Frugal Ways to PREPARE for Baby in Tight Economy - Page 2

[eirual]

Originally Posted by Crunchy*VT*Mom

I wouldn't buy anything until you are pregnant, then when you have that big baby belly announcing what is in your future...people will start to offer you stuff.

Until then, just stockpile the money in an emergency fund like a PP mentioned. It will be more urgent to have cash if you need it than to have a houseful of baby items.

Good luck to you!!!!

:

I would save your money until you KNOW what you need in the moment. Otherwise you may be wasting money on things that you really don't need down the road.

[Azuralea]

I think if you had your emergency fund depleted by a pet, I would do a few things:

1. Create as much of an EF as you can, because pets are costly and so you will be withdrawing more than most.

2. Consider splitting a portion of the EF to only post-baby funds. I think the most valuable frugal thing a family can do pre-baby is build up financial reserves. You don't want to be in a position of having to unexpectedly go back to work, or have to move, etc. if something happens and the main breadwinner loses a job. That cushion relieves a lot of stress.

[caedmyn]

I'd definitely recommend hitting garage sales now and looking for baby clothes. I generally get 4-5 pieces of clothing for $1, so you can build a good wardrobe quickly & cheaply even if you're picky (I am--no stains and 100% cotton). It's harder to find unisex clothes, but you can either buy some for each gender, or just look for unisex and buy more once you're pregnant and find out the gender or the baby's born, depending on the time of year.

I'd recommend researching the different types of cloth diapers and figuring out what sounds best to you. Prefolds & covers are definitely cheapest, but more of a hassle. And it is possible to buy used fitted diapers for not much more than prefolds, especially in the newborn size. As PPs have said, www.diaperswappers.com is a great place to get your diapers! Also, I personally wouldn't buy more than newborn and maybe small size diapers at first unless you're only buying prefolds and covers. There's a fair chance you won't like whatever diapers you start with, and if that happens, IMO it's a lot easier to find some new (used) diapers to try for the next size than to sell & then replace S, M, & L sizes of diapers if you've stocked up for all the way through. Although if you get a great deal on something it might be worth buying bigger sizes

[papschmitty]

Originally Posted by dogmom327

Research which car seat you will want (I recommend Britax) and keep your eye out for a sale. They rarely go on sale (maybe once a year?) so if you see a sale, buy one.

Elite Carseats is having a sale on Britax right now but only through June 29th. We bought both of our Britax seats there. They have great customer service and tons of reviews. We have been sooooo pleased with our Britax carseats. I'm pg again and will probably be purchasing another during this sale.