Baby stuff for cheap or free
Welcome to our second trimester post! I’m sort of back to my normal self, but I get tired really easily and my brain seems to have succumbed to my pregnancy when I can’t think clearly. Other than that though, I’m still taking it easy, hence, the lesser amount of blog posts you see here (apologies!)
On our first trimester post, I’m pretty much a zombie who’s always sick and tired all the time, so I did not have much time to devote to researching and planning. Now, I will have to make the most of the next 3 months (well, 2 months now), to try and learn how to get all the stuff our baby needs without having to shell a lot of money for them.
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Marketers and companies love pregnant women because they get scared easily, especially if it’s their first ever child. New parents want everything to be the best for their children, so they don’t mind shelling out a lot of money trying to make everything ‘perfect’. Unfortunately, that’s the world we’re in right now, where Instagram and Pinterest makes everybody want to live the ‘perfect’ life.
For Peter and I, we read the Frugalwoods blog about how they tried to save money while trying to source stuff for their baby, however, not every technique they mentioned is applicable in our case. We’re both immigrants, but we’re lucky enough that Peter’s immediate family and some extended family live in Sarasota– which is a 4 hour drive southwest from where we live. Unfortunately for us, we don’t have any immediate family within the city we live in, just a few friends to tap resources from.
We do have two friends who just had babies recently, one with a boy and one with a girl, so we have options on where we can get newborn clothes for cheap (maybe even for free), and as our baby is growing, their babies outgrow their stuff too. Win-win. Our friends get to let go of stuff that they may not be able to use otherwise (both friends don’t want a second child, so they have no need to save the clothes for another baby), so they can have precious space in their apartments back.
But what if you don’t have friends who just had babies recently? Your other best bet is garage sales and thrift stores!
As part of trying to not pay full-price for anything, Peter and I got a great tip from the Frugalwoods again, where we can source items from garage sales. Sure enough, there was a community garage sale at an upscale community within a 5 minute drive from our place.
We went there with a list of what we want to buy for our little one, with a set budget for each item. Since we don’t know the gender of our child (we do now!), we did not go there to buy clothes, plus, our friends are a great resource. So, we went to try and get a stroller, a car seat, and a pack and play, you know, plastic baby stuff that we can re-use.
Unfortunately, those plastic tools are what our friends can’t provide to us, seeing as their babies will still need them. Plus, if we can get an item that’s not expired and not recalled for more than 80% off that’s gently used, why not right?
In theory, you can also get free items as gifts, but hey, we’d rather get gifts that we can use for something else, say diapers, wipes, powder, cream, and maybe other consumable goods that our baby will definitely need for a few years. More on in the gifts/baby shower section below.
We saw a few child car seats that were going for $5 or more during this community garage sale, but we needed an infant seat, and after driving around the community, we finally found one that’s almost brand new, and will expire by August 2022, more than 3 years from now. Score. We went home with that for $20. The same couple were also selling a stroller, but since we live in a small townhouse, we decided to wait for the next garage sale to source it, since we don’t have the space to store the item in.
Look for affluent communities to source your garage sale and thrift store items. Chances are, you’ll get high quality (branded) goods that are gently used, for a fraction of the price buying them new.
While we haven’t tried thrift store shopping for our little one yet, they can be a goldmine for buying clothes and toys. Our favorite one is from Peter’s parent’s city, which occasionally has deals for 50% off on donated goods during certain days. I bought so many purses, clothes, toys, and home goods from their stores that it’s insane. We will go back and continue sourcing our items from our favorite thrift stores for quality items that we need.
By buying used items, we not only save money, but we also save these good-quality items from reaching landfills, while helping the thrift stores chosen cause. In fact, our house is mostly furnished from stuff we already had, stuff we bought from friends who are moving out, hand-me-downs from family, or bought from thrift stores, Craigslist and consignment stores! You just need a good eye for what are quality items and perhaps spend a little bit of time researching what are considered ‘good’ brands, and what is a good price point that will really make it a good deal (as a comparison: our price point should be 80% off or more of the original retail price of the item)
If family members and close friends want to throw you a baby shower (as Peter’s family wants to), then yes, we’re all up for it. However, as we mentioned above, the vast majority of things on our baby registry will be consumables (see below for the complete baby gear checklist), so we don’t have to worry about the extra expense that diapers will have on our budget.
And no, we both agreed as a couple that we don’t want to use cloth diapers, as we don’t really want to spend oodles of time washing them and *ahem* touching some nasty things as well.
While cloth diapers may be cheaper in some cases, it is a conscious decision on our part not to use it, and your choice may be way different from ours. We also need to buy a lot of baby wipes, rash cream, and powders for our little one, so if we can get gift cards to our favorite stores to source them from (think Costco, Target, or Wal-Mart), then that little bit can help a long way.
Now, I’m not sure if the list above will cover everything as of publication, so when I do think of more things that we need, I will update the post above. These are just the basics, with no need to go overboard on the buying.
Is the list above comprehensive enough for your baby needs as well? Do you agree with sourcing things used instead of buying brand new for your baby all the time?
Do you agree that people market to soon-to-be mothers in an effort for them to try and spend more money on the ‘best’ items for their babies? I would love if you can join the army of moms who go against the norm, help save a couple of items from the dumpsters and the landfills, and just raise our babies frugally.
Used doesn’t mean bad, but saving a few dollars in the long run will definitely help! This can be used for stuff that baby will use as they grow up and make their way through the world. In our case, we plan to use the spare money to teach them about the world by actually traveling with them. After all, what better lesson can we give to our children than the ways of the world?
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