Wow we didn't spend anywhere near that much!
We bought just about everything second hand and saved a HEAP! My DS is now 2 and i think i would have only ever bought about 10 new things for him which included socks, a couple of tops on special and his birthdays presents. Its great because i have another little boy on the way and i have all the stuff i need. I don't know why more mums don't buy second hand- everything i bought for my son is in great condition and i was always very careful to make sure the major things were in excellent conditions eg pram,cot, car seat etc.
I shop at Vinnies,lifeline etc more than i do at the big retail shops like Big w etc.
Here's my list Cot- $100 bought from a friend Mattress $40- had clark rubber cut a peice of foam to size- just as good as a more expensive one. Pram- The first one we got for $5 from a garage sale. We are currently using a 3wheel Valco that we picked up for $15 on ebay Car seat- $50 Bought from a friend Booster seat (for DS1)- $30 from garage sale Bassinette- $130 on ebay- this is probably the most expensive thing we bought! Clothes and shoes (from birth till now- 2yrs) Around $150 i guess. All from op shops or ebay Sheets/curtains/doonas/nappy stackers/wraps/blankets- all up $100 from op shops Breat pump and bottle steriliser- $40 off ebay Toys- $250 (my son has too many toys!) Most from Vinnies. Recently i picked up a Fisher Price good vibrations rocker for $5!! They retail for around $60 new.
Have i missed anything?
Honestly you really don't need to spend more than a few hundred dollars on bub and you would never guess that the things i've bought are second hand- Honest!
I buy all my clothes (including all my maternity gear- except for underwear of course- although i have picked up a few good bras second hand) from op shops or ebay. I would honestly say that $80 of the content of our house is second hand- from furniture to cutlery- and yet all my friends complement me on how lovely my home is- if only they new
LestyRox,
Definitely a woman after my own heart. I 'do' the auctions and pick up cheap furniture.
Is there a thread where we can chat about our "Vintage" Finds and other Op-shopping Ideas & Designing tricks??
We've bought some great furniture from the auctions too MissWingBat, maybe we should start a thread somewhere on swapping/sharing ideas on bargain shopping, etc? Not sure what category to put it under...
It's really tempting to buy expensive stuff and lots of it but there's really no need. When I got the urge I just told myself that if I spent $x that equated to an extra week or so that I could afford to take off as maternity leave and DD would get much more benefit by me staying home longer than having the fanciest cot or pram.
This is what I spent:
$380 on Strider pram with bassinette (brand new but from a discount shop so saved about $140)
$230 on Mali Euro cot - brand new but from Graysonline auctions. Retails for $700 so saved about $500. Didn't bother getting that until DD was 6 months old as she slept in the bassinette till then.
$600 or thereabouts on a car seat (left this decision to DP)
$30 on a change mat that goes on top of a chest of drawers.
$50ish on a high chair from IKEA
$200 on breast pump and steriliser
$30 on baby bath that we haven't used - DD goes in the shower with dad
$0 on lotions and potions. Not necessary IMO.
$300ish on clothes for her first year (obviously not all in one go). Don't spend much on the first few months of clothes as it's not until they hit 6 months and the 0 size that it's really worth spending much. Once they hit 0, they'll be in that for about 6 months so worth spending a bit more then but I get all my stuff end of season sales for the next season and I rarely pay full price for anything.
So about $1800 - nowhere near $5000 - but we didn't spend all that before she was born anyway.
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