Q: You guys are so good with money I wondered if you’d consider sharing some of the ways you kept from bleeding money once you had Clara. I’ve heard that having a baby and buying all the baby stuff can set you back a few years’ worth of savings and I’m scared! But I’m sure you have figured out a few ways to be frugal without skipping a beat when it comes to providing everything that Clara needs. As you love to say, do tell! – Megan
A: The good news is that we actually expected that having a baby (and setting up the house for one) would be a lot pricier than it actually was. Of course every parent’s experience is different (especially when it comes to how many hand-me-downs you might get lucky enough to inherit, or how many registry items you’ll be fortunate enough to receive) but after lots of expert-mom-&-dad-interviewing we definitively concluded that we didn’t need every baby gadget on the market. Not even close. And with a little bit of strategy you can hopefully figure out what you really need, what you can skip, and what you’ll likely receive from others (so you don’t end up with too much of one thing and not enough of another).
Of course parenting is an extremely personal thing, and what works for us won’t necessarily work for everyone, but here’s the rundown of all the things that we did to save money without sacrificing an ounce of fun or comfort for Clara.
We Resisted The Baby Clothing Draw- We heard time and time again from pro moms & dads (we’re talking 3+ kids) that clothing is such an easy thing to go overboard on and that many (many) friends and relatives will buy you cute outfits of all sizes- so many that there’s little need to stock up for yourself. Of course we couldn’t resist a few adorable outlet onesies (or this cute 4th of July outfit from Old Navy) but for the most part we tried insanely hard to dodge the baby shopping spree bullet. And all that willpower was worth it. Those expert parents were 100% correct. Clara ended up with more outfits than Mariah Carey thanks to hand-me-downs from relatives and an astronomical amount of adorable clothing from generous friends and family members who wanted to welcome her to the world. Seriously, the girl’s clothing cup runneth over.
We Registered For The Biggies- We crossed our fingers that friends and family members would go in on some of the larger items on our registry together, so we resisted the urge to scan every cute onesie, sleeper, book, and stuffed animal that we saw in the hopes that we’d receive more “needs” than “wants,” which are always higher up on the priority list. Amazingly, we got our Ergo carrier, our swing, our stroller, our car seat and our Angelcare Monitor from our registry! Seriously, we could not have been more thrilled. So our tip would be to register for big things because you’ll inevitably get clothes and books and toys anyway- but it feels amazing to check the big expensive things off your list. And you’ll think of all your generous friends and family members who came together to get those necessities for you every time you use that stroller or that car seat (we do!). See which specific stroller and other items we chose for Clara by perusing this post.
We Accepted Hand Me Downs (With Caution)- There definitely aren’t any shortage of baby toys and gear to be seen at Babies R Us or Buy Buy Baby, but what surprised us most was how many friends and family members came out of the woodwork to offer us Bumbos, Boppys, and bouncy seats galore! In fact, our tip would be to see what hand-me-downs might present themselves (before registering for things or buying them for yourself) since that’s a super easy way to save some major moolah. But our second tip would be to use restraint when it comes to accepting freebies from those kind friends and relatives (to avoid having a house full of every single contraption imaginable with no room for the actual baby!). While we were offered many amazing items, we thought long and hard about what would most likely work for our lifestyle and reminded ourselves that we could always request things after Clara came home if the need for them later arose. In the end, aside from hand me down clothing, we only accepted one hand-me-down sling (which Clara loves by the way), one gently used Boppy (so convenient), one nearly-new Bumbo (where Clara loves to sit and “read”) and a doorway jumper (check out how much she adores that here). And those four items alone would have set us back over $150, so we’re glad to have them!
We Bucked Conventional Baby Gear- One way to keep our small house from getting overrun with baby stuff and to keep money in our pockets was to go back to interviewing those expert moms and dads about what they learned that they could live without. Time and time again they told us that big expensive highchairs were no more effective than a smaller (and much cheaper!) booster seat with a tray. Duly noted. We also heard that investing in one do-it-all stroller was a lot more space efficient and cost effective than getting a string of strollers for each stage of baby development. These two tips alone saved us at least two to four hundred bucks (!) because they enabled us to confidently pick up a $25 booster seat and a single one-size-fits-all stroller that will last until Clara is done with it (which we were lucky enough to receive as a gift from our registry). See which specific stroller and other items we chose for Clara by perusing this post. Update: We later invested in a jogging stroller since our do-it-all-stroller couldn’t fill that function, but never bought/needed a snap n go stroller or an umbrella stroller, so it’s helpful to really consider what you’ll use before buying them all.
We Saved Every Penny With Clara’s Name On It- We set up a 529 fund within two weeks of taking Clara home from the hospital and we’ve diligently been investing every single welcome-to-the-world check that she’s received. We’ve also decided that we’ll save a set amount of money each month for her there, which will help to pay for her education after years of tax-free interest collecting.
We Returned The Surplus- We learned that to best provide for Clara without breaking the bank we couldn’t be shy about returning extra clothes and repeat toys and books that we received for necessities like wipes and disposable diapers (before Clara was big enough to fit into her cloth dipes). We learned that diapers and wipes are two things that are rarely given as gifts but you use them the most so they’re super high on the necessity list! We also considered the season of clothes that we received before removing the tags. For example, summer dresses labeled “six months” won’t be useful to Clara since she’ll be six months old in the dead of winter- so we exchanged them for some heavier clothing that she’ll really get some use out of).
We Try Before We Buy- We weren’t sure if the small travel swing that we received from our registry would be enough since we heard that some babies just go ga-ga for bouncy seats. So we borrowed one from a friend only to learn that Clara was not interested (as in she cried immediately upon being placed in the thing). Thank goodness we tried it before we sprung for one! And for those who might not have items as readily available from friends and family members, don’t forget that sources like freecycle.org, craigslist.org and even local thrift stores are a great way to score something that’s gently used for a lot less.
We Skipped The Bassinet- Of course this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but thanks to a tiny bedroom that wouldn’t safely accommodate any type of bassinet and a nursery that’s located extremely close by (just six steps from our bed) Clara has been sleeping in her crib since day one (well, technically day four since we were in the hospital for days one through three). We even snapped this picture of her at her first “bedtime” after we took her home. They grow up so fast (sniffle).
Thanks to this crib-only phenomenon, we were able to save the cash that would have been put towards a bassinet and save the room that we would have devoted to storing it after she later transitioned to her crib. And we don’t know if it’s a coincidence but she’s a phenomenal sleeper. She slept through the night as soon as we were allowed to let her, at about 4 weeks, and currently sleeps 9+ hours straight (last night was an all time record from 9:30pm to 8:30am). We definitely believe that we just got lucky and ended up with a sleepy baby, but it also might help that she doesn’t get awakened by lights going on and off, parental tossing and turning, or Burger’s snoring since she has her own little haven across the hall.
We Milked Mother Nature- I know that not everyone chooses- or is even physically able- to breastfeed, but I really hoped I could make it happen. So months before Clara was born I spent time reading up on the subject online and even took a free class at my local hospital so I’d have the best possible chance. Thankfully it worked out! And Clara and I very much enjoy that time together (every few hours during the day- she’s a hungry girl!). Not only is it some pretty great mommy-beanette time, it’s also a fantastic way to save about $140 a month (which is roughly the average cost of formula). We also plan to make as much of our own organic baby food as we can when the time comes. Should be interesting!
We Saved Our Butts (And Covered Clara’s) With Cloth Diapers- Read all about that decision (and how much we saved) right here. Oh and we switched detergents so there’s an update on that in the post as well.
We Pared Down- We actually bought a video monitor and also received the Angelcare monitor that we registered for, but we quickly realized that we only needed the Angelcare monitor and happily returned the $200 (!) video one since we could hear her so well thanks to the audio function of the other monitor (and the sound of her breathing was more assuring to us than squinting at the video monitor and trying to see her chest rise and fall (which was pretty much impossible). Of course some other parents love video monitors more, so it’s not really about one type being better than the other, the point is that we definitely didn’t need both! And after some great advice from John’s sister (master momma of three) I got a single breast pump instead of double pump to save over $200 (especially since two of my friends with a double one confessed that they usually only use one pump at a time anyway). Little adjustments like one monitor instead of two and a slight downgrade in the pump department happily didn’t interfere with our lifestyle at all, but these two changes alone kept $400 in our pockets!
We Bought Three Bottles- Yup, three. Not three of one size and three of the next size and a bunch of different nipples. Just three with newborn nipples. And sure enough we’ve only needed those three. In fact we probably could have gotten by with two. Since Clara’s on an 100% mommy’s milk diet, we just use bottles for the very rare occasions when I pump (which I only do when we’ll be traveling for hours in the car and want to avoid having to stop for a feeding). Of course those who don’t work from home may need a ton more bottles on hand, but the idea is to evaluate what you can skimp on and give it a try, even if it’s something else.
We Got Our Coupon On- This is a simple one. Never buy anything at Babies R Us or Buy Buy Baby without a coupon. Buy Buy Baby takes those ubiquitous Bed Bath & Beyond coupons (they’re owned by the same company) and Babies R Us usually has coupons circulating (we even got a $5 gift card by friending them on Facebook a while back). Plus nearly every time you buy something at Babies R Us you get a 20% off coupon for the next time you need something, so keep those close and use them for large items to save a bundle.
We Remembered That The Store Would Still Be There- One of the hardest urges to ignore is this one: “I should buy this now, even though the baby’s not here yet, just so I’m prepared.” The truth is that people come out of the woodwork after the baby’s born, so if you desperately need anything you’ll have a relative or friend who’d be happy to save you a trip to the store since you’re so obviously busy at home. And the odds are that for every 20 items that you resist getting beforehand, you might end up needing two or three of them after the fact. So you can see how it’ll save you money and sanity by fighting the urge to buy twenty things and just going back for the two or three that you actually need once you’re sure that you need them. We’re so glad we didn’t cave and register for/buy things like a pacifier case or a a wipe warmer since we have happily learned to live quite well without them (although some people find those items to be amazingly valuable and could easily have lived without other things). The stuff that you end up “needing” is different for every family, so just wait it out a bit to see what those things will be for you! In our house Burger is by far the most amusing “toy” around anyway… Clara can hang out next to him for hours.
So to sum things up we just tried to take it slow, resist the urge to buy every single baby item that we saw, tried as many things as we could before we bought them, accepted hand me downs (with restraint), and registered for the big stuff that we needed instead of the cute stuff that was in the “nice to have” category. We opted to get one stroller instead of three and also snagged a booster seat instead of a big pricey (and tough to store) highchair. And we realized we couldn’t avoid diapers but we found a way to make it more affordable (and, dare we say it, fun). Of course we’re only four months into parenthood so we’re hardly experts – especially on a subject that’s so subjective and personal – but those are a few of the approaches that worked for us. Now we’d love to know how you guys save money when it comes to kiddos. Do you DIY anything? Or forgo purchasing certain items that you’ve learned you don’t need? We’d love to hear what works for you.
Psst- Want to read our Save It series (about all things non-baby) from the very beginning? See how we save cash whenever we can here, here, and here. And for even more penny pinching ideas, visit our Projects page and scroll down to the Money Saving Tips category.
Pssssssst- Don’t forget to check out our weekly BabyCenter post right here, which is all about how the heck we sort, store, and keep baby clothes under control.
Lesley H says
I love hearing how you save money – and I don’t even have kids. I’m still reeling from your roofing post and the fact that you saved for it first. I’ve read all your money saving posts but I still don’t know how you do it – a car, a roof and a new family member in the same year! Amazing and so inspiring!
Mary says
My BFF taught me to have credit cards to Kohl’s and JCPenney because for everything you buy, you get bonus coupons back – if you buy the item when it’s on the massive sale, and use your coupon – super cheap! Also JCPenney will mail you a free $10 card every so often, apparently when you have spent a certain amount. At each store, she knows where the sale shelves are: Target has theirs on the inside end-caps; JCPenney has bright orange tags on the big sale racks; Kohl’s also marks theirs at 60%, 80%, etc. Shopping when the sales are on, using the credit card to get extra savings, plus getting the coupons as a result of shopping – huge savings. Having said all that – we buy mostly at yard sales, where I recently bought a new-looking Vera Bradley purse (this year’s model) with matching Vera Bradley wallet – for $2. Yep, you read that right. The same day, I got a Etienne Aigner purse, again it looks new, for $3. The only thing better than a yard sale – is Freecycle (or any other place you can get it free!).
Beth says
My husband and I have an almost 10 month old, and it was like I was reading our own money saving strategy! We followed almost all the same tips you have, except for one — I DESPISE going to showers of any kind, so couldn’t bring myself to make people go to one for me. So we did’t have any showers, and bought most of our baby gear ourselve. When that’s the case, it’s amazing how much stuff you determine you can live without. Like you, we nearly buried in a mountain of new clothes for our son, and he never would have worn them all. I returned probably half of what was given to us, and bought things we needed instead — like cloth diapers!!
SaraCate says
I just wanted to let you know that this was the most heart-felt information post I’ve ever read. My husband and I will hope to be blessed with a little one in a few years – and I will be saving your insights for the future!
katie f. says
I think someone asked in the comments about why only a single pump. Here’s my best guess — and hope it doesn’t get into the TMI zone — when you are home with your baby, usually in the morning after a long stretch of not nursing, both breasts will be totally engorged. Your baby will nurse on one side and be full. You can pump the other side to be comfortable and build up your stash. No need to pump both sides, because baby took care of the other. That’s my experience anyway! But if you are working away from home, I highly recc the double. Use one of those Brus coupons ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Katie F,
Ah yes, that totally makes sense!
xo,
s
Emily says
Good for you for wanting to make Clara’s baby food yourself! I did it for my son and it was easy and super cheap. He’s only had three store-bought baby food portions in his entire life, and that was when we flew out of town and I wasn’t able to bring a cooler. You should be able to find books at the library on the subject. Good luck, and thanks for this blog – it’s inspiring and informative!
AshleyM says
I think this is a great post! I do not yet have kids, but I think that all of these are good points that I am glad to have time to consider!
Betsy says
Thank you so much for this helpful post!
JennyB says
Thank you for this post! I really appreciate the baby/family related posts. As a mommy-2-be, finances are big on my mind and I appreciate the tips!
Amanda says
Since you guys are planning to make your own baby food, I wanted to point you to my favorite food blog ever, Smitten Kitchen (smittenkitchen.com). The writer has a one-year-old, and she’s written a few posts about making baby food at http://smittenkitchen.com/baby/ , starting with very simple one-ingredient things and now moving up to more exciting combinations.
Lara says
Love your article and reader comments, especially as I’m about 9 weeks pregnant with my first child!
One of the best ideas I’ve seen is incredibly simple – a friend of mine made sure to list her child’s ages with months or seasons on their registry long before baby was born (i.e. noting that at 6-9months would be May -August – summer clothes) so that gift-giving friends would be mindful of what would be appropriate for each age/size of clothing.
Keep up the great work!
Leah says
(Mom to a 13-month old) We have avoided toys. We have several that we received as gifts. Megan loves them, the dog loves then. But we haven’t bought any toys. Baby girl loves banging around with pots and pans more anyway!
Clothes are so tempting, but wait for the hand-me-downs, then hit the consignment sales. You can stock up for a whole season on not much dough. And for the first year, they really don’t need much more than onesies anyway. And I scored an exersaucer for $15 on consignment. Scrubbed it down with cleaner/bleach and we were ready to go.
Daniela says
I made both my kids baby food. It saved me so much money over the years. You MUST read Super Baby Food! I could not have survived without it. It gives you all the tips, tricks and fun recipes in an easy and fun read.
Dani
chefuality.blogspot.com
BudgetBabe says
This is just the post I have been waiting for! My husband and I are expecting our first baby in March, and it is so nice to get some great ideas from you guys on how you saved money. I also loved that you made a 529 a priority. Clara sure is a lucky girl!
Megan says
Here’s a way that we’ve saved time and money since our little girl arrived: we never did any kind of baby food. We never bought any. We never made any. We gave her what we ate (as long as it was real, whole food). It’s called child-led solids and it has been amazing. I’ve based our approach off of the book Real Food for Mother and Baby by Nina Planck. We started solids at 7 months and I can say now that at 15 months my daughter has an extremely broad palette. Here’s the basics:
http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2010/04/feeding-babies-a-relaxed-common-sense-approach.html
Just thought I’d pass it on because I’ve loved this approach so much. And so has my daughter!!
Jenny says
For a stay at home or work at home mom a single electric pump can work out great – sometimes even a manual pump, but for moms that are returning to work full time and want to pump, you really do get what you pay for! I’ve seen moms buy a cheap pump, and then get frustrated with it and upgrade to a slightly better pump, only to eventually buy the almost $300 pump. I think the medela pumps are fantastic, but there are other pumps in the same price range that are just as good, the thing is, you have to spend about that much for something that is good and will last that entire year (plus if you’re pumping with another kiddo). As for used pumps, there is one company (Hygeia) that is FDA approved for multi-users (you just change a filter). While I might use a close friend or relatives pump, I certainly wouldn’t be using a stranger’s pump.
Jen says
What a great post for new parents!! My husband and I have three kids(2 1/2, 4 1/2, 6 1/2)and we gained a lot of knowledge over time. You really don’t need a lot of the “stuff” they sell for babies and you did such a wonderful job blogging about the topic! I’m so glad you mentioned the 529 plan. I think the one thing new parents forget to do is to plan for the future – 5, 10 and 15 years down the road. We did a traditional 529 plan with our first baby and then we did the Florida pre-pay for our second two children. Parents can skip some of the baby luxuries and use the money to save for their child’s education :-)
April says
We had our 2nd girl in March and I haven’t really eeded to buy anything. That being said, we bought a bassinet which I got for $50 dow from $120. I only bought 1 born free bottle and we switched to cloth diapers. For the next, and last baby, we won’t really need anything. If the baby is a boy I’ll sell off all my girl clothes ect to help buy any boy things, like clothes, we’d need.
hi-d says
Some great tips! Thanks for sharing…
Carla says
Great post! You sound like an expert parent already! My kids are 5 and 7 but it seems like yesterday since they were babies.
I’ll try to post my money saving tips…
1. Buy unisex products. We didn’t know the sex of our daughter before she was born so we decorated the nursery in a neutral color. When my son was born, she got the “new” 3rd bedroom and we painted it bright pink for her. Neutral colored onesies and newborn PJs. Red tricycles, not pink, etc.
2. I buy second hand books for the kids. I like to have a large variety and at 25-50 cents a pop, I can buy a lot.
Jules says
I have a q for ya, I have an 9 month old now, and my sister just had her first. Of course I am passing off as much as I can for her to use and then give back to me and so on, but there are some duos of things that I can’t hand off. I’m wondering what you guys plan to hang onto for your next kiddo and what you plan to give or sell? Car seats come with an expiration, and will our monitors be up to safety par for the future? I just don’t know!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jules,
Good question! We haven’t even thought about that yet. I think to save the most money we’ll hold onto things until we’re sure that we won’t need them again (or they expire, etc) so we don’t find ourselves selling things that we’ll need to buy again! Of course when it comes to the hand-me-downs, we’re returning them to their rightful owners when we’re done since they plan to have more kids, so maybe we’ll swap things back and forth to keep from storing them too long. Haha.
xo,
s
Carolyn says
Great post. I especially liked your description of Clara’s wardrobe: “the girl’s clothing cup runneth over.” haha…
As far as children’s clothing goes in this house, I’ve put a limit on the number of clothes necessary for each season and my daughters age. e.g 5 t-shirts, 5 pairs of leggings. For the Winter just passed (hooray, it’s Spring here now!) I bought her a winter jacket and a puffer vest and rotated them according to which one was in the wash, and which one was hanging up ready to wear. Since I am doing laundry every day now, 5 seems to be a good number..not too many clothes that it is overwhelming, not too few that she doesn’t have something else to wear when she gets dirty. I buy most of Elizabeth’s clothing at discount department stores (Target) or factory outlets because it’s cheaper and I don’t want to stress when she makes a mess or her dinner ends up all over herself! They grow so quickly too, so we don’t want to invest a lot of money in clothes and shoes when they won’t fit the same time next year.
As for toys..well now that we have a toddler on our hands, we do have more stuff than when she was a baby…but not too much that we don’t have a place to store them. We have dress up clothes (some of my old clothes and shoes), stacking cups that she can also nest in one another, sort by colour and fill with water in the bath, a cardboard box that is also a bed for her doll, a tea set and pretend food…we’re big fans of toys that are multifunctional and encourage her to be creative and invent new ways to use something (such as the plain old cardboard box!) or allow her to role play. We also love to go to the park (which costs $0!) where she can run around and socialise with other children.
I’m looking forward to when you guys post about Clara’s toy storage (for when it does increase) and how you deal with messy meal times. You always seem to do things so stylishly. Thanks again for the helpful post.
Tony says
I really look up to you guys with your money saving methods and just how to be responsible with it. By the way, I didn’t know you had a baby. Congrats!
jo says
That baby of yours gets cuter every day! She’s adorable! I was lucky that the friend who lent my sister her baby sling for my two nephews, also was willing to lend it to me. My sis embroidered all the babies’ names on it who’ve used it so far, and I’ll be happy when mine can join the list in December.
Gayle says
Have to agree with everything you said. Keep things simple. Plan 6 months ahead with purchases. Tell people specifically what they can gift you when holidays come. Use consignment shops.
My advice to being a good Gift-Giver:
1. Buy things off the Registry. If they registered for it, they want it. It’s better to get them a mish-mash of stuff that’s hard to wrap, or doesn’t necessarily look good wrapped…than it is to do your own thing and present a perfectly/beautifully wrapped
2. Always ATTACH the receipt to the gift, or bundle of gifts in an obvious place. Don’t just hand over the loose receipt or tuck it in the card. It will get separated and cause confusion later. Understand the parents love very much the gifts no matter how much or little you spent. Know the new parents have a lot of decisions to make, and might find more relief in exchanging your gift for a giftcard or something higher on the Need List.
Laura says
great post! my husband and i are actually expecting our first child, and we too plan on using cloth diapers. did you put them on the registry as they are kind of pricey to buy at once? or did you just bite the bullet since you would be saving so much at the end? thanks in advance!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Laura,
We didn’t register anywhere that offered cloth diapers so we just used some of the “baby money” that we received from sweet relatives in the mail who couldn’t make it to our shower for about half of our stash of diapers. Then we sprung for the other 6 ourselves. After using disposables for a little while before Clara grew into her cloth ones we realized what a deal they really were. We were heading out to the store for disposables all the time- so it was so nice just to buy cloth diapers once!
xo,
s
Amanda says
I’m not sure if this is the policy at all Babies R Us, but ours accepts Buy Buy Baby coupons as well.
grace says
Great post! Quick question, what 529 plan did you use for Clara? We’re looking into setting one up for our son and are asking around to see what other people used and why.
Thanks.
-g
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Grace,
We think the names and terminology for the plans is different in every state, but we went with one that adjusts the portfolio based on her age (getting more conservative as we get closer to age 18). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Leslie says
The biggest thing that helped me was my very frugal mother and friend. I took the friend with me to register. She pointed out what you really need and told me what was what. (I cried the first time I went in by myself because I was so overwhelmed and I’m not a big time crier.)
My mother told me I didn’t need a changing table and 3 kids later, she was right!!
Plus, I try to remember you don’t miss what you don’t have and also how little of this stuff they had back in my grandmother’s day! That keeps it in perspective and creates more balance for me.
Leslie says
One more thing to add: a swing should be a must. My first daughter has seen a speech therapist since she was a month old to help with her developmental delays and the therapist(s) as in more than one have stated that placing baby in a swing helps stimulate speech as does letting them suck on pickles and lemons. All three of mine enjoyed the swing, but the first one truly loved it. Oh and this also includes outdoor swings and swinging them yourself when they are old enough.
YoungHouseLove says
So interesting Leslie! Thanks for sharing!
xo,
s
MJ says
Thank you so much for the great post. The timing could not have been better… My hubby and I just found out we are expecting our first!! I’ve been a secret fan of your site for months but never mustered enough courage to post a comment till now. I’ve been feeling very fortunate to find people like you guys with a similar lifestyle and aspirations to ours (i.e., we value saving money for important things, DIYing and having a simple life PLUS we met in VA, moved to NYC after college, got married in VA, bought our first place in the NYC suburb and adopted a Lab/Cattle Dog mix that looks like a giant Chihuahua, LOL). These tips will be tremendously helpful in the coming months.
Relating to this baby post, will you consider doing a few more nursery mood boards in the future? I browsed through all your nursery posts and the kids room category under mood boards tab. I would love to get your ideas for gender-neutral nurseries, if possible. Thanks again and great work as always!!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey MJ,
We’ll put them on our ever growing mood board request list! Stay tuned…
xo,
s
Sarah B says
Great tips and thanks for sharing. Have to agree about going back to work outside of the home that a double pump is a necessity. You can find many motors from used pumps available and purchase new tubing and accessories – a HUGE savings. I also do a “toy swap” with two other moms to keep the toys fresh and it doesn’t cost me a thing. Plus, when our old toys make it back to our house – the kids act like they’ve never seen them before!
The Lifefactory bottles are great – I have a screw on cap and now use it to tote drinks for my 2 yr old!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Sarah,
Ooh, we’ll have to get a screw on cap so we can use our bottles for years (and convert them into drinking cups on the go) just like you. Love it!
xo,
s
karen says
I am forwarding this to my brother who has baby number one on the way and would like to do this on the cheaper side… Since I am well past the baby stage, maybe you could give me some advice on how to skimp on college. You think the baby thing is expensive, just wait until the need to pay for all of their activities and lessons and tutoring and medical bills……
Amy says
GREAT post! I don’t have any babies, have none on the way, but I do hope to be a mom someday and your tips are invaluable! I love your attitude and perspective. Do you find it interesting to hear from so many readers who are not parents who particularly enjoy these posts? I got a kick out of reading the comments and coming across many others like me who will be squirreling away these nuggets of info for the future! Keep up the great work! Clara is a lucky girl!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Amy,
Yes! We’re totally surprised that many non-parent readers have taken the time to comment about how much they’re enjoying baby info posts like these for the future!
xo,
s
Jamie says
I know that it is everyone’s choice but I really recommend not finding out the sex of the baby. Not only was this an awesome surprise and the best moment when our little guy arrived, but we literally got almost everything we registered for because very few people bought us clothes. This way we got the stuff we truly needed and I got to pick the clothes that I liked all on my own. Just my experience…to each his own!
Jennifer says
Great post! No kids here yet but we’ll keep trying!
My question is about carseats. Do you have an infant carseat now and will get another once she’s bigger? Or do you have the convertible kind now?
I can see why people would want the infant carseat since safety must always come first. But I am wondering if there is a way around buying more than one?
Of course, we hope to have more than one so we could just move the older one into the bigger carseat and have the new baby get the infant one.
I’ve just been wondering about this and wonder if you or your readers could answer for me. Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Alas, that was the one thing we just had to end up with two of. We decided that Clara’s safety was more important than gaining extra storage space, so we went with an infant carseat (which will last up to 32 lbs, which is great) and then well have to upgrade to a convertible at that point. As you mentioned, since we’re planing to have more than one bambino it might actually work out that two are in use, so there might be less of a storage problem in the end.
xo,
s
Joy says
Fantastic post! Very helpful as we are expecting our first in December. This question might be too personal, but wondering what you guys are doing in terms of health insurance for yourselves and Clara, as I see that you are both self-employed? Adding a baby to my health plan or my husband’s plan is gonna cost an arm and a leg but seems the safest thing to do at least until baby turns 1 because of all the baby check-ups and vaccinations. I’m then considering shopping around for an individual plan when baby turns 1. Any money saving advice or is this one area where being frugal may not not be worth it? Thanks for any tips!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Joy,
Being self employed means we’ve been paying for our own health insurance already, so we added Clara the day she was born and also upgraded the plan to include all doc visits (both sick and well visits) along with vaccinations. The peace of mind is great and although it’s not cheap (at all!) we do feel like we’re saving money with the plan we chose since there are so many doctor visits in the first year. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Rachel P. says
These are two tips you use and didn’t mention: hand down clothes and cloth nappies to the next child and to make it easier try to keep things gender neutral.
YoungHouseLove says
Great advice! Most of our swaddle blankets and all of our cloth diapers are gender neutral so we’re excited to use them for more kiddos!
xo,
s
Lorilyn says
Great post! I’ve been obsessed with reading up on money and budget saving tips. Even though we’re not expecting right now I will remember this post and all the great advice. Thanks guys!
Kim says
Great advice. So smart to approach parenthood with a less is more attitude. Having 3 boys I always tell people to wait and see what they’ll need for that baby. Every baby is different. Baby #1 hated the swing, but baby #2 loved it. And you always needs less than the experts tell you you do.
One thing I wish I’d have done with #1 is just skip the single sroller and go right to the double. Of course you can always sell your single on Craigslist, but for me it was the one thing that became obsolete with baby #2.
shorty says
High fives to both of you!!! I have three littles, 14,9, 4 and I have to say you are SPOT ON with all of your advice! I only WISH I had invested so much thought into our first 2 children!! I am a slow learner I guess:) You two are doing a fab job and I just wanted to let you know that this article should help LOTS of willing learners out there!
Shorty
Georgia says
Do you mind sharing exactly what kind/brand of car seat & high chair you have? I know it’s kind of a picky thing to ask about, but I’m starting to work on a registry and have no. idea. where to start!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Georgia,
We have a Fisher Price booster seat (not a high chair, but a small seat with a tray that straps to a dining chair). We couldn’t find it online or see more of a name than that on it, but it’s maroon with a cream tray. And our car seat is a Chico KeyFit 30 from Buy Buy Baby. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Rachael B. says
For our first, we did register for just the things we needed and for other items, we returned them to put the $$ towards stuff we needed but didn’t get. Both of our families were out of state, so we didn’t have anyone around to pass us items.
I have a fantastic hand me down high chair that is all wood and folds up to fit in a closet so its out of the way. Craigslist rocked for a BOB (really wanted a jogger, negotiated like crazy for one and just changed the tire tubes for a like new). We later found a stroller (Zooper Boogie, luv it!) for $19 at a thrift store and called the company for all new seating and umbrella for a total of $50. Not bad and it looks brand new. Most of her toys are from consignment kids shops or thrifts, esp. books (since they’ll eventually rip them, color on them, etc.). Saved every ounce of clothing and took great care to wash on gentle and air dry for that like new look. Most items were gender neutral except bedding. Got a fantastic deal on a hospital grade pump through a lactation program at my job (WHO KNEW??! check your work programs!) so we were set on that. Breastfeeding definitely helped, even though the 14 month committment was tough.
Being prego with baby #2 who also happens to be another girl means we should be all set! Don’t be scared to be thrifty, research brands, hit thrift stores, etc. I used my Blackberry to research items right in the store before purchasing them if I didn’t know anything about them (like the stroller…..)
nic says
Great post – you are right on the money – haha
Re-readign your “save it” posts – how did your herb garden work out (Feb. 09)? Are you still enjoying fresh herbs?
I have never been able to get this to work for me, (and I loooove fresh cilantro but hate paying $1 every week for it), and wondered if you have any tips?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Nic,
It worked out really well both in 09 and this year as well! We just made sure to water it from our rain barrel from time to time and we are lucky enough to enjoy everything from tomatoes and herbs to raspberries and lettuce. Our is in a full sun spot in our yard which seems to help too. So our advice: water & sun. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Christy says
Great post! We have a 6 1/2 month old at home and I would have loved to see these tips before she came along! I didn’t think I could make her own food, as a busy working mom with two jobs outside of the home, but I am pleasantly surprised at how easy it really is. We did not go with baby led weaning, but it appears that movement is becoming popular. We chose to do as much organic as we can for our daughter and we knew we couldn’t afford the premade jars. Buying organic produce and baking/steaming and pureeing on weekends, and then freezing in cube trays for all those busy weeknights has been fantastic. Saves money and my peace of mind!
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com is a wonderful free resource for doing it on your own.
Kyle says
I totally just copied and pasted the entire post into an email that I sent to myself and tagged “family planning” for future use :). You guys are the best.
Lindsay says
Love the post – but I have to say, so many moms are going to be so jealous of you and the fact that Clara slept so well!
Is there anything challenging about motherhood? =] You know.. just to make us feel better.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Lindsay,
Our Clara does pose a few challenges for sure! One being that she naps very lightly and sporadically during the day thanks to all that evening shut-eye. Which definitely makes getting things done while she’s napping nearly impossible since she’s such a non-napper these days!
xo,
s
Mary says
Your money saving advice was spot on. Babies really don’t need all that much stuff. I actually got you beat on the bottles. I bought one twin pack of bottles and only ended up using one of the bottles. I was careful to wash it after each use and even got my husband trained to do it and never had to deal with dried milk or smelly bottles. We even went well beyond the 12 month recommendation for bottle weaning and the one bottle did it all. When she progressed beyond the newborn nipple I just made the hole slightly larger so the original nipple worked as well. Oh yes, the Bumbo chair rocks and can usually be found at garage sales/thrift stores for about 5 bucks. I used it for the first few months of feeding solid food. It was so much easier for her to sit upright than in her highchair or booster.
Erin says
Great post. We have two kids under 2 yrs old and one more on the way and I agree that most of what you said applied to us too. One thing I have learned is that no matter how much we tried to save and prepare, there is always the possibility of the unexpected- and that’s what a good savings is FOR (as you guys know!) and really good health insurance. I never realized how many children and families go through emergencies and wham- out of nowhere you have medical bills and other unexpected things come up. Our daughter was born with an unexpected health problem and with surgeries and hospital stays, by the time she turned 1 her medical bills were just shy of $1 million- luckily our share of that cost is closer to $20K because of fantastic insurance. Which, though that amount is still a lot, it’s much more bearable because we had a big savings stored up. You guys are great at promoting saving- and that’s wonderful advice for all parents because it can be unexpectedly expensive to have children- besides all the baby gear that you DO expect.
YoungHouseLove says
Wow Erin- that’s amazing. We’re so glad you had such good coverage and we hope your little one is doing really well now, after going through all of that!
xo,
s
renee says
Since we’ve now seen all three of your closets, fair to say Miss Clara has more clothes than mom & dad combined? :)
YoungHouseLove says
Absolutely- by far!
xo,
s