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July 2016 Moms
Sydney&Matt
member
Cost of a Baby
Sydney&Matt
member
How much have you spent on baby so far? If this is your second or third baby, how much do you think you spent on your first? Right now, my husband and I are just trying to buy the essentials but as first time parents, that cost is adding up quickly.
Sidenote: I tried various searches to pull up a topic similar to this but I couldn't find anything. If there already is a topic, please let me know where it is and then feel free to turn this into a GIF party
Sidenote: I tried various searches to pull up a topic similar to this but I couldn't find anything. If there already is a topic, please let me know where it is and then feel free to turn this into a GIF party
Re: Cost of a Baby
We could easily be done right now if I picked up a few blankets and some baby soap. If I learned anything from being a 19 year old single mom with an an extremely limited budget, it's truly how little you actually need. There are tons of convenience items and things that make life easier, but they certainly are not necessities.
Edited, because words are hard.
This baby, we have purchased about $20 in clothing and that's it so far. We're having a shower and some clothing given, so I'm waiting to go through all that. We'll purchase his coming home outfit and we'll have to purchase DD new big girl furniture so LO can have the nursery furniture.
We bought a used crib for $100 and were given a mattress by a family friend that was slept on by their child only once. I've bought about $50 worth of maternity clothes. $30 1 time copay for my OB visits (will have to pay a hospital co-pay for birth but that's obviously later). Probably about $100 in non-necessary nursery décor (paint, metal letters for a wall decoration, pine board and stain for a growth chart). I think that's it for now, but obviously we haven't done much in terms of necessary purchases.
Like the PP Im pretty comfortable with buying used with the exception of carseats. I also HATE clutter and live in a very small home, so am trying to do lots of research on what's necessary and unless something is a GREAT deal we aren't purchasing it now if it won't be used until months and months later.
Married: October 2014
TTC #1 since September 2015
However, we were greatly helped by the charity of friends. One friend outright gave us his entire nursery set (still met safety standards), I got ikea and target giftcards from family (the bedding prices at ikea are unbeatable), and my husband's workmates have given us a huge gift of baby clothes, bottle cleaners, a sterilizer (not necessary for everyone, but we are moving somewhere with bad water), and other baby randoms. That is mainly what has saved us so much, but Ikea, Ross, Marshalls, and Target clearance have been life savers.
Totally forgot about what we are paying our doula! $500. My husband is active duty military so with our insurance thankfully all healthcare costs us $0 out of pocket.
Tips: buy used/on sale. Not everything needs to be new. Also most people waste money on clothes...a 3 week old does not need shoes, a hair clip and a fedora. Also I just laugh at people with $900 strollers that complain about money problems.
I honestly didnt buy much the first time. Between gifts and hand me downs we were pretty set. The only big thing we bought was a dresser.
Not all people pay for colleges. My MIL started a college fund for the kids, and family puts stuff in. I haven't put in a dime.
Yes, there is a lot of upfront costs but for future kids not as much. My first two used the same car seat, all 3 are the same crib, blankets, bottles, high chairs, diaper set up....
This child is a different sex and will need clothes. I am buying most on sale and used. The car seat expired, so we used BRU Trade In Even to same some good cash.
Besides some new stuff for my breast pump, and diapers and formula, we are really set. I have bought some new small stuff.
Tl;dr hand me downs are the best.
This is our second baby. We were fortunate to have been gifted most everything for DS - I think the only big ticket items DH and I purchased ourselves was our glider for around $200, a dresser and nightstand off of Craigslist for probably $125, some shelving for books/toys for probably $75, and extra car seat bases for DH and grandparents. We received everything else during our showers, or we used gift cards/exchanged duplicate gifts to purchase. I'd say with the above items, plus decor, we spent between $750 and $1,000 preparing for DS. I had a low deductible, high premium insurance plan, and I'd say when all was said and done, I probably spent less than $2,500 (probably less than $2,000) on prenatal care and delivery. My breast pump was free through insurance; however, breast-feeding and pumping gave me major anxiety. Thus we went the more pricey route of formula-feeding. I'd say I spent between $35 and $50 on formula or a combination of formula and baby food per week the first year after DS was born.
We're having another little boy this time around, although we bought most everything in neutral colors, so we'd be able to re-use it all regardless. My DS hasn't attempted to climb out of his crib yet, so we plan on keeping him contained as long as possible. Also, his crib is convertible, so when he does start planning his escape, we can transition him to the toddler bed configuration. He also isn't yet potty-trained (he'll be 2 on April 7), so the changing table is still necessary. SO, we've purchased a new crib - also convertible - a dresser which will be serving a dual purpose as a changing table, and a glider - all from swap & sell sites for $250 total. I also purchased a like-new double stroller that fits our infant seat for $100. We'll probably spend another couple hundred dollars to decorate the nursery. This time around I have a high deductible, low premium insurance plan, but I also have an HSA. I'm crossing my fingers I can keep the medical costs down under $2,500 again, but we'll see! I maybe used my breast pump for 2 weeks tops with DS, so I don't think I'll need to get a new one this time around... just replacement parts, which should be covered by insurance. I'm going to try to power through breast-feeding again, but if I end up developing crazy anxiety, I'm fine with taking the formula route. The additional expense is worth being able to enjoy my time with my new LO!
I also wanted to second @xc1148 's comment regarding clothes - I know buying all those cute outfits is hard to resist, but try to wait for when he or she is a couple months old. There's so much spitting up those first several weeks that a plain white long-sleeved onesie (they come in packs of 5 for like $8 from Gerber) with the fold-over mittens + a sleep sack are about all you need!
I don't remember what it was for DD, but I know that our hospital bill was around $6,000+ (after insurance). This baby, it will be around $14,000+ (after insurance).
When it comes to gear and all of that, it really depends on how much you are wanting to spend. Sure you can buy a $350 carseat, but it passes the same standards/tests as a $50 one. You can get a $300 pack'n'play, or you can borrow one, use a hand me down one, or find a gently used one at a consignment store for $20. What is considered "essentials" these days for a baby, is nothing like what was considered "essentials" when I was a baby. My mom had some outfits, diapers, a carseat, and a crib for us as babies. Everything else was just a luxury. Nowadays, it is made out to seem like you need 1,000 items for their first year of life.
This is my second, but since there is a large gap between ages, carseats are expiring....so we have to get new ones. I got a new pack'n'play (by choice), but there was really nothing wrong with the other one. We got a new swing, because ours was shot after going through DD and three of her cousins. We will have to get a new highchair, because in our previous house there was nowhere to store our larger items. If DD and this baby were closer in age, we had room to store the previous items from DD, and we didnt let cousins use the swing, we would have been using everything that we already had for DD.
We, meaning mostly MIL and I, have bought some new toys and clothes. If this one grows as fast as his sister the money from the store will come in handy! We are going to buy new.bottles and such so that'll be expensive.
I agree on PP with blankets. Before my daughter was born I feel like everyone we know gave us a blanket of every kind.
Kids are expensive.
Its a good reason why I get my panties in a twist, when someone starts bitching and complaining about how they have to pay a portion of their monthly premiums, or that they have to pay a couple of thousand a year on healthcare (and their work pays the rest). I would love to have someone else pay for even a portion of my healthcare, but we don't....so we suck it up and watch our money disappear. And it's not like we are unhealthy people....I go to the doctor like once a year (if that), my husband never goes, and DD has been twice in four years (other than her yearly well child check ups). Last year, my husband was working for a company that charged him $25 a month towards his health insurance (the company he worked for previously - for 10 years - provided no health insurance, so we were paying for a catastrophic plan for him). But in order for DD and I to get on that companies policy, we would have to pay $750+ a month in premiums. I was already paying over $500 a month on my private plan (for her and I), so we just stayed on my plan.
'Merica.....the land of opportunity, unless you need decent healthcare. Lol!
ETA: The crazy thing, is I actually still have the same insurance company that I had with DD. I had her in 2011, and the plan I had was considered their great plan. Fast forward to 2013, they dropped that plan, re-vamped all of their plans, and currently I am now on their "great plan". We go through an insurance broker that helps us pick a plan, out of all of the plans/companies in our state (usually it is cheaper for us to get on different plans instead of all one plan). We also have our broker's work checked by a friend of ours (that wouldn't lie to us), that is a broker for another state, to make sure we aren't getting scammed by the broker (sometimes they can get kickbacks if they get people to sign up for certain plans), and everything checks out. Currently out of a family of three, we are each on different insurance plans, according to our needs. Its insane....and ridiculous.
Oh you talkin' 'bout money.
is is totally like
However, I went to Walmart the other day and bought two sets of shirt/pants/onesies for $1 on the clearance rack and a $3 sleeper. When I got home, I thought, "Should I really have spent $3 on that sleeper?"
I'm guessing this is why I still have any disposable income.
@benten24 I post all over the board and try and support everyone as they did for me when I had an U/S scare. If you want to run with one post go for it.
ETA - blow your own horn gif
July'16 BMB May Siggy Challenge - Star Wars:
I'm sorry if I came off that way it really wasn't my intention. I tend to write my responses as my stream of thoughts and not cohesively so I can see now how it could be taken. I certainly know money doesn't matter to a baby and how it's raised. Sorry if the tone of my excitement
came out yucky.
You see, people here supported you during a rough time. Don't go shitting on them now.