A basic baby budget (Preparing for Birth On a Budget)

Member Name: Happyjaw

Product:	Preparing for Birth On a Budget
Date:	21/02/09 (221 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Saving money and being green

Disadvantages: You can't always have the pretty things but your purse will thank you

I had known I wanted kids at some point but when the pregnancy test was positive it began a whole new ball game. Suddenly we had to buy all the things a baby would need and there was a little thrill in the idea of choosing all the lovely things we would want or need.
Still, I thought, I'll be cautious and wait until 12 weeks before I start buying anything and I'll spread the cost, though I couldn't help but admire little things as soon as I knew. Passing the clothing section in Tesco added a whole new dimension to shopping.
Then, at 7 weeks and an early scan, we found we were going to be preparing for two babies. Shocker! I was delighted.
This put a whole new spin on things though, we lived in a pokey two up two down terrace and had no room for the obvious things we needed. Our dining table was a creative two seat affair and we simply couldn't imagine what to do.
So, knowing we had to move and deciding to make a move on the property ladder meant baby shopping would be on the cheap. Knowing we had to have two of many things changed the budget.

Having established what was important, we decided that we would have new cots and mattresses but anything else could be second hand. Cots are known to harbour MRSA and may well explain many 2nd and consecutive sibling cot deaths when cots are reused but not cleaned properly in the interim.
My parents stepped in and bought two cot beds, half price at Toys R Us, just under £80 each. Our twins are still using them at age 3 in their bed form and with at least another year or two of use to come.
The other grandparents bought the mattresses, also from Toys R Us, using vouchers we received when the cots were bought and we bought the type suitable for cots then beds with wipe over covering on one side and breathable cloth on the other. In other words, lifetime mattresses instead of the flimsy foam cot mattresses which would need replacing again as the cots became beds.
Our choice of cot beds was a slightly unusual size so we bought some of the sheets at Toys Y Us too, again using vouchers from the back of the in store magazine and making use of a 3 for 2 offer, so I bought 6 which still see us through in rotation.
The rest of the bedding came from Dunelm Mill, which has a great selection of pretty, themed baby and child bedding in sets, which also have a great resale value later down the line. Dunelm Mill have a website if you don't have one close by.

Now we had somewhere to put the babies we thought about transport. In a fit of organisation I posted a wanted advert on our local Freecycle website. Freecycle is all about reducing landfill by giving away items you intend to get rid of. You can post 'wanted' or 'offered' adverts. Some people are very rude and ask for things to sell, we've fallen foul of that, but some are pleasant and genuine and give things away which save other people no end of trouble.
Freecycle can be found by googling along with the name or your area or nearest town. It's all free!
Our advert asked for any baby items for twins. From that one ad we got a McLaren double pushchair, two single Graco pushchairs with car seats and bases, two bouncers, two moses baskets and stands, a bottle warmer and a highchair. That's around £800+ of baby kit and the givers were pleased to see it go.
We used a wallpaper stripper to steam clean everything, MRSA loiters in fabrics and the weave of moses baskets too. Research told us that bleach and high temperatures kill MRSA and most other nasties. Bleach isn't kind to newborn skin so steaming was the way for us. Everything was in great condition anyway but looked brand new and gleaming once steam cleaned.

We gave the bottle warmer away pretty fast. It was a pain in the neck on the side in the kitchen. We found two Tesco 33p measuring jugs did the job just fine when filled with boiling water and the bottles placed inside.

We used all the pushchairs, the double at times and the single if we were both out, the car seats and bases were used everyday and eventually we gave them all away again to be used by others with their children.

We bought a single changing mat and kept it slid underneath an armchair when not in use, thereby not bothering with a changing unit, though my Nannan, excited about forthcoming babies bought one anyway so we had the luxury of having one in their bedroom too.

I joined the Boots and Tesco baby clubs, which has yielded a great deal of coupons, even during pregnancy, for stocking up on essential baby products and a few treats for the burgeoning mother to be.

Then I began shopping on eBay. Buying in bulk was great. I bought expensive washable nappies (Kooshies) in large quantities for far less than you can find on the high street. I'll admit to failing entirely with washables, it was such a headache and I gave in and bought disposables to my own disgust.
However, I resold all my nappies and recuperated almost the entire cost back on eBay!
I then used the money again on eBay to buy bulk Tommee Tippee bottles, dummy clips, MAM teats and dummies and the other small paraphenalia which comes later. These are small items which not every baby or mother wants but if you do use them they begin to aggravate with their inflated prices.
Our girls would only have orthodontic teats and dummies, which was fine but they cost a little more than most.

Breastfeeding is the cheapest way to feed a baby of course, but not everyone can. I was able to make use of the local Surestart services who loaned out breastpump which had all brand new pieces, ensuring hygiene. This meant I could express to make the most of my milk even when one of my babies couldn't feed. Eventually we used formula and even then, chose Farleys, one of the cheapest on the market but with the better balance of casein for babys instead of the much heavier products like Cow & Gate.

As the girls grew I would give away what they had outgrown or no longer needed and readvertise in need of each new stage of development on Freecycle and on the local forum. This gave us clothing and toys, a couple of lightweight strollers for a holiday, two bed guards when the cot sides came off, a baby walker and no end of other useful bits and pieces. Even now I can advertise second or third generation pre-loved items, continually passing on.

Car boot sales are a veritable gold mine for baby items, but only if you go early. The good stuff is sold quickly but the prices are usually excellent. We usually buy toys or clothes and we've had some John Rocha clothes and hugely expensive Fisher Price toys for as little as £3 for the £65 toy and 50p for clothing.

eBay was handy for shoes too. Clarks cost an arm and a leg if you keep twins in them but since most toddlers barely make a mark on shoes until about 18 months old, you can get first walkers in mint condition for a snip on eBay. So, we had the girls feet measured but bought online, usually saving up to 80% or 90% of the cost and still having the right sizes and in the current trends in the Clarks stores.

After the initial few months of shed loads of baby clothes as gifts for the new arrivals, I began buying their clothes in bulk on eBay and in sales. It's a habit I've stuck with. I keep a seperate wardrobe of clothing for the year ahead as I buy all their clothes for the next age group. So, as the end of 08/09 winter stock sales are beginning I'm buying the clothes now for winter 09/10 in the appropriate sizes.
This means I'm prepared for any growth spurts and I can spread the rather diminished cost over the years sales.
We made full use of the Woolworths closing sales and stocked up on clothing, shoes and school uniform for when they need it in 18 months or so. At 45p - 99p each item instead of £7 - £10 each I'm happy to keep a little space aside for them.

There are no end of freebie websites which can help new parent with allsorts of items like feeding spoons and samples. They need to market their products and we need to save the cash, no problem. We tried no end of products by signing up to many websites. Just be careful to tick the privacy boxes or you'll be plagued by junk mail forever more.

Anything we buy new generally has a resale value on eBay or on the local forum for sale section. We picked up two Bumbo seats on there for £15 and £13 and resold them on there 6 months later for the same prices. Both in the same condition and used well for several months.

Though we've saved money every step of the way where possible, occasionally sacrificing beauty for practicality, it's been worth it. The days of empty nurseries full of antique furniture are long gone, we live in practical houses for the most part and most of the products we are instructed we 'need' are just luxuries which we must eventually part with. So why buy new and waste money? It might be a worthwhile investment if you plan to use any item for more than one child but there are so many baby sales items because they get very little use. The best part of the day a baby sleeps, nothing wears out, except patience now and then when they lie awake at night!

My writing may appear in the same or slightly altered format on Helium, or other sites.

Summary: How to save money from the day of your pregnancy test