Baby fund

CraftyG · September 2017

Hi everyone! I'm a big fan of spreadsheets and planning but this one caught us completely by surprise!

Ive started by calculating my monthly outgoings x the number of months I want to take off, not taking maternity pay into account so I should have a buffer (I always like to give myself a higher goal). And then adding on an amount for baby equipment, £1000 - £2000?

How did you all prepare financially for your new little ones? Any tips or money saving hacks from second time mums?

sandbar517 · September 2017

I'm a huge cheap ass, so to me, 1000-2000 (that's like $1500-2500) for baby equipment sounds like a lot to me. We had a baby shower and a lot of people were extremely generous, so the only things we really bought ourselves were their car seats. I know it's a lot of fun to buy all new stuff and make it all match, and have a theme, but SO much stuff can safely be bought second hand, especially "boring" stuff, like high chairs, bouncer seats, pack n plays, baby carriers (moby wraps, baby bjorns) etc. And clothes!! Buy them second hand, they're going to get covered in all sorts of bodily fluids anyway. It's so easy to find second hand clothes still with the tags on since kids grow out of stuff so quickly! It's still a little early now, but when you're further along, keep an eye out for sales on baby stuff-especially diapers and wipes, and buy them when they're on sale. Lastly, do not underestimate the value of store brand diapers. I'm guessing you're international (hence the pounds

) but I love Target brand diapers, and I've heard a lot of good things about Sam's Club and Costco diapers, too. Check on Mommy groups on FB and ask STM opinions. I've found Target diapers to work better than many of the brand name ones.

yesthisiskim0401 · September 2017

I'm very unorganized and fly by the seat of my pants so, idk what I'm doing in this thread besides total curiosity.

One thing I did with my oldest was buy a box of diapers every month. Tape the receipt to the top of the box in case you need to return/exchange sizes. I had two boxes of every size up to like a size 3.

Baby equipment is expensive AF, and has such a short life. Borrow from friends and buy used. Trust me, your kid won't care or know that it's in an exersaucer from a kids consignment store.

yesthisiskim0401 · September 2017

@sandbar517 I'm jealous you could use store brand diapers. My kids asses were the most sensitive asses the world ever did see. We are strictly a Pampers family by force.

yesthisiskim0401 · September 2017

Oh, also, keep your eye out for Black Friday sales at BRU. With your first, there's so much more to buy since you're starting from scratch (I'm assuming you're a FTM). We got an upholstered rocking chair for $200, originally like $500. I'm sure they do sales on cribs then, too. Those were the two major purchases, and I have a thing about certain things being new for sanity reasons (like, the crib mattress, boppy pillow, etc - I get heebie jeebies thinking about how gross they would be used).

labgrand2012 · September 2017

I had put aside $3500 to buy everything we needed for our first. Keeping in mind I wanted a pottery barn crib that I was in love with and a nice recliner, so that was a bit of money. But we ended up not spending all of that money because we also would buy second hand on items and would look for sales/coupons. With your spread sheet start listing out what you need to buy, prices and links. That really helped us keep organized and in budget.

I have to second @yesthisiskim0401 and start researching what you like and then keep an eye on them during black Friday deals. Although I am not sure those are as popular in the UK as they are here in the US. We got so many of our big items during that time or during trade in events.

Sign up for emails to some baby stores and start keeping an eye on how they do sales. I noticed that one of the big baby cloths store is always 40%, so that is not a great deal, but then they will do 50/60% of at times plus money off spending so much, so that is when I would stock up. Consignment sales are amazing, and with the younger cloths 0-9 months, they are usually in such good condition because of little they were worn.

Signing up for diaper subscriptions usually saves money as well if you do not have a costco membership. I know amazing does one. Or again, keep an eye on the sales and stock up when you can. Most places allow you to return unopened ones if the size is wrong.

sparkymcgeee · September 2017

Register for things. Even if you don't think people will buy because you will get coupons. The stores want you to get the things you registered for and will give you a completion coupon. They also send random coupons for things if the manufacturers are having a deal.
Don't buy everything you "think" you'll need. Buy the necessities but the baby wipe warmer, bottle sanitizer, diaper genie, changing table, the extra forms of portable beds (bassinet, Pack N Play, Rock N Play), expensive clothes and bedding, baby robes, towels, washcloths etc. just aren't necessary. Baby doesn't care where you change his butt or if he's sleeping on expensive sheets. Be practical. Don't buy something just because YOU want it or it's cute. You'll save a ton.

That said, I loved the Rock N Play and consider it a necessity. I just mean don't get it if you have a bassinet and a crib and a pack N play with all the bells and whistles.
You can get secure changing table pads that go on a regular dresser.

mileswithmyles · September 2017

I am usually such a planner, but with DS, I didn't really do anything differently. We were very lucky and had our friends and family be very generous with gifts at the shower and we ended up having to buy very little. Also, a few of my friends had babies the previous year and were amazing with hand me downs. I agree with buying items second hand. BST sites and stores like Children's Orchard or Once Upon a Child are great. Our town also does a big consignment sale a few times a year for baby gear and they have great deals. They move through clothes, toys, etc. so quickly the first year that you don't end up using things for very long.

Also, one of the best pieces of advice I got before DS was not to open everything after the shower. There were things we thought we "needed" and ended up never opening and we were able to return them to the store for an item we did really need.

I used Amazon Subscribe and Save for diapers and wipes and it was a great deal and I didn't have to go to the store for them constantly.

Cerisrichard · September 2017

Where abouts are you? We are in the uk and there are Nearly new sales run by the NCT where parents sell their old equipment/toys/clothes for cheap prices. They have to be in good condition. I have saved a ton this way! Maybe there is something similar near you?

sandbar517 · September 2017

I have to admit there were a few winter nights when I felt terrible putting that freezing cold wipe on their little bums, and thought a wipes warmer would be nice. So what I did was stick the wipe in my cleavage (or just hold it in my hand) while I was getting them undressed so it would be a little warmer by the time I used it.

cups4 · September 2017

I was drawn to Buy Buy Baby and Babies R Us unnecessarily last time. I would have saved so much money buying on Amazon or Target. Also, clothes wise, I'm not even looking at anything other than zippered sleepers the first 3 months. Snaps are the devil, and anything fancier never got worn.

SLC1102 · September 2017

I found items I liked then looked for them on places like Craigslist, etc. That's where I bought my crib (not mattress... buy that new!), glider, some bookshelves and a few other larger items that are escaping me at the moment. No reason to pay full price when you can most likely find what you're looking for used.

lincbeesmom · September 2017

I was working full time when I was pregnant with DS1 but all our bills were covered by my husbands paycheck (for the most part) so we just put all of my paychecks in savings because I was going to be a stay at home mom. It definitely got us through the first couple of years since we became a one income household.

Can't really save as much this time around since I'm not working but I'm in a bunch of mom groups and freebie groups so any baby stuff I see, i snatch up!!!

mrsbacz · September 2017

Could not agree more @cups4 zippered sleepers FTW!

sparkymcgeee · September 2017

cups4 said:

I was drawn to Buy Buy Baby and Babies R Us unnecessarily last time. I would have saved so much money buying on Amazon or Target. Also, clothes wise, I'm not even looking at anything other than zippered sleepers the first 3 months. Snaps are the devil, and anything fancier never got worn.

This style is my fave for night.
https://www.target.com/c/baby-gowns/-/N-hlcw2?lnk=gowns

CraftyG · September 2017

Thanks for the advice everyone! Yeah I am definitely a bargain hunter and not opposed to buying second hand things except for certain items. And there are so many things that people say are necessities but I really doubt a £30 wipe warmer is worth the money, I'll stick to the cleavage trick hahaha! @sandbar517

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