Budget for baby nursery & baby things?

Hello ladies,

I might be a bit premature posting this as yet as I'm not TTC as yet, but I'm going to be TTCing in Dec this year and although it's still a while away and it might still be a while away before a baby would arrive, I was doing some research on things to get for the nursery and baby (cot and cot mattress, change table (with bath), chest of drawers, baby monitor, basic toiletries, pram, baby car seat etc) and was wanting to start getting an idea of how much money to budget for, for all of these things?

I would like to save up the money so that when the time comes that I'd have the money there in an account ready to go and just buy everything needed.

Any help or tips would be very much appreciated.

Have a great day! ;)

Hi Pretzel,

It really depends whether you want to buy new or second hand. Ive bought most of my things second hand and its saved me a PACKET! After speaking to others, they have said that buying brand new stuff is a waste of money. Depending where you live, there are lots of baby markets around that sell second hand items and I have recently become an ebay "queen"...lol Cots depending on the brand can be anywhere from $500 upwards. I got one with a mattress for $100 on ebay. Just needs a sand and re-stain. Prams again can cost anywhere from $250 - $500+ I was lucky enough to get 2 second hand ones, one 3 wheeler for $130 with a toddler attachment as well and a reversible handle 4 wheeler for $86 so a HUGE saving there. I did buy my baby monitor brand new as I wanted one with sensor pads which detects if the baby stops breathing so didnt want to risk buying a faulty second hand one. That cost $220. If you go on sites like baby bunting and babyzonedirect you will get a bit more of an idea of what things are worth. Just depends on the brands and style of things you like.

Hope this has helped :D Good luck with TTC in December.

Cheers,

Tania

:yeahthat: Totally agree. Depends on whether you buy new or secondhand and if you buy new, which brands you prefer. Nursery goodies vary in price A LOT.

We have a brand new house with modern and new furnishings. We wanted the nursery to blend in too so we bought everything new and to match the rest of our house. You don't need to spend a forturne at all though, especially if you buy secondhand. Ebay, the Trading Post, markets, etc are a great way to find cheap secondhand nursery product.

Visit a few baby shops and take a pen and paper so you can jot down prices of the things you like. You will quickly get a rough idea of how much you could spend if you bought new. Keep in mind that places like Target and Ikea have nursery furniture too.

If you do opt for second hand goods, I'd steer clear of secondhand car seats as you just can't be sure that they haven't been in an accident. I would never buy a secondhand cot mattress either. It's said to be a SIDS risk but also the thought of my baby lying on someone elses old mattress just doesn't gel with me. That's just my personal opinion though.

It really does depend. We have our big items, we bought them online and they are all new in packaging, we got our cot, changetable, pram for $200, and in the shops for the EXACT same item for the 3 items would be over $1000. I am happy with my purchases and would prefer the money go into savings account for when I am on maternity leave. I think having a baby and setting up can be as expenisive or as cheap as you want it. Keep an eye out for the baby sales they have in the stores, you can pick up bargains there also. Also each time you get your shopping, chuck a baby shampoo or powder in the trolley, all these can be expensive but if you get 1 of these a wk by the time bub is here you will be set.

I agree with all of the above, it depends on brands and whether new or 2nds.

I would suggest if your planning maybe open an account and if you can just throw $5 or $10 a week into the account, more if you can afford it.
Gives you a decent starting point and maybe even extra cash once that baby does come along.

Places like e-bay are always good to look for bargains especially on brand names, you can get new on there without a problem, have a look in the shops 1st for prices and then see if it's worth it or not.

Just remember your baby has no idea how expensive the furniture is, aslong as you like it and it meets safety standards etc don't worry about what anyone else thinks, it doesn't have to be a big brand name or a certain color etc.

Enjoy the planning and the shopping once it all moves forward.. good luck.

Oh one more thing always ask in baby shops of they have a clearance section or cheaper prams etc for demo models, we got a pram worth $500 for $200 just because it had been used as floor stock, no scratches, didn't come with a box but like you don't rip it open the minute you get it home, people had already loosened the mechanism so wasn't even hard to open etc... you can save a fortune.

have a look online at what is available too - some of the online stores - even when you factor in delivery - work out significantly cheaper than IRL stores. our nursery set up cost a bit more than a lot (but then, so did our bubba after IVF so it wasn't something we skimped on!) - we got the furniture we got based on reputation (boori) and the fact that we have furnishings thorugh our house that are either antique, or antique-looking - so the furniture worked in with that. we have a really cheap set of drawers from fantastic furniture to give us extra storage space - but it's hidden in the wardrobe!

scope out online stores like baby bunting, babies galore etc. get an idea of what you like - then google to see if you can get them at a more reasonable price. if you're going to go to a baby shop, get everything from them at once (even if you have to layby - i know baby bunting does looooong layby - 12 weeks i think...) - and haggle! i told them i was going to be getting a certain amount of stuff for baby, wanted to layby it and get it all in (boori furniture has to be ordered and takes up to 12 weeks to arrive) - and i wanted the best deal. so we haggled. i went away, checked with other stores and went back to them...

My advice is to stay out of the baby shops. Buy the main things at Target, Kmart & Big W when you are pregnant. They have big baby sales every 6 weeks or so so there's always something on sale at one of them. I bought my bassinette, cot & pram in these stores & got them all for 50% off. I also got my son's convertible car seat for under $100 at Big W. Once you are pregnant you have months to look for things & you will find the bargains if you look for them.

I'd say all up we would've spent under $1000 for the nursery stuff, first clothes, wraps, bibs, blankets & car seat & pram. Most of it was new, but we did get a second hand high chair and a free set of drawers that had a baby bath in it & a change table on top.

Once you are pregnant you will find people offer you all sorts of second hand stuff & my motto is to accept whatever is offered (except toys - I check them out first). If you choose not to use it (say bouncers, or rockers, high chairs etc) you can keep it stashed at your mums house or your IL's house so you don't have to cart everything everywhere with you.

Speaking of sales, I just thought I'd add that there's a sale on at Toys R Us at the moment, which goes until the 25th of August, and one starts at Big W tomorrow. This is the second Big W sale since I've been pregnant, so I think you'll definitely be safe relying on a sale to buy what you need.

Maybe you could use some of the nursery check lists that are available on the internet, and use the catalogues to calculate roughly what you need to spend?

Okay, ive done mine on a major budget lol

Ive got everything i need and it cost me only 300 bucks.

I bought a brand new cot, lamp, bumper set, mobile, sheets, doonas, blankets, linen basket, bedroom floor mat etc from a friend for just 100 bucks.

I got my good condition 3 wheeler mothers choice pram by fluke on ebay for 99 cents lol

Ive gotten all my clothes, jump suits singlets etc off ebay, from the kmart factory oulet and some good condition items from vinnies. I havent paid over 5 dollars for a piece of clothing.

I had my mum knit me baby bonnets, booties and jumpers.

I got my breast pump and 4 avent bottles brand new from a lady from a sit called gumtree.com.au (alot of good baby stuff for sale cheap on that site)

I got a brand new high chair from kmark for ten bucks, as there new worker accidentally priced it at ten dollars instead of 150, and i fought for it for the marked price lol

I got my chest of drawers, bookshelf etc off the side of the road, when a neighbour was doing a clean up (dont worry she said i could have them ) I simply gave them a good wipe down and coat of paint.

Other than that, ive gotten all my nappies on special from coles when they have buy one get one free. Same goes with the bum wipes, powder etc.

And i got all the other stuff off ebay and through gumtree site. (ie playmat, rockers, bath, bath stand, bath seat, toys etc)

We also bought a brand new bassinet from vinnies today (it was still in box, unassembled) for only 30 bucks...

I started buying stuff back whn i was ten weeks, and it has helped me so so so much in not spending a dime over 300 bucks :)

I'm going to be one to kind of disagree here - sorry!! I realise there are some good bargains out there and if you can get them go for it! We got our cradle off ebay for $80 and it's lovely - I just bought a new mattress and bedding.

I do feel however there are some things you should buy new and better quality. It doesn't mean it has to be expensive but for example our pram which cost $400 (not too bad really) had been used sooooo much and if we had bought a second-hand one then I don't know whether it would have lasted the distance.

Also somethings are nicer new - I would buy new singlets and jumpsuits because they are used so much. Unless of course you are getting them from a reliable source .ie family or friend. Even so you can pick singlets up for a couple of dollars so to me it's worth doing that rather than getting second hand which can look a bit scungy after awhile.

Car seat are def something you should get new unless once again you ACTUALLY know who you are getting it from. My mum bought our car seat capsual and we fully intend for my brother and SIL to use it one day but I wouldn't buy one off ebay.

I know it does come down to budgets in the end and I love a bargain as much as the next person but I also really enjoyed hunting around and buying nice things for our baby. I like the big baby stores because most of the time the staff there are very helpful. If you can at least get advice there then go to a department store then at least you have had help.

Just my say!!

BTW I have no idea how much we spent for DD1 but I would say it would be up around $1500 once we got everything.

Wow First-time-mummy! You have done so well for yourself and are a great example of not being a slave to expectations/advertising/overly consumeristic etc! Just shows what can be done when it needs to be!
It's hard to work out what we spent- our nursery furniture was about $800, pram $800, car seat $400. Other than that, I am not sure about clothing- maybe a couple of hundred including singlets, wraps etc Toiletries and other sundries- maybe one hundred?? That was the bulk of it from what I can remember. Second time round- no much yet. have delved into cloth nappies so that would be our biggest expense at a few hundred dollars!