Ghostwritermummy and bump

Susanne Remic is a primary school teacher, freelance writer and parenting blogger. She writes at Ghostwritermummy and Maternity Matters and in between all of that she regularly wins mummy of the year awards for running around after her two children, aged six and 19 months. This is her pregnancy blog: an online diary of her third pregnancy as she strives to overcome two difficult births, one angel child and one awkward toddler. Join Susanne as she shares every step of her journey from bump to baby!

 

Baby on a budget

By Susanne Remic on 06 Dec 2011 1 comment

We’re not exactly struggling for money at the moment, but we both work hard and we have lots of childcare costs to keep up with, plus a mortgage and the other expenses that life throws at you.

I know I’m not alone in this, so this post is not going to be a ‘poor me’ type of thing at all. We manage and we are luckier than many. This is more of a ‘how do I raise a baby on a budget?’ type post, since we don’t know if I will have a job to return to after maternity leave and we’re not sure how our household finances are going to look on statutory maternity pay.

So I’m hoping that cloth nappies will help to save some pennies, but are there other ways that I can help to reduce the bills too?

Breastfeeding has been a bit of a debating issue for me since those two blue lines showed up on that stick, but I think the matter has been resolved in my mind. I loved breastfeeding my daughter and I believe that it helped me to bond- slowly- with my son so I will be breastfeeding this one too. So that crosses formula off the shopping list.

There are other ways we have saved money too. I have relented on what is referred to in this house as the ‘pram issue’. I was lucky enough to receive a gift voucher which I used to buy a carry cot that fits into my existing buggy frame, plus a bouncy chair and rain covers for the infant car seat and the pram.

That’s the pram sorted. I do feel a little sad that I won’t be getting a new one, but the one we already have is gorgeous, modern and relatively new. So that knocks another item off the bill.

Another way we have made a saving is with the bed situation. The toddler is to stay in the cot bed while the baby has the moses basket and then the extremely good quality travel cot we bought in the states. In time we will get a child’s bed and transfer the baby to the cot bed, but for now that’s one more thing we don’t need to buy.

So, any other bright ideas? How else can we raise a baby on a budget? Not to mention a seven year old and a toddler? Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated!!