Kyle’s Coupons: Prepare for a Baby - Frugal Style!
Posted by Lynnae on May 21, 2008
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Preparing for a baby doesn’t have to be super-expensive.
The following is a regular feature by Kyle of Rather-Be-Shopping. If you like this post, consider subscribing to his blog’s RSS feed.
As sort of a sequel to Lynnae’s recent post, The Decision to Have Children, I wanted to take this opportunity to document some frugal techniques to prepare for a new baby.
I base my advice on tips I wish somebody had told my wife and I when she was pregnant with our first. It would have saved us a lot of time and money. My wife and I have three children (6y, 3y, 11 months) and have made many mistakes along the way. The $100 Graco high chair comes to mind, it was such a poor design that our baby had to struggle to even reach the tray. Also, the brand new bike for our 3 year old that she outgrew in 4 months. That is my first tip, buy some things on the bigger size so the child can grow into them and get more use out of it!
Here are some more tips that can be helpful to new or expecting parents.
~ Shop Online. Visit your local Babies R Us and similar stores to look at products and make your wish list, then return home and price compare on the Internet and check out online auctions. Not only can the Net be a great source for product reviews on car seats, high chairs, and strollers, but you can also score some great bargains. Some of the more memorable deals that stick out include a brand new Graco baby monitor from eBay that I got for $25 (regular price was $50), a Britax Roundabout car seat from Baby Age.com for 20% off the regular price along with a free shipping coupon, and also from eBay, a brand new Pottery Barn crib bedding set for over 50% off the original price. My wife was proud of me that day!
~ Baby Shower Advice. If a relative or friend is throwing you a baby shower, try to drop hints that you want practical stuff rather than 10 formal baby outfits. Stuff that will really save you time and money are diapers, big tub of Desitin, wash cloths, sleepers, Onesies, and hooded towels to name a few. If you are ever throwing a baby shower, look into building a decorative cake made of rolled-up disposable diapers. My wife did this once for a friend and not only is it a great decoration but a very useful gift!
~ Thrift and Discount Stores. We have friends that had kids before us and they told us to keep an eye out at discount stores for deals on strollers. We did this and ended up getting a very nice Peg Perego stroller that originally sold for over $200 for only $50 at TJ Maxx. It was so cheap because it was missing some attachment that we would never actually use (I can’t even remember what it was). The stroller is now on our 3rd child and was worth every penny! Keep your eye out at places like TJ Maxx, Ross, Marshalls, and of course thrift stores, for deals. You have to make an effort to poke your head in every couple weeks to see what is new as their inventory is always changing and often very random.
~ Network With Friends. This is a great way to pass down clothes, books, and toys. If you have baby clothing that is still in great shape, pass it down to a friend who has a child that can use it. We have found that this gesture almost always gets returned and everybody ends up saving money! My wife has also done this with maternity clothing. No sense buying a bunch of clothes for such a short period of time.
Help me add to this list. But please take it easy on me, I am a guy after all! While I have become very adept at changing diapers, my expertise mainly comes from watching and listening to my wife. I’m a smart man, huh?
Coupons are easy this week! Here are some that can help you save money on the little one in your life.
Baby Center.com
Free Shipping on your $49 or more Online Order
Coupon Code: FREESHIP49
Expiration: 5/31/08
See All: Baby Center Coupons
Baby Universe.com
Free Shipping on Britax Car Seats thru this Link
Coupon Code: None Needed
Expiration: 5/31/08
See All: Baby Universe Coupons
One Step Ahead.com
Save 15% Off your Entire Online Order
Coupon Code: MAYBIRTH
Expiration: 5/31/08
See All: One Step Ahead Coupons
JCPenney.com (Nice baby department)
Free Shipping on your $49 or more Online Order order
Coupon Code: SUPERSUM
Expiration: 5/27/08
See All: JCPenney Coupons
Back To Basics Toys.com (Neat educational toys!)
Save 20% Off your Entire Online Order
Coupon Code: 4DISCOUNT
Expiration: 5/31/08
See All: Back To Basics Toys Coupons
Baby Age.com
Free Shipping on your $99 or more Online Order
Coupon Code: MAY99
Expiration: 5/31/08
See All: Baby Age Coupons
The Children’s Place.com
Save 15% Off your Entire Online Order
Coupon Code: S2A58
Expiration: 6/01/08
See All: Childrens Place Coupons
Diapers.com
New Customers, Save $10 Off your $50 or more Online Order
Coupon Code: AFFL10
Expiration: 5/31/08
See All: Diapers.com Coupons
Photo by CarlosMendoza.
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I am not a financial expert. I'm just a wife and mom doing the best I can to live a frugal life and get out of debt. Like any human, I make mistakes. I write this blog out of my own experiences, and nothing I write should be taken as expert advice. If you need financial advice, please consult a professional.
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All great advice–but I would add one: Get to know some families with lots of kids and ask those moms what the essentials are. It is amazing what we get talked into (or advertised into) thinking we need that a baby does NOT need, and the things that make life easier instead of just more cluttered. Asking for advice from someone in the know is a great way to figure out what is essential and what is just clutter.
The biggest money saver that we and many other families have discovered is cloth diapers. Before you grimace, be warned that these are not the cloth diapers of our parent’s/grandparent’s day with pins that you swish in a toilet. The ones we used (All-In-Ones) are more like a washable disposable. The up-front monetary investment is a fraction of what you would pay for disposables. Plus, they are “legal”. By that I mean that if you read the fine print on disposable diapers, you are asked to remove and flush the “solids” before placing the diaper in the garbage. This is because it is illegal to put human waste in a landfill. I don’t know any disposable users that do this, but cloth diaper liners (save money by using unbleached coffee filters) make it easy (and necessary before laundering). All-In-Ones created only one load of laundry every other day, did not significantly increase our water or electric/natural gas bills (maybe a dollar a month?). And by using Fuzzi-Bunz at nighttime, she slept through the night (6-hours) comfortably by 1-month old. There are plenty of other benefits to cloth. Just research online and see.
Want to save an easy $1000 per kid? …Seriously consider cloth diapers… that’s probably a $1000 savings right there…and they are sooooo easy to wash, dry, and keep using!
I was a working outside the home Mom and did NOT find it a problem at all to throw a load in the washer every night when I got home from work,soak and double wash them while fixing dinner, dry them while eating dinner, and thru them in the diaper basket. No, you don’t have to fold them if they are prefolded, and no, you don’t have to do all that soaking and diaper pail stuff if you presoak them in the washmachine and rinse before you wash them…
I kept used bread sacks in the diaper bag for the babysitter to just throw the wet ones into.
Saved her the smelly garbage that way.
It was actually easier than having all those smelly diapers pile up in the garbage and stick around for a month before we went to the dump… or in the case of city folks, smell for a week before they were picked up by the garbage man.
I raised 3 kids that way - at one time had two in diapers - and did not find washing diapers to be any chore at all - the washer and dryer do all the work
We live in a rural area - the only ’shopping’ within 50 miles is a Fred Meyers - so we garage saled for most everything we needed…. Plus I sewed almost all the kids’ clothes until they started school, and then still sewed all their tops and jammies. Saved a lot of money that way also!
Re: Diapers… forgot to mention - figure on 4 dozen cloth diapers minimum - 5 dozen buys you a little lead time…. and the diapers lasted thru all 3 kids. Not a bad investment at all
Great comments!
My wife and I actually used cloth diapers with our first child. They were a big money saver. They were the regular cloth diapers, w/ pins, and the vinyl pants. I have never seen the All-In-Ones that Liana is talking about, but they sound great. We had every intention to use them w/ our 2nd and actually did it for a couple weeks, but I think the lack of sleep and the time element made us go to disposables. Looking back on it, we should have made a better effort to stick to our guns.
Great advice, and thank you for the heads up on all the deals as well as the codes. As my wife’s sister has just recently received the good news, this information will definitely come in handy.
Awesome advice. I definitely think that networking with friends and family gets you lots of free stuff that you’d have to buy otherwise. My sister gave me all her old baby clothes for my boy, and it was a life-saver.
I’m also considering cloth diapers, so thanks for all the comments, everyone!
Another saver we took advantage of is using cloths for diaper changes. We bought a stack of facecloths specifically for diaper changes and didn’t bother with wipes. A cloth wet with water is very quick, gets baby’s bottom clean and can be washed easily. We didn’t buy bottles either because we planned to breastfeed and I wasn’t going to pump. Not buying formula is huge savings.
As a mother of three grown kids I can give all the young parents to be one piece of advise: remmeber that the only thing the baby needs is your love. Everything else is optional. Breastfeed or formula? Cloth diapers or disposables? All that is important to you as a parent, but for baby, to have a $200 stroller or a $50 hand me down is irrelevant. And don’t forget baby will grow faster than you can say Pottery Barn. So everything you buy has to be 1- safe, 2- durable if you will have more children, 3- inexpensive. Enjoy your little ones and tell them you love them, every day.
When I was pregnant with my 4th and realized that 3 kids seems to be the max for keeping anything in decent shape, I headed to some local yard sales. I found a high chair, brand new pack-n-play, nursing pillow, grocery cart cover, playmat, and a nearly new swing from a single-child family for $50!! The pack-n-play model alone retailed for over $100. I also scour Craigslist for excellent deals and free items. And remember- you reap what you sow. Consider giving away your unused baby items and clothes to another needy family.