What is the thing(s) you think have helped you save the most money? Cloth diapering? Hand-me-downs? coupons? Amazon Prime? Looking for ways to keep spending down that maybe I haven't thought of or a push to do something I'm on-the-fence about because it really does save money
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great thread!
for us... i think it would be, not decking out the nursery, getting hand me downs for toys and furniture if possible, and keeping the clothing count LOW
laundry happens often enough anyway, so as long as there are enough for 1 week, it should be ok.
for our boy LO, he only gets one pair of real pants (eg. jeans or khakis) per size, but i'll get him nice ones from the GAP or something -- and he wears them every weekend with different shirts/sweaters he does have some leggings and a comfy pair of pants for home, too ETA: i know the one pants thing is kinda crazy, but it works for us because i found i was constantly just reaching for the same pair of favourite pants every time, anyway
i'm a SAHM so he wears a lot of sleepers around the house during the week!
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Do you meal plan? That helps a lot with grocery shopping, in my opinion.
I think Amazon Prime is really great as well. Yes, you pay for the membership but with the subscribe & save discounts, along with not having to buy $25 worth of stuff just to get free shipping, for us, the savings make up for the membership cost.
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Hand me downs!! We got all her big toys (bouncer, jumperoo, bath tub, bassinet, etc.) from friends. I also got a ton of clothing as hand me downs which saved a lot. In the beginning she was almost always in sleepers and it's a waste to get too many outfits that she will outgrow in a week.
I also got my change table on craigslist for $80 which normally retails for $350.
I also wouldn't go crazy with the nursery. I was soo tempted to get an $800 rocker because of the design but i reined it in and got an ikea rocker that i like for 1/4 of the price.
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Buy used!! I have bought a lot of LO's clothes, books, and gear used. it has saved us literally thousands of dollars. Look for sales, use coupons and shop thrift stores. Buy store brand when you can.
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hand-me-downs, craigslist, and meal planning!
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Hand-me-downs are great, and decorating the nursery mainly from stuff we already had + DIY crafty things...I would rather not spend a TON of money on decorating for a baby who will never know the difference!
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I buy all her books used from betterworldbooks.com unbeatable price plus free shipping.
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For me, I didn't do this but I will post it as a "wish I had done".
I got caught up in all the gear that you "must have". Rough night sleeping, maybe she needs a glow seahorse. Chewing her hands, maybe she needs a new type of paci. Getting cold, maybe she needs a bigger blanket. Starting to crawl, maybe we need a new toy.
Just stuff like that. I spent SOOO much extra on all this little stuff that yes maybe made our lives a little bit easier, but we didn't NEED to have.
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craigslist, amazon prime, meal planning, hand me downs (swings/clothes/toys)....and i plan on reselling my stuff when the little dude outgrows his stuff!
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@ T.H.O.U exactly this!! We did the same thing and spent soooo much $ on stuff that was totally unnecessary now that I think about it.
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Garage sales! We got so many great baby clothes, books and gear for way cheaper than consignment stores or anywhere else. Babies use stuff for such a short time that usually things are in pretty good condition. Clothes and books are especially good deals at garage sales.
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I agree, shop used and consignment for what you can. We bought our entire nursery furniture set from another family, in incredible shape and 1/4 the price.
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Buying everything secondhand (except for your car seat).
Also, cutting out buying coffees and also going to the convenience store. That plus meal planning really saves a huge amount of money!
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ditto to @tysonja - at least so far (LO is 16 weeks) we use the same 5 or 6 sleepers and 2 or 3 outfits for going out. I do laundry all the time anyways so why have more variety when he doesn't notice anyways! Also, I've always been of the mindset to stock up when things are cheap - which left me with a closet of clothes in sizes/seasons that don't match with what he needs. Even though lots of them were soo cheap secondhand... it all adds up to money wasted! For right now, his growth is so unpredictable I'm going to come out ahead by just buying what I need.
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buying used is probably the single biggest saver. we buy everything we can used and often sell it after we're done for the same price!
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Just between friends consignment sale!
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We don't buy a lot of big toys and we've tried to utilize what we can around the house. Half the time he's only interested in a toy for 3 minutes anyways before he moves on to something else. I let my LO play with kitchen utensils (wooden spoons, whisks, mixing bowls, plastic containers, etc), let him explore with some ribbons and fake flowers (supervising him of course), and he likes looking through our photo albums. We build forts with his blankets. Not buying the bigger toys has helped us to save money and also not have an overly cluttered house.
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Buying bigger toys used and not buying too many toys for each stage of development.
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Amazon Prime for sure, and don't buy until you really need. And even then, try to wait a few days to see if you can live without it. We bought some things before LO arrived that we haven't used at ALL (stroller, Snap N Go, car seat) because I found wearing the baby to be so much easier and we don't have a car. But even if we'd ended up needing that stuff, I could have ordered it on Amazon and had it in 2 days, or found it second-hand, and by then I would have had a better idea of what would work best for us.
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