Saving on Baby - suggestions?

[WaltsMartini]

We are expecting our first child this fall. Obviously this will be a HUGE change to every aspect of our lives, including our budget.

My question to all of you: what are your favorite sites/blogs that have advice on how to save on baby/kids stuff?

I know the basics - buying diapers at warehouse stores, hand me downs and consignment, etc... But am looking for some more info. Thanks to any advice you can provide!

 

[strawberrymom2]

Baby cheapskate has a list every sunday of the diapers and wipes sales of the week at a wide variety of stores. They also have deals on all sorts of baby things. Also sign up at every store for baby registries and get the special discount (and some have freebies too) at those. Target and Babies R Us will send you coupons frequently too if you are in their system. Haven't fully researched it, but amazon has a subscription service too that saves 20% I believe. Zulily can have deals, but you have to watch the shipping. Congratulations!

 

[Jing]

If you have a washing machine, cloth diaper and reusable wipes. Major money savings if you don't get sucked into the cute fluff and even better the more kids you have.

If you are able to, breast feed and use baby-led weaning when introducing solids.

We had the bare minimum of gear starting out and bought what we needed as we went. Registries will have you buying a lot of things that may prove a waste. For us, we did not buy pacifiers, wipe warmer, changing table, formula makers, nightlights, sleepy-time musical stuffed animals, baby food makers, or the recommended amout of clothing/blankets/toys. We did not miss any of it. We primarily used Amazon since we are prime members, though we also got good deals from BRU.

Awesome gear worth the money: Ring sling (babywearing swaps are awesome for this stuff), nose Freda, arms reach co-sleeper, and sleepy time rocking chair.

I think our two biggest wastes of money were the baby bath tub (he went from the sink to the shower) and the pack n play (he would not play or nap in it).

Congrats!

 

[lauradis]

I would write up a baby budget for the supplies the baby will need, like food, diapers, cloths, furniture, toys.

This will give you an idea of how much each month that you should start saving now for baby items.

 

[Mouseketeers4]

I highly recommend the book Baby Bargains. It will help you figure out what you need and give you the best options at different price points. There is a ton of great information in that book. Make sure you get the most recent edition.

If you are doing disposable diapers, don't buy before your baby is born. Your baby could have a bad reaction to one brand and others may not fit well and leak. It's also hard to determine how many you will need of each size in advance. Instead, pick up a gift card (Target/Wal Mart/Amazon/BRU) every time you go to the store and put that away for diaper savings. You could also just have one card and add money to it every time you're in the store. Then use your cards after the baby arrives and you know what brand and size you need.

I find that consignment store prices aren't a good deal for clothes and baby gear. I can buy new, name brand clothes at the store for less than what they charge for used. Large consignment sales events like Just Between Friends may be an exception, so look for those in your area. Check Facebook for buy/sell pages near you as well. There is a very active page near me that always has great deals for baby clothes and gear. Craigslist can be good too.

BabySteals is a good daily deal site. They often have "filler" type baby things that definitely aren't necessities, but you can score great deals on some must have brands and items. I was able to get my Ergo baby carrier for less than $60 through them.

 

[kjs1976]

Garage sales and Craigslist! I got several nice items from CL, including a barely used swing for over half price. I was picky with garage sales, obviously because I wanted quality, clean items. I found a day care that was going out of business and the sale was listed on CL. When I got there the lady was super nice and excited to see me. Her husband got a job change so they were moving out of state. She had just purchased a whole infant set of items, anticipating the arrival of a client's sibling before they got the news they were moving. So I scored a pack and play, high chair, swing for my mom's house, and a few new unopened packages of wash clothes and towels for an amazing price.

I continued to use garage sales and CL for toys and books. Have come across a teacher who was retiring, so picked up tons of early reader books for her when she was 3 and stored them for when she was in Kindergarten. Found a cache of clean barbie stuff once. Of course, garage sales are a pick and find kind of deal, but I was up for the hunt.

Goodwill still is our go to for books, some toys, and the occasional good find on shoes and jackets. Right now DD 7 is into Littlest Pet Shop. We've found the pets, accessories, and pet shop at Goodwill. Love the hunt for things there, also. NEVER buy books full price! Always go to goodwill. Such good deals and you can continue to build your child's library as they grow for very little!

 

[WaltsMartini]

These are awesome tips! Thanks all. I am looking at them one by one and starting my plans! Yard sale season is upon us here in PA - can't wait for some baby goods scavenger hunts.

 

[KingofJapan]

These are awesome tips! Thanks all. I am looking at them one by one and starting my plans! Yard sale season is upon us here in PA - can't wait for some baby goods scavenger hunts.

Try this out. There may be one in your area and you can get great deals on anything for the baby.

http://www.jbfsale.com/home.jsp

My neighbor does this 2x a year and I give her all of your babies old clothes to sell. One person recommended cloth diapers and reusable wipes. Please don't. Someone tried turning us on to those. Disgusting and you don't realize how much more water and electric you go though by doing that. You have to at least do one load a day just for the diapers since you don't want to mix that with the regular clothes. Also more detergent needed.

 

[lauradis]

Never ever go to private sales alone always bring someone with you.

 

[kreckl]

I would actually suggest that books be one of the few things that you should buy new. Babies will chew on little board books, and because books are porous they retain odor, mold, or whatever its not worth any risk, imo. This is unless you are able to get them from a friend/reliable place where you know they haven't been exposed or damaged in any way.
As far as specific sites or blogs, can't help. If you trend towards natural/homeschooling/Waldorf sites though, you will come upon swaps and suggestions for simple toys and needs for young children. Using cloth diapers will save a ton! We started after the first 3-4 months ( breastfed babies will poop after every feeding) and it was much easier than I thought, and comfortable for the baby.
Babies don't need much. Research carriers ( we loved ergo). Our favorite shopping site was Nova Naturals...

 

[Dawnlight]

I also recommend cloth diapers. I starting using them when I had twins and a 1 year old, all 3 in diapers at the same time. It saved me loads of money.

I also agree about breast-feeding as long as you can, if you intend to go that route. Formula is very expensive. If you do chose formula, sign up for coupons from the companies; some also offer starter packs.

Clothing- be practical about 1) the amount of clothing needed and 2) styles. While it can be awfully cute to dress baby in fashionable clothing, the best types of clothing are one-pieces like sleep & plays. Join Facebook resale pages to get deals, but meet in public spaces. If you keep them in good condition, consider reselling once outgrown to recoup some of your costs.

Equipment- there really is no need to have a swing, a bouncer, a doorway jumper, and every other large piece of baby equipment that's marketed these days. I would also look at these used (many are left minimally used or unused!) to save costs.

Toys- I also would go minimal on these. Stick with classics like blocks, stacking cups, etc. Some of monstrosities that are sold to kids are just ridiculous and not only take up lots of space, but have very little play value.

Good luck with the remainder of your pregnancy!

 

[dpswift]

Great advice you do not NEED most of what the internet and friends say you will need. I loved the old style diapers with pins. Hated the diaper covers. Never had any problem mixing powdered formula by hand. Of my 5 children only 2 had the need for a pacifier.

Save coupons, Target is constantly offering giftcards with 10 baby foods. The formula companies have rebates. Also call formula companies and ask for coupons.

 

[newdeal]

the largest expense is formula and diapers. So if you breast feed you will be way ahead. For diapers realistically cloth isn't going to save anything, y the time you pay for water, soap, wear and tear on laundry, time, diapers that get ruined and need to be replaced over time. The best way to save money on diapers is to potty train as early as possible. If you can get your kid to go on the potty at 18-20 months you will save a lot over the people who diaper their 3 year olds. When your kid gets to solid food, make your own instead of buying. Its far healthier and cheaper also

 

[eeyoreandtink]

Biggest single piece of advice: Have a contingency plan for everything!

I THOUGHT I was going to breastfeed, but I couldn't make enough milk, so we had to buy formula, very expensive allergen free formula.

My sister THOUGHT she would go right back to work, but there were unforeseen complications.

Have enough set aside and a budget that takes into account that things don't always go as planned.

 

[Jake&IzzyLand]

The best advice I can offer is to buy things as you need them, not all at once. Saves money and clutter. Also kept it simple for the long haul. Don't be out of control for holidays and birthdays. Create special traditions that accommodate a growing family instead of focusing primarily on store bought presents. Kids love toys, but often don't want to clean them up. Kids behave better in cleaner, simpler environments. Remember that young children don't worry about or notice the things we do. It does not take much to keep them happy, playing and creative. Congrats on your baby!!!!

 

[LovesTimone]

My Grandson is 8 weeks old. So when I found out that I was gonna be a Mimi, I started buying diapers, wipes, baby bath, shampoo, lotion, diaper rash ointment. I watched for sales, couponed and such. My DD has enough off all of that at least for the 1st year, maybe longer, I am still picking up items when I see a good deal. There is a web site that will have a break down of how much of each size diaper you will need. Just don't open them until your sure, so if needed you can take them back for the next size you need.

When buying a car seat, stroller, crib. I vote for new, as for safety reasons.

Check with your insurance company, to see if you can get a free or reduced price breast pump, if you are going that route. My daughter got one for free, her doctor is the one who told her about it. She just called and filled out some papers and it just showed up one day. It's really nice, hers came with a carrying case, small cooler with ice pack for when traveling.

Maternity clothing is costly, start with a few basic pieces, There are lots of stores that have limited selections, Kohl's, Old Navy are a few where we found a lot of nice things for a reduce price, also the maternity stores at the outlet malls, we found lots of stuff at really good prices.

Congrats on your new addition to your family

 

[crisi]

the largest expense is formula and diapers. So if you breast feed you will be way ahead. For diapers realistically cloth isn't going to save anything, y the time you pay for water, soap, wear and tear on laundry, time, diapers that get ruined and need to be replaced over time. The best way to save money on diapers is to potty train as early as possible. If you can get your kid to go on the potty at 18-20 months you will save a lot over the people who diaper their 3 year olds. When your kid gets to solid food, make your own instead of buying. Its far healthier and cheaper also

That and daycare or the cost of one parent staying home. Unless you can manage free daycare from a friend or relative - or choose to open up daycare in your house - or were a one income family before kids - that's a huge hit to the budget.

My biggest budget advice comes as the parent of two teenagers. Babies are expensive. College is expensive. The middle years are expensive, but you get more choice - you don't have to put your kids in traveling soccer or expensive piano lessons. Take the money you save from potty training, getting off formula, or getting out of daycare, and start a college fund. Then just face being broke for the next twenty years unless you make lots of money

 

[mybestieismickey]

Biggest single piece of advice: Have a contingency plan for everything!

I THOUGHT I was going to breastfeed, but I couldn't make enough milk, so we had to buy formula, very expensive allergen free formula.

My sister THOUGHT she would go right back to work, but there were unforeseen complications.

Have enough set aside and a budget that takes into account that things don't always go as planned.

This. My plan was to breastfeed as well, but DD wasn't having it. So formula it was. If you end up needing to use formula, sign up with the company of your choice, ask at your pediatrician's office, and your OB/GYN. I've received samples and/or coupons from all of them. Target often has the best deals on formula, especially when you combine coupons, sales/gift card offers, and the red card.

Most of DD's clothing comes from garage sales. My mom is the queen of finding great deals. Figure out what a good deal is before you head out to the sales. Here, my mom refuses to spend more than $1 per item and often she will spend less. Sometimes she will spend more if the items are brand new and she likes them a lot. Not sure if you can get things that cheap in your area, so do some shopping around.

For clothes that DD needs that can't be found at garage sales, most of her clothing comes from either Children's Place or Costco. Sign up for the Children's place rewards program (in store or online). With sales, codes, and frequently offered free shipping, I rarely spend more than $5 for an item. I have found that the store at my local mall had a terrible selection of baby clothes, but plenty of cute and practical stuff on their website. Now that DD is wearing 12 month clothing, there is much more available in store. Costco usually has PJ'S for a great price. Usually less than anyone else if there are no sales.

As for places to look for deals, hip2save is totally on top of things, sometimes the week before a deal is available. Also, get cartwheel on your phone, combine it with your red card and coupons whenever possible at Target. They will let you stack merchant coupons with target coupons on the same item. I also like Freebies 2 Deals.

Good luck! Babies are expensive, but so worth it. And it's not too hard to lessen the pain if you pay attention and watch for deals.

 

[KingofJapan]

Biggest single piece of advice: Have a contingency plan for everything!

I THOUGHT I was going to breastfeed, but I couldn't make enough milk, so we had to buy formula, very expensive allergen free formula.

My sister THOUGHT she would go right back to work, but there were unforeseen complications.

Have enough set aside and a budget that takes into account that things don't always go as planned.

Same thing here. When we found out we were pregnant, we took my wife's pay and put it away in savings not to be touched. We experimented on how it would be to live off one income which was fine. Fortunately I got a great job offer and my income almost doubled so we were fine.

I will not invest too much into newborn diapers. We have away almost 2 cases of newborn dispers due to overbuying. Buy some strong diaper crest with at least 40% zinc. I think a good one we like is dr. Boudreaux butt cream. Stay away from cloth diapers unless you don't mind running laundry every day which does not save anything after the water bill and electric bill
Skyrocket. Also bad for the environment doing that. Get a diaper genie (worth every cent). Plenty of wipes (not the reusable one), a play yard and a decent swing. Also don't buy too much new born clothing (won't last).

 

[KingofJapan]

Also do not ever buy a used car seat. That is something you should invest a little bit more $$ into. I got the maxi cosi pria 70 which I love.