Christine's Guide to Getting Cheap Baby Stuff

I edited the last entry to give the titles and artists of the songs that nobody guessed, so if you're curious, check it out.

With Philo scheduled to make his appearance in a mere eight weeks Mike and I are trying to get our act together. Although both his mom and mine are throwing us showers to provide us with basic supplies we're still buying a lot of things for the baby. I know that a lot of first-time parents splurge on the highest cost, name-brand items, so it's been with twinges of guilt that I've been looking for deals.

I guess I look for deals for three reasons. First, hello, it's cheaper. Second, in my family it's generally considered foolish to pay whatever the store asks of you. You shop around, research values, wait for sales, stuff like that. While some families will show off a new car and smugly say how much they spent, my family is more likely to grin slyly and say, "You wouldn't believe the deal I got."

The third reason is that I'm afraid to spend too much. I'm still terrified that something will go wrong with Philo. Lately his movement has been slowing, which my doctor assures me is natural at this stage. He's bigger and doesn't have as much room in there...it's natural that he isn't able to flop around like he used to. And he still does move. But it's still difficult to believe that he'll be born okay. Unfortunately people have started telling me stories about babies who died after 30 weeks, babies who were stillborn, awful birth complications, and things like that. People never seem to want to tell me about their normal babies. This does not help my state of mind. Anyway, I somehow think that if I spend hundreds of dollars on baby equipment that I'll jinx things.

So, basically, I haven't spent as much as other people do on their babies. So here is a guide on how to get a bunch of baby stuff without spending a ton.

First: Craigslist

Yeah, I know, it's all used. But who cares? Boil it, bleach it, do whatever to make it hygienic again. And they do have some stuff that's new or even new-with-tags for you picky folks. I got this barely-used breast pump for roughly half of what it costs in the store.


Second: Clearance

Yeah, our kid had better get used to those orange Target clearance tags. I figure if I buy my clothes on clearance, it's okay for Philo. We got this Pack-n-Play for $30 off because they were discontinuing the pattern. Now their Classic Pooh stuff is tan instead of navy blue. Still a perfectly good Pack-n-Play, though.

Another clearance item. Now the characters on their mobiles are made of nubby cloth instead of fuzzy cloth. I'm sure Philo won't care. Also, as you can see by the tool box in the background, Mike hasn't completely finished clearing out Philo's room.

Third: Gifts

Our friend Elaine knitted this awesome blanket for Philo. Even before she knew his room would be green. She's psychic! My brother also gave us a bib from a Japanese baseball team. And Mike's mom gave us a small tub of random baby stuff. All that stuff adds up, and it'll be cool to tell Philo later who all that stuff came from.


Fourth: Cloth Diapers.

I actually decided to do this for environmental reasons, but once I had decided to go cloth I got the cheapest ones available. Why not? Chinese prefold diapers will be good for when Philo's using them as diapers, and also good for burp cloths and dust rags later on.

The diapers I have will fit until he's 15 lbs (about 4 months old). The whole package cost around $100. I figure another $200 will buy him diapers to last him through his toddler years. I also bought some fancier diapers on eBay, but you don't need to do that. I still need to buy a few more things for overnight, but that won't be too much either. It's all definitely cheaper than disposables.

Fifth: eBay and Etsy

Etsy is a website where everyone sells handmade items. And, of course, you're all familiar with eBay. You can find some good deals. I got this diaper bag on Etsy for fairly cheap, and after it's done being a diaper bag it can serve as a beach bag or tote. It has goldfish on it! I also mentioned that I got diapers on eBay. You have to be careful with that, but I found a lot of unused diapers that someone was giving up for pretty cheap.

Sixth: Hand-me-downs

As a kid I loved it when the UPS man would pull up and deliver a box of hand-me-downs from our cousins. It was always a thrill. I know now that hand-me-downs have this negative stigma attached to them, but as a kid I thought it was the coolest thing to get my cousins' clothes, toys, and books.

Here you can see where my friend Meghan loaned us a bunch of baby clothes. Her son was born in late May last year, around the time Philo's due this year. So now Philo's got an assortment of clothes to use. Way to keep the hand-me-down tradition alive!

So there we go. Now Mike and I have to go run errands. I haven't rummaged through the clearance racks on the south side of town lately.