This is a sponsored guest post.
Ah… the miracle of birth. Anyone who has been through it knows that the biology of it is anything but. The real miracle is that anyone can afford it. Having a baby is expensive, and shockingly so. You read all the books, hear all the advice, and make a fool-proof plan. More fool, you.
Babies don’t always come at the right time or in the right direction. They sometimes don’t come in the expected quantity. A woman expecting one child might end up with quadruplets. Suddenly, you are going to need a bigger nursery. You thought strollers were expensive? Wait till you see the price of the quadruplet models.
Let’s not forget food and diapers. You might also need to hire a helper. Newborns are rather more time-consuming than you might have imagined. It might take you a little longer to get back to work than you anticipated. Welcome to a whole new world of financial chaos. You’re going to need some extra money. Here are a few options for getting it:
Reduce Your Debt Payments
Reducing your debt payments seems like the kind of thing that is easier said than done. Nevertheless, people buried in debt are doing it everyday. Your current creditors might not be interested in reducing your payment. But a company that specializes in debt consolidation certainly would.
This is where a company like Patriot Funding. comes in to help with those diapers. You can expect to pay about $90 a month for diapers. That’s like a power bill. If you have a few thousand in debt payments spread out over several high-interest credit cards and loans, you could be paying hundreds in interest alone. A consolidation loan pays off your debt and replaces it with a single bill and a lower interest rate. That puts money back in your pocket and covers many of those new expenses generated by the newborn.
Make Your Own Cappuccino
No one wants to call their morning Starbucks a necessity. Yet no one wants to give it up, either. The good news is you don’t have to give it up altogether. Instead, you can save money by making your own cappuccino. If you can reduce a $10 a day Starbucks habit to $2 or $3 a day, that’s a savings of up to $160 per month. Now, you can afford the good diapers.
It is not just the coffee. You don’t have to go to the expensive salad bistro for lunch everyday. You can make your own lunch. Most workplaces have a kitchen with a fridge for frugal workers who don’t want to spend upwards of $75 per week on lunch. Combine that with the Starbucks run and people are spending an amount that is dangerously close to $500 a month. That represents a lot of money you could be socking away in a savings account. New moms, you are going to want to have some money for a rainy day.
Be Smart About Baby Gadgets
The car seat market will reach almost $2.3B by 2024. That is just car seats. We are not even talking about diapers. Car seats are just the tip of the iceberg. It is pretty easy to find a car seat for $650. The real question is, do you really need a $650 car seat for your baby?
I know it is popular to say that you will do anything for your baby. But you can’t take that literally. You will do anything within reason. A $650 car seat is not reasonable. Don’t even look at the price of strollers. you can get them all tricked out with the latest computer gadgetry.
As a new mother, you might not realize how much baby things should cost. To save hundreds of dollars at a time, do just a little research. You don’t want to buy baby products that are dangerous. But your baby is not too good for budget items. That stroller doesn’t have to have an electric assist motor, or handle like a BMW. Save that money for a college education fund.Your new baby is worth your best effort. So put that effort into saving money. It is a lot easier to save money than you think. Reduce your debt service. Make your own lunch and luxury coffee. And be smart about which baby products you buy. Any one of these things can save you hundreds.
