Updated: June 29, 2021
I spent last weekend in Batangas to become a godfather to a friend’s newborn baby.
I haven’t heard from my friend in years, which explains my surprise and excitement when I received a call from him a week ago to invite me to the baptism of his firstborn.
And so, after congratulating him on his blessing, I promptly arranged my schedule for a trip to his hometown.
The ceremony was short and simple. The guests were mostly relatives and only a handful of friends from Manila.
Nevertheless, it was quite a joyous event and everyone was really taking turns in carrying my friend’s newborn, baby Jeff. As everyone’s excitement over the occasion began to die down the early evening, I decided it was time to head back home.
I looked for my friend and found him with his wife in the kitchen, apparently doing some calculations on the day’s expenses.
After saying my goodbyes and promising to visit my inaanak as often as I can, I left and went on my way.
As I drove back to Manila, I realized how financially challenging it really is to have a baby. And immediately, my mind tried to think of ways on how a couple can lessen their newborn baby expenses.
I’m no expert at this, being still single and all, but I think I made a pretty decent list on how one can be frugal when it comes to baby care.
Here’s what I came up with:
- Hold a baby shower. You’ll get free and useful gifts for your baby.
- Breastfeed if possible, otherwise buy the most affordable baby formula.
- Use cloth diapers at home, and for convenience, store brand diapers when going out.
- Ask relatives and friends for second hand clothes. Your baby will still look cute even if he’s wearing hand me downs.
- Make your own baby food. Just mash up steamed vegetables and fruits, right?
- Transform household items into simple, but safe toys. Clean shoe boxes and colored plastic containers will do fine.
- Control your impulse, don’t buy things for your baby just because it’s cute. Only buy what’s necessary.
How about you, especially those who already experienced having a baby, what more can you add to the list? Kindly comment and share them below.
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Photo credit: cheezelsmurf
Man, I’m not planning to get married till’ 30s hehe…
probably booster seat and the small cart thing, a small bed maybe, also also invest more family time.
Yes, icy, part of having a baby is investing on such items as booster seats and others. To be frugal, it doesn’t hurt to buy those from a second hand store. However, be sure to buy those which are still in good condition, you don’t want to risk the safety of your newborn.
And same here, I’m not planning to get married ’til 30’s 😀
Fitz,
First off, wala pa kong baby. Meron ako 8 grandkids (from my nieces)…
While it’s true napakahirap mag-save ng pera ngayon, isa sa mga tip na maibibigay ko eh wag sanayin ang bata sa mga luho at kung anu-ano pa. I’ve seen some families where they bring their kids at jolibee almost everyday. I don’t think habits like this (among others that are impractical these days) will help in saving dahil talagang magastos and it will only spoil the child.
I agree, parents should learn not to spoil their kids, it is really impractical to give in to their every request.
Furthermore, I believe that it is also emotionally healthy for children to learn about the concept of money early in life. By teaching them the value of frugality, they will better understand the reason why they can’t always have everything they want and thus become more financially literate when they grow up. 😀
Parang ready na akong maging tatay ah. Hahaha. Pero hindi pa, ayoko pa. Papayaman muna ako. Hehe.
Great list, especially considering that you’re not a parent (yet)!
There are things on which you’ll want to spare no expense, such as car seats. Only buy them new. You never know the history of a used car seat; any car seat involved in a crash should never be used. Additionally, car seats over about 5 years old have deteriorated to the extent that they should not be used either (all that sun/heat weakens the plastic).
This is not to say that you shouldn’t shop around for the best prices — just buy car seats brand new. You can never be too safe.
Breastfeeding is the number one way to save money. AND, it’s the healthiest choice for your baby. Endeavor to breastfeed for one year. It does wonders!
Buying cloth diapers is actually more cost-effective than buying disposables. I’ve done the comparison. Plus, it’s better for the environment. AND, most of all, it’s better for your baby. Little boys, especially, have issues with the heat that disposable diapers retain inside.
Cloth diapers, changed frequently, will keep your baby’s bottom rash-free.
Plus, I’ve heard, cloth diapered babies potty-train sooner (generally speaking, of course) because they can feel the wet- and gooey-ness and that encourages them to find a better way 🙂
Baby showers are awesome, as are 2nd-hand clothing and furniture.
Finally, making your own baby food, once baby is old enough to eat something other than breastmilk, is a wonderful way to give great nutrition at the lowest cost possible. Anything in a jar, can, or plastic container is worse than the fruit off the tree or veggy off the plant. Just get a food processor (in the case of bananas and other soft food, a fork is a suitable food processor) and save a ton of money!
Great list. Keep up the good work!
Hi Bill,
Thanks for the compliment and for the additional tips, I really appreciate them. I’m one with you in spreading and teaching financial literacy to others. More power to your site.
Hi, I’ve been reading a couple of you’re posts and must say they are quite useful.
I’ll be a father in June and am preparing both emotionally and financially. I’m 20 years old and work as a Dutch Translator(part-time), and as a Dutch tsr (full time) at a major company here in manila . When I was single I lived like a king, making almost 80k a month allowed me a lot of leverage financially. But now I have no clue in how much to save or put away for our coming baby. I’m thinking of applying for a credit card in case I come short for the hospital bills to come. I would like to have you’re insight in how to manage my money and how to spend it wisely these coming months.
Maybe starting a savings account for our baby, for educational expenses and stuff. I only have 1 savings account for myself, 3 atm’s and no credit cards yet. So no real experience yet with balance transfers and account managing.
Love to hear you’re input.
Nbb
Hi Nbb, your best option is to seek the help of someone you know who went through the same experience – friends or perhaps your parents. They will be able to give you a clear and detailed account of the things you need to prepare for financially.
In any case, applying for a credit card is a good idea. They are really helpful in emergency situations. However, being liquid through a savings account is more important, so be sure you keep building that one.
Lastly, you may want to also check out online forums and websites about family and parenting. You’ll get more insights from people and additional information that will come helpful.
Congrats on your new baby and may God bless your family. 🙂
Hi Fitz, great list you have here.
One very important thing that I learned when I had my baby was to CONTROL the impulse to buy every cute thing I pass by at the store for my first-born. Babies grow up real fast so buying expensive clothes is not really practical. I bought a cute thing or two but I just mostly used the clothes I received from the baby shower and her baptism, as well as hand-me-downs.
Cloth diapers are recommended since they help prevent diaper rash, but during rainy weather, they take up so long to dry up so I use them only sparingly.
You can also save on baby wipes by washing your baby with tap water when she poops.
Have a nice day!
hi fitz,
imminization protects our baby against several infectious diseases, if they are not immuninez, they are more likely to get sick, become under nourished, become dis-abled or die, pero that will happen, ipa-immunized sila to avoid hospital bills and xpensive medicines. may mga special immunizations given exclusively by pediatricians, MAHAL din pero this will let u save and avoid expensive expenses when babies got sick, plus yong stress natin as parents syempre ayaw natin magkassakit mga anak.
goodluck sau,
I will 100% disagree with the statement “buy the most affordable formula.” If we are equating affordable with cheapest, NO WAY. I am old school and fully believe that you are what you eat. Cheap, non-organic sourced baby formulas will often contain low levels of pesticide residues that was in the animal feed, fed to the animals producing the milk. There is also the danger of production hormones witch are causing many problems nowadays. Finally, many cheap formulas contain sugar. Getting your child addicted to sugar at a young age will certainly do them no good toward a healthy future.
It will likely be extra work to find good, organic baby formula here in the Philippines but we absolutely feel it was worth the price difference. Most markets do not stock the product we use with our almost two year old son. One large market in a mall down the road has a baby department and our brand is in stock most of the time. We did attempt to purchase on-line but our order was rejected due to the distance from the distributor. Finally, we were shocked that one local drug store had the small size box on the shelf (at a very high price) but refused to sell it to my wife telling her that it is a “prescription only item.” What total BS !!! Now, it is true that some formulas (including the organic one we use) may be purchased at a discount with a Doctors prescription, our pediatrician did offer to write scripts for the product we use.
For baby clothes witch our son rapidly outgrows, we are so blessed by one of out regular on-line clothing suppliers. She sends us bundles of gently used and some brand new baby clothes. Beautiful Bride and Beautiful Daughter take pics of junior doing his regular things. Those pics become advertising for the clothing supplier. That is a great deal as baby clothing is so very expensive for what you get and the short time that you can use it.