Having a Baby

Babies are beautiful, loveable, and adorable. Their arrival is a joyful experience for every family. It’s too bad that they are so expensive to maintain. Think about it. The up-front, one-time costs for furniture and special appliances are considerable, and ongoing expenditures for consumables like diapers, formula, wipes, oils, powders, and clothes never seem to end.

Most items that parents buy for their babies are necessities. Using them cannot be avoided without depriving the baby of needed care. The secret to saving money on expenditures for the baby is not to cut back on what’s needed, but to get what’s needed at less cost without impacting quality. It can be done. It simply takes time, research, patience, and persistence. Consider the following helpful hints.

Think Before You Buy

Saving money on any purchase involves primarily two considerations: what brand do you buy and where do you buy it? Fulfilling the initial one-time needs such as a crib, bureau, changing table, and stroller usually allows time for shopping for best brand, quality, and price as well as deciding upon new or used items. When shopping for the ongoing consumable items, however, the money saving process usually falls victim to the everyday rush.

Modern parents are busy people; oftentimes two career families. Limited time often prompts one to go to a convenience store to pick up needed diapers or formula that is running out. These stores do provide convenience, but at a very steep price, often with an increase of 150% or more over the price at a supermarket or big box store. Become a logistician. Think about what you need on a regular basis and plan your purchases ahead of time to avoid the last minute purchase of overpriced products.

Do You Really Need what You Just Bought?

Without a plan for what your baby needs and how often he needs it, you become a victim of impulse buying. Do you really required a car seat for both family cars, or could you easily move the one seat from vehicle to vehicle? Is a playpen really necessary or even desirable? Do you really think that the baby will care if you buy store brand diapers, lotions, and wipes? Unless it’s a minor emergency, plan your purchases. Consider alternatives before you buy any products for the baby. Never replace a broken appliance or item of baby furniture until you are convinced that it cannot be repaired at less cost.

Parents, especially first-timers, tend to create the perfect nursery from a picture in a magazine, without realizing that the magazine picture was placed there to get you to replicate those items in your nursery, whether you needed them or not. If you want to see a selection of nursery items that weren’t really needed, attend a yard sale of someone who had a toddler and notice what items of nursery furniture are being sold off at bargain prices.

Many parents find the changing table to be unnecessary, being easily replaced by a combination dresser and changing table or a specially designed changing tray that can be attached to a dresser. Families with two cars soon find that it would have been a lot cheaper to move one car seat for car to car when necessary than to have two car seats, where one is seldom used. These are items that have been commonly recognized as unnecessary, but there are many more that you’ll discover if you think about it.

There is Nothing Wrong with Used Furniture

Except for cribs, which must meet very critical government standards to ensure the safety and security of the baby, most other nursery furniture and accessories can be purchased used. Craigslist is an excellent source for useful items that are usually located in or adjacent to your community. The advantage of items listed on Craigslist is that you have the opportunity to see and examine the items before you buy. EBay also offers excellent bargains. With eBay, however, most purchases must be delivered before you can examine them. It’s a minor inconvenience if you’re dissatisfied with the items, but there is an excellent return guarantee. Both Craigslist and eBay offer a wide range of baby furniture items and clothing at bargain prices.

If you are fortunate enough to have a Goodwill or Salvation Army store in your community, use this excellent resource, especially for good quality baby clothes. Why pay top dollar at the department store when these little used items from top manufacturers are available at a fraction of the cost.

Buy Consumables in Bulk

Sam’s Club, Costco, and BJs are a blessing for parents who are wise shoppers. Each of these big box stores offers bulk quantities of consumables. Items such as disposable diapers, formula, baby food, cereal, and baby wipes are available at deep discounts. Buy in bulk and save big time.

Baby’s can be expensive, but the cost of needed items, whether one-time purchases or often used consumables, can be significantly reduced if you’re a prudent shopper who plans ahead.

This article is from Laura Cecil, who works for livesnet.com, a site that reviews the hot products and provides the good parenting tips. Babies are expensive while parents are trying to give them the best. If you are interested in more tips on how to save money on baby essentials, you can read this article on how to buy newborn essentials.