You’re looking to start a new family, and you’re not sure how to tell if you are pregnant or not.  Usually, women will experience tender or enlarged breasts, sensitivity to smell or alcohol, and/or nausea and vomiting.  The best way to obtain a clear answer is to make an appointment with your family doctor, and have them do a blood test.  Once you know you’re pregnant, you now have to consider altering your usual budget to include a new and very expensive addition to the family.  Here are a few tips to help you manage your finances, and afford to spend that quality time with your precious new little one.

Do a bit of research

When you’re shopping for new baby supplies, shop around.  Don’t buy the first thing you find.  There are always sales and specials to be discovered.  Don’t shy away from using coupons either!  There is so much money to be saved due to thorough coupon clipping.  Simply taking a little more time to plan out where you will purchase your necessities can save you tons of money over time.

Don’t buy everything all at once

When bringing a new little one home, you should only really plan for the baby’s immediate needs.  Babies grow so quickly in the first year, so you shouldn’t overstock yourself with any particular size or type of diaper.  You will also want to account for the chance that your child requires something different than what you have already purchased.  If you don’t buy everything at once, you shouldn’t have to worry about this.

Learn to love something borrowed or used

Just because you have a brand new baby, doesn’t mean you need to buy brand new materials to love and nurture that baby properly.  Ask around among your friends and your family that have older children and see if they still have any of their used clothing or baby seats.  This could save you hundreds of dollars overall.  It takes a village to raise a child, and most people are more than willing to help out.

Make your own baby food

Making your own baby food is not only cost efficient, but it’s usually quite healthy for your child.  Purchase a small but efficient food processor and break down fresh fruits and veggies for your little one.  If you want to plan ahead, you can make extra and freeze it to maintain freshness.

Buy diapers in bulk.

When you buy the larger packs of diapers, you pay less per individual diaper than you would buying a smaller package.  In the first year of life, you will go through so many diapers your head will spin to keep up.  Diapers are expensive and necessary, so this is something you can definitely purchase in bulk.

Categories: General