#1- Homemade Baby Food!
I've mentioned this before in my blogs, but I can't say it enough - this saved me quite a bit of money. I recommend buying some store-bought baby food for trips, and to test out which flavors your baby likes before you load your fridge and freezer with it - but otherwise, I'm a HUGE homemade advocate. My Buhba really enjoyed sweet potatoes. So, I bought several large ones, and cooked them in the oven. Then peeled them and pureed them with "mommy milk" and/or water. (Buhba liked the milk ones better...) I then poured them into ice cube trays and froze them. At dinner time, I would pull out a few cubes and defrost them (not cook them) in the microwave. I did this with MANY different types of fruits and veggies. You can modify the thickness for your baby's age. This worked great as Bubha started getting older, and bored with runny purees.
#2 - Homemade Diaper Wipes
Before you roll your eyes and think that I've gone totally crazy, let me tell you, these work GREAT for babies up to about 6-7 months. I got this recipe from one of my friends, and it worked really well. Get a good brand of paper towel (don't scrimp on this!). Cut the roll in half, leaving in the cardboard center. Put the half in a tuperware container. Then mix a solution of 1 cup hot water, 1 TBSP baby oil, and 1 TBSP baby soap. Mix it together, then pour over the paper towels in the container. Let sit for 10 minutes. Then pull the cardboard center out, and pull the wipes out from the center. Cover when not using. I loved the smell of these (before use of course), and loved how long they lasted!
#3- Return, Return, Return
I'll admit it: I don't get attached to items very easily at all. I hate keeping things things that I don't use, and I'm not a person who will hold on to something "just in case I need it with baby #2" several years down the line. Bubha got soooo many cute things from people, but he just grew too quickly to use them all, so I'm not ashamed to say that I did return some of the items we got that I didn't use, or had too many of. Some places require receipts (which some givers include), but places like Wal Mart allow you to return items (from their stores of course) without a receipt. (There are limits to the amounts you can get back, and the amount of times that you can return so, ask your local WM before returning.) Anyway, it's not that I didn't appreciate all of the things we got, but you can ALWAYS use cash...
#4 - Sell What you Don't Need
Some of the items that we used, but grew out of, I have taken to sell back to stores that buy gently used kids clothes. I liked Kid-to-Kid. Understand that by NO MEANS will you get rich off of this, but it will put some extra cash in your pocket, and give you some extra room in your kids' closet! (Before everyone thinks that I'm a heart-less mom that has no sensitivity, I did keep a bunch of outfits that had sentimental value to me!) :)
#5- Buy Kid's Clothes Post-Season
I am sooo turning into one of those good bargain-shopping mommies who have to brag about their great bargain! I've learned that there are AMAZING sales on clothes for kids at the end of the season (yeah, I'm a late bloomer). Last month, I went to the Children's Place online, and found great deals on clothes for Buhba for next spring and summer. For the same shorts that I paid $10 for last summer, I got two pair online for 99 cents each! SERIOUSLY! I got 11 items for less than $40 (with tax and shipping and handling). I also got the clothes part of his Christmas all done! It can be difficult to guess his future size, but I can't feel that bad if something that I paid 99 cents for ends up not fitting. (I'll just revert back to tip # 3 or #4 at that point! LOL!)
Happy Savings!
