Archives for June 2016

Planning for Baby #2!

June 29, 2016 | Leave a Comment

We finally announced that we are happily expecting baby #2 this year. If all goes well, by Christmas this year we’ll officially be a family of four. Our daughter, who just turned four this month is beyond excited and all to ready to start prepping for baby– more than mom and dad I think!

Thankfully we held onto a lot of stuff from our first pregnancy which saves on what we need to get for baby #2. There were a few things though that either didn’t make the journey with us or quite simply didn’t work as we had hoped and really need to replace. I’m hoping that we’ll be able to get everything we need for less than $500.

Maternity Clothes: $150

This pregnancy is the opposite season of my first. My first was due in June, this baby is due in December. This of course means most of my seasonal maternity clothes don’t make sense or I just don’t have. I didn’t need to buy maternity summer clothes with #1, where I can no longer fit into any non-maternity summer clothes. Given that I’m in scrubs most of the time (something else that doesn’t fit great anymore), I needed to buy some summer items. I decided to buy two pairs of shorts and a few tops (which I don’t need quite yet) on clearance.

I waited until I had a 40% off coupon and bought two pairs of shorts at one of the only maternity stores in town (we don’t have anything like a Target and none of our WalMart’s carry maternity items so we’re forced to shop at maternity clothing stores which are crazy expensive).

I tried our local thrift stores first with no luck at all. I also thought I could get away with buying a few bigger sized shorts at a cheaper store but had no luck there either. In the end, the shorts were $45 each but I had the coupon which helped. The tops were bought only because I knew I’d need them in a few months and were on clearance for $10-20 each. I also bought a maternity dress on clearance in preparation for a wedding I’ll be attending in the fall at 6.5 months pregnant.

When this pregnancy is done I also plan on selling all my maternity clothes to help the cost a bit!

New Crib Mattress: $120

I was hoping we wouldn’t need to buy this but after looking at our current crib mattress, which our daughter used for 3.5 years it’s not in great shape. It’s quite stained and I think one of the springs is broken (possibly from toddlers jumping on the bed while trying to escape?).

I found a really nice organic one at Marshalls recently that was on sale from $220 for $99. I’m hoping one will be there in a few months when we go to buy. Worst case, there’s always Costco which sells them for $100 year round.

Breast Pump: $100 (or less)

I have every intention of breastfeeding again as I did with our daughter for 14 months. I had a pump, lent it to a friend and she accidentally broke it. She felt pretty bad and ended up giving us some gift certificates towards the purchase of a new one despite be trying to tell her not to worry about it.

I think with the gift certificates and sales that are ongoing, $100 is more than enough. I may also be able to borrow one from another friend who’s been having breastfeeding issues but has a very expensive high-end pump that we could just buy new tubing to.

Diaper Bag: $45

We were given a diaper bag with our daughter which I used literally until she was out of diapers and didn’t have to worry about an outfit change every outing we made. Some people don’t use them but I loved having the dedicated bag to our daily needs to take a quick notice. Near the end of it’s life though the zipper tore off and though I had intentions of having it repaired, when I went to look through our baby stuff recently I couldn’t find it. I did eventually crumpled up in a ball in the corner of our damp basement storage room full of mold.

I’m not storing our new baby stuff in a broken moldy bag so I threw it out. As fate would have it, I found a really nice bag online through Zulily at a great price. The bag normally retails for almost $200 but they were selling it for $35 plus $6 shipping. I haven’t received it yet but it’s reviewed very well so I’m sure it will serve our needs just fine.

Infant Car Seat: $85

Since car seats expire we need a new infant car seat. We happened to be in a store recently while they were marking down their infant seats (50% off) from last year’s fabric pattern. We scored a new infant car seat for $80 and it’s compatible with our current stroller.

Planning for baby #2 is definitely less stressful than your first that’s for sure. I’m glad we held onto as much as we did and won’t need to but much beyond what’s already listed!

How did you plan for baby #2?

How to Prepare for Maternity Leave

June 22, 2016 | Leave a Comment

I am the first to admit that I was 100% unprepared for maternity leave. My baby was due at the end of June and because of some complications I was having (which was hindering my ability to work), my OB was talking about putting me off as early as the beginning of March. Given my unpreparedness, there was no way we’d be able to handle an additional three months on top of what would be a yearlong leave from my job. The only thing I did know was that money would be tight.

It was a huge wake up call to find out my income would inevitably be almost 60% decreased on leave for twelve long months. To say it was an adjustment would be an understatement. I learned a lot though and when the time comes for future children we will be much more prepare following these few self-imposed rules.

Beef up the Savings

We had zero savings when our daughter was born. Not even an emergency fund. Thankfully we got our act together and stashed a small one away once we realized how unsafe we were being but it wasn’t easy. If we have more kids I will be spending the whole gestational period saving more money. If my doctor wants me to go off early again I need to be able to do it and not worry about the financial repercussions. I need to be able to take care of me and my (potential) baby.

Adjust Your Budget

Again, we didn’t have a budget when I went off with our daughter, big no-no. Now that we have a money monitoring system in place, if we have more kids I will adjust it to accommodate the changes. You need to figure out what your new baby will need (diapers, clothes, potential formula, medical appointments etc.) and make sure the money is allotted. Also make sure any income changes are addressed for the time off work.

Prepare Your Life

Do as much prep as you can before your income and time is potentially reduced. There were things we didn’t necessarily need right away (high chair, crib) but we bought when we had more disposable income and had time to shop sales.

Also spend time preparing for the first few weeks at home. While you have time and energy, prep your freezer for easy meals or you may find yourself eating out more than you’d like. Those first few days, weeks, are exhausting and if you are the primary cook, you will really want easy meals. Your spouse will be tired too and be so thankful when you tell them there’s a meal already prepped in the freezer for them to throw in.

Whether it’s your first or fourth, being pregnant and bringing a new baby home will be a change in every aspect of your life. Don’t be like me with my first pregnancy, sit down as soon as you find out your pregnant and figure out what changes you need to make in your life!

What things did you do to prepare for maternity leave?

My Experience With Co-Sleeping

June 15, 2016 | Leave a Comment

Before having our daughter, I never would have thought that we would co-sleep. We knew we wanted her close, in our room, for the first few weeks but could never have foreseen bed-sharing, for what ended up being almost 10 months.

The first few nights at home, our daughter slept in a bassinet close to the couch I was forced to sleep on since getting in and out of our bed was too challenging post c-section. After a few nights I was able to get into bed and we moved her to the bedroom where I would climb in and out of bed for nighttime nursing sessions.

The issue we were running into was that she was waking up too much when she nursed and would take me almost an hour to get her back to sleep, multiple times per night. After a few weeks of this, in a totally exhausted and desperate state, I brought her in bed with me where we both were able to sleep for the first time in almost a month. She was still waking every two to three hours to feed but because I wasn’t rousing her too much, she’d nurse then we’d both fall right back to sleep. It was glorious and so a new routine was formed.

It took my husband a little while to get comfortable with bed sharing as he was nervous about something happening to her while we slept, but I assured him that even though I was ‘’asleep’’ it was a very different hyper-aware sleep. In almost 10 months, we didn’t have any issues and it worked very well for our family.

Though my husband was initially nervous about it, he ended up really enjoying the experience as well. The three of us developed a nice closeness that we all enjoyed and looked forward to. Obviously if you have a spouse who isn’t in favor of bedsharing, or any form of co-sleeping, it likely won’t work out. Had my husband been dead-set against it I would not have continued but I’m so glad it did work.

People were warning us that with bedsharing we would end up with a college student still in our bed but that wasn’t the case. When we were all ready, and as I was preparing to go back to work, we transitioned her out of our bed and into her own crib. There was a two to three night transition but we haven’t looked back since and she’s four now.

Co-sleeping has many options that work well for various families. We did also try moving her pack-and-play crib beside our bed, but as soon as I would pick her up, position her, and lay her back down, she’d be awake for upwards of an hour. Nothing else seemed to work for us as well as bedsharing. Again, I never thought I’d be the type of parent who would even consider co-sleeping but it just worked for us. Having experienced it once I would likely do it again with future children.

Did you try co-sleeping? How did it work for you?

4 Expenses Your Family Can Start Cutting Today

June 8, 2016 | 1 Comment

It wasn’t that long ago that we were living so close to the edge while I was on my (yearlong) maternity leave, that I was forced to have a good, serious, look at our spending. I knew there had to be areas to save but I didn’t know where to start. To save you some time I will give you five areas your family can likely start cutting today.

Beauty

One thing I was still doing was maintaining my short hair style, with a cut every six to eight weeks. I had long ago stopped coloring to save funds, now the time had come to evaluate my haircuts. I was spending almost $50 every two months to cut my hair. It wasn’t a terribly complicated cut, the truth was that I was friends with my stylist and enjoyed seeing her every few weeks. I sucked up her salon prices and continued.

It didn’t take me long to realize this was an expense we could, at the very least substantially cut down. I knew I would still want my hair cut just not for $50. I asked around to a few friends and family and found a lady who worked at a salon in the day but on weekends and evenings cut hair out of her house, for cheap. She’d cut my hair for $15. Done.

(Here are more ways to save on beauty.)

Clothing

I’ve never been a big spender on clothing but I still find ways to save. Unless it’s underwear or a staple like my husband’s undershirts or my tank tops, I almost always looking for second hand first. Between thrift stores and online classifieds I generally have quite a bit of luck (especially with woman and kids).

Food

This can be one of the hardest ones, but if done right it can be so beneficial.

Before we started budgeting, we really had no idea how much we were spending on food but I knew it was a lot. While I was on maternity leave we were forced to budget very well since money was tight and though we’ve loosened things up a bit in the years since, it was a great learning opportunity for us.

Transportation

If you have more than one vehicle, consider selling one. If possible, look into public transit or car share programs. Be conscious about how much gas you’re using. If you can carpool with someone maybe consider sharing costs. If you pay for parking and there are options around, look into parking options. I could park at work for $225/month but I can think of quite a few other things I’d rather spend that kind of money on, so I park at a free park and ride and take the bus the rest of the way in. The bus costs me $2 each way and saves on my gas and wear and tear. In the end, I’m only losing about 15 minutes by taking bus (vs driving the whole way).

Where, and how much, each family can cut will vary but these seem to be a few obvious ones most people can relate to and are a good starting point.

What areas has your family cut down or totally out to save money?

How to Survive Camping With Young Children

June 1, 2016 | Leave a Comment

We love to camp. Four years ago our daughter was born in June and by August we were camping. Some people thought we were crazy but it’s something we genuinely enjoy and wanted to introduce our kids young. Even though we’re avid campers, camping with young children (under the age of five) isn’t exactly easy. There is definitely more planning required than before.

Infants

Camping with an infant is both super easy and super hard. On one hand they’re pretty easy because they’re small and portable, on the other hand they usually need stuff that we don’t normally bring on a camping trip. At two months old it’s not like we could sit her down on the picnic table or camping chair if we needed a second with free hands.

We didn’t want to lug around a whole pack-and-play or baby chair so instead we opted to hold her or place her on the ground on a blanket when needed. When we were walking around, a stroller wasn’t exactly conducive to the rough terrain of a campground so we carried her in a baby carrier and it worked really well.

Though we don’t always set up a screen tent, when camping with an infant it was a necessity. We needed both shade and bug protection. Since little ones can’t have sunscreen or bug spray on them, the screen tent was a huge help as somewhere to sit without needing to worry about much.

Toddlers and Young Children

The required needs of toddlers and young kids goes down a bit, making it a little easier to camp with them but as the list of needs goes down, the list of safety concerns goes up. They’re now very mobile and curious and there can be a number of safety concerns on a campsite if proper precautions aren’t taken. You now have to be much more careful!

For us, camping in a tent, if a little one has to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, there’s a good chance we’re not going to want to walk to the bathroom which is why bringing a portable potty is ideal. Even for well potty trained children, a portable potty (lined with coffee filters for easy cleanup) makes those potential overnight bathroom runs much easier to handle.

You can never bring too many clothes either since they get super dirty. Extra socks and sweaters for sure. Make sure you bring pants and long sleeves for them to wear in the evening, even if it’s hot, to prevent bug bites. I don’t like putting bug spray on their skin so I usually spray the exterior of a sweater and socks instead.

We got stuck somewhere once with a kid having an allergic reaction and no meds to give her. The bottle we thought we had was forgotten and there were no open pharmacies. Especially with little ones, come prepared with a well-stocked first aid kit which includes child-safe meds.

Kids love camping. It’s quite a little adventure for them. Unlike us adults, they don’t care if they have an air mattress or a comfy place to sleep. They’ll curl up on the ground in their little sleeping bag and be happy with the day’s adventures (best part about camping is all the fresh air- bedtime is always a breeze!).

Have you taken young children camping? Any tips?