Oh Baby!

When I was young(er) and having scads of kids every 2 years or so (*shudder*), I remember seeing some kind of discouraging news article about how horribly expensive it is to have kids. Anyone remember that? It had a huge listing of everything from diapers to pacifiers to the teen prom and a college education. After all was said and done, I recall that the total expense of ONE KID was close to $250,000. And that was in the 1990s. Yow.

BUT.

I never bought a brand new $300 Jenny Lind crib, like the newspaper article said I would. The gracious ladies at my church loaned me theirs, until I found one at a thrift store, cheap.

I never bought brand-new $45 clothing every week, like the newspaper article said I would (and it seemed like we had to up until age 1, because the babies grew so fast). I got some discount, non-name brand one-piece sleepers for the winter and one-piece onesies for the summer. When they started walking, I bought outfits at the thift stores, and the ladies in the church rotated clothing.

And the process has gone on and on as the kids grow.

So all I can to that news article is- :-p! You are WRONG! It does not cost an arm and a leg to raise a child. If anything, it makes a person more resourceful!

The same goes for feeding in those early years. Definitely the cheapest food is breast milk! I nursed two of my kids during their milk-feeding days. The other two I started out nursing, then switched to baby formula. Back then, we were offered the name-brand infant formula in the hospital, so I just went with what was familiar after the hospital stay, and kept buying the expensive name-brand stuff. But holy cow! It put a big dent in my normally frugal lifestyle; I think it cost something like $40 a week just to feed the baby, and that was 15+ years ago. I did not know if generic brands were available back then.. but the good news is that now they ARE available. And because ALL baby formulas in the U.S. must adhere to the FDA guidelines, the name-brand is not necessarily any better than the plain-labeled brands. And the name-brand stuff is often 50% MORE expensive than the generic. I am a big generic shopper, so this was news to me. You can check out more about this issue here at Parent’s Choice Infant Formula. They have a baby formula savings calculator where you can see for yourself the money you will save. They also have some information about nutrition, and some free samples you can grab! Check it out! Why pay more then you have to?