December 2016 Moms
yellingbanana
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Thrifty secrets
yellingbanana
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Having a baby can cost a bundle... or maybe not? Please share your thrifty secrets, how have you been saving money?
Re: Thrifty secrets
Formerly known as Kate08young
August '18 Siggy April Showers:
Married: 7/22/14
Baby L: 8/4/2015 August 2015 Moms
Baby E: 11/18/2016 December 2016 Moms
TTC #3 08/2017 BFP 11/27/2017.
Twin B lost 11/22/2017, Twin A doing well.
It was so bad last weekend at target finishing up...my car was low on antifreeze...if someone somehow could see my registry, they would see that yup, we scanned to add that antifreeze to the registry. Just for the discount.
Otherwise, I've stocked up on diapers when target was having a good sale. That's really about it.
- DIY baby food. Puree and freeze into cubes in silicon cube trays. DS still chows down on his purees as parts of his meals and it astounds me. They are literally a protein, beans, kale or spinach, flax and chia seeds, and pumpkin or sweet potato or carrot cooked and then blended together. They do not taste good. And yet... he gets SO EXCITED to eat them. I dunno? I'm going with it. If he's 18 and still eating them, so be it!
- Hand-me-downs from friends/family
- we use the library all the time
- we don't have a ton of toys in the house. he just gets bored of them anyway. We go to the library and a free history museum with a toddler area at a nearby university. And nature centers - there are two free ones near us.
Other than the fabulous Craigslist tip:
-I use Cartwheel every time I go to Target--it adds up!
-Coupons! I'm not an extreme couponer though.
-Buy some wipes and diapers every time I go to the store (big savings with coupons + Cartwheel)
-I've been stockpiling toiletries too, although that's not for everyone. Just one less thing for me to worry about.
I'm also doing freezer meals. Budgets in general are really helpful for me.
I also got a really great jogging stroller at a baby thrift store near me. New it's about $300, but I got it gently used for $75. Though when DH used it he said the basket below kept slipping down. But I'm wondering if it was user error...
DD- 11/2016
DH & I are both 28 Together: 12 years Married: 09/24/2011
BFP#1: January '12 - DD1 09/16/2012
Preterm labor 31 weeks. Monitored for Hellp and diagnosed with oligohydramnios July '12
BFP #2: 06/25 - EDD 03/05/15 MMC confirmed 8/1 - D&E 8/4 retained tissue discovered 8/20
BFP #3 11/24 - 12/15 Heartbeat detected - DD2 07/29/15
I need to start stockpiling like some of you are, but I pretty much order everything on Amazon as we are 45 minutes from the nearest Walmart/Target. I'm a little hesitant to buy a lot of diapers until I know what we get & also have no idea what will work best since I've heard so many differing opinions on brands. Does anyone here use Amazon to buy diapers? If so, have you had any issues with returning ones that didn't work/have too much of?
-One thing I've done other than tons of hand-me-downs is use Ebay for Maternity clothes. I only buy clothes when there is a sale on regular websites like Motherhood or Pink Blush. Otherwise Ebay people sell their barely used stuff for super cheap (sometimes you can win a bid for a $2 shirt) + small shipping fee. I don't have the opportunity to use Craigslist since we're in such a remote location.
-I've been *trying* to get some freezer meals ready for baby time. This is difficult as I always get hungry and lose motivation when looking through our food posts
DS: 12/20/16
EDD: 11/29/18
ETA - and breastfeeding. Formula is pricey.
Oh and avoiding childcare til recently. Childcare is highway robbery.
I'll also be doing freezer meals. We haven't started yet, but I'm hoping we can get 15-20 in our freezer. We need to clean it out - we haven't done that in a very long time and I'm sure there is some scary stuff in there.
Second hand shops! We frequent places like Savers, Goodwill, and Once Upon A Child. I hit them up often because inventory is constantly changing and you never know when you'll score something amazing! 95% of DD1 and 2.0's wardrobe is made up of second hand clothing and shoes.
Cloth diapers AND cloth wipes - we were slacking recently and using disposables... I felt like we were just pissing away money with every pack of diapers I bought. We are back on the cloth train full force. The key is to invest in a decent sized stash of quality diapers... we've been using our stash for DD1 for 2+ years. We are going to invest in some more to accommodate 2 in diapers, but when all is said and done we will have gotten a solid 5+ years out of our cloth stash that we probably invested about $600 in total.
Local swaps on Facebook are great resources for some of the big-ticket items like cribs, strollers, bouncers, etc. It's great because when they outgrow one thing, you can sell it to fund the next thing. I look at online BSTs as giant Pawn Shops... i can sell something now knowing that, if i should ever need it again, I'll be able to find another.
- Every Sunday our 2 Goodwill stores have 1/2 price on all clothing - about 95% of the clothes we have for baby are from there. I go every Sunday, and most things I buy are either brand new or barely used. Also local consignment shops and yard sales are huge. Got my nursing pillow for $20 brand new instead of $35.
- Almost all of my maternity clothes were from a Facebook swap/sell group. I spent $25 and got about 35 pieces. I got lucky.
- The gym I just joined has a $10/mo plan for pregnant mamas for 1 year from confirmation of pregnancy. I had no clue until recently, but I can keep the membership til April.
- Filling out online surveys for gift cards. Takes forever but I've earned a few Amazon gift cards so far when I actually sit for a few hours.
- Sam's Club. It really depends on your household but I know we save enough to make the membership worthwhile by getting gas there, paper products, and a lot of our frozen foods. It's not always a huge savings but I definitely go to the store less.
ETA: - Also made a lot of the nursery decor bc I'm picky and cheap. Simple sewing projects and refinishing nightstands we already had and a cheap dresser.
After my showers, to see what we have gotten and decide if some things we didn't get are actually NEEDED... I plan to consign a lot or utilize local FB groups (and friends) for baby items. I have already joined a few FB groups and hope to be able to scour more, especially with my time off coming up so I'd have to time to pick things up almost immediately.
My mom and I are going to Once Upon A Child this Sunday to look at baby clothes, particularly cheap plain white onesies. She said she was there the other day just to check it out and almost new onesies were only $1. I plan on buying any clothes not found at consignment stores from the clearance rack. However, we'll be getting a TON of clothes from SIL, and one of my friends offered me anything she has - as they are done having kids (just had their 4th in April).
We also have a Sam's membership and my parents have a Costco membership, so I plan to do some price comparison on things like diapers when it gets closer.
Once daycare starts in February, that will be $11K a year right there... so any money that can be saved (and still have a social life to spend on a few fun items here and there will be needed! Momma needs a new house in the next year, too!
Oh, I hope to breastfeed which will save money. We have enough bottles already from my SIL (Dr. Brown) and a friend offered me her old ones (Tomme Tippee), so one less thing to buy when we need them.
TTC Since: November 2015
BFP: March 31, 2016
DS: November 21, 2016
- Me working from home for my parents after baby is born and we move; I will be making money but not having to spend any on daycare.
- My mom has a lot of work friends who are giving us stuff for free including a double electric Medela pump, a baby swing, an exersaucer, a second Rock N Play (we will use it at my parents' instead of lugging ours back and forth), and tons of clothes.
- What we do buy, we buy new and on sale or at least VGUC things with resale value or that will hold up for baby #2. The ring slings and baby moccs I've bought have all been on sale or used with no signs of wear, and they are good enough quality that I will be able to resale them or they will last long enough for the next baby. Same thing with our baby equipment; as long it isn't recalled or doesn't pose a safety hazard, we will be able to reuse or resale most of it.
His furniture is mainly second had and refinished by me.
I've bought some diapers but will wait until after my baby showers to buy any more.
We went in with ILS and bought a pig from the county fair so we have a 1/4 of a pig in our freezer and will be able to use the meat from that for a while.
I'll start doing freezer meals soon.
Craigslist and local consignment sales. I've gotten a good amount of gear and clothing at sales. Hoping to get a lot of my cloth diaper stash off of Facebook groups or CL.
We will definitely make freezer meals, but we're also already obsessed with not wasting food, so we tend to keep our freezer full of useful stuff - not necessarily meals, but homemade broth, herbs, fruit. And we've canned a lot of tomato sauce and jam this year.
Baby G born 6/6/14, 37 weeks 1 day due to preeclampsia. 5lb12oz 19"
#2 due Christmas 2016.
For baby stuff, we haven't bought much at all - waiting to see what happens at the shower, and see what we need afterwards. I'll probably visit a few consignment stores. Also two of my friends who are already done having kids are generously allowing me to borrow (or keep) a swing, a baby bathtub, lots of swaddles and receiving blankets, and plain onesies.
Literally all we've spent money on was decorating the nursery, and some clothing.
@ea301 I love Thred Up! I have bought some of my maternity clothes on there, as long as I know the size will fit (mainly pants). Such a great option, and will probably try to sell on there after I am done being PG (we may just have this. But, also plan on selling some shoes that hare in VGC or were rarely/never worn to some local FB groups while I'm on leave so I'll be able to meet up with people better.
I think once garage sale season really hits next spring, I'll go scour them see what deals on clothes I may find... if we need anything by then. I just can't justify spending lots of money on clothes for a child who will outgrow something so quickly. But, I still want them cute!
Forgot to add to mine above... I hope to do some freezer meals too. That sounds like a great thing to do the week of Thanksgiving start my leave.
TTC Since: November 2015
BFP: March 31, 2016
DS: November 21, 2016
- breastfeed... Formula is expensive (we used it with our adopted daughter and it was breaking us!)
- share and swap with friends!!! There is a group of us who regularly rotate maternity and baby clothes.
- make your own baby food... It's astounding how much one sweet potato will yield!
- don't buy as much pre made processed foods... Make your own granola, pasta sauces, apple sauce, and limit things like frozen meals or convenience foods, learn to make bread and bagels. Make a weekly meal plan and stick to it.
- I catalog our clothes in a spread sheet and make sure we have exactly what we need, not too much or too little. For a baby that is 10 outfits, 8 pjs... And I don't have time to list it all... But if you'd like to know I can put my complete Invantory list up later
It also helps in managing and limiting Laundry.
Due December 27th with baby #7
With DS, I did a couple things to save money and be thrifty:
-Waited until after all my showers to buy ANYTHING, I actually didn't have to buy much after
-Signed up for AmazonMom and order all diapers and wipes from there (probably saved close to 25%). Used Luvs
-Shopped at resale shops and on FB for clothes. Besides gifts, DS hardly had anything new
-BREASTFEED- formula is so expensive. We also choke my son didn't cost us anything for six months.
Here's my toddler (2yos list)
Daily Outfits
10
Going Out Outfits
4
Church Clothes
3
Hat
2
Outer Wear
2
Winter Coat
1
PJs
8
Booties/Shoes
4
Socks
10
Tights
3
Xmas Dress
1
Dress Sweater
1
Swim
1
Due December 27th with baby #7
Daily Outfits
10-12
Going Out Outfits
4
Church Clothes
3
Onesies
10
Hat
2
Outer Wear
2
PJs
8-10
Booties/Shoes
2-4
Socks
10
Tights
3
Xmas Outfit
1
Adding... this is with each of us having 1 laundry day/load a week. If you have less children in theory each person could have their clothes washed more than once a week... also minimizing what you'd have to buy. But, for us... this means that the washing machine is run at LEAST once a day... if not twice.
And... our bigger kids have less clothes... basically 7-8 daily outfits, 2 "going out" outfits, 2 dress outfits, 3-4 pjs and the rest being sort of self explanatory (like 1 jacket, or 10 undies). I've also gone to having a "clothing pod" for seasons for myself, and really love it! Less is more.
Due December 27th with baby #7