The birth of a baby can yield mixed emotions. Of course, there's that surge of joy and happiness when you first lay eyes on your new baby, but after a while reality starts to set in and your thoughts start shifting into over-drive. "Will I be a good mom/dad?" "How do I change a diaper?" "How do I know when my baby is hungry?" All these thoughts are common thoughts that have gone through the minds of new moms and dads alike.
After I first held my Scotty, I knew I was in love with my precious bundle of joy, but I couldn't help feeling apprehensive about what the future holds. I wasn't sure how I would find the perfect care-taker, what stroller would be the best fit for me, and how was I going to afford to pay for all the baby necessities?
There's no reason to let that happiness you first felt get side-tracked by worry and nervousness. Cherish that moment for as long as you can. There are many ways to make the first year of your baby's life more bearable and less financially strained. I've put together a list of ten easy tips on how to budget with a newborn baby. Feel free to pick and choose what works best for you.
1. Do not over-buy Newborn size clothing. I know your first instinct is to buy every adorable stretchie you see; however, most babies do not stay in the Newborn size for long. A lot of babies outgrow the 0-3 month size really fast too, so spend wisely. Make sure you have a week's worth of clothing so that you have on hand extras without needing to do laundry every day. A good purchase would be a package of Gerber stretchies that come five in a pack, making each one about a piece. That way, if your baby leaks through, you only need to change the stretchie and not the whole outfit. (Disclaimer: this is only if you realize your baby is leaking sooner rather than later!!)
2. If you are exclusively nursing, good for you!! I am jealous. I have found the Medela Pump in Style Advance to be helpful in letting me have some freedom, all the while giving my baby the best formula possible -- mother's milk. This system is not cheap; however, there are some insurances that cover it and some hospitals that rent them out.
3. If you are bottle feeding, ask the doctor about using generic brand formula. These are always more than half the price of a name-brand formula and usually just as good! The same goes for generic bottles, nipples, bottle inserts. I couldn't bear the smell of the formula when I did use it, and so I never wanted to wash the bottles. I used the inserts and saved a pretty penny using the store brand and not the name brand.
4.While this may seem un-necessary, I have found it to be quite the lifesaver. I invested in a cheap pacifier clip. No more picking up dropped pacifiers from the floor and better yet, no more losing them!! Buying new pacifiers constantly definitely adds up!
5. Sign up on the Similac, Enfamil and other formula websites. Every month for the first year Scotty was born, Similac sent me checks towards formula! While I did buy the generic brand formula for every-day use when I stopped nursing, I used these checks for ready-to-feed bottles that I took with me when I was out and about.
6. Use coupons! Many places, like eBay or a coupon clipping service, will sell stacks of coupons for a specific product. I purchased a stack of diaper coupons for a minimal charge and I was able to use these towards brand name diapers. Using a coupon actually made the brand name diapers cheaper than the store brand diapers. In terms of diapers though, they are a personal preference dependant on your baby. Some babies do well with generic brands, but mine didn't. I was changing Scotty way too often, since he would leak out of the generic brand and doing laundry more often, which ended up costing more than if I would have just bought the name brand diapers.
7. Baby wipes. You will go through countless amounts of these. I have found no difference between generic and brand-name, and you can buy these really cheap in bulk. Usually the bigger the package, the cheaper it costs per wipe.
8. The absolute first thing you need to bring a baby home from the hospital is a car seat. Obviously, safety should be your number one priority, but after that, getting the best possible deal should be the next. You may want to consider purchasing a travel system, as opposed to buying a car seat and stroller separately. Besides for being practical since you will need a stroller to get around, it is more economical to buy a travel system, since it is cheaper. Be sure to buy one that is durable, has fabric that is machine washable, and strong so that it will last for some time. You may want to consider reading my review of the Chicco Cortina travel system.
9. Where should your baby sleep? There are many discussions over the Internet of the best place to put baby to sleep. If a crib is too expensive and not within your budget, consider a pack N play. This is a super useful item, as you can very easily pack it up and take it around with you on your travels. It is also movable from room to room and can be used as a play area later on. I actually used this instead of a crib and ordered an extra mattress that was made specifically for the pack N play so that my baby was sleeping on something a little bit firmer than just one mattress. Another option would be to purchase a baby stroller that reclines completely, so that baby will still have that warm comfortable surrounding, with the added bonus of being able to rock your baby to sleep. You may be interesting in the Chicco Cortina stroller if you decide to go this route.
10. One of the best things you can do is check the weekly ads and sign up for a loyal customer card at CVS, Shoprite and Rite Aid. Throughout the year, each of these stores constantly have specials on baby items, where they are offering a certain amount off of a baby product or money back when purchasing a baby item. It costs absolutely nothing to sign up. You can even sign up online at their respective websites. Walgreens tends to have baby sales as well, but they don't have a loyalty card. You can get the discount or promotion just by shopping during the sale time as reflected in their ad.
I hope this article was helpful in providing some insight on how to budget with a newborn baby.
