Monthly child spend

[halfbuffy]

Just trying to work out how much money to set aside in our budget for our new baby (currently 16 weeks pregnant), I just wanted to know roughly how much you spent on your baby as ongoing costs for nappies, clothing etc each month?

I'm going to aim to breastfeed so food won't be a factor for the first few months but was there anything unexpected that you had to pay for that you hadn't factored in to your budget before your LO arrived?

Just put away as much as you can. There's aways going to be something you won't have factored in I don't know what your budget is but it's hard to put an amount on what you spend.

I'm currently 20 weeks and I've wrote a list (that's growing by the minute) of things I need to buy and what my budget is for each then ticking them off as we go. No idea how much will need once here and to be honest we are just aiming to have a healthy bank account for when they arrive and try best to maintain costs.
I'm planning on breast feeding but after so many of my friends have had issues with maintaining milk I am budgeting to buy bottles and steriliser etc

Just put away as much as you can, it will definitely be used for something! I found it varies a lot monthly , some months not too bad but when weather changes and growth spurts means new clothes can be quite expensive... I also spent about £50 one month trying to get the right nappy rash cream... also if introducing bottles it's trial and error which one they will take too!! I would say standard £50pm for nappies, wipes, cream etc then the other bits will be on top

My aim was to breast fed but it did not work out for us. I spend approx £25 a week on milk.

Don't forget to budget in toys, food from 6 months and baby groups so you are not stuck in the house. And if you are normally out at work you will have your heating on a lot more over winter.

I'm going to aim to breastfeed so food won't be a factor for the first few months

No offence, but don't assume anything. I thought i would be breast feeding too but DS is formula fed. We spend £15 a week on formula.

We buy a lot in bulk, so we have nappies, etc, to last a couple of months. I would say just save as much as you can. We probably spend 30-50 on everything per month but I can't really tell cos we only do a big shop every other month. Plus DP pays for everything :D

Thanks all! This is helpful! Just trying to get it all worked out now because I work freelance and it's been so quiet recently, I'm really panicking! My DP earns a decent wage but he works so hard that I feel bad that he would have to support us and I've always been quite independent.

If we can work out roughly how much each month then we can work out a budget to his wage (assuming I didn't earn anything), and then whatever I could bring in on top would be a bonus if that makes sense? (Obviously I would be using that money to help with rent/bills/bits for the baby)

You are going about this wrong if you think only you should pay for the baby!

It is his baby so he should be paying for the baby as well. You won't be working because you are looking after his child.

You should both be saving for the future.

They can be as little or as much as you like generally. I would say to allow for flexibility at least £100 a month. Thats for stuff as hey grow, random items, entry into places like baby swimming, etc.

Things like breastfeeding sand using reusable nappies and wipes would save on weekly ongoing spends. Think we spent £300 ish on nappies and washable wipes before first baby born. Lasted two children until potty trained. Even if you only used reusable half the time or just overnight etc you save a fortune (£1600 is average cost of disposable nappies for 2 years for one child)

Oh no Heir I didn't mean it like I would be paying for the baby on my own. DP is wonderful and has already been putting money aside for things we're going to need (pram, cot, clothes etc) and then some spare to cover while I'm not working.

I just mean that even though I will be looking after the baby while he's at work, I would still be wanting to contribute as I don't want all the stress of being the only one earning on him. I just want it to be as equal as it can be as I know he will put all the effort he can into helping me in the evenings and weekends when he's not at work!

Definitely factor in money for getting the two of you out of the house, whether it's baby groups, coffee with a friend or 'enrichment' stuff - this is for your sanity and is just as important as baby's physical needs imo.

Oh good but make sure you have equal amount of personal spending money.

Budget for shit loads of wet wipes, they end up getting used for everything - I bought 4 packs last week and there's only half a pack left!!

We are rubbish at budgeting so I cant help with how much we actually spend on DD. But just wanted to add a suggestion for unexpected expenses such as bottle feeding if you cant breast feed. Check out your local mums fb selling site. We bought two rocking chairs for under £50, you can test out lots of different styles of bottles cheaply. Stock up on basics for growth spurts and buy cheap toys that will be outgrown in a couple of months. Then you have more money for the baby groups and coffee

I would second buying most things second hand (not mattresses or car seats). Join your local parents Facebook selling page now and occasionally browse charity shops.

Week on week, babies cost very little.
I'm assuming this is your first ?
People will buy you lots of things for them to wear, as gifts.
If you do manage to breastfeed (and it's not a 'given') then your only expense really is going to be nappies, and maybe a few wipes.
You will need to make some initial purchases (although again, many first time grandparents are often keen to buy one of these) such as car seat, pram, Moses basket (not compulsory), and then cot, but ongoing, it is the cost of not earning that is all you really need to think about. Your child benefit will cover the nappies and wipes.

BF is 'cheaper' but only just! I've EBF my DD but still needed to spend money on bottles/steriliser for expressing (to give me a break from baby), nipple cream/pads and mum is usually ravenous so will need extra food for you.

Week-to-week DD probably doesn't cost that much (agree with other posts prob £50/month for nappies etc) but getting out and about for classes or cups of coffee can be expensive so budget that again on top. Don't bother buying many clothes /toys /books as people will get you plenty. Just get a few basics to get you through the newborn stage.

I was absolutely amazed at how little my baby is costing! About £4 a week for nappies (70 pack from asda) £3 for a bottle of Infacol, and a tub of formula for £11, so the child benefit covers it all. That said I'm lucky to have friends / family who have bought loads of clothes etc, and I'm not shy about accepting hand me downs. The big expense will be child care when I return to work

Roughly around £20 per week for food (if you formula feed) and nappies (child benefit £80 per month) covers this) How much you spend on clothes depends on you and which shops you buy in etc. You get given a lot of clothes as gifts when baby is first born but once they get to about 3 months they usually outgrow these. Generally at the moment I spend about £50 per month on clothes (probably because I have no self control and think everything is sooo cute it simply must be bought ) Also factor in baby groups. There are lots of free groups but if you want to do ones such as baby sensory or hartbeeps that's an additional £6 per week for each group. OP all just depends on what sort of lifestyle you lead and how much you want to spend. You can spend as little or as much as you want.

Thanks for your advice everyone, it's been really helpful!

Hopefully we'll benefit from some second hand stuff, I've got a few friends who have young children but kept bits and then I've got my 30th in between now and the birth, was going to get a long weekend away from my parents but I think they are giving us the cash now so we can put that towards the bigger things we need. I hadn't thought about groups etc or getting out of the house to do that sort of thing so that's a handy bit of intel!

I'm the sort of parent that cafes hate, meet some Mum mates and make a coffee last 2 hours look into annual passes too, my local city Farm does an annual pass for £30, and they do loads of free baby and toddler stuff there. I've asked various aunts and Nans to buy things like blocks of lessons (if I was sure that they absolutely wanted to help out and we're financially able), for things like baby swimming and happy hands etc. You'll be grand I'm sure

I'm actually finding having a baby fairly cheap, certainly cheaper than going to work! Expensive trainfaire plus I was lazy and got lunch from pret most days

Breastfeeding can be free or very cheap if you are lucky, I breastfeed and don't express so my only expense has been breastpads (maybe £5 every 2 weeks) and I'm still on my first tube of lasinoh and DS is 8 months.

Aldi and Asda own brand nappies I've found to be really good.

One thing I've found to be expensive is since we've started weaning our food bill has gone up as I've switched to organic milk and yoghurt and get a wider variety of fresh fruit and vegetables than we did before. I also bought 4 or 5 cups before I finally found one DS would drink out of.

If you manage to breastfeed, I would certainly say your biggest expense will be getting yourself out and about. We stocked up on essentials in advance eg adding a multi pack of baby wipes to our weekly shop each week for 6 weeks to reduce the cost further. DS is nearly 4 months now and we still have tonnes of packs left. Same with nappies if you can buy them when their on offer - Asda do theirs on 3 packs for £10 which should be about 3 weeks worth, look out for Aldi baby events etc. If we hadn't bought in advance I would say child benefit would definitely still cover all the basics (but not the socialising!)

I would be careful about stocking up on baby wipes as your child might not react well to the brand.

I'm quite intense when it comes to budgeting and spreadsheets! With DS1 I had quite a big 'baby fund' to buy all the big initial items i.e. pram, crib and all the rest. We spent a lot but had the money to buy new and buy 'nice things'. I then budgeted an extra £100 a month to our usual spend. I bf for 5 months then formula cost £10 a week from 6-12 months. Main items are nappies, wipes and clothes (they do grow quickly!).

Other bigger items as they get older might be next car seat up (at 1 year old), a lighter buggy, larger toys like jumparoo.... everything can be bought second hand though so can be included in that £100 unless it's a very large purchase.

I recommend looking the 'cheeky wipes' reusable wipes. Save a fortune and lots of waste.