What to save?
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Category: General Chat
Forum Name: General Chat
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URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=39361
Printed Date: 29 August 2025 at 5:17pm
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Topic: What to save?
Posted By: GenevieVe1234
Subject: What to save?
Date Posted: 29 May 2011 at 3:04pm
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Ok so I have set myself some budget goals and am sorting out a plan for this bubba.
I was thinking that I should start putting aside items each week from the supermarket that will help tide me over when baby comes so I dont have to go grocery shopping so far im thinking, lots of cans and baby wipes has anyone else got any suggestions? Any help much appreciated |
Replies:
Posted By: Nothing
Date Posted: 29 May 2011 at 3:12pm
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Use cloth wipes instead of disposable ones. Much cheaper, not full of nasty chemicals, and super soft.
Do baby led weaning (BLW) instead of Purees- This is where you give them finger food rather than pureed mush- do a search on here and you will find some great threads about it. You will save tons of money not buying those silly little cans. Use cloth nappies instead of disposables- you can get really cool funky prints/patterns now, pop into the nappyholics thread to ask questions. They do cost more to buy at the start however you can save thousands a year. Other than that just make sure you have a general back up of cans, pasta, rice etc... Might pay to make some meals up and freeze them before bubs is born, very handy to have as a back up when you cant be bothered cooking. ------------- 
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Posted By: GenevieVe1234
Date Posted: 29 May 2011 at 3:23pm
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good idea! I was planning on cloth nappies but I though baby wipes for cleaning spills, but now you have suggested cloths im going to go for those!
I will search BLW, I was always hinking of feeding my kid food that I had made, but have not heard of that. thanks for the heads up :) |
Posted By: Hopes
Date Posted: 29 May 2011 at 4:13pm
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With some things it's hard to know what to buy in advance anyway. With babyfood, for example, it's no use buying a lot of one they end up hating. And while baby-led weaning is great and lots of people love it, if cost is the only factor it's just as easy to make purees at home, I do all the time.
Even nappies, if you do go with disposable (and cloth does save a LOT), you won't know how long they'll be in each size. I still use some wipes, but most of the time I use cloths (I actually find them a lot more efficiant at removing poo or grub off faces anyway). And if you chance on a baby with sensative skin, that could change the ones you want to buy if you still buy them. I'd stock up on 'easy' big-people food that you know you like to fall back on when you've got no time for tea. It's a lifesaver to have some frozen fish fillets or fresh pasta in the freezer that you can whip up in the time it takes to boil water or put them in the oven. I know its harder, but I reckon the best thing to do is stash money instead of things. Then you can use it for whatever it is it turns out you need lots of (I reckon I should have bought shares in lanisoh cream, for example, but some people use a tube and that's it) -------------   
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Posted By: RedHeadDuck
Date Posted: 29 May 2011 at 4:16pm
Buy a $10 grocery voucher and a $10 fuel voucher every week (or more if you can afford it) and put them aside for when baby comes. Then you can use vouchers for fuel/food and can use $$ for other unexpected things that come up 
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Posted By: Febgirl
Date Posted: 29 May 2011 at 4:34pm
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Stock up on boring things like laundry powder, toilet paper etc when cheap. ------------- Two little girls under 2! 
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Posted By: JAFAjaffa
Date Posted: 29 May 2011 at 4:45pm
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And stock up on your nice things too - face cream, cleanser, shampoo etc if you happen to use nice brands. Those were some of the first things to go in our budgeting round.
We got lots of OSFA cloth nappies which has saved us a bundle, but we got newborn disposables (a few packs) to get through the first few sleepless weeks. We use cloth wipes too, I couldn't get over how many wipes we went through and how expensive they were! Definitely stock up on laundry powder, dishwashing powder, napisan and other expensive items, like cleaning things if you use chemical cleaners. The fuel vouchers idea is a brilliant one. We'll be doing that next time! A chest freezer is a godsend too - I buy milk when it's on special (rarely) and freeze it. Making meals and freezing it is a great idea. I had no idea where the time went but the entire day seemed to go awfully quickly without me actually achieving much with a newborn! And making dinner was not on my priority list. ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: _SMS_
Date Posted: 29 May 2011 at 4:52pm
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I mainly stocked up on things for myself. Creams & make up etc.
Also things like toilet paper, cleaning products, washing powder. I got a few of the huggies wipes & huggies nappies for baby. But careful not to get too many you might not use. Also from super market you can buy things in the baby area. Bibs, bottles, socks, baby face clothes (these can be used for wipes) -------------  
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Posted By: AandCsmum
Date Posted: 29 May 2011 at 5:15pm
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What ever you do DON'T stock up on the yellow Silks wipes...they are useless compared to the blue or pink ones. ------------- Kel http://lilypie.com"> 
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12 |
Posted By: GenevieVe1234
Date Posted: 29 May 2011 at 5:40pm
| soooo much good advice!! |
Posted By: T_Rex
Date Posted: 29 May 2011 at 8:19pm
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Be careful stocking up on laundry powder - we did that and quickly discovered the ones we'd bought were no good for DD's skin. She's now 17 months old, and I've nearly finished the last box we bought having only used it in loads of only DH and my clothes since she was a few weeks old.
Truthfully, until the last couple of months since DD was weaned (she was BF) and started eating a decent amount of *real* food, there has hardly been a difference in my supermarket shopping. And now it just means extra fruit and veges, yoghurt etc - not stuff you'd want to stock up on now  We do cloth nappies/wipes, breastfeed and BLW, and don't use baby soaps etc so I don't buy from the *baby* aisle at all! But you don't know that until you have the baby (for example, I still have half my tiny tube of lansinoh - unlike Hopes ), so I second the ideas of cash/vouchers. Cash especially as you can spend it anywhere but you do need to be disciplined.------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: caliandjack
Date Posted: 29 May 2011 at 8:35pm
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Two things I found really useful in the first couple of weeks was the big 5kg bag of persil sensitive washing powder and a jumbo roll of chux cloths which Dh got at Mitre 10. I use cotton wool and water to clean her when she was newborn.
I'm on to my second tube of lansinoh cream the first got used up pretty quickly in the first couple of weeks. The weleda nappy cream is great I'm still using mine. Loo roll for you and DH and maternity pads and/or regular sanitary pads. Cranberry juice for you the unsweetened one. Drink diluted it will help prevent UTI's. ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow">   [/url] Angel June 2012 |
Posted By: CrazyCass
Date Posted: 29 May 2011 at 8:47pm
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I'm in the process of doing the same thing - getting vouchers for baby stores for clohting is also a good idea - just double check expiry dates
Also Napisan - Depending on how you do your washing I know I will use a bit - and its a higher cost item. A couple of packs of Maternity pads (My sister suggested to me to get Tena lady pants with Budget sanitary pads, all throw away & plastic undies mean definately no ruined clothing )
I guess a range of stuff is always good, different things work for different people so you wont know what you actually need until bubs is here... ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: Shelt
Date Posted: 29 May 2011 at 8:57pm
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Instead of stocking up on stuff I just brought a $5 of a $10 grocery voucher each week (or put $5 or $10 into my supermarket christmas club). The things I thought I would go through heaps of I didn't and some things I hadn't thought about ended up suiting DD better anyway. That way I had a little stockpile of vouchers when DD was born to buy extras. Though I did put away a few things for me - shampoo & conditioner, deodourant etc plus a few cleaning products just to cut down on the expensive things when she was born. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: myonlineself
Date Posted: 29 May 2011 at 9:04pm
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I think those supermarket vouchers is a great way to do it if you think you'll end up spending cash.... then you can work out what you want - someone said petrol vouchers, that's a great idea too. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: MrsH
Date Posted: 29 May 2011 at 9:26pm
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We were dumb and stocked up on things like vaseline, baby powder and baby oil. Never used any of it. At all!!
DH is now using the vaseline for his ankle brace and I'm using the baby oil as makeup remover. The baby powder will keep until I'm an old granny. Grannies always use baby powder. ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: mrsturtle
Date Posted: 29 May 2011 at 9:32pm
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lol mrsH.
with wipes warehouse south dunedin have some called baby 365 which are great we use them for out and about and cloth at home, they quite often are 2 for $5. |
Posted By: Rackhell
Date Posted: 30 May 2011 at 8:10am
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I couldn't face the drying times during winter so went this way. For our grocery shop we bought a pack of disposable (newborn) nappies, after first checking with my local supermarket that any unopened packs could be exchanged with the next size up (might have to pay the difference in price), and it helped me out as I was completely overwhelmed with my new baby.
I bought and stockpiled a lot of adult dry food goods, froze the mil, stocked the freezer (you don't really want to be lingering in a supermarket with mummy brain) so that I was in and out of the freshfood section in double quicktime and that was my 'shop'. |
Posted By: LouD
Date Posted: 30 May 2011 at 8:44am
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Dont stockpile many newborn nappies as they arent in those long, I would get lots of crawler ones cos thats the ones they are in the longest......as for Tins, my son didnt like tins so I stockpiled a few months before he started solids, and bought a heap of icecube trays and did lots of different things seperately so I could try him one at a time then mixed and matched different meals including porridge and apples, custard etc for breakfast...Avocado freezes well, Bananas dont.
I am still using the baby bath stuff I stockpiled on and my son is 18months. I would also recommend stocking up on napisan |
Posted By: Plushie
Date Posted: 30 May 2011 at 8:49am
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I brought a jumbo roll of chux cloths too like cali said and i'm only half way through it and DS is 4 months, it was like $8.
Seriously though buy food for you, my son was born HUGE and only fitted NB naps for about a week and a half, and i'd brought over 300 nappies. Still have a huggies jumbo box of 100 under the change table actually. I'd pick up a couple of packs of nappies, a pack of breastpads (pigeon would be my recommendation), a tube of lanisoh (if you dont use it its good on dry skin) a roll of chux cloths (if you prewash a few times they get REALLY soft for NB skin) then wait and see what comes out
If you do want to use cloth don't get too crazy buying heaps of the same brand as they tend to work different for different babies. Oh wait, maternity pads. Can never have too many maternity pads. |
Posted By: 09_mrs
Date Posted: 30 May 2011 at 11:24am
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I wouldn't buy too many NB sized clothes and disposable, my DS didn't even fit most of those when he was born. I think he used the NB disposable for like a week.
If you're stockpiling meals in the freezer I would do plain stuff next time round as my DS was quite colicky / windy so I was trying not to eat too much onion and garlic and all those other things you avoid. I think I would do more snack type foods next time as well, muffins, bikkies etc, especially if you plan to breastfeed. I stockpiled all the grocery items that would store, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, canned food, packets of pasta etc. I went through a lot of nappy cream but I guess you don't know if you are going to have a rashy babe or not. Supermarket and petrol vouchers sound like a great idea. You could also get some for Farmers, Warehouse etc for all those other little things that you'll find you need. I wouldn't buy too much baby food cause they might not like a particular flavour etc and by the time they are eating grocery shopping won't be such a mad frantic rush compared to the newborn days. Exciting times, happy shopping :) ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: caliandjack
Date Posted: 30 May 2011 at 12:43pm
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I wouldn't worry about too many clothes either you will get given heaps, DD is 7 months old and we are still working our way through clothes we've been given either as gifts or hand me downs.
Buy a couple of packs of nappies - wait till your baby arrives. DD was a teeny tiny newborn and was too little for newborn nappies and we needed premie clothes for the first couple of weeks. Breastpads - I still leak and went thru heaps of these till I discovered reusables which are the only thing that work at night. Farmers vouchers were great gifts. I would avoid meals with too much garlic as well as DD was a very windy newborn she hated anything with too much garlic or herbs in it. Do your research on breast pumps and bottles, introducing a bottle of EBM in the first couple of weeks was a god send. Allowed Dh to feed DD and me an extra couple of hours sleep. ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> [/url] Angel June 2012 |
Posted By: caliandjack
Date Posted: 30 May 2011 at 2:41pm
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If you are going to go with cloth, I recommend you get the hire kit. As different babies and mother's for that matter like different nappies. Although if this is your first I'd go with sposies for the first couple of weeks you've got enough to figure out without MCNs as well. ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> [/url] Angel June 2012 |
Posted By: fairy1
Date Posted: 30 May 2011 at 2:56pm
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I agree with some of the others that buying grocery vouchers and fuel vouchers are a good idea. We didn't stockpile anything and were fine, I have probably used more napisan and friend direct than I use to but not enough that I would stockpile it personally. Babystore vouchers aren't a bad idea as once your baby is born you may find you need stuff you don't have or want more clothes. I wouldn't rely on people giving you stuff as we didn't get much at all.
Hope everything goes well. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: BessieBear
Date Posted: 30 May 2011 at 4:30pm
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I stock piled NB nappies and had heaps left over from DS and bought a few more when DD was born and I still have 2 packs left over. THis time I'm not buying any. I'll go straight into cloth. Buy pet food, dry foods, pasta, cereals, when you're breast feeding you eat heaps. I found I was buying loads of muslie bars for me. Pumpkin is in season at the moment and only $2 per, at pak n save so if you're a big pumpkin eater buy a few and cut them up and freeze them. I'm making soups and freezing. ------------- Sarah Mum to, Boy 07/2008, Girl 03/2010, Boy 05/2012, Angel  07/08/2014
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Posted By: Isabella
Date Posted: 30 May 2011 at 4:55pm
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I would definitely say breast pads - I really liked the J&J pink packet ones - I went through LOADS of these in the first few weeks.. Also the sanitary pads - I brought some expensive libra maternity ones but soon realised that the home brand ones were the same as the hospital ones so just went for them! And all at the bank breaking price of $2/pack!!!
I would get some NB nappies in the early days (even if you are thinking of going cloth).. I really love Huggies but I have heard other people like different brands - guess all babies are shaped differently! :) I would also get a few packs of baby wipes (again I liked the Huggies ones) because the last thing you will want to do with a new bubba is loads of washing of face cloths! Thats about all we ever dashed to the supermarket for.. Oh treats and snacks for you - cos you will be hungry! :) And when they yack on about taking food to the hospital - take it more seriously than I did because at 2am after my c/s after having been in labor all day I was STARVING and had only lollies left from the day :) Poor DH was living on fruit bursts too :) Good luck and yipee how exciting :) |
Posted By: caliandjack
Date Posted: 30 May 2011 at 5:05pm
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Complan fabulous to have on hand when you are feeding thru the night and need to nourish yourself but cba eating. ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> [/url] Angel June 2012 |
Posted By: pudgy
Date Posted: 30 May 2011 at 5:25pm
Us too, we had to buy almost everything ourselves, so dont rely on others giving you heaps. it is worth buying bigger sized clothes though. Like 0 and 1. Those old school flat square cloth nappies were fabulous and I still use them 3 years on. Def reusable breast pads much softer as well. A moby or any wrap style carrier, mine was the best purchase I made for ds. ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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fairy1 wrote:Posted By: pudgy
Date Posted: 30 May 2011 at 5:27pm
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Oh and I'd be very careful introducing a bottle too early it can interfere with getting bf established ------------- http://lilypie.com"> http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: GenevieVe1234
Date Posted: 30 May 2011 at 6:29pm
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I am now writing a list of things I need to stockpile
Hoping we can get loads of stuff free, but not that sure so will be getting the bare essentials once im about 7-8 months and have an idea of the amount of clothes etc needed. Anyone have any reusable breast pad, and sanitary pad reccomendations? or is it better to just use disposables for the first few weeks? you ladies are so incredible with adcive yay for ohbaby! |
Posted By: Plushie
Date Posted: 30 May 2011 at 7:01pm
I wouldnt personally use mama pads for the bleeding for the first week at least. It can be a bit...er...intense. Couple of members i can think of might have done it though don't want to name names in case i look too creepy for knowing about their sanitary items  . Isabella is right though the homebrand or select pads are cheap as chips and pretty much the same as hospital ones.
I didnt get given much either. Second the flat nappies, i had 12 and within a week i ran out and brought 24 more. They're awesome. |
Posted By: T_Rex
Date Posted: 30 May 2011 at 7:33pm
hahaha Bowie you creep 
I bought a pile of breastpads but I didn't leak at all. Not a drop, even once. I gave most of them to my sister who leaks like a sieve, apparently. I've bought some reusable maternity pads from ecomoon for this bub, haven't tried them yet. But last time I ended up resorting to a prefold nappy cos I reacted badly to having to wear the disposable variety for so long - and honestly, it was sore enough down there without the allergic reaction  If you have decent support around you, a bit of extra washing is no big deal. I soaked mine and then tossed them in with the nappies.
For a spilly baby, the cloth flats were awesome. I still use them now for toilet training whoopsies! I'll be getting more for my next little puker
I think moral of this thread - get vouchers cos everyone likes and uses different stuff ------------- http://lilypie.com"> http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: melopop
Date Posted: 30 May 2011 at 8:20pm
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Is anyone a member of the pac n save Christmas club?? Have been thinking about joining that and adding $10 a week to groceries (since bub is due feb 1st)
I will be buying lots of maternity pads this time! They were quite expensive and I went through LOADS - no breast pads though, didn't need those at all, and I had bought heaps  I got some lovely things while pregnant e.g cute clothes from PP etc and I'm so glad I did. Once we were on one income there was just no way we could justify spending lots on stuff. So in my opinion, don't feel guilty making special purchases - cause it maybe the only time you get to spend that much money without feeling too guilty.
Oh and ditto buying bigger sizes (even up to size 1) although you can never imagine your teeny baby being that size, it comes around quick enough, and every new stage.age/size requires a whole new wardrobe! I LOVE Savemart for my 17month old., Some really funky stuff that when mixed with some cool new pieces create a cute look :) Great ideas everyone!!! I'm taking notes too! ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: Hopes
Date Posted: 31 May 2011 at 7:46am
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Its so crazy, how different we all are. I have been through tonnes of breastpads - I leaked all over the place for the first five months or so, and even now when I feed one side the other leaks. I bought reusable ones to save some money (although I have to admit I find the disposable ones more comfortable). -------------
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Posted By: caliandjack
Date Posted: 31 May 2011 at 9:04am
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The best things to stock up on are things for yourself and Dh in those first couple of weeks your baby will be all consuming and its easy to forget your own needs.
All baby stuff can be brought online and gets delivered to your door the next day. ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> [/url] Angel June 2012 |
Posted By: julz85
Date Posted: 31 May 2011 at 2:38pm
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te best things i had were these massive muslin clothes (or you could use cloth nappies ). i used them all the time , either to wrap baby or throw over my shoulder so my clothes didnt get baby spew on them , and also uses them for cleaning up spills on baby too , very handy and just pop them in the wash after ! the singlets that dome between the legs are great , buy heaps! As mentioned above breastpads were great too ! i used heaps the first couple months , its really good to stock up on bigger baby clothes too , so if you see some things on end of season special really cheap even if they are a size 00, 0, or 1 buy them!!!! you alwasy get given heaps of newborn clothes but not so much when they get older and they grow soooo quickly! also a good idea to get some bulk lots of secondhand clothes off trade me , say a bulk lot of nb-3mths or even nb-6mths at this age the babies grow out of clothes so quickly and arent into getting too messy yet either so most clothes are in really good condition i bought a baby sling which was awesome because i had a colic/reflux baby so it was easier to do things while i could be holding her and the sling i had even meant i could breastfeed with no hands so i even started vaccuming , dishes and breastfeeding at the same time , very handy a bouncenette is also very handy if you want to have a shower or something , just move it into the bathroom with baby in it and they can watch you shower , also handy for general things you want to do when you dont want to hold the baby , i had an electric baby swing also but this was more for my babys reflux then anything else but still handy when i needed to be doing other things . Vouchers as metioned above will be very handy because then you can decide what sorts of things you may need depending on the type of baby you have (like the sling and swing i bought after bubs was born because it helped her reflux but wouldnt of matterd so much if she didnt have reflux - i probably would not of bought them ) ------------- http://lilypie.com">  
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Posted By: julz85
Date Posted: 31 May 2011 at 2:57pm
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also - i spent alot of money (about $200) on a fancy changing table/ baby bath that to be honest i hardly used , because im short it was a bit high so found it much easier to change bubs on the bed or ground and altho the bath was handy its much cheaper just to get a baby bath as they dont stay in them for too long . i also spent far too much $$$ on overly cute fancy nb and 000 baby clothes that bubs hardly ever wore , i wish i had bought much more sensible baby clothes like all in ones , tights , plain tops , wollen singlets etc as altho i did have these things i got a bit sucked in by the cuteness of the wee dresses and jeans but once i put them on her she just didnt look comfotable in them and she was always just laying around on the floor or in people arms so light , comfy clothes were much more apropriate its very exciting having a new bubs on the way and i know i got a bit over excited and looking back i probably didnt actually need alot of what i bought so if you are on a tight budget just remember that as long as your bubs has warm clothes , a full tummy , somewhere to sleep and lots of love then your baby will be absolutly fine ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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