Comments on: How Much Did We Budget For Our Baby?

By: Alyssa

Alyssa — Wed, 16 May 2018 20:58:41 +0000

In reply to Katelynne.

Thanks Kate! So glad you're enjoying. It is seriously crazy how much information is out there. You really just have to go with whatever works for you.

By: Alyssa

Alyssa — Wed, 16 May 2018 20:58:09 +0000

In reply to Sarah @ Couple of Sense.

Totally agree! I am already stressing about having to spend my savings, but I know that this is what we had planned. Easy is all I want haha.

By: Alyssa

Alyssa — Wed, 16 May 2018 20:57:35 +0000

In reply to Peter.

Love all of this information. Thanks, Peter! The baby shower was a huge help.

By: Peter

Peter — Tue, 15 May 2018 17:26:39 +0000

We just had our second child (a little girl!) in April and I feel like this time around we had a better handle on just how much things were going to cost, and what things were absolute needs, and which were just luxuries. I think many more things than you realize are totally unneeded and are luxuries. All your baby really needs is clothing, food and a comfortable bed to sleep in. Much of the other stuff is fluff, so don't get too carried away. I second the notion of waiting to buy things until after your baby shower, you'll be amazed at how much of the things you need you'll receive from family and friends. We got some bigger ticket items that way like a stroller/baby seat combo, rocking chair and a variety of other things. In the end we only had to spend a fraction of what we thought we would need to.

The second child was even cheaper because many of the baby essentials we already owned from when our son was born, so if you have more than one it's actually cheaper the second time around!

I think there are a few big ticket items to worry about (bed/strollers/car seats/etc), but after that you mainly should be saving for your hospital bills (in the U.S at least) because that's where the real expense comes in, especially if your baby has to spend time in the NICU. When our little girl was born via c-section the medical costs came in at over $30,000, of which we had to pay about $5,000. Thankfully we had 6 months of expenses saved since we knew it was coming.

Enjoy your baby!

By: Sarah @ Couple of Sense

Sarah @ Couple of Sense — Tue, 15 May 2018 14:06:32 +0000

Amazing overachievers! We ended up 5 figures as well and it has been so helpful. I know we are so lucky to have support from the government while on leave. But it isn't enough so saving the extra money has been so great to keep some semblance of our old life. Being able to contribute to retirement (to off set some of the tax issues you will have) and not freak out if we needed to order food in during those first few tough months has been good. You are already in the biggest change of your life. Making sure the money is good makes it SOOO much easier.

By: Katelynne

Katelynne — Tue, 15 May 2018 13:34:23 +0000

These posts have been awesome to read and the breakdowns have been amazing! So amny things to consider/lots of things to ignore from the big wide world of baby creating and what everyone says are necessary. Good luck with the whole, you know, giving life thing and excited to hear updates about your new family member!