Money & parenthood: what should I save money on?
This week, my husband and I celebrated a major milestone - our baby’s first birthday!
It’s hard to believe that a year has already flown by since our lives changed forever, but also encouraging to know that we’ve survived our first year of parenthood, including all its ups and downs and unexpected twists & turns. I’ve previously shared with you my pregnancy & postpartum finances and today, I’m back with more money-saving tips. Of course, the things I would’ve saved money on or done differently are subjective, but I hope some of these suggestions are useful if you’re a new parent.
Playmats - If I could do it again, I wouldn’t buy a playmat that’s designed only for babies to play on. Why? I bought a baby playmat that had colourful illustrations and textures, but couldn’t be washed because it had a little mirror sewn in. It’s also very unversatile as it is only for indoor use and is soft and flimsy.
What I would’ve bought instead is a picnic mat - one that’s still colourful and fun, but is also versatile enough for indoor & outdoor use and for adults to use! After buying a picnic mat for us to use for picnics by the beach or at the park (I got mine from Kollab), I couldn’t believe I ever bought a baby playmat and not simply a picnic mat. Not only is the picnic mat I bought colourful and versatile, it is also bigger, waterproof, washable, and thicker - making it even safer for babies and their fragile heads.
Toys - We’ve spent a considerable amount of money on toys, and a lot of it wasn’t worth it. Our baby doesn’t care much for his ‘Twirly Whirly Rainbow Ramp’ (a rainbow-coloured ramp with balls that roll down), his musical baby Rubik’s Cube, his toy game controller, or his colourful shape puzzle.
What he loves is shaking our supplement bottles; playing with his silicone food bowls, plates and spoons; playing with our remotes and toilet paper rolls; ripping apart old magazines; pulling nappies out of his nappy caddy; trying to eat his formula dispenser; and playing with kitchen utensils like silicone tongs and spatulas. We even made a toy for him by putting pasta into a box.
My point is, don’t worry if the baby is due to arrive and you haven’t got any toys - your household items will do!
Baby clothes - When baby clothes shopping, prioritise pieces with built-in mittens or socks. This will not only save you money, but time and storage space. You won’t have missing mittens or socks all over the house, and you’ll have an easier time getting them on the baby when they’re already attached to your baby’s onesie, shirt or pants.
Shusher - We bought a baby shusher, or white noise machine, which plays more than just white noise - it comes with all kinds of nature sounds and instrumental lullabies. When our baby got sick, a doctor recommended using a vaporizer to add moisture to the air, along with eucalyptus and peppermint, to soothe our baby’s nose and throat.
Later on, we discovered that you can buy machines that are a shusher and vaporizer in one! If you can find one of these instead of buying two machines, it could save you both money and space.
A new house - Now, this is a very personal one, but I wanted to end this post by sharing my thoughts on us choosing to buy a new 3-bedroom home for our growing family. When I was pregnant, it seemed like we were in a massive rush to buy a new house, but after the baby arrived, I realised there hadn’t been a need to rush it at all! It’s recommended that babies sleep in the same room as their parents for at least the first six months; even better is if they sleep in the same room as their parents for first twelve months, which reduces the chances of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Even after that, you could opt to have your baby with you for longer.
For us, we have much preferred for our baby to be in the same room as us - first in a bassinet next to our bed, then in a cot in the same room as us but on the opposite side of the room. It’s worked perfectly for us and continues to do so now that our baby is one year old, and chances are, he’ll sleep in the same room as us until he is at least two.
Our third bedroom, the nursery, has been completely unused.
So if you’re trying for a baby, or expecting, and you think you absolutely need to get a bigger house immediately, I’d like to give my 2 cents: relax! You have plenty of time - and with that, time to wait for an optimal opportunity to buy, such as when there are lower house prices and interest rates.
If you’re a new parent, I’d love to know: what would you have saved money on?
Sophia
