Thursday, May 5, 2011

Frugality Tip: Save on Baby Gear

Lookie! It's a playpen!
When I was pregnant with my first child 10 years ago, we went all out on baby gear. Thankfully, most of it was gifted to us, and much of it has lasted through 5 kids, but there are some things we really could have saved a lot of money on:

  1. High chair. Instead of having my dad get us a new $100 high chair, we could have hunted garage sales, thrift stores and craigslist.com and saved up to 75%. Then Dad could have spent the money he saved on a huge chocolate stash for his favorite (only) daughter.
  2. Stationary walker. Ditto from above, except insert "my mom".
  3. Stroller. Ditto from above, except insert "me" spending $110 on a double stroller. Should've saved the leftover money for nursing bras because those dang things are exPENsive!
  4. Car seat. Our first kid's carseat came FREE from the hospital because by law they can't send a baby home NOT in a carseat. I found that out and didn't take one with me, so we got one for free. It was cheesy with no handle and pleather, but it got us around for a while til someone gave us a used one. Yes, I am aware that you aren't supposed to use used carseats, but some truly broke people have no choice but to trust that a seat hasn't been in an accident (and even if it has, they have to take their chances that THEY won't get in an accident, and so on).
  5. Cloth diapers. Sounds gross, but you can buy them used and just bleach the heck outta them.
  6. Clothing. Garage sales and kid consignment shops save you a ton of cash on baby clothes. Also, taking any handouts from people who have older children is a huge budget saver!
  7. A changing table. I've never owned one of these. I prefer to change diapers on the floor or on a bed, where I am FACING my baby and am not at a weird angle to him/her while trying to keep him/her from falling off a high surface!
I'm sure I'll come up with 50 more things I could've bought used. In the meantime, give me YOUR ideas!