When I was pregnant for the first time, I had a few showers given by friends and family, and they were a great way to celebrate my peanut and to get some of the gear I needed. Even more helpful, and completely unexpected, were the gifts from moms of hand-me-down clothes and toys. I received several large boxes over the years, and I would guess they saved us easily $1,000 and gave us the nice feeling you get from reusing instead of buying new.
While I’m still saving the some of our items for hypothetical baby #3 (we’ll call him “Oopsie”) and for my sister-in-law’s hypothetical children, I am also loading up the car today to pay it forward to other moms who need baby gear. I’m looking forward both to being able to share with others and to the cathartic feeling of unloading clutter
The stuff I didn’t find very useful will be sold at consignment, so that I don’t burden loved ones with useless crap. I guess that means I’m fine with burdening strangers with useless crap? Hm. Sometimes I wish I had done more research before buying unnecessary baby gear in the first place, but I use as my excuse that the world of mommy-blogging has advanced greatly in the last five years, and fortunately there are so many more options out there for you to gather information now than there were for me. BabyCenter has its uses, but any site paid for in advertising by big companies that sell you baby crap by the ton is just not the best place to go for frugal tips.
I love {Writing Chapter Three}, written by the people who bring us the {never}homemaker, because every few months she writes a list of “must-haves” that also includes things she loved, didn’t need/use, or wishes she had.
Editor’s Note: This post is part of Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways,ย Your Green Resource, and Frugal Friday