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Preparing for Baby on a Budget

By: Sommer | January 18, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

The two things people mention most when they notice I’m having a baby are 1) don’t expect to sleep much and 2) raising kids is expensive. The latest government data says that a family with an average annual income of $59,300 will spend $197,700 on that child between birth and age 17! Since we’re only in the preparation stage, I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Lately though, we’ve been saving every penny so I can take some time off work after the birth. But, since there’s now a never ending list Man and woman shopping for baby cradles in a mall. of things to shop for it’s hard to save! Baby prep checklists include the crib and nursery furniture, car seat, stroller, highchair, clothes, toys and more. A friend said baby gear could cost up to $5,000! I feel like the billion-dollar-baby-products industry lurks around every corner waiting to reel me in.

Here’s what we’ve done so far to cut costs:

Focused on our own baby spending values rather than what the baby industry says.
No extravagant nursery theme. I’ll wait to decorate the room until our son gets a little older since we’ll keep his crib in our room at first.
We’ll use the crib my sister slept in as a baby (yes, I checked, and it meets the crib safety standards set out by the CPSC). We will buy a new mattress, though.
Instead of buying a dresser and changing table I’m using two dressers we already own. One will hold our son’s clothing and the other will have a changing pad on top.

Who knows, maybe by cutting these costs we’ll save enough money to start a 529 plan for our son. Since we’re on a budget I’d rather he get a college education than that $800 stroller I love but he’ll never remember.

I’d love to hear any tips you have on how you saved money when preparing for your newborn! Please leave your suggestions in the comments.