Starting from scratch? This is what you really need

My friend Amy is due on the same day as me with her first child. She's been asking me for advice on what you really need to get for a baby. So here is my low-down.

Pram
I once read an article about a woman who didn't have a pram and just carried her baby till it walked. She obviously didn't have a caesar or a really big baby! Here are my suggestions.

If someone offers to buy you a pram, get one new. But if money is tight, find one you like by testing them out at Baby Bunting, then order online from the USA (loads cheaper) or get one on eBay.
 

Smaller, narrower popular prams:

Mountain buggy swift

Baby jogger city mini GT (the GT has the pump up tyres; previous models don't)

Bigger prams:

Baby jogger city elite

Mountain buggy urban elite

 

The pram I bought second hand and love is a Swallow Beema – it’s bigger but I love it! Easy to push and has a huge basket. In its day it was voted Choice pram of the year. I got a used one on Ebay for $100 and it came with a bassinet as well as a skateboard for toddlers! Bargain.

 

According to the product review sites, Phil and Teds are a bit dodgy these days – but older versions on Ebay would be fine.

 

In terms of planning a pram purchase for a second seat/baby, I wouldn’t worry about it… My tip is that by the time the second baby comes along you’ll be wanting a new pram anyway! And it also depends on the spacing of your kids. If they are close together you’ll need a 2 seater pram, but if not you could get by with a skateboard attachment.

Cot

Try to get one second hand on eBay or Freecycle or Gumtree. Or ask friends. They only get used for a few years, so there are normally lots around if you ask!

Babies can go straight into a cot rather than a bassinet, however you'll need to sleep in the same room as the baby for the first 3-6 months (to reduce the SIDS risk), so it depends on how much room you have in your room, or if you have a bed in the baby's room. You can buy bassinets, but as they only get used for 3-6 months, most people just borrow them off friends. Ask around. Someone probably has one in the shed.

You'll need a couple of mattress protectors and 2-3 changes of cot sheets. If they don't wee through stuff they spew everywhere!!!

It's handy to have a portacot too, but like bassinets there are far too many in the world, and you can probably get one on Freecycle or by asking around. I've been offered several over the last year! You can also buy quite cheap ones at Target/Kmart. Traditional portacots are quite heavy and bulky, but are okay for having in the boot or under the bed.

If you want to lash out and get a good small fold up portacot for interstate/overseas travel, the BabyBjorn one is great. But expensive!

http://www.productreview.com.au/p/babybjorn-travel-cot-light.html

Clothes

You will be given A LOT of clothing as gifts, so don't buy too much. You'll probably also be given a lot of hand-me-downs. You'll want to buy a few nice new things, but try not to go overboard! Here are some suggestions on what you need in the first 6 months.

Big babies can go straight into '000' outfits. If you have a small baby you might need '0000' suits for a few weeks, but they'll be in '000' before you know it! So my tip is to not buy any '0000' outfits as you might not need them. If you do, ask around. Your friends are bound to have some you can borrow.

You'll need at least 6 '000' outfits - onesies are best for the start. You might also like a few leggings/top sets. They are easier to change than onesies.

You'll also need about 6 singlets (start with '000"), some socks, and you might want to get a few leggings and tops too.

Things you might not think of 

• Wraps/swaddles - basically big squares of cloth (a bit of stretch is good) to wrap your baby up tight. There are many specifically designed swaddles, but I reckon the cheap wraps are fine.
• Spew rags (traditional cloth nappy squares, from Kmart, work well for this)
  

Things you don't really need to buy:

• Change table - you can just get a plastic change mat (around $30) and put it on a chest of drawer, table or on a bed.
  
• Nappy bag - just get a portable changing mat or similar with a small bag/green bag
• Baby monitor- not really necessary if your place is small; you'll hear the baby! But get one if it makes you sleep better once you are in separate rooms (after 3-6 months). I can recommend the Oricom 500. Was worth spending the extra money (although I got it quite cheap on sale at Baby Bunting). All my friends bought cheap ones which they ended up replacing as they broke.
  

 

Frugality is fun!

Well, I finally took the plunge and quit my stressful job. Problem is, it was also high paid! My new job is fantastic - interesting, not too much responsibility, nice people. The only catch is the pay! It's not terrible, but it has made me and my partner re-assess our finances. I'm pleased to report that so far watching the budget is going well. As my partner commented last week, when I was getting excited about a family trip to a suburban Savers store, "who knew frugality could be so much fun!?".

The internet is fabulous if you plan to start being dollars savvy. From budgeting, to tips on saving money, to meal planning to savings plans - you'll find a website or blog to inspire and guide you on you money saving journey.

The first thing I started researching was meal planning and feeding the family on a budget. I have never planned meals and I'm a self-confessed supermarket junkie. I live 5 minutes from a shopping centre and end up at there most days. I go for one or two things I 'need' for dinner, then return home with a pram-basket full of goodies - many of which end up at the back of the cupboard, fridge or freezer, slowly going out of date.

So step 1 was meal planning - and consequently only buying what you need. It's been 5 weeks now and it's going well, but I still struggle to limit myself to the shopping list at the supermarket. I was inspired by the website/blog Planning with Kids, which has great child-friendly recipes as well as tips on meal planning. I don't use her planning tools, but designed my own to suit our lifestyle, incorporating a shopping list into a life and meal planner. (I only have one kid; she has five!) I list what we are doing each night, who is dropping off/picking up Lewis from childcare each day, who is cooking dinner and what is being cooked. I then note what needs to be bought for each meal in the shopping list section, where I have staple items pre-populated to save time.  The meal planning is very useful for weeks like this, where I'm out for dinner twice and my partner is out once - so on those nights we can do simple dinners with Lewis, rather than our usual 'proper' dinners. I'm having eggs on toast with Lewis on Friday; Adrian is doing sausages (I don't let him cook meat when I'm home!).

Closely intertwined with step 1 is step 2: inventory of what you already have. I was amazed by what I found in the cupboards, fridge, and more recently the freezer! (I've been tackling one area per week.) The Simple Savings website and its $21 challenge was the inspiration for this one. The $21 challenge is where you try to survive for one week only spending $21 on food, and using up what you have in the pantry/fridge/freezer.

So for the last week we have been trying to not buy more food (after spending up relatively big for a family dinner party earlier in the week), and to make do with what we have. We've consequently had some really nice meals we wouldn't have thought of having otherwise:

• Pumpkin and lentil stew
• Pasta shells with peas, olives and some leftover marinated fetta
• When we ran out of bread I discovered a few more slices in the freezer. When that ran out I discovered avocado on crackers for breakfast. Just as nice!
• Flourless orange cake - I found some almond meal in the freezer, we had oranges from a weekend away, and eggs and sugar pantry. So delicious!
• Stewed rhubarb from the garden.
• Tacos to use up the leftover cheese and tomatoes we had.

 I also made homemade pasta for the family meal on Monday (time consuming but works out a lot cheaper than buying fresh pasta).

We now meal plan around what we have in the fridge/cupboard that needs using up, as well as adding a few new recipes each week so as not to eat too boringly!

Oh, and we have started shopping for pantry and fridge staples at Aldi. It really is so much cheaper than Coles. Although their fruit and veg is a bit average, so I just get the super specials from there and head to the local fruit market for the rest.

I've already noticed the money in our joint account seems to be lasting longer. Yay!

Now I just need to cut down my personal spending... but that's another story.