how much does formula cost on average for a week or month?
how much do diapers cost per month?
how much is daycare per month?
how much is ?? (name a few things for me and costs!)
Help me build a budget for being able to account what I will be spending on our first child.
Any suggestions would be great, and no, I am not offended if you say buy it by the RESALE shop means!!
break it down for me. I need honest replies here!
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
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I bought a pack of Newborn diapers (40) at the grocery store for $11.99 - YIKES
My friend yelled and said NEVER buy them at the grocry - go to Walmart and get the off brand....we have so much to learn...
Here in NC, near Raleigh, daycare is about $800 a month for a 4-year old. (A five-star center, the best.) For a newborn, I'm sure its more.
NEWBORN- 30 bucks a month on formula in the beginning. Bought the giant container at Costco. Grew to a thing and a half by the time the child was close to a year old. Then we completely went off formula when she turned 1.
Diapers- I get mine at Costco as well. I get the giant mega pack of Pampers, because the cheap ones will leak. You will experiment to find the best. I'd say 30 a month on those as well.
Wipes- A costco case is 11 bucks and those typically last two months and we use them for everything.
Clothing- I only shop Ebay and resale. I buy everything at the beginning of each season and maybe spend 80-100 bucks on everything and she has TONS Of clothes and shoes and always looks cute.
Bottles and binkies- you will experiment on these choices but I found Dr Brown's were the best bottles and also a bit expensive, but worth it.
The start up costs are huge. We could go over this in person to give you a better idea. I am the ultimate quality bargain shopper. I can help!
I have found Playtex VentAire bottles to work just as well as Dr Brown's with easier clean-up. Right now we are averaging 3-4 cans of formula a week, but you would divide by two. I purchase the Costco brand Kirkland Select formula, which my pediatrician said to just go with store brand. I just started buying Costco Kirkland Select diapers and am now kicking myself for not buying them earlier. I would pay about $26 for a case of Pampers size 5 with 92 diapers. I pay $30 for a case with 140 diapers. I stock up on solid jar food when it goes on sale. I'm not organized enough to make my own. I got a fantastic haul of clothing for all three kids at the twin moms sale in the spring. You don't have to have twins to shop there, and they sell clothes by the individual outfits. They have sales twice a year. I stick with the name brand wipes. I tried some of the Target brand and they have scared me off trying any other store brands.
Ugh, don't buy the off-brand Walmart diapers. They suck. Or rather they don't suck up enough. :-) We get the Kirkland brand diapers from Costco. We've only recently (in the last 3 months) had to switch to Overnights (Huggies) at night because Gavin was suddenly peeing like crazy at night and was leaking out of everything else. Even the Overnights weigh about 10 pounds come morning. The Kirkland brand works great during the day and I like the fact that they have a stretchy waistband. I know I appreciate a stretchy waistbands. :-)
I didn't do any formula so I can't help you there. It would be great (and cheaper!) if the adoptive nursing worked out for you. I have an extra Medela pump if you want to try that.
For clothing, hit up your friends for hand-me-downs. We rarely have to buy Gavin clothes. He gets hand-me-downs from his cousin who's exactly a year older. I also recommend buying from garage sales, resale shops and buying in the off season. There's also a Children's Place Outlet and a Carters at the Mills that has great sales.
I agree with Jaded about the Dr. Brown's bottles. They are the best. Other important buys include lots of gas drops (Target has a generic that's cheap and works), Sleep Sacks, and a Diaper Champ. DC is better than the Genie because you can use your own trash bags (saving money on their special cartridges) and we've never had a stink problem.
Don't waste your money on wipe warmers, they get nasty and moldy fast. We buy our wipes from Costco too and they come in their own dispenser.
Sorry I can't give you more info on prices. Kevin does the shopping! I just know it's cheaper than the name brand stuff. I'm so excited for you guys!!!
Thank you all so much> This is a great start to put my budget spreasheet together to prove to DH he needs to stop buying the NHL Center Ice Directv hockey package. Penny pinching is my love and these hints you all have will help me keep on a great budget. Stay tuned, I will have other questions, I am sure!
DC in St Louis will probably run about $225/week (+/- $40-50 or so) and up for an infant at a good daycare center. Home care might be less expensive, but that wasn't for me so I didn't research it much. I pay $190/week for a 4 year old; infants are a lot more.
Diapers - I liked Luvs the best. Pampers were too expensive, even with coupons, and have a weird perfumy odor. Huggies leaked (at least for my kids). The off-brand ones are OK if your child is a very, very young infant, but after that, don't waste your $$.
Clothing & Baby Equipment - Resale all the way, except for carseat. Buy that one new. BabiesRUs runs good coupon-sales sometimes; get on their mailing list. Also try online stores.
Formula - Didn't use it for my kids but I know it's expensive. I agree with the poster who suggested the adoptive-nursing thing. Really, I'm not the granola type but I think nursing my kids was hugely beneficial for them (and me.) Heck, it might help with the PCOS/endo thing too (hormone changes, etc.)
Good Luck to you!! :-)
It probably would have helped if I had put the cost of the Costco formula. They sell it in a two pack for $19.86. For one child you would be looking at less than $80 a month, if not $60.
Daycare in St. Louis varies by location but usually between $700 - $1200 a month. We are able to keep my son to less than 30 hours so we get a discounted rate. If you can find a sitter, it would be the cheapest option.
Another option for diapers is cloth. You might spend more upfront but in the long run it is cheaper. You can find deals on EBAY and resale shops. Cotton Babies is a local retailer in South County that sells new and some used diapers. Thier web site has information on cloth diapers at WWW.CottonBabies.com.
I don't know about formula as I breastfeed my son but I do have some sample cartons that I would be happy to give you.
You can also save a lot of money by making your own baby food when the time comes. We made all of our son's food. It is really simple to do and tastes so much better. You just make a batch and then freeze it in ice cube trays. Perfect portion sizes that are ready to go.
I second the cheers for store brand formula. We unit price everything b/c we are geeky--
Sam's club formula: 5 cents per fl. oz
Sam's club size 3 diapers: 10 cents
Pampers size 3 at Sam's: 18 cents (I think-- we just use them at night)
Wipes we by in bulk at Babies R Us-they last forever and work fine.
If you are lucky and your baby doesn' have sensitive skin, you'll be all set w/ the generics.
We are all about hand-me-downs, almost everything we're currently using is on loan, which is fine by us.
We're happy with the Avent bottles--my 2 girlfriends used them, so between the two of them we got the whole system on loan, and have added a few pieces to the collection (to be passed on to the next friend who'll need it!)
One thing I didn't think about was doctor visits and the $15 copay we pay each time we go! There's also immunizations--check w/ your insurance company to see what they cover--some have weirdo restrictions on well-baby visits, which makes the health dept. a better option.
So many things are used for SUCH a short time that we found it's really worth it to borrow or buy used!
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