Babies = Big Bucks?

I've heard it been said many times,"My husband and I are waiting to have a baby until we are financially secure". That is all good, except what if that point never comes? What is the end goal - money to buy clothing and food, to have the whole college fund already in motion, to have a good retirement fund? Sometimes we can plan all we want and never seem to get anywhere, and sometimes we can have faith that God will provide.

Many of us wouldn't be here if our parents had waited to be "financially secure" before becoming pregnant. Many of us probably weren't even "planned" by our parents. And while I don't recommend being reckless and popping out baby after baby if one is financially, emotionally, or health-wise unstable, I do think that sometimes the biggest blessing is the one unplanned. I don't think babies need to be as costly as most reports make them seem.

First of all, babies do not need all the gadgets that parenting magazines and baby shower registries promote. All my babies have had a wind-up swing, a stroller, and a car seat. We co-sleep so had no need for a crib. Changing tables seem to be a waste of space as we change on the ground or on the bed. All the other high tech gadgets are not needs.

I breastfeed exclusively. My children have never had a bottle or formula. This saves thousands of dollars and also saves doctor visits as breastfed babies tend to get sick less often and get less ear infections. As a matter of fact, all three of my children have never had an illness that required the use of antibiotics and have never had to go to the doctor for an illness. Broken arms and stitches, yes, but no sick visits. I understand that there are women who try to breastfeed and are unable to do so or that a baby has severe allergies or other issues where they are in need of a specialized formula. But many women don't even consider breastfeeding, and I feel that it is not as promoted as it should be. The formula companies make it seem as though formula is just as good as breastmilk and that is completely untrue. Breastmilk is specially designed for that particular baby and changes as the baby grows. While a mother should not feel guilty is she is unable to breastfeed for one reason or another, I think those that don't even consider breastfeeding their babies have no leg to stand on when they are complaining about the high costs of formula.

Clothing. The majority of our baby clothes come from garage sales and hand-me-downs that I saved from the previous child. I then sell the clothing for about as much as I spent in the first place, so we break even on the clothing.

Diapers. In the warmer months we usually use cloth diapers. This saves a considerable amount of money. Otherwise, I look for coupons and sales and stock up. Last spring when Joe was born Walgreens had a wonderful deal on diapers and combined with a coupon out of their pharmacy book and a coupon which printed at the register I was able to stock up on 60+ packages of diapers in various sizes (as well as Pull-Ups) for about $1-$2 per package. This deal lasted for several weeks so I did not wipe the stores clean, I just picked up a few packages each time we went to Walgreens. I still have stacks of these diapers in the closets upstairs. I recently ran out of the size 4 diapers so have to buy a few packages but hope Joe will be in a size 5 soon, and several packages in that size are stored away for him.

(This photo is of all three children with their stacks of diapers. It was showcased in the coupon/refund magazine "Refund Cents".)

Food. While a baby won't eat solids for many months, they do eventually get around to it. Baby foods are expensive and not as necessary as Gerber would like you to think. You have the option of making your own baby food or you can start out with easy digestible table foods. My children don't even try solids until six months of age. At that point they may go through one or two boxes of Rice cereal or oatmeal. I then move on to just plain mashed bananas. Then when they master that they start to eat a little food off my plates at meal times...squished peas, cooked carrots, mashed potatoes, etc. By age one, when they need more nourishment than just breastmilk they are used to eating most of the food that everyone else at the table are eating. And as the babies grow they turn into children and we haven't found that our food budget has increased much with three small children. I'm sure when they reach teenagers it will be a different story, but I still think that with a creative mind in the kitchen you can really stretch those food dollars.

College Funds. This will either get a strong reaction or none at all but I am one of those parents who feels that if the child decides to go to college that they can apply for scholarships, grants, and pay for it themselves (gasp!). I know many students who have gone to college only because it was expected of them and squandered their education and didn't take it seriously. And while there are many more who had a college fund set up for them and did go to college and did take it seriously, I think that one would be more apt to think long and hard about their major and try their hardest in school when they are the ones paying for it. It doesn't hurt a student to work part-time and go to school and it doesn't hurt one to apply for scholarships and grants. I don't think that a college fund is a necessary fund when having a child, anymore than a car fund or house fund is for a child. We tend to appreicate more those things that we worked hard for and earned ourselves.

Yes, children cost money. Is it the estimated 1 Million+ (from newborn to age 18) that many studies have cited? Not for the majority of Americans. Everything, even raising children, can be done on a budget.