Since I pasted my list of baby expenses, I thought I'd try to note everything we were given by friends, relatives and co-workers. If it was bought new for us as a gift, I noted that. Otherwise, everything was hand-me-down (therefore no additional cost for our friend) or bought used (so a bit cheaper than new).
Book: What to Expect the First Year (actually 2 copies; one used and one NEW)
Crib
Sheets for crib
Stroller
Stroller base that can hold car seat
Dresser
Baby-carrier backpack
Baby Bjorn
Baby slings (2 or 3; also AS handmade one from gifted fabric)
Bouncy seat
Baby monitor
Bathing seat
Towels & washcloth (NEW)
Heat-sensing rubber ducky (NEW)
Comb, brush & mirror set (NEW)
Breastfeeding pillow
Breastfeeding cover-up
Manual breast pump
Pads for wearing in bra (unused but left over from someone's supply, so not bought new for us)
Diaper bag (free from doctor's office, included sample can of formula and bottle cooler bag and ice packs)
Sample pack of formula (free offer when bought maternity clothes
Swing
Baby gate
Mobile
High chairs (1 regular, 1 travel)
Bibs (mostly secondhand, one NEW)
Spoons (some used, some NEW)
Changing pad
A few cloth-diaper prefolds & covers
Diaper Genie (actually two, one used and one NEW)
Container & enzyme solution for cloth diapers
Moses-basket bassinet (NEW)
Pacifiers (NEW)
Bottle (NEW)
Burp cloths (10-15; a few secondhand, most handmade, two NEW)
Blankets (10 or 15 of various types; one handmade, mostly secondhand, one NEW)
Toddler-size rocking chair
Baby clothes (all sizes; onesies, pants, shirts, shoes, hats, sleepers, skirts, socks; 100+ items, mostly used, a couple handmade, maybe 5-10 bought NEW)
Snow suit
Toys: stuffed animals, blocks, a train set, rattles, and more; maybe 75 items, mostly used, about 10-20 NEW)
Books: 50+ of my own from childhood; many secondhand, several NEW)
Music (many old 45s from my childhood, plus several CDs of international lullabies)
Activity rug
That's all I can think of! As you can see, we saved hundreds and maybe even thousands of dollars by putting out the word that we wanted hand-me-downs--and we saved our friends some expense by letting them know we actually preferred secondhand gifts for our baby shower.
Baby things acquired for free
May 4th, 2010 at 09:25 pm
May 4th, 2010 at 11:02 pm 1273014135
You've done such a comprehensive list of what you've spent and received, it leaves me sort of in awe.
It is comical that DH and I are figuring out what we'll really need for this one (been four years since last baby and if this one is a girl, eleven years since a daughter). We've had my parents offer a new mattress and bedding, my inlaws a new basinette, and my biological father was "whatever we need" which will be a new car seat stroller/combo. We lost the matress and basinette in the flood, and the transportation stuff is old and I wouldn't trust it.
Thanks for getting me thinking!
May 4th, 2010 at 11:19 pm 1273015160
I guess the karma is good - I have been getting lots of hand-me-down clothes lately - for both kids. We gave so much of our old stuff away.
May 4th, 2010 at 11:20 pm 1273015239
May 4th, 2010 at 11:35 pm 1273016139
even though DF, I think, feels a bit sad or left out sometimes that we haven't 'joined in' on the first wave of babies (at last count, it's now 8 couples of our closest friends who have had 11 children in 2009/2010) one of the things I remind him of is 'Imagine how much freaking STUFF we'll be given when it IS our turn...'
May 5th, 2010 at 12:14 am 1273018480
AS asked me whether the kid would feel weird if she found out I was vigilantly counting every penny I spent on her. Hopefully not, because it's not to try and economize, or hold it over her later; it's just an experiment to see what it really costs to have a child.
May 5th, 2010 at 01:31 am 1273023085
May 5th, 2010 at 03:52 pm 1273074772
May 14th, 2010 at 02:00 pm 1273845635
Jerry