Financial Preparations for a baby

[radwife]

What are your tips and suggestions for financially preparing for a baby?

From searching online there was a lot of talk about preparing a will, life insurance, checking with your health insurance coverage, thinking about daycare/nanny/stay at home, etc. What other recommendations do you have?

To have a baby on the cheap (i.e. on a resident's salary), what baby items do you think are absolute necessities? Crib, diapers, bottles, formula? What else? What are your one time vs. monthly baby expenses.

It's a bit sad for me to toss aside my vision of a super cutely decorated baby room. You really can't do that in an apartment and if we waited until we could afford it my biological clock will be expired... My baby's crib will be sitting next to the printer in the den/2nd bedroom/baby room. I'll most likely be paying bills and changing diapers on the same table.

Help me out iMSN friends! How can I budget for a baby?

[moonlight]

I can post more when I get the baby down for a nap... but I just wanted to say: Healthy Saving Plans/Health reimbursement Accounts can be a Live Saver!

Our insurance deductable is $500 per person. There was no way I had the extra money each month to pay all those copays, medications, hospital copays, all the over the counter baby stuff.. etc etc etc The best thing I did was put 2K in the Healthy Savings Account. A little bit comes out of each of DH's paychecks. I can spend more than the current account balance. And they gave us a Visa debit card that makes it easy to use at the store, the doctor's office, or other bills.

Another thing to remember... any money you put into that account is Pre-Tax/un-taxed money!

[scrub-jay]

Don't give up on the cute room! I thought the same thing, but we were able to decorate on the cheap (think Ross)! Yes, our desks migrated to a corner of the living room to create a makeshift nursery (in the once guest room/office), and our office closet really needs sorting before she acquires clothes of her own...

The "baby stuff" - crib, changing table, bottles, etc... most of that comes together (especially hand-me-down clothes). For me, the most important consideration was health insurance. DH is an MS1 and although we could get coverage through him, we are all on my work plan as it covers way more. Also - the SAHM/daycare/nanny/home daycare - this is a big issue that you should talk about. We will be putting our daughter into daycare which I am not as comfortable with as I'd wish, but at this point, the health care insurance, one income, and avoiding "living off loans" are our key factors (DH is out-of-state which means close to $55k+/year).

Set a budget and stick to it. So far (and we haven't even given birth yet) our little one has sucked what excess money we have and we're okay with that. Depending on your work/income status, you may qualify for prenatal/birth medical coverage. CO has such a program, but as I had a job & insurance we didn't have to go that route.

Do I feel completely "financially prepared"? Nope. Not at all. I would love to have her college fund saved up completely as well as my and DH's retirement accounts on track - but alas, the medical training lifestyle will not allow for that. Were we going to wait until we were prepared? We decided no. It is an agonizing decision, but from our experience, we haven't regretted getting pregnant for a moment. To us, we are willing to make it work for her. I'll let you know how I feel after she is born.
Good luck!

[Vishenka69]

The absolute necessities are probably diapers, crib (mattress, sheets) and some basic clothes. Everything else is extra. I don't know how large your family is or how many friends you think are likely to get you something but you can also count on others to buy fun things such as toys and clothes. We ended up getting so much clothes as presents that I've started regifting and returning because she grows out of it before I get a chance to cut the tags.

Some unexpected savings - our health insurance reimburses for birthing/cpr/breastfeeding classes, we got lots of formula freebies in the mail/hospital/peds office, hospital also gave free diaper bag & cooler bag for bottles. We were also given lots of diapers and samples of various creams/lotions/baby wash&shampoo along with some blankets. Also don't forget to reach out to anyone you know with toddlers to see if they have anything they no longer need.

[Auspicious]

Check out craigslist, too. Babies are babies for such a short time that there's a lot of nearly new baby equipment for sale out there. We got our changing table, pack-n-play, and swing off craigslist, and there's other stuff I wish we'd gotten there. I'm in the camp of "don't buy a used car seat" though. We're also regulars at our local second-hand store.

Also, think about disability insurance. (I feel like some salesman for disability insurance on here, I mention it so much. Disabled husband is one of my scariest financial scenarios, though.)

[MrsK]

Health insurance/co-pays/deductables are the big thing. I actually had a loss of insurance coverage when we moved during my pregnancy. I was 29 weeks pregnant and thinking that if I gave birth in my living room, it would cost me less to replace the carpet than it would cost to go to a hospital uninsured.

As for the other stuff. Diapers are surprisingly expensive. Join all the huggies/pampers/babies r us clubs. Clip coupons for diapers too. Most of the other stuff you won't need right away so I'd take a see as you go approach. We got a lot of stuff that we never used (such as a zillion different types of bottles, pacifiers the baby won't use, a swing that he loved for about a month and now hates, etc.) and a million things were duplicated once he was born and people started sending gifts (burp cloths -- dish towels work just as well, blankets, photo albums, clothes, books, toys). Also, nearly everything goes on sale about a week or two AFTER you've bought it. We thought we needed a crib. Our baby is almost 4 months old and he's *just* started to sleep in it.

[SuzySunshine]

For your first child register, register, register - people are more then generous usually. And if things are going to be tight only register for the necessities and hope people stick to the list. You can also put diapers on your registry, a few boxes in the first couple of sizes is always good.

Formula, if you can't or won't breastfeed, and diapers really are the only necessities besides some basic clothes. In Minnesota a necessity also is one of those covers for your car seat because as you know it gets COLD!

Adele's nursery was nursery/office for over a year, I didn't feel like we had shorted her at all. Also, if you just pick colors for your nursery instead of a theme you can usually do it much cheaper. We picked Dr Seuss and received the bedding as a gift, everything else was just primary colors. The prints on the walls were from a calendar and I picked the 3 I liked best and framed them in cheap frames I bought at Micheal's.

As for a crib that is personal preference, you can buy a pack n'play and use that just as easily or a bassinet until they're about 3 months old or if you're going to co-sleep one of those co-sleep things for the bed. We got all of our furniture at Wal-Mart and it was cheaper then everywhere else we found, we had to assemble it but it really did look fine.

I second the insurance, most insurance will cover all well baby visits 100%, life insurance is good for both of you even though yours will probably be less don't skip it all together because your DH would need to pay to replace child care, home chores, etc. if something happened to you.

These are my favorite baby sites which have great sales or cheap prices or good tips usually:
http://www.coolmompicks.com/
http://www.askmoxie.org/
http://www.alphamom.com/
http://www.babysteals.com/
http://kids.woot.com/
http://www.kidsteals.com/
http://mommasaid.net/
http://babycheapskate.blogspot.com/

[Chrisada]

When people ask if you need anything for the baby tell them diapers and wipes! My dad still buys us diapers or wipes whenever he goes to Costco. Those are the best gifts ever. I found great things at used baby stores like Once Upon a Child. TJ Maxx also has high end brands for baby like Polo for pretty cheap.

[alison]

Are congratulations in order?

If I took a picture of dd's room, you all would laugh. It's an IKEA crib with a mattress, waterproof liner and mattress cover, an IKEA changing table, an old IKEA night stand, and a rocker that we bought at Pottery Barn Kids when we had a little bit of a windfall early in dh's fellowship. I didn't buy coordinating bumpers, curtains, garbage pails, or anything. And you know what? This girl has always napped and slept like a champ. I can't feel sorry for the lack of decor in her room, because she doesn't give two shits about it. We also didn't know we were having a girl, so I wasn't able to give dd one of the nurseries that looks like Strawberry Shortcake exploded in her room

the only thing I did was buy 4 letters at Pottery Barn Kids. I painted them pink, and there you go. Nursery.

Baby Bargains is a great book that JennP gave me. It explains how you don't need to buy everything right away. For instance, you can hold off on a high chair.

I'd skip newborn clothes. If you baby is born in the summer, like mine, it'll spend a lot of time naked or just in t-shirts/onesies and a diaper.

[houseelf]

I'd skip newborn clothes.

You will receive more clothes and receiving blankets than you can possibly use because this is what people tend to buy. ITA with the suggestions to register for the basics only. Things you absolutely do not need: changing table, baby bath, wipes warmer. I don't have a changing table for No. 3. I put a pad down on the floor or bed. I wash him in the sink or throw him in with dad in the shower. I think you can get by with either a swing or bouncer chair, but you don't need both. Once Upon a Child and Goodwill rocks. Seriously, who needs to store all that stuff anyway. I'm a Dawktor's wife (attending at that!) and a lot of DS's stuff is from Once Upon a Child.

I also might be tempted to not disclose gender so that you can reuse stuff from kid to kid.

Best of luck.

Kelly

[radwife]

Are congratulations in order?

I wish!! I have a severe case of baby fever! My boss is pregnant, my sister is having #2, one of my new friends over here is due next month, and every time I open facebook some one posts the most adorable new baby or belly pics. This weekend I found myself nesting...I sanded, primed, and re-painted a little end table and bookshelf for our someday baby room.

Thanks everyone for all of your advice! This is super helpful! Keep it coming.

[MrsK]

As for newborn clothes. . . I would get some but you don't need much and you don't need to spend a lot. Everyone sends 3-9 month sized clothes. Our little guy would have gone naked until very recently if I hadn't bought him some things.

[SoonerTexan]

As for newborn clothes. . . I would get some but you don't need much and you don't need to spend a lot. Everyone sends 3-9 month sized clothes. Our little guy would have gone naked until very recently if I hadn't bought him some things.

How funny! I always send 3-9 month because I feel like the new mom is being inundated with newborn onesies. Whoops!

[moonlight]

I know I’ve posted about this before, but I’ll post again in case you didn’t see it.

DH’s hospital allows all employees to buy from ‘central supply” at a big discount. We really take advantage of that in buying DD’s diapers there. A box of size 1 Pamper Swaddler 220 count is $21 and size 3 115 count is also $21.

[HouseofWool]

Along with the diapering thing - consider cloth. At 14 months, I have spent less than 200 bucks on diapers for her. This includes the disposibles I keep on hand for going out for the day etc.