Tips on Being Baby Frugal

Tips on Being Baby Frugal

For cool baby shower decorations check out the party supplies store.

Frugal Tips for an Econominical Baby Shower
It isn't necessary to go for broke just because there's a baby on the way.  Save yourself a bundle and take time to plan your purchases before embarking on The Mother of All Shopping Sprees.

• Hold off on shopping for baby for as long as you can. The sooner you start hitting the baby stores, the more money you're going to spend. By the time you make your 35th trip to the local baby specialty store, you will have long since lost track of which items you've already got stashed away in your baby's room -- something that will inevitably cause you to overbuy.
• Train yourself to check your emotions at the baby store door. You'll spend a lot more money if you let your heart rather than your head guide your purchasing decisions. If you wake up one morning and find yourself positively oozing with maternal sentiment, it's probably a good day to give your credit card a rest. Otherwise, you could end up buying six of everything just because you're so darned happy to be having a baby.
• Beware of overzealous sales clerks who may not have your best interests at heart. Don't allow yourself to fall prey to nauseatingly attentive sales clerks who fuss and fawn over you while helping you to stuff as much baby paraphernalia in your shopping cart as possible.  Keep in mind that you're a bit of a babe-in-the-woods when it comes to the business of equipping a nursery, something that leaves you more than a little vulnerable to the advice of well-meaning and not-so-well-meaning sales clerks.
• Remind yourself that it isn't necessary to buy everything new. You can save yourself a small fortune by shopping secondhand for baby clothes, crib linens and other baby-related items. Just make sure that you're shopping at a reputable secondhand store -- one that will only accept products that comply with current safety standards -- and that you've done your homework so that you know which products are and aren't worth purchasing secondhand.  Most safety experts advise that you avoid purchasing secondhand car seats because there's no way to know for sure whether or not they've been involved in an accident, and something as simple as a low-speed fender bender can twist a car seat's frame and make it unsafe for use.
• Keep in mind that you're about to hit the shower circuit. Chances are you'll receive an extraordinary number of gifts -- some from people you barely even know. The goal of your pre-baby shopping expeditions therefore should be to ensure that the bare necessities are covered -- not to fill up your child's dresser and toy box in one fell swoop.
• Figure out which products your baby does --and doesn't-- need. Not all baby products are created equal: some are absolute essentials; others are nothing more than expensive frills. Your mission as a first-time parent is to learn to tell the difference. Rather than relying on advice from overzealous sales clerks who may not necessarily have your best interests at heart, your best bet is to ask other new parents which products they recommend -- and which products they and their babies definitely could have lived without.
• Research each model and make carefully before you hit the baby stores. Find out how the various makes and models stack up against one another when it comes to both performance and price. Two excellent sources of information are Baby Bargains by Denise and Alan Fields and Consumer Reports Guide to Baby Products by Sandy Jones and the Editors of Consumer Reports. (Both guides are American, but they still have plenty of sensible "generic" advice.)
• Get the most bang for your furniture-buying buck. A dresser is nice to have, but it certainly isn't a necessity. Neither is a change table. If you've got your heart set on filling the nursery with a coordinating crib, change table, and bookcase, at least look for items that will grow with your child: e.g. a change table that can be converted into a dresser or a desk.
• Don't be afraid to negotiate on price. Come up with creative strategies for negotiating the best possible price on baby equipment. Form a purchasing co-op with other parents from your prenatal class and approach local retailers to negotiate a special "bulk rate" on the big-ticket items of baby gear: car seats, cribs, strollers and so on.  And if you're planning to purchase most of your baby gear from a single baby store or department store, ask them to reward you for your loyalty by giving you a bit of a discount. If they won't, chances are somebody else will.
• Items that grow with Baby - Think long-term. Look for items that will grow with your baby -- clothes with "grow cuffs" that can be rolled down as your baby's legs get longer, and change tables that can be converted into dressers or desks. The longer your child is able to use a particular item, the more bang you'll get for your buck.
• Go light on the furniture.A dresser is nice to have, but it certainly isn't a necessity. You can get away with using plastic storage containers if you're trying to keep your costs down. And as for buying a changing table, this is yet another item you can definitely live without. All you really need to change a baby's bum is a waterproof changing pad and a flat surface.

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