The following is a guest post. If you are interested in guest posting please contact me for details.
In honor of Glen and his wife having their first child, I thought it would be appropriate to offer some useful tips on saving money in the first year of a child life. As a father of three young kids, I learned the hard way from some costly money mistakes. The one that jumps out at me, and still stings a little bit, is the purchase of a $350 Peg Perego stroller when a $35 umbrella stroller would have served us just fine. So with that in mind, here are a few easy ways for first time parents to reduce their costs.
Don’t Hire a Photographer
I have known many young couples who have hired an expensive professional photographer soon after their first child was born to take family portraits. We are talking about a $300 sitting fee in addition to the expensive individual prints. I totally understand the desire to capture the early moments of a child’s life, but the costs associated with a photographer can be avoided. For example, my wife and I have a good friend that is a talented amateur photographer who offered to help us take some photos with his SLR digital camera. We jumped all over his offer and saved a ton of money in the process. We ended up giving him a nice gift card to a local restaurant as our “thank you”.
If you don’t have a friend who can take pictures for you, use the photo department at your local department store. They typically offer money saving coupons for both the sitting fee and the photographs. We have done this in recent years with great success.
Buy Used Baby Gear When Possible
My wife and I have easily saved $1,000 over the years by purchasing items used versus buying brand new. Shop at yard sales, thrift stores, and online auctions sites like ebay and Craiglist to score bargains on strollers, books, bedroom furniture, outside toys like wagons and play structures, and gently used clothing. TIP: Never buy an infant car seat or restraint device used as the integrity of the seat can be compromised when involved in an automobile accident. Always buy new. Conversely, never attempt to sell an infant seat after your child has outgrown it.
Needs Vs. Wants
The biggest money mistake my wife and I made when expecting our first child was buying or registering for every little gadget and gizmo that we thought we might possibly need. As it turned out, we didn’t use many of the items we bought or we already owned a product that did the job just as well. Instead, I recommend expecting parents to only buy the essentials to start and once the child comes they’ll quickly be able to distinguish between needs and wants and spend money accordingly.
Having your first child is a very exciting time. It can also be a very stressful time financially and emotionally as you adjust to some major changes in your lifestyle. I remember coming from the hospital with this tiny, helpless, human being praying there was an instructional manual attached somewhere. Hopefully these tips will help alleviate some of the financial pressures associated with your first child, or any child for that matter.
Reader Question
What other opportunities for savings would you add to my post? I look forward to your comments and thanks to Glen for the opportunity to guest post.
Kyle James operates a website called Rather-Be-Shopping.com which specializes in helping consumers save with online coupons, printable coupons, and frugal living tips to help save money in everyday life. He also has developed a free iPhone app so you save money with coupons on the go.
This is all great info and completely true. Plus, you don’t need all the extras like diaper genies and wipe warmers. You actually need very little- a crib, clothes, diapers, food, bottles.
Holly@ClubThrifty recently posted..Extreme Hoarding: Pregnancy Edition…..and a Giveaway!
True Dat! The rest is nice little luxuries that often aren’t worth the price tag.
Kyle @ Rather-Be-Shopping.com recently posted..Frugal Hack #6: Go Social and Save Money
Diapers! Load up when they’re on sale. Those things are like buying gold…
AverageJoe recently posted..5 Ways to Save Money While Grocery Shopping
Good point. Diapers have a great shelf life don’t they. With our 3rd child we started buying Costco brand and were happy with them.
Kyle @ Rather-Be-Shopping.com recently posted..Frugal Hack #6: Go Social and Save Money
Great tips. Love the one about buying used. When our 2nd child was a baby, we bought a used double-burley stroller/jogger that was in great shape for $225. We sold it several years and 2 more kids later for $200. If you buy quality used stuff and take good care of it, you can do real well money-wise.
Laurie @thefrugalfarmer recently posted..Mom’s Spanish Rice
So basically you rented it for several years for $25, that is awesome!
Great tips Kyle! I can attest to buying used, especially on gear (not the car seat) and clothing when it’s gently used. They grow out of the stuff so quickly that it makes no sense to buy everything new. I could not agree more on the photographer, though we have a very good friend who is one. We exchange business services and we get the pictures for free.
John S @ Frugal Rules recently posted..Giveaway: An Online Shopping Tool for Frugal Shoppers
Totally John. They grow out of stuff way before they wear it out at that age. So the used stuff is usually in great shape.
We only bought two items new: a gorgeous cherry-wood crib that converts to a bed, and an infant-to-toddler car seat. (Both were gifts from our baby shower, however.) Everything else we managed to buy used, and nearly in pristine condition. I cannot believe the bags and bags filled with of barely-used baby clothes at consignment shops that folks are desperate to unload, usually for just a few bucks.
Jennifer Lynn @ Broke-Ass Mommy recently posted..Hello. I’m still here. We’re up and running, again.
My father-in-law and I actually made the crib that all 3 of our kids used. Not only did it save us money but it has a lot of sentimental value now. If you are handy at all with wood, you can make some neat toys and blocks for your kids too.
Whatddaya mean kids don’t need thousand dollar stroller thingies? You must be kidding!
I think lots and lots of people get caught up because they don’t want to not have the things they may need, instead of waiting to see what they really do need.
Anne @ Unique Gifter recently posted..$500 Giveaway and Savings Tips!
So true. Some of these stroller things I see for sale these days cost more than my first car!
If you can keep reoccurring costs down — or cut them out completely — you can save a lot of money in your baby’s first year. My wife and I use cloth diapers and make our own baby food. She’s also still breastfeeding our son, and we don’t plan on using formula any time soon. Really, the only thing that we have to buy for our baby on a regular basis are wipes. Off the top of my head, I couldn’t tell you how much we’re saving every month, but I’m sure we’d notice the difference in our wallets if we had to start buying these things regularly!
Ruser S recently posted..Questions for new investors
Good points Ruser. My wife and I did the cloth diapers for our first child. It was too much work with our second and we quickly went to disposables. Have to factor in your time and energy costs to clean them, but I think it was a money saver. Biggest reason I liked them was because it almost eliminated diaper rash.
Kyle @ Rather-Be-Shopping.com recently posted..Frugal Hack #6: Go Social and Save Money
We have to be a couple of the luckiest people alive. Our bes t friends had a little boy about 6 months before us, so they have literally been giving us all his hand me downs. Which we are going to end up giving to my sister for her little boy (with permission from our friends of course).
We also go really lucky that my wife’s cousin is a professional photographer and pretty much refuses to take any pay to photograph our little guy.
Of the things we have actually purchased it has always been used or from a friend who gave us a deal. I’m so luck this worked out, because when we went to the baby store I damn near had a heart attack when I saw how expensive a stroller was!
Double score Brian. We have friends with kids just younger than ours and they get a lot of our stuff and they LOVE it! And the old saying of “give and you shall receive” always holds true for us.
Hiring a photographer is definitely expensive. I bought an SLR camera myself and learned some tips from youtube and sites like lynda.com. The pics turned out great!
Boris @Cheapnfrugal recently posted..Five Reasons Why I don’t Squidoo Anymore (And Why You Should Not Either)
Kyle, you are everywhere today! I don’t have a kid but read an interesting blog of a mum who was really broke, and had made a crib in her upper drawer and all kind of crafty stuff like that. I’d like my kid to have a bed but apart from love and food I don’t think they need as much as parents think they do.
Pauline recently posted..Save money with online shopping and a $500 giveaway!
I know right? Kind of weird how the giveaway went live the same day as two guest posts that I wrote. We have some friends who used a dresser drawer for a crib while the husband built a crib in the apartment living room! Not sure I could go that far but hats off to them.
I don’t have kids yet, but I love these tips! It’s scary to think that people would actually buy a used safety seat…no way, Jose!
The Happy Homeowner recently posted..Saving Money While Shopping…And a $500 Giveaway!
I know huh. I think parenting and child birthing classes are finally getting the word out that it is a bad idea.
Great tips. We don’t have any kids yet but you can bet we will be looking on line for second hand items and going to garage sales, church sales or wherever we can to save some money. You don’t always need the fancy stuff it’s mostly money sucking at best.
Canadian Budget Binder recently posted..Shopping Tips We Use To Save Money
I should also mention that children’s books are best bought at thrift stores and garage sales. Pennies on the dollar. We have a ton of great books and I don’t think we bought a single one brand new.
Nice article Kyle. I totally agree on buying used baby gear, in a matter of minutes the new stuff is destroyed anyhow as kids aren’t exactly “neat and clean”
Jason Clayton | frugal habits recently posted..5 Ways I save Money Shopping Online + a $500 CASH Giveaway!
Oh wow, the stories I could tell. We bought some bedroom furniture new for our daughter when she was 3, learned the hard way from that decision.
Good points and I’d also suggest not purchasing much at all in the early days as family and friends will be flooding you with items. Often times you’ll find that you may end up with so many clothes that your child will grow out of them before getting a chance to wear them.
Rich recently posted..Surviving a Crunch: Money Saving Tips That Count
Good point Rich. Which is why you’ll often find children’s clothing at the thrift store with the original price tag still on it.
Don’t be afraid of hand-me-downs. Most of my wardrobe as a child were handed down to me from my older cousin and I loved wearing his stuff. I thought it was cool that I was just like him.
Plus kids are just going to ruin their clothing anyways so you won’t feel as guilty about it.
Justin@TheFrugalPath recently posted..5 Tips for Turning Junk into Cash
Absolutely Justin. We have some friends that have a boy a few years younger than our son and we give them hand-me-downs all the time. Now whenever I see their son he is wearing something that I instantly recognize and usually brings back a flood of good memories!
I totally agree on the photographer tip, that can get really expensive depending on where you go. However we do like to get are kids newborn, 6 month, and 1 year pictures done and the photographer we use does a great job but we often times only order just what we need and not the package deals since they can get fairly pricey.
Don’t let salespeople make you feel bad if you don’ t buy all the crap that is available. When your pregnant, you are so emotional. I almost had a meltdown in Babies R Us because it was overwhelming. You really don’t need that much until they are up and moving. Then it’s nice to have toys , but babies don’t know if they are new or used.
Kim@Eyesonthedollar recently posted..Using Coupons to Save Money-$500 Giveaway
Garage sales and thrift shops have a lot of interesting baby products for sale. You don’t need to think about quality too because they have really great stuff. It’s one easy way to save up your money with your first baby.
You forgot the diapers, dude! Try doing a cost analysis between cloth and disposable…it’s worth the check!
Tony@YouOnlyDoThisOnce recently posted..On Conquering Self Doubt (and some great weekend reads)
Our son is now 2 and we thought about the photographer, but as everyone in the family was, (and still) takes pics of him constantly, I set up a private wordpress blog instead, and we all post them on there, so we can all see and share them, even with relatives overseas.
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