Bringing Home Baby

Shopping, Coupons and Savings

According to the most recent data from the USDA (2004), the cost of raising a child to age 18 ranges from $125,000 to $270,000. In your baby's first year alone, the average cost is about $20,000 (labor and delivery, day care and costs related to furniture, clothes, diapers, and doctor visits.) The most expensive years for raising a child are between the ages of one to five. Brace yourself and plan ahead.

Clothes

You'll be amazed at how quickly babies grows! Don't buy many clothes at first. It is always a good idea to buy outfits that are the next size up; they will stay longer in the closet.

In addition, shop around and compare prices. You can get great deals at manufacturer outlets, discount chains and consignment stores. Hit the sales rack and clearance items first and foremost. Skip the designer labels, unless you find these going for a steal of a price.

Coupons

Frankly, I was not a big fan of coupons, but with all the money going to diapers you have to compensate somewhere. Now, coupons are worth the time and effort to use. You can get coupons from manufacturers, local flyer's, newspapers, mail lists, web sites, and within stores. I subscribed to quite a few, to name some: pampers.com, beechnut.com, naturesgoodness.com and huggies.com.

When you subscribe to the "baby club" at Publix they will send you a book and a good number of coupons on a regular basis.

Saving for College

If you want to start a college fund early, you can open a Upromise.com account. Many manufacturers, restaurants and other venues will contribute a percentage of products or purchases to the Upromise saving account. A great idea! Save money just by buying the things you usually buy.

Use the Web to Shop for Bargains

These web sites are my picks for Best of the Web:

Essentials

Bringing Home Baby
Copyright © 2008 Magaly Rivera
All rights reserved.