It’s natural and it’s completely understandable that a new baby brings out the urge to spend money for all the best baby stuff you can get your hands on. However, if spending becomes overspending or turns into a habit, and precludes you from meeting other essential financial goals such as settling of debts and overheads, it may spell trouble.
If you happen to not be in any financial constraints, e.g. have loads of money to spend after paying off debt, saving for some college funds for your kid, and also for your retirement. And, you easily meet your basic obligations, by all means, splurge away! If you do, however, find that the budget is a bit tight while expecting a new baby, there are some areas you might want to think twice before going overboard.
A fancy-schmancy nursery
Ever been to a baby furniture shop? It’s hard to not get bowled over by high-end baby furniture, wallpapers, decorations, fixtures, etc. The irony of it is, a baby doesn’t care for those things and by the time he’s old enough to appreciate anything, he won’t even need a nursery room anymore!
So, if you wish to get practical, skip the fancy nursery in favor of a comfortable, safe place for baby to sleep. If you happen to have a spare room, a coat of cheerful yet calming shade of non-toxic paint and some basic furniture will do nicely for your nursery. You can add on other nice things as baby grows and as the need arises.
Expensive furnishings
Those miniature bedroom furniture sets for babies generally come with not-no-miniature price-tags! Depending on your sleeping arrangements, you might not, or rarely ever, use an actual baby crib. Many parents have been known to purchase expensive baby bedding only to see them go to waste.
Changing table: Will you be making full use of it?
While changing tables are nice to have if you can afford one, any comfortable surface, like your bed, for instance, is good enough for nappy changes and the likes. Besides, with all of the diapers you’ll be changing throughout the day, you probably won’t be going to the nursery every time your baby needs a change, especially if you have stairs in your home. Instead, you’ll probably be doing it where ever that’s most convenient.
If you think about it…
You don’t need much more than a comfortable place for baby to sleep, and a place to keep clothes and other essentials.
What if..?
Overspending, even if it’s for your baby, is not a good idea and can lead to serious problems down the road especially if it becomes a habit. Your baby will grow and begin to get used to the lifestyle you have introduced. If a child is brought up with only expensive tastes that are difficult to rectify later on in life, it could lead to financial strains and possibly even future family feuds.
Baby clothes
Ask any experienced parents and they’ll let you know that babies tend to outgrow their clothes very quickly. Hence, a cupboard full of expensive designer baby outfits makes little or no sense! Instead, go for a modest number of comfortable pieces of clothing and save your money for other important stuff.
Baby footwear
The fact is, babies who haven’t begun walking yet don’t have any real need for shoes, but it can be fun to have a pair for special occasions. When your little one begins to cruise, protect his or her delicate feet with affordable, sock-like shoes with flexible, grippy soles.
Skip the unnecessary stuff
The growing industry of baby products these days tends to play on the sentiments of loving parents, especially new parents, with totally redundant items. Baby wipe-warmers and baby bath thermometers are just a couple of examples of slightly helpful but completely unnecessary items. While there’s no harm indulging in one or two of these for fun, avoid going overboard for they are nothing short of wasteful.
Should mommy splurge on designer items for herself?
The fact is, designer ‘anything’ may be nice to have and to own if you have enough cash to part with. Take the trend of designer diaper bags for instance — You’ll soon realise that when you’re out and about with your baby, you wouldn’t care less about who designed it, as long as it has the wipes and clean diaper at hand when you need them!
