How much did you spend on baby's first year?

[wombats]

I'm expecting my first and trying to work out a budget with DH. We've no idea what to expect as heard some mums say they've spent a couple hundred quid on baby kit and nothing else, to others saying they've spent thousands on kit, nappies, etc.

We have some savings but aren't wealthy and don't have family help, and I'll be returning to work part time when baby is six months. I plan to buy as much second hand as possible. How can we better prepare for the cost of a new baby and what should we expect? Any other tips on how to afford a new baby?

Your biggest cost in the first 12 months if you are returning to work after 6 months will be childcare.

Nappies are about £5 for 70 ish, as long as you’re buying supermarket ones not pampers. Reckon on about 8 a day to start with, it will reduce. If you’re formula feeding that will cost you about £25 a week? 2 tubs? (I admit that’s a guess as I BF).

Look on Facebook selling sites for good deals on prams / cot / Moses basket.

Don’t buy a second hand car seat unless you’re really sure of where it came from / not been in an accident. I’d go new for that.

I e probably spent about £2k but that's a lot! This is what I spent on the main things and what I think you can spend instead:

Pram £550 (you can get one second hand £150)
Car seat £300 (you need a new car seat but you don't need an isofix base. £80)
Next to me crib £100 (you can get a Moses basket for free! People practically throw them at you!
Nappies - £5 a week maybe. I get Aldi nappies
Clothes - £200 (I went a bit mad! You hardly need to buy anything as people buy you so much! Get second hand bundles on Facebook £10)
Bouncer free (it's really helpful to have somewhere to put baby that isn't the floor but ask around as people give them away)

Thanks for the replies so far. Planning on BF so hopefully no formula costs. DH will be doing long days when I go back so shouldn't have much in the way of childcare costs for the first year or so.

We don't have a car so not sure if car seat is necessary? Was looking at travel systems, but perhaps not necesary? Hoping to just get away with a sling or wrap carrier if possible?

Also, wondering how much you spent per week on extras after baby was born...? Nappies, extra clothes, what else do babies need? Blankets or seasonal clothing? Outings for baby? Extra food during breastfeeding or when baby starts eating solids?

With our first we spent way too much (could afford it though!) - I think before the baby was even born we'd spent £4k on a pram travel system, nursery furniture, slings, baby equipment. - - also a huge chunk of money on a brand new car for me as I was driving an old banger and wanted something safer--

With my second we spent only £250 on a new wardrobe for his room (still had the cot from dc1 plus all the other baby stuff). Plus got a couple of new baby clothes but friends gave us loads too.

I think it depends on how much you want to spend. Cashmere baby grows are a lot more than M&S baby grows, which in turn are expensive compared to asda ones, and you can get huge bundles of practically new baby clothes on ebay for even less....

Same with prams - a good condition second hand pram is a lot cheaper than one from mothercare.

Nursery furniture can be second hand too (just buy a new matrass) as can all the playmats, toys, bouncers, etc.

Budget in your childcare, and maybe factor in having to take some unpaid leave from work for you and dh if the baby is ill (and they tend to catch a whole host of continuous colds when they start nursery) as that will be your main expense

Week to week, nappies are always on offer in supermarkets, whether you choose to use pampers or aldi ones can make a difference in cost. Plus baby wipes.

Baby food - we did baby led weaning so just offered a bit of food from our plate but other people choose to feed jars, and some only buy organic food which they puree - again it can cost as much or as little as you choose to.

Also budget a bit for you/dh to go to baby groups - the children's centre offer free ones, local church ones sometimes ask for a £1donation and there are things like baby swimming at the other end of the scale which cost upward of £20 a week for a 20 minute lesson. But having some money in your budget for getting out and socialising (meeting a friend in Starbucks, or annual zoo membership so you can leave the house and walk round with other mums) can be a sanity saver.

Breastfeeding made me crazy hungry for cake and really thirsty but everyone is different.

I get loads of her clothes from the charity shop. I can always pick up Jojo stuff for like £1.99. Honestly you just don't need much in the way of clothes because people just buy so much!!

My weekly groups cost me £1.50 for the mum & baby group, £10 for Pilates, £8 for a sensory class and rhyme time is free. You obviously don't need to do as many as that so budge £10 for baby entertainment!

Most of her extra toys and things I've got off Facebook. We got a Bumbo last week for £5. You don't NEED any of that though

The things you absolutely need to buy new are a cot mattress and a car seat. Though you could use a family/friend’s car seat as then you’d know if it had been in an accident.
You can get brilliant baby clothes in the supermarkets, or people sell massive second hand clothes bundles for not much more than a few quid.
eBay and Facebook marketplace are heaving with baby stuff, and it’s great for the environment to reuse . I got one of those interactive baby walkers for £6!

You'll probably need a car seat for the taxi ride home from hospital but as pp said you could perhaps borrow one from a friend?
We got lots of second hand things but still managed to spent quite a bit. Main items were :

• buggy second hand Quinny - £150 (got a second hand Phil and Teds for £80 when dd came along)
• nursery furniture -£500 for cot, wardrobe and chest of drawers, still going strong with ds 2 five years later.

-sling- Caboo for around £45 I think

• change bags. I am actually embarrassed to admit how much I spent on several change bags! Best was a simple Jeep rucksack.
• car seat. We bought a maxi cosi new for about £120, plus some adaptors to fit it onto the Quinny. We don't drive either so it didn't get much use but it was handy for when my sister took him out and cabs.

-breast pump was about £120 and was a waste of money. They come up second hand all of the time.

• bf bras were around £20 each and I bought 3 (they did for both babies though ). Spent around £50 on Lansinoh as we had a bit of a shocking start to bf. Still bought bottles (ds was mix fed)which were about a £5 a pair (had 4 I think), teats needed replacing every 3 months and a steam steriliser which was a bargain at £4.

-baby boucle chair was £45 and baby gym was around £35 I think. Both were very useful and we'll used for both babies.

• jumparoo was £100. Ds loved it and it was well worth it. Dd hated it! Got £25 for it at second hand sale.
• clothes, blankets, snow suits etc were almost all second hand but I bought lots!

-travel cot was £20 second hand but needed a new mates

• moses basket was £40

Lots (most)can be bought second hand. There some great bargains to be had, especially cloths, slings, gro bags, monitor s, toys etc. On going costs are formula if using (both of mine were mix fed, ds had 2 tins a month, dd had 1), nappies and wipes. I never felt the need to eat more when bf but we tended to stop at cafes more than we might (would be the same ff)to feed. Toddler groups and classes are cheap but I did/do lots, look up your nearest children's centre.To be honest, with ds it felt like a constant outgoing of money, needing teething rings, muslin, bits and pieces all of the time!

I bought pretty much everything second hand!
£50 -pram with baby and toddler bits
£1.80 (I think) - tesco nappies (50), pampers just leaked for us! (Emmas diary vouchers got us some free pampers nappies)
£50-clothing, people will buy you LOADS of clothes, the rest was passed down from dps sister
One bed flat so no nursery furniture
£5 cot
Baby essentials -
Sterilising tablets (Pence)
Wipes -few quid? Say a pack a week, probably less?
£5 sheepskin buggy liner (bargain!) best buy I reckon!
£1 baby clubs, most of mine are free! :-3

Most people got us vouchers, clothes and toys, we asked for clothes to be aged 3months + as ds was in them for barely anytime at all! Thus we have a nice stash of 3-6 6-9 month clothing now :) obvs weather permitting! we bought all of our stuff off ebay and Gumtree, all of it barely used, the pram was I candy, so a fab brand! Also get loads of bibs or muslin cloths, ds is a dribbler and they get skanky after a day eugh! I'll have another brainstorm :3 oh amd yeah like op said, I tend to go out for coffee a few times a week (say £2 a time 3 times a week) so money to socialise etc :-) x