Becoming Domestic

Out of respect for the emotions of one of my very lovely friends I’m not going to spend a lot of my time writing about our latest pregnancy but wanted to jot down my thoughts on how this pregnancy will be as thrifty as possible (in sharp comparison to when we were expecting the twins and literally blew all our savings on baby related kit before and after they arrived).

I’m officially 12 weeks pg today and saw one live baby waving at us on the ultrasound machine today so am now allowing myself to think ahead with the practicalities of budgeting for the rest of this pregnancy and hopefully a new arrival in 6 months time…

1. Thrifty pregnancy testing.
Instead of forking out on a pricey pack of tests from the chemist (£10 per pack I think). I waited until my period was definitely late and then popped into the doctors. This was free. SAVING £10

2. No buying pregnancy magazines or books.
The magazines are all rubbish anyway as are just an excuse to advertise merchandise and are otherwise the same each issue (I may out a note out on Freecycle offering to take old pregnancy mags of people’s hands). SAVING £3 x 10 issues = £30. I can see the local library has a good stock of pregnancy/baby related books too so I will borrow a few of those rather than buying brand new as I did last time (only to give away a year later).

3. Telling friends who have had babies that we are in the market for any cast-offs they would otherwise be taking to a charity shop/Freecycle.
Have so far had offers of a moses basket, clothes, bouncy chair. We hope to also scrounge a baby carrier, door bouncer from somebody who no longer needs them. SAVING = £100’s
4. Charity shops and nearly new sales for maternity clothes & baby clothes.
My mum has already picked up a few things to fit my expanding waistline. I’ve told her anything from Next in a size 12 will be acceptable. She lives near to about 50 up market charity shops and volunteers in one too so I’ve tapped into a particularly rich seam there!I don’t think I’ve ever *needed* to buy new clothes for my kids as our parents have been so kind in bringing us bundles of nearly new clothes from charity shops but I do remember that it was very hard to go past the tots’ clothes in our local Tescos without being tempted or succumbing to their charms. This time we have no shops selling kids clothes near us so with a bit of luck I’ll not be tempted. I shall instead make a beeline for local NCT sales as they are reputed to be good for barely worn small people things. SAVING = £100’s

My friend Ruth and her partner managed to get a perfectly decent pram for £25 from the local newspaper. It doesn’t have this year’s must-have colour scheme but her 4 month old hasn’t noticed yet and sleeps like a log the minute he’s in it.

5. No buying of baby toys.
Now our house has a scattering of toys wherever I look I’m finding it hard to believe that I did buy my kids toys and books when they were still only very small babies. I have a lovely book called “Entertaining & educating your preschool child” (Usbourne) which shows you all the fascinating things you can make for tots out of boxes, ribbons, cotton reels and the like.Our new charge won’t need much in the way of toys as his older siblings have so much but also I now know that newborns actually don’t need stimulating every moment they are awake, they just like to watch, listen and snuggle.

6. No baby room accessories.
A baby or child really can thrive amazingly well despite not having fully coordinated fabrics, rugs, pictures, ruffles, frills, sleeping bags, cot bumpers, matching curtains… Incredible. This theory has been well tested in our house so, no, we won’t be taking out a Mamas & Papas store card. In fact shhhhh don’t tell the newbie if & when it arrives but it won’t actually have a room at all, it will stay in the guest room/my office when no-one is visiting and will bunk up with the bigger kids when guests are in town. SAVING = £100’s

7. Reusable nappies
Apparently expensive to buy if you buy them newand then do increase the amount you spend on washing machine electricity, detergent but surely not as Ow! as adding a hugely expensive packet of disposables to the weekly shop. There is a market for second hand reusable nappies on eBay.

8. Breastfeeding not bottlefeeding.
Not actually free as some of the propaganda suggests as you still need to purchase nursing bras, sterilisers, pumps & bottles (if anyone other than you is going to be allowed to give the baby some milk), pads etc. but certainly much much cheaper than a couple of £8 vats of powdered formula each week.

9. Less or no baby food jars.
Last time round I was working full time and would collect the tired hungry babies from nursery at 5.30-6pm. There was just enough energy to grab a couple of jars of baby food from the local chemist on my dash from the tube to the day nursery and to then feed them direct from the jars (cold) before they had their bath & bedtime. I assume this time I’ll be able to puree food that we’re eating and give to the smallest charge instead of buying prepared food for it. SAVING = £100’s

Things that we will have to budget to buy new:
Cot & pram mattresses (as recommended by cot death prevention charities);
Car seat (well actually we have one of the twin’s old one’s in the loft, I’m just hoping its not the one the cat piddled in);
Nursing bras.

See also ‘How to stop your baby wreaking eco havoc’ (Guardian Unlimited Sept. 2006)

Posted on July 2nd, 2007 under Baby and Pregnancy, Frugal living, Good Parenting • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback