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Where Has All My Money Gone
Written by Gary
Where Has All My Money Gone
Until you have had a child I don't think you really appreciate the affect it will have on your life. It's hard to actually put a figure on how much a child will cost because the amount is partly down to how much your finances will allow. You tend to make compromises. It is, however, easy to get carried away and buy all the expensive essential items when the basic ones would do just fine. You can end up buying loads of clothes which baby never wears and there's only so many cuddly toys the baby can cuddle at once. Remember some of your friends and/or relations will end up giving you gifts of baby clothes/cuddly toys.
It might actually be worth trying to co-ordinate the efforts of your relatives so that you don't end up with thirty vests but only one sleep suit.
There are some basic essential costs involved with having a new baby. Items such as nappies, a cot or moses basket, a pram, a high chair, a car seat and baby clothes, but even here you can reduce the amount you pay out by shopping online and looking around for bargains.
Here is a link to the Financial Services Authority which helps to provide an estimate of the amount a child or children will cost you - FSA Child Cost Calculator
See below for an idea of how much the average costs for the items you might need are likely to be:
| Cost of Baby Items* | ||
| Item | Cost | |
| Cot | £160 | |
| Bedding | £80 | |
| Baby carrier | £30 | |
| Push Chair | £200 | |
| High chair | £50 | |
| Baby bath | £18 | |
| Baby monitor | £30 | |
| Disposable nappies (2,555) | £500 | There is a way you can save up to 50% of this cost by using reusable nappies see my reviews here |
| Bottle feeding equipment | £20 | |
| Total | £1,088 | |
| *(Source: Mothercare.com) | ||
My wife and I took some time picking out the items we thought would fit into our budget but also would look nice in the nursery etc. She picked it because it would look nice in the nursery and I decided whether it was within our budget. I can honestly say that we saved a fortune by shopping online and also picked up some products that you simply couldn't find in our local shops. Don't get me wrong, we did find some items in supermarkets and some well known baby stores but mostly the items where cheaper online.
Take a look at my resources pages, you may find some bargains on these products and even if your not the one that will make the final decision let your partner know what website you found it on so they can check it out as well.
