DH and I are pretty big savers and want to be prepared for the upcoming expenses. I'm due in March.
We were thinking of saving the commission portion of my pay each month which after taxes is usually $400-$700. That puts us at about $3,850 by March. Is that going to come close to covering what we need (ie crib, stroller, car seat, etc)? I'm sure most smaller items like clothes and things we want will just come out of our regular account.
Thanks! 
honeydew / 7091 posts
I'm an awful person to give an opinion on this, because we had it SO lucky.
Car seat and stroller - gift from my parents. (About $400 total though, including an extra base)
Crib, dresser/hutch, rocking chair - gift from In-laws (Got it all for $1,000)
2 showers where I got most from my registry (I would estimate $500 worth of stuff, including $200 in gift cards to get misc stuff)
$200 gift card from work that paid for crib mattress
Insurance covered pump 100%
Enough (cute, even!) hand-me-down clothes to last through 18 months
What we did spend money on:
$600 on cloth diapers
$50 approx on misc stuff found on Craigslist
Too-much on new car 
honeydew / 7091 posts
I think the amount you listed would be more than enough, given you shop around and look for deals.
If you're not against it, Craigslist is amazing for getting great deals on gently used nursery furniture!
GOLD / cantaloupe / 6581 posts
Yep, sounds like you've got it covered, unless you go VERY expensive on gear (which is possible!!) I'll break ours down:
Furniture: 300$ - dresser & crib from IKEA, mattress; hand me downs/already owned a rocker, extra shelving, and lights
Nursery decor: 100-200$ - we DIYed a lot of her room, but we still ended up buying paint, artwork, etc.
Car seats: 1 convertible, 1 stroller/infant car seat combo; 400$ These were gifted to us, so we didn't spend on it. You do not have to get a convertible right away, so you really just need a stroller & infant car seat.
Clothing: 50$ - we were gifted a HUGE amount of clothing, so I barely spent any on it.
Diapers/wipes: 200-300$ we stocked up ahead of time and I'm really glad we did.
Misc: Bath supplies, medicine, maternity clothing, probably another 2-300$.
So, maybe a grand total? We did not go an expensive route, so you can easily drop 2-3 grand, but what you are talking about saving is definitely doable.
pineapple / 12234 posts
I think it's doable! Our major purchases were:
Nursery furniture (crib, changer, dresser): $800
Rocker: $300
Basics (diapers, diaper pail, bath, mattress, sheets, bath supplies, blankets, nursery decor, every little health related item): $600
Stroller: $300
Car seat: $140
Swing: $160
=$2,300 total
We were gifted a bouncer, clothing and diapers.
pomegranate / 3231 posts
I am inheriting two swings, a car seat (and previously owned by someone whose judgement I trust and who does not own a car so only used the seat in rental cars a handful of times), a baby bathtub, a snowsuit and a bumbo seat.
We are planning to spend $320 on a crib and dresser from Ikea.
I registered for a bunch of stuff on Amazon, so we'll see if anyone buys it. This includes a crib mattress, a changing pad, crib sheets, swaddling blankets, baby bath products, etc.
We still need to research strollers and infant car seats. And possibly a pack n play.
I want to find a nice mobile, and my husband is still unconvinced that we should buy the TOTALLY AWESOME ELEPHANT HAMPER. Ahem. He is CLEARLY not the baby expert in the family, because this is an essential item.
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
OP, I think you will be good to go with your savings plan.
cantaloupe / 6730 posts
You can always spend a fortune on baby stuff. We spent just over $1600 on baby stuff (not including stroller/infant seat and playpen which were gifts). And we're also putting off buying stuff we don't need yet (safety gates, high chair, convertable car seat), in an attempt to spread out the costs. And we haven't had a shower yet, either. So, I think your plan is good! Just look for deals.
nectarine / 2134 posts
Sorry to threadjack , I have no babies yet but @ElbieKay oh my gosh please tell me where I can get this hamper! Too cute!
bananas / 9357 posts
I think your savings plan sounds great! I think that will be more than enough to cover everything.
@ElbieKay: I was in love with that hamper while pregnant. But i didn't end up getting it. 
honeydew / 7667 posts
@Mrs. Champagne: I think you'll be fine with that unless you go high end on everything.
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22276 posts
That should be PLENTY. We didn't even spend half that. I guess it depends how high end you are going.
coconut / 8483 posts
Thanks all! I'm sure we will be gifted some things too, so I wanted to make sure we were in the right range!
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
@Mrs. Champagne: I would also think about medical costs. We had a pretty big bill from OB care, hospital delivery, and newborn issues.
coconut / 8483 posts
@T.H.O.U.: we're in Canada and my DH has additional coverage through work.. there won't be any fees (as far as I know.. I've asked a few friends) but thanks! Good for others to know too
pineapple / 12566 posts
I think that sounds like a good amount depending on what price range you are shopping in.
My suggestion would be to start looking at baby stuff now to get an idea of what you like/want, especially for the more expensive things like furniture, stroller and car seat. Then, you will have an idea of price ranges and you will see if your budgeted amount fits. I would also start getting ideas early so you can be on the lookout for deals and sales.
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
We were extremely lucky..... pretty much everything we needed was gifted.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I think we spent about $2000, on gear and equipment. We were gifted a ton of clothing, it lasted us through the first year.
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
I think we spent about 3K, but were gifted a ton of clothing. I know we spent about 2K on gear after the shower....and maybe 1K on the nursery and other odds and ends.
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
We were very fortunate to be gifted most of our stuff & my sister had a little girl almost exactly a year ahead of me so clothes/bumbo/ect. were all passed along to me.
The only things we bought were: dresser/changing table, rocker, video monitor, and maybe $300-500 of random odds and ends and clothing.
Overall I would say we paid close to 2,000.
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22646 posts
A few thousand? Most of it was nursery related. We were gifted everything else.
coconut / 8472 posts
We spent a LOT, but then we have some moderately high end to high end stuff. I think you can do it for almost as little or as much as you want. We had some very generous gifts from our parents, as well as shower, which I wasn't expecting to have. Soon after I got pregnant, DH and I did a lot of research and started registering to keep ourselves organized. I know a lot of people don't go until much later, but we were expecting to pay for everything ourselves. I created a spreadsheet with every item and the cost.
Later, after the shower, I went through and created another spreadsheet of remaining must have items and separated them into "Buy Now" (i.e. before baby gets here) and "Buy Later".
watermelon / 14467 posts
We spent a lot less than that, but we were able to repurpose furniture we had already (glider, dresser, bookcase). So far, our costs are: Crib - $185, Carseat - $149, Cloth diapers/supplies - $450ish. I'm not counting the incidentials, like more nails to hang stuff with, wipes, the small amount of clothes we've purchased, or the stroller we are looking at (a BOB, but we might be getting one used from a friend).
I think your savings plan will be good.
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