Finances...

Hi mama's, I have hit the half-way mark of my pregnancy and am officially freaking out about EVERYTHING. I am soo worried I won't be able to provide for me AND Kane seeing as I'm a single mother...BD has no job...my parents are supportive but he isn't their resposibility so they shouldn't have to lend me money just because I became pregnant so young.

I need some advice and support!! How much do you think you spend a month for baby?

Thank you  

Honestly, babies are the cheap stage.. Hope the father gets a job sometime down the road because it doesn't get any easier.. Sorry hun

IMO newborns are pretty inexpensive if you breastfeed. They don't HAVE to have a lot of clothing or things if you don't have the money for them. Basically diapers will be your highest cost. If you're not breastfeeding there's always WIC to help you with formula and a little bit of food for you. I think they get much more expensive as they get older really.

Quoting twinsplusone:“ IMO newborns are pretty inexpensive if you breastfeed. They don't HAVE to have a lot of clothing or things ... [snip!] ... WIC to help you with formula and a little bit of food for you. I think they get much more expensive as they get older really.”

WIC also helps the breastfeeding mother with foods good for her to eat.. and from what I hear, they don't provide enough formula (maybe that's just when the infant is a little older)..
I agree with everything said.. diapers are the biggest expense.. You don't need to buy high end diapers, I've found that the parents choice diapers (at walmart)are just as good and you get 100-something for like 14$..

Quoting Blissful Mama:“ WIC also helps the breastfeeding mother with foods good for her to eat.. and from what I hear, they ... [snip!] ... end diapers, I've found that the parents choice diapers (at walmart)are just as good and you get 100-something for like 14$..”

Good to know about those diapers.

Quoting ~*~HautéMama~*~ BISH!!:“ Honestly, babies are the cheap stage.. Hope the father gets a job sometime down the road because it doesn't get any easier.. Sorry hun”

Yeah ARGGG, I have no idea what the BD is going to do...he's a loser really. We were only dating for 3 months..our one year would have actually been my due date..and he like, gets by with selling weed idk he's dklfdfkjsdfj that's why we're not together but I do know his bday and his first and last name soo hellooo child support lol

Well, we spend about $50 in diapers. We mixed fed and would have spent about $60 in formula a month if we didn't have WIC. For misc. items we spent about another $50 and about $25/ month in clothes so all around a total of $185ish/ month before he started on solids. I think now that he's a year old we spend about $100- $200 more a month than when he was a baby baby
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Quoting kellyc:“ Hi mama's, I have hit the half-way mark of my pregnancy and am officially freaking out about EVERYTHING. ... [snip!] ... I became pregnant so young. I need some advice and support!! How much do you think you spend a month for baby? Thank you  ”

PM me if you ever need advice. I'm the queen of economizing. I moved out when I was 18, and went to trade school (I'm a makeup artist) while working. Money was really tight, and I learned a lot of ways to save it. Here's what I did:

Try to eat at home as much as possible. If you don't cook, just learn some basic recipes. It saves SO much money. I would buy a bag of potatoes, and could make a million different things from it. 

When your baby starts solids, make your own baby food and freeze it in ice cube trays. 

Clip coupons, go on the internet and sign up on all of the baby product websites. I signed up for the Enfamil one, and I get checks for $10 once a month. 

You can buy HUGE lots of clothes on ebay really cheap. I bought Alina a giant box of girl's clothes that still had the tags on it for $40.  Garage sales are great. I can certainly afford everything brand new, but I would just rather have the money to save up for later. It seems silly since they grow up SO quickly. 

Find a local mommy group, and see if you can get hand-me downs from them. Most parents are thrilled to get rid of it! My dad has a 10 year old, and his in-laws bought him an amazing bedroom set for his baby, and he packed it up for us and saved it. I can't tell you how many cool things I got from friends in great condition.

Quoting twinsplusone:“ IMO newborns are pretty inexpensive if you breastfeed. They don't HAVE to have a lot of clothing or things ... [snip!] ... WIC to help you with formula and a little bit of food for you. I think they get much more expensive as they get older really.”

Yeah, I am just worried for this first year because I don't want to have to work 8 hour days and leave Kane at day-care when he's only 6 weeks old   so if the first year isn't that bad then at least I can go back to work after he is 1 yr, I would feel much more comfortable with that. And thanks for the WIC idea...I just found one by my house

Quoting kellyc:“ Yeah ARGGG, I have no idea what the BD is going to do...he's a loser really. We were only dating for ... [snip!] ... dklfdfkjsdfj that's why we're not together but I do know his bday and his first and last name soo hellooo child support lol”

That's no good, love. It sounds like you're going to be on your own here. Make sure you check in with WIC to help you out. 

Quoting Blissful Mama:“ WIC also helps the breastfeeding mother with foods good for her to eat.. and from what I hear, they ... [snip!] ... end diapers, I've found that the parents choice diapers (at walmart)are just as good and you get 100-something for like 14$..”

I've started buying diapers now :p so that way I'm not overwhelmed once he's here to get lots and lots of diapers...how many do you use a week??

Quoting Tara Maureen:“ Well, we spend about $50 in diapers. We mixed fed and would have spent about $60 in formula a month if ... [snip!] ... he started on solids. I think now that he's a year old we spend about $100- $200 more a month than when he was a baby baby .”

Thank you for the actual numbers...I have a savings account and I'm just trying to see if it will get me through 6 months

Quoting Rubygirl214:“ PM me if you ever need advice. I'm the queen of economizing. I moved out when I was 18, and went to ... [snip!] ... his baby, and he packed it up for us and saved it. I can't tell you how many cool things I got from friends in great condition.”

Oh my gosh..you are a life saver!!! Idk if you have a costco up there but it's like a warehouse store where everything is in bulk and that's where I am getting all the diapers lol and I will definitely be pm-ing you on how to make baby food   Thanks again!!

Quoting kellyc:“ I've started buying diapers now :p so that way I'm not overwhelmed once he's here to get lots and lots of diapers...how many do you use a week??”

Haha.. well that would depend on how much of a pooper your baby turns out to be! Mine pooped all the time, sometimes she still has her days.. I always buy the big boxes though, and they last at least 2 weeks.. On average I think they say babies go through about 8 diapers a day.

Quoting Blissful Mama:“ Haha.. well that would depend on how much of a pooper your baby turns out to be! Mine pooped all the ... [snip!] ... buy the big boxes though, and they last at least 2 weeks.. On average I think they say babies go through about 8 diapers a day.”

Ahh well that is good to know, for some reason I thought babies went through like, 15 diapers a day lmao ugh I feel so stupid! And as the sizing goes..the newborn ones only last for a little while right? And then the weight is on the box..thank god. Just like clothes, thank god the months are on the clothes or I have NO idea. Shoes on the otherhand...that's a whole nother story lol