How do you finance your carseat purchases?

[soxthecatrules]

This is meant as a genuine question. Please don't send flames my way as I'm coming in peace. I've been reading posts ad naseum regarding carseats and there's one thing I'm not understanding. How can you guys afford these seats? I read posts like...we have 3 Marathons in this car and 2 Nautilus' and a Boulevard in the other car. I totally respect the fact that you're trying to keep your children as safe as possible. But, I read post after post about these high-end carseats and to be quite honest no family I know of IRL can afford this. So from a practical standpoint how were/did most of you come up with the funds to pay for these?

i.e....."soxthecatrules you could sell the Peg Perego highchair (bought at deep discount, could sell for nice profit) sitting in your dining room to help fund the DS' carseat purchase".

[tracymom1]

We bought ours on Craigslist. Check out resale shops in your area or online - just make sure the one you get doesn't have any recalls on it and it is not more than a couple of years old. Maybe put up a notice at your place of worship/grocery store/local community center that you are interested in some affordable, gently used baby gear. Its out there if you know where to look!!

[spedteacher30]

well, we bought ours slowly, over time.

We started with an infant seat that was handed down from my brother's family. We purchased an extra base.

When that seat was outgrown, we had a roundabout in one car and nothing in the other (i was home on maternity leave then). that roundabout was a gift at the baby shower from my parents.

then, when I was starting back to work/school, we purchased our next seat--a boulevard.

When the roundabout was outgrown, we used either part of my tax return or a mileage reimbursement check from work (can't remember) to purchase the Regent.

We need a new seat now to replace the Boulevard, but I am hoping to hold off until I get my tax return.

But, that being said, there are seats out there that are more affordable, and good, safe options. But, by spending a bit more money up front, you should be able to get away with fewer seats in the long run, thus either coming out even in the end or, hopefully, saving a little money.

By going with our Regent, we should only need to purchase a low back booster when our son has outgrown the regent, rather than having purchased a cheaper seat and potentially needing two or three more to get him to age 8.

[Drummer's Wife]

Do you get a tax refund? Just an idea since it's that time of year. We've
found a way to fit car seats into the budget when they were needed, including 2 Britax seats years ago. With four kids, we have bought over 12 car seats (I bought new infant car seats each time) and either saved up, or knew ahead of time they were going to be needed and came up with a plan. I'd sell other stuff (including diapers) if necessary. Like, I know I am going to need a new car seat when our Marathon expires the end of this year, so I will plan for it or buy it early when we have extra funds.

ETA: oh, and you don't need high-end, expensive car seats. There are decent priced, just as safe versions available.

[ians_mommy]

I paid cash (i.e. debit card) for both of my Boulevard's...purchased from Amazon.
I am real and live in a real life, so I am not understanding the tone of your post.

ETA: If we do not simply have the extra cash for a large purchase, I plan ahead and put money aside out of the monthly budget until it is funded

[Herausgeber]

Our Graco infant seat was a generous shower gift. We now have a Roundabout ($150) and a Boulevard ($225). The Roundabout was cheaper, but in the long run, the less-frugal purchase. DD has outgrown it, in terms of height, at all of 26 months.

Car seats haven't been an especially problematic part of our post-child budget. I could buy 5 Roundabouts per month for what I pay in child care. And it's not like the seats were a surprise expense. We budgeted for them. We'll reuse them all for at least 1 other child.

[Ruthla]

I've only purchased one carseat at a time, and always made these purchases in cash/debit card (or, if it was one of those months when I was relying on child support that wasn't paid, it went on a credit card, but I didn't spend any more than I should have gotten in CS that month.)

When pregnant, I saved up money for various baby items (plus I got a few gifts.) When toddlers/older kids outgrew carseats, I saved up the money for a new seat, starting when the child started to outgrow the old one. I've never had one of those super-expensive carseat brands; when DS was outgrowing his infant seat, I went out of my way to locate the least expensive convertible seat with a 5 pt harness (at that point, the overhead shields were still popular) and ended up purchasing one in a skanky big-box store that I didn't normally shop in.

When he outgrew that convertible seat (nearly age 5), I purchased the Graco Turbo Booster, which I plan to keep him in until he fits into the vehicle seatbelts. I did spend extra to NOT put him into a backless booster (which frugal friends had suggested to me) but, at the same time, I didn't think it was worth an extra $200 to keep a 5yo in a harness. Had he outgrown the convertible at age 3, I might have financed a Britax (ie: put it on a credit card and taken 6 months to pay it off.)

I was flabberghasted when I traveled with a friend, and she put her 2yo in a HBB and her 4yo in a backless booster. Yeah, both kids fit the height and weight requirements of the seats, but I'd thought they'd BOTH have been harnessed at those ages!

[soxthecatrules]

I think the issue (at least w/us) comes with planning ahead....I've learned more about carseats in the last month than the rest of my life combined. A year and a half ago we thought our ComfortSport was a good carseat. Now we're in a situation where we need to buy a seat for DS and really don't have the time to set back the money little by little. And, to be quite honest, I've never been "around" people who care so much about carseats. In our neck of the woods people just go to WallyWorld or wherever and pick the most reasonable seat off the shelf w/o much thought to extended RF or how long the seat will last. Most around here don't seem to care all that much as long as their children are strapped into a seat. I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule as I don't want to put all parents in the same category.

Planning seems to be the key.

[amis2girls]

tax refund here

[MichelleAnnette]

We only have 1 family car and then a commuter car that dh drives to work so we don't have a carseat in the second car. We have a Blvd, which was a gift from the grandparents, but we would have easily bought it if we had needed to and we're not exactly rich. We'll be buying another seat in about 6 months. It's cheap compared to what we pay for homebirth! I'm a SAHM so we have no need to have carseats in 2 different cars.

[Friday13th]

I planned ahead and got them on sale. I got my True Fit for $100 and my Marathon for $200 over the course of a year. It's a big, important thing to me, to have carseats that I can install easily and are easy to use correctly, every time (I have an Uptown that I found my husband wasn't using correctly, it was worth it to me to upgrade to a seat I knew he would use correctly) I would save or use a credit card to get a carseat I LOVED and would last until booster age.

And carseats are pretty much the only thing I would never buy used. I would rather a $50 Scenera than a carseat who's history I did not know firsthand.

I also think Michelle has a good point, I'd pay out of pocket for a homebirth even if it meant selling things or saving for years. Carseats are of equal importance to me.

[amandaleigh37]

We only have one child (another on the way) and no need for seats in multiple cars - so even though we are low-income, it was important enough to me to find a way to get a good seat (and by that I don't mean a super-expensive one, we got a TrueFit). I watched for a sale and got the one I wanted, using some money we got for Christmas.

[LiLStar]

I watch for sales and coupons when I can. For dd's marathon I had a 20% off coupon for BRU that we used. For the new baby I just watched sales and did lots of froogle searches for the seat I wanted and managed to find it on sale with a 20% off coupon to go with it. That..was a very nice find From a totally obscure site that I'd never heard of in my life (sells medical supplies, so not the kind of place most would go looking for baby items) but froogle is *awesome*

[ryansma]

Originally Posted by LiLStar

I watch for sales and coupons when I can. For dd's marathon I had a 20% off coupon for BRU that we used. For the new baby I just watched sales and did lots of froogle searches for the seat I wanted and managed to find it on sale with a 20% off coupon to go with it. That..was a very nice find From a totally obscure site that I'd never heard of in my life (sells medical supplies, so not the kind of place most would go looking for baby items) but froogle is *awesome*

We don't have to have another seat right now but there is a Buy Buy Baby opening in our area and they sent a 20% off coupon so I am researching which to get (we have a snugride and Boulevard right now) and will only purchase it with coupon in hand

[Indigomama]

Right now I'm expecting any day now.

I did get an used car seat from a trusted friend that is infant so I don't have to buy. One of the items on my baby list was the britax marathon with the notation... clearly this is expensive but very important to me to have a good quality car seat... if you did give me any gift cards, etc... at babies r us/toys rus.. this is what I'd buy.

I ended up getting 125... and I'll spend the remaining after the next 15%, etc comes around on car seats from the store. I wish I had done that the first child around... I overspent the marathon easily between all the car seats I bought because frankly I found they didn't last or didn't fit the entire weight range specified very well. Also.. I commute and I choose to have child care closer than farther than work so it's inevitable that sometimes we're eating/drinking in the car. The marathon is completely and easily washable. All fabric comes off and you can hose down the rest. Unfortunately, I just got rid of my first marathon to my sister in law/brother before i found out i was unexpectantly pregnant. It easily could have lasted another child.

[alegna]

I watch for sales like crazy.

We don't have extra seats (didn't even have a seat for dd in the other car until she was 4yrs old)

We don't buy many other big ticket "baby items" (no crib, no bassinet, no crib sheets, no nursery stuff, high chair $40 from IKEA, swing was a gift, etc)

Save ahead.

Plan ahead (tax refund etc)

Plan long-lasting seats.

-Angela

[Pumpkin_Pie]

I have a Marathon that was gifted to me from a trusted friend, and prior to that, I had a Snugride that I bought with help from shower money. I will eventually have to buy one more seat for DS (he has an insanely long torso), but I am hopeful that I will have enough saved by then.

[soxthecatrules]

Thanks to all who have replied. Its always interesting to see how people save. I've been thinking tonight that we could take money from our garage sale planned for early May along w/selling our beloved Prima Pappa highchair. DS MIGHT be okay in his ComfortSport until then and DD will definitely be okay in her Snugride until then. DS is just slightly below or right at the height limit in his CS. I'll watch for sales in the mean time. I spied some Britax seats $100 off earlier today.

[mommy2maya]

I wouldn't feel like you need a britax. The nautilus is much cheaper and lasts a good long time! Then your baby can ride in the comfortsport.

We have gotten our seats mostly on year end clearance sales, which makes the price of two marathons easier to swallow.

Also, we only have seats for my car, just switch them if needed

[MacKinnon]

We bought ours on great sales, coupled with extra savings knowing that we needed new ones and the sales were coming (Britax has historically done semi-annual sales). I didn't start with Britax seats either but when I realized I could have bought one for the chepaer seats that kept needing replacing, I bit the bullet! And then we handed DD's down to DS, and bought her a new one, and then a second for DS, it's been gradual over the last 5 years and well planned for