Question for all new mums: How much should I expect to spend on food, nappies, baby cosmetics, clothes etc.
I want to work out my monthly expenses and make sure that I can afford a baby.
TA!

hya hon, i havent had my baby yet but we are stocking up on all the nappys,wet wipes ect when they are on offer, i don think u can actually say how much a baby costs per month as each child is different, if you are able to breast feed,you save on formula but u dont know if you can bf unless you try.
it does save if you stock up during pregnancy when there are deals though.
i dont think circumstances are ever perfect to have a baby but as long as you are in a loving relationship, and have a stable enviroment and u both want children then its the rightest time its going to be.
my oh and i know money will be tighter once baby is here but are trying to ease the financial strain.
maybe your partner is worried about something else(i read ur other post), have u tried sitting him down and having a proper in depth heart to heart with him? explaining how you feel deep down and asking him about himself?xxx
goodluck honey.xxxx

I don't think you can ever really afford a baby you just make do, as zoey85 says as long as the baby comes into a home to where its parents love it, then surely thats the best thing. Baby products are always on offer and it helps to join baby clubs, boots i think is one of the best. If you join when you are pregnant they even send you vouchers for the mum to be! I always seem to go over budget on the baby milk, nappies, wipes etc. I try however to stick to around £40-£50 a month. Clothes and toys are another thing, but are not essentials i just love buying them!!! I am not as bad now as i was with my first baby. HTH

Thank you girls! I am not worried about clothes and toys. If it comes to worst one can always buy second hand stuff from charity shop etc. The cost of milk and nappies is still managable. I am collecting some "evidence" to make my husband feel better about having a baby.

Hi there, I have a 7 month old and we dont really spend a hell of a lot of money on food and nappys and stuff. Her nappys we buy tescos ones cos we found they were the best and they are 7 pound a week and i feed her jar food as she dosent like my food and that costs £4 a week, wipes we use about 1 1/2 packs a week so about £2 as they are always on offer and shampoo lasts FOREVER i am still on the same bottle as when she was born so maybe on cream and other stuff another £2 a month. Overall on our shopping per week as we always buy her a little something like toys or shoes about £20 a week. Hope this helps x

I get nappies from Lidl and they are great and the wipes are good. I am lucky as my friend had 2 girls so passed alot of stuff onto us but I buy alot of clothes from Tesco or Asda as you can get a 3 piece outfit for about £4 - £10.
We have not bought many toys got given alot for Xmas but lo is only just getting interested in it all now she is over 6 months.
Also Aldi does a range called Impidimpi, I have bought a change bag for £12,99 which is great and a pack of 7 vests for about £4.50 and they are the softest ones I have had from anywhere and just keep washing up lovely.

I spend about £50 on Rhys, that includes clothes, nappies wipes, formula now I'm not bf and jars of baby food. I bf for just under 5 months that was a big saving.

I only use baby food when out and about and mush up veg that me and oh are eating for everyday. I buy huggies pure wipes either when they are buy one get one free in tescos or a four pack from boots. Same really for nappies I buy pampers cos thats what we've found best. they are nearly always on offer either in Tescos or boots.

I tend to buy the bulk of his things in boots or tesco because of the baby club incentives. Tescos you get the huggies as above and quite often a voucher for 100 points.When you join boots you get a baby change bag! and double points on pampers,avent,heinz and boots products

Rhys' clothes are mainly from Tesco and Asda occasionaly Boots. I havent bought that many proper outfits for him cos we had been given various size outfits when he was born from friends and family, and also christmas he was given even more. but unless we are going out and about I tend to put him in little joggers and t shirt cos hes just lounging around the house after all. I also was given some hand me downs from family.some looked like they had been barely worn but I know they had been. They grow out of things really quick so there is no point in buying expensive clothes.

The initial layout for cot, buggy etc can be pricy but just shop around on the internet, I managed to get the silver cross buggy and car seat I really wanted and managed to save about £120 by shopping around.

I know when I go back to work I'll be paying out £200 a month in childcare but we are going for the Busybees vouchers which are a tax incentive scheme so we will save about £700-£1000 in tax over the year.

and remember you will be entitiled to child benefit and possibly Tax credits and maybe other benefits.

sorry to have gone on and on, but having a baby far out weighs any financial costs. If you think you could be a good mum then go for it you will always be able to afford the things for your baby even if you have to go without something!

basic baby esentials i spend roughly 10quid a week

best thing i can recomend when it comes to planning a baby is open yourself a high interest savings account or isa. i did and put 20quid a week in by direct debit day after pay day so never really noticed the money not there. that helped as then the money was already there for things like our cot and buggy. then once i was actually pregnant i changed it to 10quid a week and bought a little something (usually whats ever on offer) for the baby. we also asked family&freinds to pick off a list of things we needed for gifts and cleared as much debt as poss such as credit cards.

dont forget that you'd get child benefit (which more than covers what i spend on baby).

there are ways of saving money some cheeper brand products as good as popular brands i actually prefur tesco nappies to pampers and boots own brand wipes are just as good as any others. Also find theres nothing wrong with tesco/asda clothes far far cheeper than debenhams,next, gap etc

saying weather you can afford a baby is a hard thing, i wouldnt change it at all, some how we do manage my oh is only on a 15k year job and my 112.00 a wk maternity pay, running 2 cars,the mortgage, 40quid a week on food,all bills etc doesnt leave much at the end but we do manage. we still go out for dinners, cinema, socalising & weekends away too and spending 5k on a wedding in august

<!-- start: themes/yyw/modules/comments/user-modifiedby.xt -->
<br/>
[Modified by: Kimw08 on March 04, 2008 12:48 AM]<!-- end: themes/yyw/modules/comments/user-modifiedby.xt -->

hi Misiu,

If you're trying to convince your husband about having a baby, then talking about costs (or even cheaper costs) may not help. It's true that having an extra family member involves financial outlay, but I think the rewards are worth it. You'll feel a million dollars when you see your baby's first smile, or hear baby's first "mama" or "dada".

If your husband needs convincing then perhaps he's not ready. He is probably thinking "if I have to spend £xx on baby, then I can't have £xx to spend on my .....". Maybe you have to look at it from a different angle like "wouldn't it be great if we have a son to take to a football match ..." or whatever his favourite activity is.

Sorry I'm no help on the money question. But I hope I've given you some ideas anyway.

Good luck
xx

Ok, i dont know where everyone is getting their figures from but heres mine. It only gets bigger in cost as the baby does.
birth-6 weeks- around £6 for nappys £7 formula a week.
6-12 weeks- around £10 a week for nappys as the bigger nappys cost more, £12 a week for formula as a tin and half at this stage a week.
12-18 weeks £10 a week for nappys, £14 for formual and when you start weaning for jars and packet food you are looking at another £3 a week.
Overall around £60 a week for the first 18 weeks and thats not counting clothes and toys etc.
You will always find enough to do the baby even if you do without yourself because they are the most important things ever and dont forget you will get £18 a week child benefit and more child tax credits also. If you breastfeed you cut out a lot of money and if you use reusalbe nappys you will save even more.
Good luck making your decision. No amount of money in the world can fill your life like a child. xxx

I am glad Gina made her post - I agree - the emotional cost is nothing in comparison to financial cost. You can make do money wise if you have to. Have a chat to OH and see what's really bothering him.

hi all x

misiu - i'm so glad you asked this question.

it's the one thing i always think about. we have so much going on at the mo that we decided in April not to start ttc until nov/dec 08 but I just keep wondering how much a baby will cost.

plus everyone has quoted the monthly cost but what about the initial cost - it's like moving house for the 1st time - you need to furnish the place - so i suppose i'm asking - what was/will be the initial outlay.

I've trawled the web and have a list of things i think we'll need but i've no idea if i've missed anything or if my figures are accurate at all?!?!?!

hi

ive been saving £250 a month for the last year so i can have my share of the mortgage paid for the 9 months when i'm on maternity. I cant believe how quickly it has built up. I have saved some share money that i got from work towards my pram (want a bugaboo). Not even pg yet but i like to be organised.

I know you can never be that organised but i want to be in the best position. Didnt believe gettin pg would be so bloody difficult !

we already transfer money into an account every month but we use it for the usual house type stuff and just leave in there whatever's left over.

But I did suggest the other day that we open another account to transfer into every month too.

He seemed to like the idea so better get saving!

I have my list but the problem is I change it every time I'm browsing because I find something newer and better that I want for when we have a little one x