Save for the future

 

A baby is expensive no doubt
about it. There are plenty of items to buy and spend money on so it is important
to save on those areas wherever possible. It is important to buy a save car seat
and pram, but are new brand clothes really necessary? These are going to be worn
a couple of times and unless you are rich it is a luxury. A child grows quickly,
and with a child its demands. We can’t expect to fulfil a child’s every wish but
need to learn to prioritise. It is important to save for the important things in
life from which your child will benefit long- term such as a child’s education
or maybe you want to help to finance your child’s house. So does your baby
really care whether it wears the latest fashion or whether its clothes are
second hand? If it is possible to save on those why not take the opportunity?
There will be enough events coming up in your baby’s life where you can or even
will have to spend!

Be organised

If your baby is about to arrive get organised and inform yourself of what is really needed. You want to purchase the best and most for your money and shouldn’t waste it on items you are not going to use.



So make a list of all items you need, and shop around it. Compare prices, watch out of sales and consider buying second hand clothes.



And don’t forget your family and friends as a valuable source for baby cloths and toys. Ask for items you need and accept the offers. You always can return them after you finished with them.


Family and friends will want to give you lots of birth presents. Once you got your list you will always have something to answer if someone asks you about what you want. 

Food

Food is essential for your baby and you would want to give them the best. Luckily the healthier and better food is much cheaper than, let’s say, worse food. Breastfeeding, if possible, is the best decision. Not only should the various health benefits for your baby make it attractive for you to start, but you also will save a lot of money on formula, bottles and all the devices needed for this purpose. Even at the later stages preparing your own baby food is much, much cheaper and much healthier. Even the healthiest and best brand baby food will have some sort of nasty stuff in it. How otherwise are you able to keep it for say six months (of course without opening it)? Preparing tasty and healthy baby food is not as hard and time consuming as many assume to be. How hard can it be puree a cooked apple and pear? I recommend the Annabel Karmel book, it has a great variety of different recipe for different stages and gives advice on how and when to start. If you don’t want to pay the full price buy it second hand or get hold of a copy from your library.


There are of course plenty of websites offering you great advice and recipes for free.

I like these both sites: wholesomebabyfood and annabelkarmel, which has quite a lot in common with the content of some of the books.

Instead of buying unhealthy snacks switch to healthier options such as vegetables sticks with dips, fruit pieces, rice cakes, cheese and dried fruits.

 

Clothes

Shopping for cute baby clothes is a great treat for many mums, which enjoyed too often, gets expensive.  From my own experience I know that a baby doesn’t require a lot of clothes to be happy. It is easy to buy too many items which are worn only once or even never. So whenever possible you should try to get and borrow free clothes from family and friends. A baby grows so quickly meaning he doesn’t really need to own clothes for such a short period of time. You can save those cash for the later stages.



Buying second hand clothes is another great option for you to save money. Remember your baby just needs a few clothes for a short period of time and will wear his clothes only a couple of times. You will need to change his wardrobe often as your baby grows quickly so spent wise.  This is the time for you to save on his wardrobe.


Even when your child is a bit older buy the clothes when on sale. Buy the clothes in a slightly bigger size so your child can wear it as long as possible.

 

Diapers

Throughout the baby years you will spent a fortune on nappies, but there are a few tricks how to reduce the cost of it. Firstly, you can use non-disposable nappies. They will be cheaper in the long run and seem to be environmental friendlier. It will work out cheaper even more if you plan to use them for another child. Make sure to get the information about all the essentials for it and the proper use of it, such as the washing methods. Bear in mind that though that using the  laundry service for the nappies is not cost effective . You can get the potty training done as early as possible. No one says it is easy to get a baby used to a potty but it is amazing how much they understand from an early stage. My daughter is getting a nappy only for the night- at an age of 20 months! To be completely honest with you the whole credit for this effort goes to my mum. How lucky am I? Well, for some it might sound unbelievable and amazing, for others it might seem a little late. That’s the difference in many countries, in some parts of the world children start to get used to the toilet from as early as possible while in others it is left to the very last. Growing up myself in Europe but being married to a Chinese I have the privilege to experience the most different views on this point. If you decide to potty train you child from an older age you can switch to less expensive nappy brands for the day when the skin is less sensitive. Did you know that you can even make your own wipes? Not only will you know what’s inside but it will work out cheaper too. For this purpose you can create disposable and non disposable wipes. For the disposable wipes use normal facial tissues and flannels or cotton clothes make great non disposable ones.



Get an empty spray bottle and put a mixture of water, baby oil, and shampoo inside. Each time you need a wipe, spray this mixture on your tissues or the square clothes.
 

Toys/ Books

Once again borrow and get as much free stuff as possible from your family and friends. Consider buying second hand. There are some toys your child is not going to touch while others might seem interesting only for a couple of days- so why waste money on those?

Rotate the toys
Hide the half of the toys and get them out a couple of weeks later while hiding the other half. Rotating the toys means you have less mess to clean up and your child will be always excited to have some new toys to play with.



And finally resell unwanted toys! You will help others to save while earning a bit of cash.

Library
Don’t forget your library as a great source for new books and toys. That’s also a great way to find out which toys are really enjoyed and are worth purchasing.

Baby clubs
You probably have heard it a couple of thousand times so one more time is not going to hurt: make the most of freebies and coupons.



It really pays of and you can actually save quite a bit. Buy those nappies when on sale or offer. Bring those coupons with you to the store which can save you some cash on nappies. It is really worth looking out for offers and take advantage of the coupons.

To receive the coupons you should join baby clubs.

Another great way to obtain coupons and free samples is by asking your favourite company directly via an e-mail. Just tell them how much you love and enjoy their product, and they will be more than happy to send them to you.

Babysitter

Sorry, you can’t get those on sale or with coupons nor can you get it second hand. But what you can do is quitting them and exchange babysitting hours with friends or family.