Go to: Previous story | Next story

I know how it is.  You’re pregnant with your first child and you can’t wait to decorate the nursery.  You say you won’t go overboard but then you get your Land of Nod and Pottery Barn Kids catalogs and you just can’t help yourself!  You check out the discount stores but poo-poo their low priced items in favor of a pricy handmade rug, a slip covered glider and imported crib sheets.  Then it’s off to the specialty store for the ergo dynamical stroller and the car seat that’s better engineered than your actual car.

Sure you may have the best looking nursery this side of Baby Shiloh’s and the trendiest baby gear on your block, but all that high style comes with a high price tag.  Check out how much you can save by forgoing the designer gear for discount gear:

DESIGNER

Bugaboo Frog: $750                                                 

Cielo crib: $1,180                                                       

Toddler bed: Oeuf Original Toddler Bed: $570

Dwell Studio Gio Lemon crib set: $385

Primo Viaggio Infant Car Set: $260

Orbit Toddler car seat: $300 

Avant Plu Series Baby Carrier from psny: $395

Solare Changing Table: $985

Slip covered Swivel Glider and Ottoman: $900

K1 Highchair from Kuster: $250

TOTAL: $5975

DISCOUNT

Graco Vienna Stroller: $100

Da Vinci Emily Crib (converts to toddler bed): $340

Tiddliwinks Sage Jungle crib set: $75

Graco Comfort Sport Convertible Car Seat Maggie: $80

Peanut Shell Sling: $50

Sleigh Changing Table with Drawer: $139

Sherman Deluxe Glider and Ottoman: $199

Graco Contempo High Chair: $100

TOTAL: $1083

That’s a savings of $4,892!  If you took that money and invested it for 16 years, you’d have enough cash to buy your kid a good used car (about $11,000 compounded at 5% interest)!  And this is strictly the savings for the basics.  Add in a few high-end accessories and designer clothing that you’ll need to replace every few months and your kid could drive off in a brand new Mercedes! 

Of course the best way to avoid spending a fortune on baby items is to register for them and hope your friends cough up the cash at your baby shower.  Shy of that, here are some other ways to save:

• Buy convertible items that grow along with your baby.  Get a crib that transforms into a toddler bed and a convertible car seat that can accommodate a newborn through a toddler.  Instead of a separate high chair, try an inexpensive Bumpo Booster that you can use on an existing chair (just make sure you don't leave baby unattended.)
• Buy used items from a second hand store, Craigslist.com, eBay.com, and even garage sales.  Yes, I know it goes against your fashionable maternal instincts, but as long as the items adhere to current safety regulations, they’ll be fine.  The only two items you should buy new are a car seat (unless you’re guaranteed it’s never been involved in an accident) and a crib mattress (because, well, yuk).
• Toss the designer catalogues so you won’t be tempted.  I don’t know how they find you but it seems as soon as you pass your pregnancy test, the overpriced baby catalogs start arriving at your door, followed by coupons for diapers and, for reasons I still can’t figure out, baby life insurance. 
• Ask around to friends and family and see if they have any baby gear that their child has outgrown. Many parents are more than happy to get rid of that huge baby swing, high chair or stroller that they can no longer use.

 This need to spend big usually dissipates after your first child becomes a toddler.  By then you realize how much money you’ve wasted on trendy baby items and will just stick your second kid in the sock drawer and dress him in hand-me-downs.  And you know what?  He’ll be just as happy as your first-born!  Funny how that works.

Read More:

• Budget boosting baby bargains
• Top 7 ways to save money while raising baby
• Baby on a budget

PointsandPrizes.com Keyword: SLING worth 50 points good through 06/01/08.
Not a member? Join Points and Prizes now for more free stuff!