EXTREMELY frugal and always looking for a deal. If I can find it second hand I will buy it, if I have it, I don't buy it, and I only shop sales!

I bought a bouncer 20 bucks second hand but next to brand new, and Ive bought a few onsies! So glad this ones a summer baby bc winter crap is so expensive! I plan on buying socks and more onsies, and hopefully some of my friends who have babies can kick some stuff down, free or cheap. I already have two boys so I don't need much.

Im going to splurge on a new bedding set for the twin in the babies room and a matching crib set bc I want some sort of rhyme or flow to the room. That will be the most pricey thing we buy!

My mom bought me a Dooney and Burke bag for my Bday, to be used as a diaper bag, that was expensive, but she wanted me to have it! And Im not going to deny a super rad bag like that! Diaper bags were never that useful for me anyway.

Sareynoo · February 2014

To save money we switched from sprint to t-mobile (saving $70 per month), cut cable but kept internet (save $70 per month), cancelled DD's kid gym (save $75 per month), made own cleaning products such as laundry detergent (baby safe but for entire family), cloth diaper detergent, fabric softener, dish soap, bleach disinfectant cleaner, wood cleaner, vinegar based all purpose cleaner. Will be making hand soap and hair detangler when we run out. Eat out only once or twice per week, get premade starbucks coffee from the grocery ($3-$4 per container with 6 servings compare to starbucks $4.50 per drink) and we started using cloths in lieu of paper towels!!
For baby, I've already started a one-size cloth diaper cover and prefold stash that will last forever, cloth wipes, we were given strollers, car seat, other random baby things by friends because their kids grew out of it. I saved my favorite clothes of. DD's to use for the baby and also all toys. I'm trying to think of more ways to save since DH will be the only one working by next January..

Sareynoo · February 2014

hollygb22 said:

wtfisup said:

Just a word about cloth diapering -- several of my friends tried it. Some had great success. Others didn't. Not all babies' skin types tolerate it as well. If you find a steal on a whole set, grab it. If not, you might want to ensure it works for you before buying them all. I know my mom successfully cloth diapered one kid, then got me, who has sever allergies and skin sensitivity, and it wasn't an option. I'd love to try it, but it's not realistic. If the kid gets my genes, she'll be allergic to life. Additionally, laundry is already our biggest struggle. We can barely ever keep up as is. Adding the diapers wouldn't be feasible. But kudos to those who do it. My friends who have had success adore it.

Check with daycare too if you're going that route. I thought about it but the majority of daycares in our areas required disposables. It wasn't worth the cost to invest in CD knowing they'd be used on nights and weekend (for us at least!)

DD's daycare will CD if you have a doctor's note, it might be worth it to check with the daycare about it!

amwangel · February 2014

lyracelesti said:

I'm so-so at organizing but i am flash at throwing stuff away I actually grew up in a hoarded home so i kind of dislike owning things.

Yes! I totally would rather get rid of stuff than organize it. Makes cleaning less work!

wtfisup · February 2014

@caitykate:

Okay, $110/month on non-coffee beverages is pretty crazy.
Buying the basics can different amounts at different places. What stores are you shopping at? In Ohio, Giant Eagle is hella expensive.
The snack food can definitely add up more quickly than the staples that have to be turned into meals. We tend to keep fruits and veggies, some dip/hummus, yogurt, and bread that can be made into a PB & J (or PB & honey) around. Those shouldn't cost more than $10/week. Expensive yogurt can be a big money suck. I buy whatever's on sale at Whole Foods and it's cheaper, shockingly, than the regular prices at Kroger and the like. It's the organic yuppy (and yummy) stuff, but it's 50 cents a cup. (Brown Cow!)
Do you plan your meals? We plan a week's worth of dinners each weekend and buy the ingredients, plus lunch/breakfast/snack food. That gets us at around $60-80 week. When we don't do that, we could easily spend WAAAAY more by stopping at the store every day or two to pick up ingredients (and invariably, something else). Meal planning also means we think conscientiously about what we're making per week, what it costs, etc. So if we do salmon one night, that's our pricey meal. The next night might be meat free. (Though we usually buy salmon in bulk.) We also try to plan to cook large pieces of meat that can be used for multiple meals. Lastly, we focus on making dinners that we can get a leftover lunch out of as well.

nicolemcm · February 2014

I would say we're in the "average" wage bracket, and we're not too great at saving - but we're getting there. We have started to put aside $150/month for baby expenses. We save by catching sales and price matching between grocery stores. We don't have a home phone, or cable. We pay $43/month for internet and we stopped the subscription to Netflix since the selection isn't great here in Canada.

Nursery - We were lucky that MIL bought us the crib. We dont' intend to buy a bedding set and will get a few sheets and go with that. Artwork will likely just be etsy art printed at Staples and framed for cheap. We will be fitting his closet with Rubbermaid shelves to allow more space. We may splurge on the matching change table that we wouldn't have even considered before MIL bought our crib for us. Travel system is gifted by BIL, which is freaking awesome!

Toys - We don't plan on buying anything new, if at all. A friend of ours will be passing along a bouncer and we may pick up a used rocker if we can find one.

Diapers - We won't be able to CD as we live in an apartment building and it's NMS in any case. The plan is to get a box per month on sale now until LO comes.

Clothes - We already have 2 laundry baskets full of clothes from MIL and SIL. We have purchased a few things, but never full price. We won't be registering for clothes as I'm sure we will get a tonne at the shower.

Childcare - We're in Canada, so mat leave is covered at 55% for one year. I plan to take 44 weeks and DH will take the remaining 8 weeks. Day care costs about $1200/mo where we live, but it still works out to be more workable than one of us staying home. If we have #2, that may change.

I'm intrigued by this meal planning deal. I may have to chat with DH about giving it a go.

wtfisup · February 2014

@nricole & others: I super encourage folks with a desire to try making your own nursery art, if you want. I do digital/graphic design for work and most folks don't realize how easy it is. A lot of the art I see on Etsy is a design that took someone 45 minutes ONCE that they can "customize" in les than a couple of minutes. You can do tons with Pages or Word, and you're unlimited if you have Photoshop/Illustrator.

wtfisup · February 2014

Those prices seem high. Bananas here are less than $1/lb, for instance. I buy the yogurt that's cheaper than $1 each. I get the organic stuff at Whole Foods for 50 cents, so half price.

Meal planning doesn't have to mean cooking an elaborate meal. We always put 2 quick and easy meals on there, like fish tacos or eggs and toast with fruit. Fish taco bowls cost about $7 to make and we get at least a lunch and a dinner for each person out of them. So that's $1.75 per meal per person.

Cooking can be a pain, but you can also make it happen. I worked the equivalent of two full-time teaching loads last semester and we managed. Just build it to be easy and simple. Make a roast in the slow cooker. Come home and make some green beans (10 min to roast in the oven). Next night, make quesadillas or fajitas with the leftovers (15 min to sauté onions and peppers and add the meat; season; throw in a tortilla).

But anyway, those are just examples. I promise you can cook at home without making elaborate recipes after a long day.

amackattack · February 2014

@wtfisup tell me more. How does this art work. Where do I get the images I want? You have me so intrigued and I know nothing about this!

Also, how do you get fruit, veggies, dip, hummus, yogurt and bread for $10 a week?? Are you saying one bag of bread lasts you like 2.5 weeks and one hummus lasts a few weeks also? Because even if each of you are eating a 50 cent yogurt for 4 days in a week that's already 4 dollars (8 yogurts) and you only have 6 dollars left for fruit, veggies, dip, hummus, and bread? Curious how the math is working out there.

coffee89 · February 2014

We use a month to month phone plan. We get the same service as we had when we were on a contract plan but we pay $75 total a month (he's on straight talk for $40 a month and I'm with Virgin mobile at $35)

When my old laptop went up, I waited to get a new one and ended up getting a very gently used macbook for almost nothing.

I've never paid more than $30 for a clothing item. If it's something really well made that I know I will last the test of time, I'll spend money on it. I'm not going to spend $45 on a shirt that will rip, get stained or sit in my closet. I think I only have one thing that is a special occasion only piece, everything else can be dressed up or down as needed. My maternity clothes all came off clearance sales as well.

I coupon some for groceries. I don't go crazy with it but if I know we need toilet paper soon and there is a good sale on it, I'll google for a coupon. We also buy meat when it is on a really good sale. I'll buy larger quantities of things and split them up into meals.

I've taken to making my husbands lunches (I've slipped on this lately) for a number or reasons. First off, it's cheaper than him going out and spending $5-$8 a day. Also, it's healthier. I make sure he gets sent to work with fruit and yogurt and yummy leftovers. He has never complained about it and actually gets kind of sad when I tell him I didn't do his lunch and to just go out.

I also cook larger meals. When I make lasagna, I make a huge hearty pan and serve it with salad. One pan can make 6 portions for us, leaving plenty for leftovers. When I make soup I make enough for freeze and have some for leftovers.

deepoceanmama · February 2014

wtfisup said:

Those prices seem high. Bananas here are less than $1/lb, for instance. I buy the yogurt that's cheaper than $1 each. I get the organic stuff at Whole Foods for 50 cents, so half price. Meal planning doesn't have to mean cooking an elaborate meal. We always put 2 quick and easy meals on there, like fish tacos or eggs and toast with fruit. Fish taco bowls cost about $7 to make and we get at least a lunch and a dinner for each person out of them. So that's $1.75 per meal per person. Cooking can be a pain, but you can also make it happen. I worked the equivalent of two full-time teaching loads last semester and we managed. Just build it to be easy and simple. Make a roast in the slow cooker. Come home and make some green beans (10 min to roast in the oven). Next night, make quesadillas or fajitas with the leftovers (15 min to sauté onions and peppers and add the meat; season; throw in a tortilla). But anyway, those are just examples. I promise you can cook at home without making elaborate recipes after a long day.

I agree with @wtsisup; I am super exhausted and lazy in the evenings, but we have to make meal planning work for our budget to function. A good idea to try might be to make a big pot or two of something (like soup, stew, pasta) on Sunday that you can eat all week. This is a super cheap option and fairly low-maintenance over the course of the week, if you can do leftovers and the same flavor profiles day after day. This week, I made beef stew for about $35 on Sunday, which DH and I ate for lunch and dinner every day all week--that's pretty cheap for a meal for two each day.

Some weeks I'll make something for us to eat for lunch (chicken/egg salad, or a cheap dinner-y thing like spaghetti) and then something different for dinner. That way, we don't have to eat the same food for lunch AND dinner.

We save a ton of money by buying absolutely no frozen/pre-made meals and cooking all our own. That said, it's time consuming and DH works until at least 7 every night (first-year attorney), so most of the cooking falls on my lap. Cooking in bulk on the weekends is a life-saver.

k2k2tog · February 2014

caitykate said:

@wtfisup 1. I got DH to read you're point #1 and he agreed to drop the iced tea. So thanks you just potentially saved me $600! 2. Stop & shop- seems like standard prices? 3. See- like a bag of oranges is $5+, apples the same, bananas $2lb , yogurt $1 a pop, bread $3 or so a loaf, PB $4 I think, jelly $4 I think (honey is actually a delish idea I never even thought of!) so I don't understand how to buy these items for less. So if I have only 2pieces of fruit a day, a yogurt, and a PB & j sandwich it's going to run like at least $4 a day just for lunch for me - if we both did that it's $56 for these items a week. 4. We do not meal plan. Really, I should practice this during maternity leave. It's a fantastic idea. I don't really cook at all and with my work schedule of like 55 hrs a week (w/commute) and DHs of 80 (w/commute) I just don't feel like cooking (lazy- I need to work on it) and DH just doesn't have time. Is there any way you go about meal planning? Just look at recipes / ingredients and then go to the store and buy the best priced items? Sorry if this sounds idiotic but as you probably can sympathize with- I lived a student lifestyle for so long that cooking and shopping for family life hasn't been something I have ever really dealt with.

Some of those prices DO seem high... However, I know that prices can vary a lot from area to area. We had friends move here (Ontario) from Chicago, and they had major sticker shock when it came to dairy products. Do you have other grocery store options? I know their prices can vary wildly too... Here, we have companies that have a 'higher end' grocery store and a 'lower end' grocery store; they all sell the same stuff, but at differing levels of service (more staff, fancier displays, etc. etc.) which allows them to sell food at different prices.

The others seem to have already given you lots of good advice. Meal planning can work, but I think you have to be a little careful with it too. I've tried many many times to meal plan, and I think it's actually lead to more wasted food and wasted money. At least in our house, plans change a lot. It doesn't work for everyone.

Instead of meal planning, we buy groceries based on sales. I don't know if your grocery store does this, but all the ones here (Ontario) throw 50% off stickers on meat when it's a day or two away from its expiry date. We buy it, even if I'm not planning anything for it, and throw it in the freezer right away. We hardly ever buy any full price meat unless I actually need something specific, or we haven't seen these discounts in a while.

Also, we never buy things like frozen pizza unless it's on for a good sale, at which point we stock up and buy a bunch. But, be careful of sales. Sometimes a brand name will be on sale, and it might seem like a good deal, but it will actually still be more expensive than a competitor. I make cookies if we want them. DH drinks coke, and I like club soda, and occasionally, he throws some chips in the cart, but we always opt for the cheaper brands/no names unless the brand name is on sale. Shopping like this takes some time, figuring out the best deals.

deepoceanmama · February 2014

I agree that tb makes me feel poor a lot! Really early in first tri, there was a string of ladies who got cars from their DHs as pregnancy gifts and I was like...people actually get cars as gifts?! Our budget is very tight. I'm a teacher and DH is a first-year attorney (critical understanding: modern attorneys are drowning in SL debt and make almost no money, sigh). We're really busting our asses to save money for this baby, and actually...it hasn't been that hard. A few things we did preemptively, knowing we needed to make cuts:

Cable: DH and I were paying $150/mo (what?!) for cable/internet/phone (and all the special channels, etc.), which we just flat-out cut. We are now paying $29/mo for the lowest-quality high-speed internet that we can get, plus $8/mo for netflix.
Christmas: DH and I asked for ALL baby stuff for Christmas this year. We got our PNP, bouncer, crib mattress cover, activity mat, some aden&anais blankets, and a bunch of other baby stuff, PLUS a ton of maternity clothes for me. That was huge.
Maternity Clothes: I have not bought a stitch of new maternity clothing. I am the first mom in my circle of friends, so I haven't been able to borrow anything, but I've gotten all my maternity clothing from local consignment stores. I haven't paid more than $8 for anything yet.

Baby necessities:

Furniture: We've been searching for deals. We got a really nice (new) crib from Amazon.com for $150, which was an amazing deal. Our dressers are some really, really old, beat-up, destroyed dressers from 10-year-old niece, which my sister is going to re-finish and paint with a Harry Potter theme for our nursery as a shower gift. We're not getting a changing table, as I'm totally comfortable just changing on the floor/bed/table/wherever.
Nursery: Our Harry Potter nursery is going to be AMAZING. We are spending a little frivolous money here, but most of it we're doing ourselves. My best friend is painting a mural on an accent wall, my MIL reupholstered an old rocking chair and is sewing curtains and a cribskirt, and a lot of the artwork will be made by me or someone in the family. We're pretty fucking psyched about the nursery.
Clothes: I'm waiting until after the shower to play with this one, but I'll be doing consignment like PPs. There's absolutely no reason to buy new clothes for a baby who will wear each outfit once and then outgrow it. I'm also not super obsessed with my kid having 50,000 amazingly cute photo-worthy outfits, either. She'll be puking on them and pooping in them, so as long as they're comfy, I'm happy.
Baby gear: A lot of this we got for Christmas, and the rest we're hoping to get at the shower. DH's family all pitched in to get us our travel system as an early shower gift, which was amazing. I'm not really looking for a TON of baby gear...really all that's left on our list is a swing and a RNP. We got a brand-new, still in the plastic puj tub from a consignment store for $15. I am pretty earthy crunchy, so I'm hoping to get some more of the A&A swaddle blankets and towels, and other nice organic stuff.
Diapers: Like some PPs, though DH and I really WANT to CD, we're opting not to. DH really isn't a lot of help with the laundry (he works at least 70 hrs/wk), and I'm going back to work when the baby is 3 months old. I just can't imagine having to do laundry every other night (or even more frequently) to stay on top of the diaper situation. We've been buying diapers as we see them on sale, and I'm on amazon mom, so we'll get them 20% off once she comes. Unideal, but doable.
Food: I'm planning on BFing and pumping (breast pump for free--thanks, ACA!), so food for her will be free for a while. When the time comes to switch to solids, we'll be making our own baby food. We have a farm share in the summers, so I'll be saving a little of that farm share and freezing it to steam/blend and turn into baby food when she's old enough. We already have all the equipment to do this except storage containers, which are on our registry.
Childcare: DH and I are so blessed. My mother and MIL have offered to come out alternate weeks and do our childcare for us for free (or basically free--we will pay their gas and food when they're here). For the first year, at least, we'll be saving a ton of money here.

Things I'm still trying to figure out:

Newborn photos: Well, yikes. I really want to do this, but it's looking like we'll be lucky to get out of there for less than $1,200. I really, really want to have these pictures done, but we're still trying to find a moderately affordable photographer.
Babymoon: Well, this doesn't have to be a thing, but I'd love to get away with DH for even just a long weekend before the baby comes. I'm trying to convince him that we can spend $200-$300 on this, since we've been so careful so far.

lola4411 · February 2014

These tips are great! I needed this after my wake up call yesterday: I visited 2 day care centers and the prices were so daunting....

nicolemcm · February 2014

@wtfisup thanks for the artwork advice. I have to say DH is pretty talented with some of these programs, and considering we are doing more of a colour theme than a theme theme, he can work with lots of simple things and make it cool. And he will like it.
I'm also loving the meal planning ideas. DH agreed to try it, no questions asked.

deepoceanmama · February 2014

amoot890 said:

deepoceanmama said:

<snip>
Things I'm still trying to figure out:
Newborn photos: Well, yikes. I really want to do this, but it's looking like we'll be lucky to get out of there for less than $1,200. I really, really want to have these pictures done, but we're still trying to find a moderately affordable photographer.
Babymoon: Well, this doesn't have to be a thing, but I'd love to get away with DH for even just a long weekend before the baby comes. I'm trying to convince him that we can spend $200-$300 on this, since we've been so careful so far.

$1200 seems like a really large amount for photos. I bought a session for my new niece (using my wedding photographer) the sitting fee was $45 and the photographer traveled to them. Then you can buy whichever prints you want or she would sell you the rights to the photos on a CD for $50 and you can print to your hearts content.

As a comparison as I would guess more people are better familiar with wedding photo costs than newborn costs (if FTM), we spent about $1800 on our wedding photos from her (including engagement photos, two all day photographers, the rights & raw files).

I have a friend who is a photographer and she has similar pricing (location didn't work for my niece).

Keep shoppin' around mama! I'm sure you can find something more
reasonable.

Thank you! That's what I thought, too. I've emailed a bunch of photographers hoping to find one a little more reasonably priced.

enpowers · February 2014

@lyracelesti we also live in a super small city apt. We are putting our crib in the corner of our one tiny room. I'm actually looking forward to it bc it makes me feel like we need to buy less because we have less space. For example, we aren't buying a baby bath tub or changing table, or really any furniture except the crib. My SO and I are so far from rich! We actually have saved money by not drinking or going out since we found out I was pregnant (this makes us sound like alcoholics ...). I am just trying to save as much money as possible from every paycheck. That being said pre-baby looking back we didn't save any money. At all

it's hard trying to back track so you all sound really prepared!

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