14 Pointers For Saving Money When You Have A Baby, gathered in one list

Q: You folks 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 have heard that having a baby and buying all the baby stuff can set you back a few years’ worth of savings and I am scared! But I am 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 enjoy to say, do tell! – Megan

A: The good news is that we in fact expected that having a baby (and setting up the house for one) would be a lot pricier than it in fact was. Of course every parent’s experience is distinct (especially when it comes to how many hand-me-downs you might get lucky sufficient to inherit, or how many registry items you will be fortunate sufficient to receive) but after plenty of expert-mom-&-dad-interviewing we definitively concluded that we did not need every baby gadget on the market. Not even close. And with a little bit of strategy you can hopefully figure out what you truly need, what you can skip, and what you will likely receive from others (so you do not end up with too much of one thing and not sufficient of another).

Of course parenting is an extremely personal thing, and what works for us will not necessarily work for everyone, but here is the rundown of all the things that we did to save money without sacrificing an ounce of lively or comfort for Clara.

We Resisted The Baby Clothing Draw- We heard time and time again from pro moms & dads (we are talking 3+ kids) that clothing is such an straightforward thing to go overboard on and that many (many) friends and relatives will buy you cute outfits of all sizes- so many that there is little need to stock up for yourself. Of course we could not 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 hoped 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 consistently 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 pointer would be to register for big things because you will inevitably get clothes and books and toys anyway- but it feels remarkable to check the big pricey things off your list. And you will 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 certainly are not 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 pointer would be to see what hand-me-downs might present themselves (before registering for things or buying them for yourself) since that is a especially straightforward way to save some major moolah. But our second pointer 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 remarkable items, we thought long and hard about what would most likely work for our lifestyle and reminded ourselves that we could consistently 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 are 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 pricey 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 pointers 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 sufficient 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 could not fill that function, but never picked up/needed a snap n go stroller or an umbrella stroller, so it is helpful to truly consider what you will 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 have diligently been investing every single welcome-to-the-world check that she’s received. We have also chose that we will save a set amount of money each month for her there, which will assist 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 could not 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 sufficient 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 are especially 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” will not 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 truly get some use out of).

We Try Before We Buy- We were not sure if the small travel swing that we received from our registry would be sufficient since we heard that some babies simply 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, do not forget that sources like freecycle.org, craigslist.org and even local thrift stores are a strong way to score something that is gently used for a lot less.

We Skipped The Bassinet- Of course this is not everyone’s cup of tea, but thanks to a compact bedroom that would not safely accommodate any type of bassinet and a nursery that is located extremely close by (simply 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 do not know if it is 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 right now sleeps 9+ hours straight (last night was an all time record from 9:30pm to 8:30am). We certainly believe that we simply got lucky and ended up with a sleepy baby, but it also might assist that she does not 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 truly 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 quite much enjoy that time together (every few hours during the day- she’s a hungry girl!). Not only is it some fairly strong mommy-beanette time, it is 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 is an update on that in the post as well.

We Pared Down- We in fact picked up a video monitor and also received the Angelcare monitor that we registered for, but we swiftly 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 fairly much impossible). Of course some other parents enjoy video monitors more, so it is not truly about one type being better than the other, the point is that we certainly did not need both! And after some strong 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 typically 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 did not interfere with our lifestyle at all, but these two changes alone kept $400 in our pockets!

We Picked up Three Bottles- Yup, three. Not three of one size and three of the next size and a bunch of distinct nipples. Simply three with newborn nipples. And sure sufficient we have only needed those three. In fact we likely could have gotten by with two. Since Clara’s on an 100% mommy’s milk diet, we simply use bottles for the quite rare occasions when I pump (which I only do when we will be traveling for hours in the car and want to avoid having to stop for a feeding). Of course those who do not 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 is something else.

We Got Our Coupon On- This is a plain 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 are owned by the same company) and Babies R Us typically 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, simply so I am prepared.” The truth is that people come out of the woodwork after the baby’s born, so if you desperately need anything you will have a relative or friend who’d be glad to save you a trip to the store since you are 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 simply going back for the two or three that you in fact need once you are sure that you need them. We are so glad we did not 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 distinct for every family, so simply 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 simply 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 picked up 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 “pleasant 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 could not avoid diapers but we found a way to make it more affordable (and, dare we say it, lively). Of course we are only four months into parenthood so we are hardly experts – especially on a subject that is so subjective and personal – but those are a few of the approaches that worked for us. Now we’d enjoy to know how you folks save money when it comes to children. Do you Hands-on anything? Or forgo purchasing certain items that you’ve learned you do not need? We’d enjoy to hear what works for you.

Psst- Want to read our Save It series (about all things non-baby) from the quite 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 Pointers category.

Pssssssst- Do not 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.