Who knew that baby’s needed sooooo much stuff! I mean all the fancy gear and cute accessories might not be necessities per se, but nothing can stop a pregnant woman from nesting! Am I right? Can I get an Amen?
It happened early for me, around the fourth month. All of a sudden,
I had an irrational urge to ensure everything was in place for baby’s arrival even though there was still potentially five more months of pregnancy left. My husband, bless his heart, just rolled with it. As to him, nothing in pregnancy made sense! LOL So, I began researching online for top recommended products, safety recalls, best this, most useful that etc. It seemed that there was a direct correlation between the safety rating of an item and the price. (At least for the big ticket items) Having gotten married, bought a house, adopting two rescue greyhounds and getting pregnant, we weren’t exactly rolling in the dough. But by the grace of God, loving family and friends and a little research baby Bubbs had everything he needed for his arrival! So, here are a few tips for preparing for baby so you actually have some money left for his piggy bank.
Do your research
There really is no substitution for doing your research. Manufacturers will always market to sell but do you really need a padded kneeling mat for bath time? Wouldn’t a rolled up towel do? Try and read as many mommy blog reviews as possible to get an informed decision on a product. What’s even better, is if you can test the product at a mom expo and have your important questions answered. We shopped around for strollers for multifunction and easiest to fold. What we didn’t think about was storage capacity under the seat, comfort for baby in the seat, etc.
*Tip- feel where your baby’s head will rest in the stroller/car seat. There might be slight padding but often there is a hard plastic piece underneath. We didn’t realize this and wondered why our son’s head was beginning to look lop sided! Thankfully we noticed early enough and added ample padding to the head rest of the seat in the stroller! (not recommended for car seat though)
You’ve researched and registered
We were so blessed and had not one, not two but three baby showers! We honestly have never felt so much love and support in our lives! There were so many heart felt gifts that we never would have dreamt of receiving! And that’s just it! Registries, in our experience, are never really used. Not to really read into it but I think people would much rather get you something from their heart. So, that humidifier you asked for might be something you will need to get on your own. But that’s okay, it’s not as fun as receiving a hand painted giraffe painting!
Frugal Baby Finds!
So, for everything else we still needed, we looked to used items. Preloved…whatever makes you feel better. Some people turn their noses up at the idea. But think about it. A baby literally grows so fast in one year that an item is only used maybe once or twice before growing out or tired of it. We weren’t shy about it and looked on kijiji.ca, garage sales, and local mom Facebook groups for buying and selling very gently used baby items. (clothing, toys) We also graciously received some basically brand new hand me downs. I am convinced we saved over $1000 doing it this way and once our guy was done with what he needed, we turned around and did the same. This kept the clutter out and a little extra cash in our pockets for the next milestones.
Being a little frugal for the first year paid off! All of the extra savings that we managed to acquire along with the baby bonus checks we received, we were able to be deposit in an RESP for baby. It is a no-brainer investment.
Comment below with your frugal baby finds!
Until next time,
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I definitely love research. I am clueless about car seats and strollers and so on, but there is a lot of info out there.
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There are sooo many different makes and models it can be a little daunting!
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Great post! I basically lived on facebook during my maternity leave… buying used items off of a local facebook group. It was the best thing I could’ve done. Especially since I live in Korea, all baby products are so much more expensive than back home.
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Oh goodness, it’s so true that baby’s can be expensive! You’ve got great points! I think we spent about $300 total on our little guy’s stuff thanks to generous friends and family. :-)
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Oh, and thanks for linking up with the Faith and Fellowship Blog Hop. :-)
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Full of great tips and advice for the first time Mum. There are so many things out there and you don’t always know what you are looking for – things like storage in the stroller and comfort behind their little heads.
Thanks for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop
Lydia xx
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Great advice! I remember spending hours looking at different products when I was pregnant with my daughter. However, we wound up with tons of things that turned out to be unnecessary! Next time around I don’t foresee making a lot of purchases and will definitely be better prepared to save more money!
Thank you for sharing with us at #MommyMeetupMondays!
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It’s so true! You do end up with things you don’t need or in some cases forget to use. But that crazy nesting feeling sometimes gets the best of you lol!
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Hi Cathy! We saved a lot of money through receiving a lot of hand me downs! :)
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