How Babies Save You Money

Yeah, yeah, yeah- so diapers suck, and if you buy things new- the "gear" and clothes can add up... but... if you don't mind hand-me-downs, garage sales, and consignment shops... plus you coupon for those diapers & wipes- the cost of a baby in the long run isn't so bad.

For example- today we (ok, me) were determined to go out to eat, using a gift card we had- I was craving some awesome bread and a "spring menu" that was going away soon... So we planned on hitting lunch after running a couple of errands- but, I didn't think too far ahead, so we left the stroller and any sort of bottle... by the time it was around noon, Chase was wide awake, and starting to get fussy. I realized he hadn't eaten since around 9, so obviously was starved. Choices to make- either sit in a parking lot or bathroom somewhere to feed him, then have our meal- or go home and eat leftovers. Okay... went for leftovers and privacy. Then I was determined to go out for dinner- but oh yeah- someone was cranky all afternoon- so the idea of trying to sit through that made me realize it was not going to happen. So I ran to Publix, spent $3.50 on half a pound of salmon, $1 on a baguette, and $2 on a Caesar salad mix. If you consider that they also had bottles of wine, buy one, get one free ($9 bottles), which we didn't even touch- we were still at a dinner that totaled $6.50 for the two of us. Throw in $0.27 (also BOGO at $0.55 each) for a jar of baby food, and we're under $7 for the 3 of us. LOL.

Compare that to a dinner out- same food, salmon, a nice caesar salad, and bread- and okay, a glass or so of wine- and you're looking at $30-$50 minimum. See? Saved $20-$40 right there.

Thinking back to what we did a year (or so) ago on the weekends- concerts, restaurants, hotels, festivals, etc- I mean, come on now- LOL, all the driving around and admission fees, food & drink tabs, etc? Hundreds of dollars saved simply by having the fear of taking Chase out in public :) Or, by it not being appropriate to take him to say, a concert at House of Blues. Ahhhhh... sure, may be are temporarily fuddy-duddy's, but all it takes is a cheesy, peach-covered face to make it all worthwhile...