Start-up costs for new baby

MyRubyRed

MoneySavingMamma wrote: »

You must be joking!! Look at the calculations above, & don't forget alot of extra washing powder, and I think the biggest bill is the heating! Anyone with a winter baby will have the heating on most the day, we are very tight with ours now, but when baby comes it will be cranked up!! And more electric - washing machine, dryer (if your lucky!) steriliser, night time lights, TV, microwave etc.

Babies are expensive -FACT! Best idea is to save up then have one (I said that after number 1, but here comes 2 & no savings! Oops!) And cut down as much as poss now, so you have spare cash for later.

I was a big bib user, little one had bibs on all the time so clothes stayed cleaner longer!!

Sorry to disagree but many of the items you list are really not necessary

Miss_Ladybird

hi, I would recommend looking for bundles of clothes on ebay and also try car boots - I haven't bought any new clothes yet! (3 months baby). There are loooads of sleeping bags on ebay. I only have 2 sheets and 2 blankets not 4.

Also I would get a bouncy chair as most babies like to sit and watch after a few weeks (mine was £1 from ebay - mamas and papas one!)

If you look under 'baby' on ebay and put 'closest distance first' you might spot some bargains you can go and collect. Gumtree good too and netmums have a 'for sale' local bit.

I did get a new pram, carseat etc like you intend to- did you know mothercare do a price promise so if you print out a price for what you want from some random cheapy website they match it (if they sell it there obviously!) so we saved lots but still had security of knowing we could return to mothercare if the pram breaks or something.

Also when bubs is here you could find your local childrens centre - at mine everything is free, we are doing a baby massage course, breastfeeding group, and a 'babies playing' group at the moment!

better stop now ha ha but ebay ishonestly your friend here, you can save so much!!

durham_girl

MyRubyRed wrote: »

Sorry to disagree but many of the items you list are really not necessary

Which ones? I can't see anything on tha list that doesn't get used more now that we have a baby.

MoneySavingMamma

MyRubyRed wrote: »

Sorry to disagree but many of the items you list are really not necessary

I wasn't saying to buy a TV, and night lights, I meant the extra electricity cost of using them more, small I know, but all these little things add up for any family on a tight budget before baby.

Best thing I did is make OH give up smoking, I'm sure that helped the kitty alot!!

I'd agree with picking up bits on the way, I got a baby support chair thingy from Argos reduced to £3.50ish, not essential for most but I will be likely to C-Section again & have large babies! Bathing is then hard work! Also rummaging sale rails for sleepsuits in neutral colours & will find more bits when I know the sex.

Dying to tell people I know who have under 1s just to stop them throwing stuff away!!

I joined MSE :money:after having DS, and in it's time it's saved me fortunes!:j

clearingout

get used to buying ahead in the sales - I buy next year's winter coats in this year's winter sales and constantly pick up bits in the supermarket sales when t-shirts are down to a pound, jumpers a couple of pounds etc. Supermarket clothes tend to weather the storm of regular washing and tumble drying better than those from Primark (although I've had fab stuff from there and other stuff that dies after one wash). Keep a list of what you've got in your changing bag - I found a coat when I moved recently in size 5 - 6 I had bought for my eldest when he was a baby. He is now in size 6 - 7 so it passed him bye! Lucky, I have all the same sex so it's still useful!

pinkshoes

I think my biggest cost has been heating through the cold winter, as it's not normally on in the day.

I seem to have a clean baby, who rarely vomits (perhaps once a week), and other than the odd explosive poo, the clothes stay clean!

I got nearly everything on ebay, or hand me downs from relatives.

To be honest, the only thing I bought at the beginning was a travel system (pushchair, car seat, easybase, and carrycot - ebay job lot!), a pack of vests, a pack of sleepsuits (all size 0 to 3 months), some nappies, babywipes, changing mat and a couple of blankets. You honestly don't need anything else to begin with.

I later bought a changing table (to save my back), a 40 litre flexible bucket to bath him in (SO much better than a baby bath, and useful afterwards when baby gets too big for it!), breastpump and a few other bits and pieces. I just played it by ear, then bought things when I found I actually needed them.

mizzbiz

Can anyone tell me why reusable nappies are so expensive? I was thinking of using them but when you factor in that "£185 is on the cheaper side", the manual labour and electricity costs in washing and drying, I'm not sure I'm going to after all. Seems a lot of effort for little or no saving.

Also I was in reusable nappies when I was a little 'un. (I don't think many used disposables then - I'm 30). I seriously doubt my parents would have spent so much on nappies back then considering they had no money. I'm sure they were just terry towelling but in a nappy shape (and held together with safety pins lol).

mizzbiz

pinkshoes wrote: »

a 40 litre flexible bucket to bath him in (SO much better than a baby bath, and useful afterwards when baby gets too big for it!), .

:rotfl:I'm sure that's a plastering trug!! We have plenty of those available since we're a family of builders lol.

lolly101

tomhann187 wrote: »

Dear all

I've just found out I'm pregnant - very early days yet but I want to get a start on budgeting for everything. I've got a list of things to buy and my guess of how much these will cost. The prices I've used are a mix of cheap-ish new things and good-quality second hand items. If anyone could give their opinions on where money can be saved and if there is anything I'm missing or equally things that I could do without that would be great.

Thanks in advance!

10 vests/body suits 10
10 x baby grows 10
3 x outfits 10
Socks, scratch mitts and hats 7
Pram suit 15
Set of re-usable nappies 185
Cotton balls, rash creams 5
Bath support 5
Bath and room thermometer 5
Nail clippers, other first aid stuff 5
Muslins 10
Breast pump, bottles and steriliser 35
Maternity bras 30
Cot bed with NEW mattress 100
Travel cot with basinet and changer 30
Room clothes storage (chest and wardrobe) 85
4xsheets, 4x blankets, 3x sleeping bags 60
Baby monitor 15
Night light 5
Pushchair with carry cot, car seat and ISOFIX base 600
Sling / carrier 15
Bouncer / swing 20


I know the pushchair is the biggest expense. However, I really think an ISOFIX is important for safety and the cheapest seat and base combination is still about £200. You're not supposed to get these second-hand. I also think the ppushchair needs to be a high quality item as we live in a remote place and it'll be taken over dirt tracks, bridleways, grass, cobbles, country footpaths etc on a daily basis. It needs to be robust and have excellent suspension.

Congratulations! I am also planning for a baby at the moment. I'm planning on buying a cot on ebay - as someone mentioned, you can get them really cheaply if you collect locally (same goes for chest and wardrobe). Definitely a new mattress though!

As for the pushchair, depending on which type you buy you can 'mix and match', i.e, buy the chassis, then buy the carrycot, car seat, etc, seperately as add-ons. If you can do this with the model you like then I would suggest buying the car seat and base new, but looking for the pushchair on ebay. You can get lovely, almost new ones quite cheaply.

We didn't get a travel cot until my son was around 7 months, as we would just use the carrycot from his pram if he stayed over at his nana's - his was suitable for this, I don't know that all pram carrycots are though?

As for clothes, I know that people have said that you don't need that many, but I would go for more rather than less, simply to make life easier for yourself! It is tough enough being a new mum without worrying about doing a load of washing everyday! The basics like vests and sleepsuits are very cheap now (even from new) so it may be better to buy a few extra so you don't find yourself short and needing to do a wash specifically for baby clothes - babies are VERY messy so you may be suprised at how quickly they get through outfits!.

I_try

Congratulations! I had my first baby 3 months ago and was fortunate that a couple of friends gave us a HUGE amount of stuff.

Firstly I'd recommend joining all the baby clubs you can - I set up a seperate (free) email account to prevent email overload in normal account.
With the boots club you get 10 points per £ on baby stuff, vouchers etc, if you keep hold of some of the vouchers you can get a pack of newborn pampers and a changing bag for 97p. I used these to take to hospital as you won't want to be thinking about washing nappies the day you have your baby. The bag also has a travel changing mat which is very useful. Also there's Tesco's, Sainsbury's and Asda's baby clubs which will send you vouchers and freebies.
Join the Bounty club for the samples bags. I did this online and was emailed vouchers to collect a bag from boots or sainsburys (someone has already mentioned that if you get it from sainsburys then they give you a voucher for TU clothing) and got bags from midwife/hospital too. Little sudocreme tubs in them are perfect for changing bag.
I also joined various baby food and nappy brands clubs too. One of them sent a room thermometer, one sent a polar bear toy.

I had a voucher for ikea so bedroom furniture cost little but I still haven't needed the wardrobe yet. I dress my little girl in vests and sleepsuits which are all kept in the drawers with the changing mat. On a leaky day we can get through 6 vests a day and 4 sleepsuits.

We don't use a monitor or nightlight. I use my nailclippers when she is asleep. 1 pair of scrat mitts was fine. I did buy a breast pump but didn't get on with it, apparently you can rent these from the midwives so ask them about this before you buy one. It was an expensive mistake for me. Still not used the bouncy chair or sling we were given. Love the steriliser though, for us it means there is no running out of sterilising solution.

I am using muslin cloths for bibs and have one left in every room of the house. They are useful for all sorts!!

Bedding wise I'm also a believer in the rule of 3. Ebay is great for most things and it's on topcashback.

Overall I found that you need little for a newborn, some clothing, nappies, something to sleep in and pram/car seat. Everything else you can get as you need. And people love to buy presents for babies!!!

Oh, Tesco maternity pads were good, and cheap, and another vote for Lansinoh nipple cream. When buying maternity tops look for something with easy boob access so you can still wear it when breast feeding too if that is what you choose/are able to do.

Sorry for long post, it's everything I wish I'd known beforehand :-)