How much do babies cost?

SkintMonkey

I know this is a totally mad question, but my husband and I are planning to start trying for our first child from around summer 07 and we have been trying to work out our sums etc on how much money we will need to have put by before baby comes (this is assuming of course that I fall pregnant in a reasonable amount of time...and can of course fall pregnant!)to try and make things as stress free as possible - well financially at least.

I get very confused about how maternity pay works and how much I would get, but also how much we should try and put away now before I'm pregnant and baby comes. I currently earn £22k and my husband earns a bit more....

I would want to spend as long as possible at home, so really need to save as much money as possible and will eventually go back to my job part time. I know that having a baby will be a huge change to our lifestyle and wont be going out anymore and spending quite so much money on rubbish as we probably do now, but I also know that there is a lot of stuff to buy too!

Anyway, hope you don't think we are really daft, hope you can help.

andycarmi

Bit of a hard question to answer but here is what we did if this helps!

My parents bought us a pram and car seat and DH's parents bought us the cotbed.

We open a savings account and put £500 in it and used this account for all baby things...

Things you might want to save for
1)Maternity Clothes
2)Hospital items like tens machine, nursing bras, pj's...
3)Toiletries for baby like nappies, wipes, cotton wool...
4)Feeding- bottle or breast? bottles, steriliser, milk...
5)Bathing - baby bath? top and tail bowl(we used a bowl from £1 shop)
6)Clothes- baby grows, vests... (wouldn't buy too many)
7)Sleeping - mosses basket? cot? crib? and bedding, monitor...
8)Toys - we bought a nice teddy that played music.
9)Baby's room- funiture...

Think about can you borrow any items, what your prepared to buy second hand and what you want new. Car seat should be new and you could buy a second hand cot if you like but recommend you buy a new mattress.

Also from April 2007 the SMP (statutory Maternity Pay) is being extended from 6 months to 9 months pay. Currently about £108 a week. Also your empolyer may pay you for some of the time. Like mine give me 6 weeks 90% 12 weeks 50% and rest SMP.

marksward

As above. The thing to remember is that you don't have to buy everything, and everything doesn't have to be colour coordinated, its the easiest way to burn money and IMHO a complete waste of money.

If you're anything like we were, friends and family gave so much in the way of toys and clothes we were overwhelmed.

Yes put some money away, but don't stress over it.

DjSatansfury

I generally do them for about £5

astonsmummy

TBH you can do without alot of the gizmos and gadgts that are advetised, i bought my first pram in the sale, it had £100 off, it was a travel system and came with a car seat, all of andycarmis suggestions, you can get things cheap enough if you shop around and dont rule out second hand goods, except for bottles sterilizers etc, secondd hand cot ok but definately buy a new matress.
NCT does 2nd hand sales where you can get hold of 2nd hand good quality items, ebay is a good place too, especially for bundles of baby clothes, i bought all DS babygrows in primark (didnt have t'internet then)

dinosaur1234

Hi

what a lovely thread - it reminds me so much of me and my husband 3 years or so ago and now I am the mum to a wonderful little boy (21 months)

one of the things we did (as we are homeowners) was to start to put away half of the mortgage amounts every month, as this meant that when I was on maternity leav the money was there to support with the mortgage and it also helped as we had got used to having a reduced amount of money each month

i breast fed for 7 months - so there was no cost there and whilst i appreciate that it does not suit everyone personally i found it to be one of the most fulfilling things i have ever done

you will be surprised at the generosity shown by people when you are having a baby and so many newborn things can be covered off just through presents

do not underestimate the number of nappies a new baby uses - i was sooooo surprised to be getting through 15+ a day so if you can start to stock up on newborn nappies (i only found pampers to be the best ones)

each time we bought some nappies we also got wipes when they were buy one get one free ( although when baby first came along only used cotton wool and water) the est wipes i have found are the huggies ones as they do not have a scent and seem to be as clost to cotton wool and water as you can get

also tiny babies reallydo not need clothes as such but sleep suits and they look cute in anything so you do not need to buy the really expensive ones

do get maternity pads for yourself for once you have had the baby - not so much for the money saving moreso for being prepared

babies do not really need many toys etc when they are just born and i have bought my son many of his things from car boots. Once I get home i disinfect them and more often than not they are like brand new but for a fractoin of the cost - I know because I ave also sold at car boots and had to see things that cost £20+ be sold for 50p even though they have barely been used

one thing to account for is child minding costs as if you are going to work part time you wil therefore not be earning as much money and yet may have an extra expense (unless of course you have family to help)

re maternity clothes i onbly bought a few actual maternity items (mainly off e bay) and the rest I just bought larger sizes in lycra !!!

now my son is older i find that he helps us to save money as i now buy lots of fresh things and make it myself as this is what i want him to be fed on rather than buying more expensive pre packed things

dont worry to much about not going out as when youa re a family your focus (or at least in ur experience) changes - going out and having a great time now involves a walk to the park to kick a ball around or , as we did today, a trip to the beach to throw stones in the sea

as someone once said to me you will never be rich enough to have a baby as you could always want more - what matters is that the baby is wanted and loved that is what counts


i wish you every success and send my best wishes to you as having my little man was the best thing we ever did and the love and joy he brings is beyond belief

:T

skylight

Its not just what babies cost, but if you intend to spend as much time at home as possible, then you need to plan this cost and budget now - the bills remain the same even if you are not earning the same!

You will be entitled to Child benefit and Child Tax Credit, but obviously, these make up no where near the shortfall of losing (in effect) a salary.

And the biggest bug bear will be child care. You do need to think about it at this stage (no decisions yet though!). It will be costly unless Nan/Gran is going to do it for you cheaply.

But biggest one - PLAN AND BUDGET!! Get those debts down and out if possible and start saving, not just for baby expenditure but for Mum and Dad stuff too. Hidden bills (washing machine dies! etc) and usual stuff.

kay41_2

When I got pregnant i put away £200 per month from when I found out so I had a nice sum when baby was born. We were lucky in that MIL bought pram, parents bought car seat and sling and grandmother bought cot and bedding. MIL also bought some of the first clothes and the high chair. My hubby was made redundant just before my baby was born, so I was terrified to spend any of my savings, but in the end he started a new job the day I came out of hospital. I was lent a lot of stuff by a friend with a baby exactly a year older e.g. bath seat, over the bath baby bath, bought the cot second hand with money from grandmother. In the first year I spent hardly anything on dressing my daughter and discovered the wonderful NCT second hand sales and bought loads of clothes and toys from there. My play pen, bouncy seat and firegaurd came from those sales. At first I was reluctant to buy anything second hand but soon changed my mind. We got a lot of presents which was lovely. In short, it didn't cost nearly as much as I expected.

The £200 per month was saved by not going out drinking so much ('cos you don't want to/can't drink anyway). As soon as I went on maternity leave we lived frugally on one salary and the payment I got when I went back to work paid for a new kitchen (the deal my company offered to get you to go back).

People are amazing generous with stuff they don't need anymore and I had hardly any maternity clothes, but those I did have came from Dorothy Perkins and Next and weren't expensive.

Breastfeeding is free and I invested in a pump so I could have time away from my baby if I needed it (which I did!). I had no car, so walked or got lifts everywhere. When I was weaning her I made all her food myself and the best investment was a stick blender!

They get more expensive as they get older, with clubs and activities, and of course clothes and toys, but you don't have to spend loads and there is tons of stuff you feel you have to have but really don't need! I am lucky in that we live in a wealthy area and the charity shops are really good for clothes on occasion, but my little one is really fussy about wheat she wears. I shop quite often on Ebay and in sales and of course you can resell stuff once you have finished with it. We sold on our cot, highchair and stair gates to friends and I have since sold my baby back pack and car seat to a work colleague. You don't have to have a fully decorated nursery and all the matching furniture etc which the baby doesn't care about anyway!

I asked advice from loads of friends with children about what they used and what was useless and made a wish list and shopped very carefully.

We went out a lot before my daughter was born and that naturally slowed down, so we had more money to play with. Buy the best buggy you can afford 'cos a good one (we had a mamas and papas) will last you right through. Think about whether you need one that is easy to get in and out of the car or whether you need a more solid one if you will walk a lot. You can get really good buggies that are suitable from birth but still quite small. Also, my daughter went straight from a cot to a full size single bed, I didn't bother with a junior bed at all.

isayoldchap

DjSatansfury wrote:

I generally do them for about £5

Is that you're sale price?

sonee2405

Join the boots parenting club and they will send out a welcome pack with vouchers and a magazine - at least you will get a few coupons and vouchers towards baby things and every little amount does help. It is worth popping into baby shops just to get an idea of what things cost and what you will require.For first time mums it does get difficult in deciding what the baby actually needs and what we think is so cute that we have to have but the best option is just to try and save an extra amount of money.

heather38

my baby is 9 weeks old and they don't need a lot although my house always seems to have stuff everywhere!!
people can be really generous, we were given a moses basket, travel cot, monitor and baby bouncer (although she hated it and we bought her a better one), you will need HUNDREDS of nappies believe me!! the newborn ones are always on some sort of offer as are wipes, don't bother with toiletries you will get loads of samples in the bounty packs and in the huggies packs from boots, there is a changing bag in there as well.
my PIL bought the pram (a travel system) and my parents bought the cotbet. the best thing we were given are muslin cloths i seem to get through loads in a day, and a grobag.
don't bother buying outfits just buy babygrows it is really hard to dress a newborn in clothes when they wriggle all over the place.
you will also need stuff for you, bras ( i went through 3 sizes in pregnancy alone and am on size 4 now i'm B/f) trousers with an elasticated waist (sexy!) didn't really bother with tops as non-pregnancy ones fitted fine, cheap pants for after the birth - paper ones are naff and uncomfy, maternity pads went through 7 packets of these, tens machine etc
we saved £3000 for my mat leave and havn't touched it yet due to careful planning and budgeting.
you will get £18 odd a week for child benefit (it's going up in april) prob child tax credits and if you get this you can apply for a sure start maternity grant which is £500 and you don't have to pay it back.
newborns don't need toys they can't play with them, when the time comes that they need then it seems to be christmas or easter and you will get given them, kenny has loads and is only 9 weeks!
if you think that you can never afford them then you will never have them.
heather