Frugal Friday

[ecosophia]

Welcome back to Frugal Friday!  This is a weekly forum post to encourage people to share tips on saving money, especially but not only by doing stuff yourself. A new post will be going up every Friday, and will remain active until the next one goes up. Contributions will be moderated, of course, and I have some simple rules to offer, which have changed as we've proceeded. (As things have settled down to a nice steady conversational pace, for example, I've deleted the rules about only one tip per person per week and about limiting the length of comments; I was worried early on about people flooding the forum with too much too fast, but I think we're past that risk.)

Rule #1:  this is a place for polite, friendly conversations about how to save money in difficult times. It's not a place to post news, views, rants, or emotional outbursts about the reasons why the times are difficult and saving money is necessary. Nor is it a place to use a money saving tip to smuggle in news, views, etc.  I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #2:  this is not a place for you to sell goods or services, period. Here again, I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #3:  please give your tip a heading that explains briefly what it's about.  Homemade Chicken Soup, Garden Containers, Cheap Attic Insulation, and Vinegar Cleans Windows are good examples of headings. That way people can find the things that are relevant for them. If you don't put a heading on your tip it will be deleted.

Rule #4: don't post anything that would amount to advocating criminal activity. Any such suggestions will not be put through.

With that said, have at it!

Comments

[hearthculture]

Congratulations! :,-)

The excitement leading up can be intoxicating. It can help to acknowledge early on that you have almost 10 months of time, and that there is no rush to have everything in order. Western society really pushes for purchase everything in advance, and prepare through purchasing. Resist as much as possible and wait for hand-me-downs. If either of you is nesting, get some paints and make some wall art or knit some things rather than buying hundreds of dollars of stuff. Soooo much of what was given to us, purchased for us, and purchased by us was never used.

A newborn wants to be near you for the first few days (even weeks and months.) If you can, delay getting stuff until you actually need it. After we spent so much preparing, we ended up having to do this anyway as we adapted to our baby's actually needs; if we would have waited, we could have spent where it counted in the first place.

We far preferred wearing our babies and carriers like the ergo were amazing and far cheaper than having multiple strollers (much easier to take places as well annnnd bonus you get more fit while wearing your baby!) We also loved our Moby wrap- which you can actually make, it's just a large piece of cloth.

We used cloth diapers, but a more modern kind that has a cover built in. For the infants we used a soft wool cover over cloth. There are multiple types, we loved the bum genious brand but people have different opinions. If you go the cloth route, get one of the diaper sprayers that attaches to your toilet, makes a pre-wash quick and easy, helps the diapers last longer, and doubles as a bidet. The diapers can be a big initial investment but are great to ask for as gifts. With care, some of our diapers lasted through 2-3 children (and then were given to others who got more life out of them,) so over time they were much, much cheaper than disposables.

A nose-frida was a life saver and affordable, I wish we learned about it much sooner. (It sounds gross, but it is a tube with a filter that allows you to safely clear mucous out of a baby's nose. It is much gentler and more functional than the traditional bulb sucker thing.)

We used went an alternate route and used a birth center for our first, a homebirth with midwife for our second, a friend assisted homebirth for the third, and an unassisted homebirth for the last. My wife was a doula and training as a midwife which gave us more confidence. A modern hospital birth can cost $10k up to 3x that. Even the birth center which had full staff and medical equipment was under $5k, and obviously the last two were nearly "free." I can say now that the final unassisted birth was a step to far for me, and though ours was successful I've seen and heard stories of rough experiences. I believe that birth really benefits from having trusted and skilled people around, and it is so lovely to focus on being a husband and father with others taking care of the rest. The trusted part is really important too. I highly recommend only allowing those you and your wife feel very safe with to attend the birth. While my wife was working births, there were sad and stressful stories of parents who felt compelled to allow someone untrusted to be present leading to adverse consequences.

We benefited from The Baby Book by William Sears, Raising Baby Green by Alan Greene, and The Natural Pregnancy Book by Aviva Jill Romm.

Wishing you, your wife, and your baby wellness and protection.

[(Anonymous)]

We had far too much stuff with our first baby! And then you get your baby home and get caught up in the whirlwind of the first few months and before you know it you're looking at all the stuff wondering what you were thinking. Babies only interest was connection and sustenance and everything else of use was largely for adaption to a modern world. By baby 3 we had much less.