How To Cut The Cost Of Having A Baby

From the title I thought this would be about tips on how to reduce the amount you spend on your baby. For example, breast rather than bottle feeding, using real nappies, avoiding packaged baby food, using a baby carrier rather than a buggy, searching out special coupons for baby milk etc. But the article, disappointingly, is all about claiming benefits, which is cutting your own costs by loading them onto other people. Why not write an article which is actually about how to cut the cost of having your baby? That would be really useful for any parents-to-be.

I thought that Which? magazine had done a test which showed that if you use machines to wash and dry the traditional nappies, then the cost of running the machines pretty much balances out the cost of disposable nappies.

My tips for cost cutting:

start early on with a blank refusal to spend money on status symbols - for yourself or your child. No Nike trainers. Learn to resist pester power.

Don't be afraid to ask your parents, friends etc to give you what you need, not the pretty-but-useless stuff. You can discourage well-meaning grandparents from giving them sweets laden with undesirable additives while you're at it

Try using public transport, rather than the "car everywhere" solution. Not always possible, but most kids won't die if they are taken to school on a bus, or even have to walk. More ecologically friendly, less petrol purchasing, and gives you more time for the other possibilities.

Most of all: think for yourself. Don't let others tell you what you need, including well-meaning people like me! Sometimes you have to do things the expensive way - don't let yourself be burdened with guilt whether you decide to make them Do Without (which doesn't hurt) or Just Give In (which won't spoil them irreparably if not done too often).

Join your local Freecycle group (Yahoo! Groups but you can join even if you don't have a Yahoo account)and some families maybe entitled to a Maternity Grant to help with buying things for your baby. We were suprised to be granted the £500. No harm in filling out the form. If you don't ask you don't get.

I don't know if it was Which? that compared the cost of nappies, as mentioned above, but I remember that the costs of washing assumed a boil wash and tumble drying; a much cooler wash using Ecoballs (instead of detergent) and letting the wind dry the nappies is much cheaper!

I can understand the resentment brewing.I have four daughters,breast fed them all for two years each,used real nappies for 3 of them,then out of desperation bought pampers for the 4th.My husband was working all the hours avaliable...we hardly saw each other...this was in the early 80's.I got no extra government help..apart from child benefit.He was out of work twice in that time,eventually ,because the girls were old enough to look after the youngest I managed to get a job.Meantime my marriage broke down,he lost yet another job...brother and father died,got no relief from work about this.Husband still unemployed and getting nothing for signing on. all I get is 18.80 a week for my youngest
My wage is 13,000 a year if I am lucky

In response to sjt2203: Our parents and grandparents brought kids up on a fraction of what we have available. Its all about having the right expectations and cutting your cloth accordingly. As a parent with 2 young kids, I can vouch that the positive impact of having kids will far outweigh any financial "hardship" you might perceive. Just get on with it!

For completeness: The nappy test included all pollution (manufacture, shipping, disposal of nappy and contents) was done by the government and included the following assumptions:

1. You boil wash
2. You tumble dry on high
3. You iron your nappies
4. Washables are only used for 1 child and then thrown into landfill
5. Babies using real nappies urinate and defactate twice the volume of babies in disposables (really, not joking, it assumes that they are chaged twice as often in one part and then assumes that the acerage contents per nappy is the same in another part).

I actually found this article VERY usefull!! When I had my firstborn I didn't even bother to look into what benefits we may be entitled to cos I thought being married and owning our own home would write them off... however I have since found out we were entitled to a lot more benefits and lost out on them for months cos we didn't apply... I resent those who term it "scrounging off the state" - yes, maybe it is when you've never paid any taxes into the system (forgeiners/teenage singletons!) but both me and hubby have for YEARS and our parents before us - all of which was being used at the time to pay benefits to familes etc then - now it is our turn and I don't feel bad at all about applying for benefits which I am honestly eligable to get at this expensive time in our lives... it won't be long before kids are at school and we're both working full-time again and paying taxes into the system for the next lot of young families!! Don't get me wrong I really do resent those who 'scrounge' benefits either thru lying/cheating the system or after having paid nothing into it themselves but please don't brand honest working families with that same old brush!!!

BTW - Although there are a lot of baby related costs, the article does not seem to consider *possible* baby related savings (gadzooks)...I mean savings/money not spent by virtue of the baby being around. Ex-smoking parents who cut down or stop. Same for drinking...cutting out to pub and cinema as much. Just a thought...

Just a reply to "Spacetraveller" - I did not mean to cause offence but after I'd posted I somehow knew that by using the term "foreigner" in this PC world we live in now I prob would.... please read my post carefully again and see that I refer only to those foreigners (and British!) people that have NEVER paid taxes - that's what my whole point was if you read it - I resent those who've never paid into the system only to drain it for most of their non-working lives! You clearly don't fall into this category.