Chantel has been married for almost two years and was caught slightly off-guard recently when she realised she was pregnant with her first baby. “Even though my husband and I are both extremely good at saving, we didn’t have a specific budget for a baby and didn’t plan to have a baby so soon,” she says.

However, four months into the pregnancy, reality is starting to set in rather quickly and Chantel is already making plans so that she doesn’t face financial distress. She is also starting to appreciate just how much it costs to have a baby. “As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I started putting away small amounts of money to cover basic set-up costs for a nursery at home as well as specialist scans etc. We also had a meeting with our financial adviser to start putting steps in place so that we can start saving towards big-ticket costs such as education,” she says.

Initial costs

As a first-time mom, Chantel is aware that there will be costs involved but has decided that she will be budgeting a maximum spend of R20 000 on set-up costs for the baby’s nursery. This will include items such as a cot, changing table, rocking chair, curtains, décor, some clothing and nappies etc. “To drive costs down, we are going to be using some second-hand options,” she says. Whatever money Chantel saves on set-up costs will go towards the monthly costs and the baby’s day-to-day needs.

In terms of medical costs, Chantel and her husband already belong to a medical aid. She has worked out already that adding the baby as a dependant on her medical aid scheme will cost her an additional R1 000 a month, however, she uses a comprehensive medical scheme option, which covers most costs throughout the year. In addition to this, she will start setting aside R2 000 a month for the baby’s day-to-day needs.

Nappies

In the first year, your baby is likely to run through a shockingly high amount of nappies. In the first few months, you can expect to use between 400 to 500 nappies a month; this drops to roughly 240 nappies a month by the time your baby is one year old. If you use Huggies Gold nappies, this works out to an average cost of R1 107 a month (based on price of R369 for a box of 144 nappies) in the first few months after yourbaby is born and this drops to R738 (for two boxes of 144 nappies) by the time baby is a year old. This works out to approximately R11 808 – based on the baby using the higher amount of nappies – until the age of eight months.

If you opt to use re-usable cloth nappies, as Chantel is considering, you can budget approximately R120 per nappy. Note that you will also need a microfiber insert (similar to a nappy liner), which will cost you R25 each. So, assuming you buy ten re-usable nappies, and 20 re-useable nappy inserts, that would be a once-off cost of R1 700.

Buying second-hand items

“Being a first-time mom I really wanted to purchase everything new,” says Chantel. “But as time goes by I’m realising that certain items are simply too expensive to purchase first-hand. So, we will accept certain used items. Second-hand doesn’t necessarily mean inferior – the function remains the same. I had to accept that family and friends understand how expensive things can be and simply want to help. I shouldn’t see their offer of used items as an insult!”

In terms of getting items second hand, you have several options. You could rely on friends and family who are no longer using their own baby items. The advantage here is that you are likely to be more comfortable in the knowledge that you know the previous owner and that items were well taken care of. Your second option could be to use secondhand websites such as Gumtree or OLX, or even secondhand stores that specialise in baby items such as changing tables, cots, and prams.

Chantel points out that there may be some items you would prefer to buy new such as a car seat, but then you can compromise by getting a cot and changing table second hand.

Other tips to curb costs

Chantel has plans in place to try and help keep costs low:

• Try to breastfeed as long as possible.
• Use reusable nappies rather than disposable ones.
• Use her (very enthusiastic) mother and mother-in-law as an alternative to a crèche or daycare until the child has to attend pre-school.

Read more of Neesa’s columns at http://www.moneyissues.co.za