In the past month, since giving birth to our son, my husband has asked me on several occasions, “What happened to my frugal wife?” And I say to him, “I had a baby.” That’s right, having a baby has brought out the worst anti-frugal tendencies in me. And if you’ve ever had a newborn you probably understand and have uttered these phrases:
“I need it NOW!”
When your baby is fussy you’ll do anything, BUY anything that will soothe him.
“I don’t care, whatever’s easy.”
Time is a precious commodity that you have very little of. Convenience is king. And anything that will save you time and make life easier is worth its weight in gold.
So have I gone off the deep end into spending oblivion? Thankfully, NO. There are a couple things we did in preparation for the baby that have kept us in check.
We got advice in advance – When planning the nursery and getting ready for the arrival of our baby, we spoke with a lot of other parents to figure out what we really needed for our baby. We focused on getting those things and avoiding all of the fancy furniture and gadgets that Babies R Us would have you believe you can’t live without.
We made Craigslist our go to resource for baby gear – There are a lot of great deals on gently used baby gear to be found on Craigslist. For example, we got our crib and mattress for $60. If we bought new we would have paid a minimum of $400. We also found a practically unused breast pump for $100 that sells for $300 brand new.
We stocked our freezer – I had a feeling that I wouldn’t feel like cooking the first few weeks after having the baby. Let me just say that is the understatement of the century. So I’m glad I spent the last two months of my pregnancy batch cooking meals that we could easily re-heat. We also stocked our freezer with items like chicken and steaks that are easy to thaw and throw on the grill. This has saved us from spending $$$ on take out.
We let friends and family help – I’ve always been reluctant to accept gifts. For this reason I didn’t have a bridal shower and we requested no presents at our wedding reception. But we found that our friends and family really wanted to help us in preparing for the baby and we also realized that we needed all the help we could get. So we agreed to let our family throw us a baby shower. Between hand-me-downs and shower gifts we were completely outfitted with everything we needed. We even received things that we didn’t know we would need until after we had the baby and realized why it was useful.
Even with all of this we weren’t 100% prepared. But we were in much better shape thanks to a little planning and a lot of help from friends and family.
A month into life with a new baby we’ve found our groove and have gotten past that panicky stage where I’m declaring “I need it NOW!” And Mrs. Frugal is once again…frugal.
Hi, I’m Cathy! I’m a former career-driven professional turned stay-at-home mom. Living on one salary has its challenges, but it is possible to live the good life while spending less. Cool to be Frugal is all about how we’re thriving, not just surviving, on a single income.
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I was super broke when I had both my babies (now 9 and 22). For each, I probably spent about $200 total – including cloth diapers! for the whole set up. I think what you’ll find is that they (unfortunately) keep you home, so whatever costs you had for going out etc. kind of get channeled into the kid so it offsets itself somewhat.
I think whether kids cost a lor more or not depends on whether you’re going back to work – that’s the real budget killer. I still have nightmares at the cost of daycare for a young one.
Jacq @ Single Mom Rich Mom´s last [type] ..Food – Cheap AND Healthy
When I had my babies, I don’t think I cared if I was being frugal. I just wanted to get through each day!!
Even though my babies are teenagers now, I have found they sometimes kill my frugality because we are just so busy. When I have time to plan, we save tons of money. When I am racing around like an idiot to all their activities, planning goes out the door and I have to feed crabby people ASAP.
Congrats again on that baby. Babies are wonderful!!
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Mrs. Frugal, I know just where you’re coming from. We have been succombing to take-out and overpaying for critical “unplanned” baby accessories. We’re just getting back into our groove now though. Man, Babies R Us has such a tight grip on a lucrative market!
Car Negotiation Coach´s last [type] ..Win 200 Worth of Car Buyer Coaching Sessions
Wow- congrats again on delivering a baby AND maintaining a blog (seriously that is some feat- I don’ tknow how you did it!)
Thanks for sharing your experience post baby birthing, good to know what to expect when the time comes for me =) (not until a few years down the road)
Enjoy your baby time! I’m sure in a few months you two will be amazed at how fast your baby Frugal is growing!
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