Comments on: Tips for a cheaper baby

By: Nicole

Nicole — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 13:53:02 +0000

I’m due Christmas Day and we’re saving tons of money! I don’t plan on buying any clothing, furniture, or other accessories. Talk about saving a bundle…of course, I’m reusing everything from baby #1, born in 2004. But honestly, the more kids you have, the less expensive they become!

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 12:15:06 +0000

Hope baby has arrived and everyone is doing well. Is this your first? It is a grand adventure! Breastfeeding is also what I was going to mention. We have also used cloth diapers on three out of four of our kids. If you are not familiar with cloth today, there are no pins anymore and it really is not that much more work. Earthbaby.com is a good site to start looking if you are interested.

And for the future, save money by making your own baby food.

By: Jenn

Jenn — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 04:12:59 +0000

Uh, I know this one is obvious, but they say you can save over $2000 if you breastfeed your baby instead of using formula (I know this is not possible for everyone)

By: claire

claire — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 21:53:15 +0000

Don’t forget hand-me-downs! Call that friend or brother whose kids are two or three. They probably have all kids of stuff they’d love to get out of their basement. We had to buy very little when our son was born because we got such great hand-me-downs. And now that our son is getting older we’ve been able to pass our stuff along to other new parents.

Congratulations, I can’t wait to hear how you progress as a frugal parent.

By: Molly

Molly — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 20:13:15 +0000

Congratulations on your impending arrival!

One tip I WISH I had had before the baby got here: don’t get rid of the hand-me-downs until the baby is too old for them. When I was pregnant people kept bringing over boxes of stuff, and at one point, heavily influenced by pregnancy hormones, I went through it all in about 15 minutes (muttering something ungrateful along the lines of “Why would anyone want this trash?”) and took four boxes to the Goodwill. Of course, now that the baby is getting old enough to use certain items (like little sunsuits that weren’t very attractive, but would have been great for the hot weather we had last week) I wish I still had them.

On a related note, for expensive items like swings and Exersaucers, see if you can borrow one from a friend, at least long enough to see if your baby likes it. Some babies don’t like those things, and you’ll kick yourself for spending nearly $200 on them. We’re currently borrowing an Exersaucer from a neighbor who’s been storing it in the attic until her sister has kids; even if the sister gets pregnant tomorrow, our baby will have outgrown it by the time she needs it. So… more attic space for our neighbor, and we get to find out for free that our baby isn’t the world’s biggest Exersaucer fan.
Oh, and another thing: be sure to find out from the start whether anyone wants their hand-me-downs back. One of our friends told us–AFTER my hormone-induced pitching spree–that she might want some things back. Oops. Fortunately, she changed her mind.

Good luck with your new baby!! It’s soooo much fun!!

By: » 28th Festival of Frugality on Blueprint for Financial Prosperity

Tue, 20 Jun 2006 11:54:14 +0000

[...] Ed at A Penny Saved writes about some Tips for a cheaper baby. [...]