how much did you spend in the first year?


Ehh, for me .. I think i nv spend much during bb 1st year. Since i express/bfeed, and bb start solid after 6mths. No exact breakdown but def less den $10k. Bulk goes to medication (i chose polyclinic 5in1, cos its free instead of pd. N pd /a&e only if urgently need med treatment). Before 1 neither did i enrol enrichment classes, only bot dvd or connect apple tv for learning. Most stuff i get hand me downs even toys so def saved alot as infant outgrow fast. For prenatal really depends the cost of 'highly sought' gynae n hosp anot...but of cos easily $4k ....

After gg to CC, then the expense CONFIRM easily hit $20k... So i start trying to save more to prepare in case of emergency use :( not easy bringing up a kid .. Sigh
 
Less than $5k coz i bf n exclude delivery expenses. Some toys n clothes r hand me downs from her sister. I don't really keep track.
 
I think is difficult to count how much, but rather plan see what are the fixed items (must spend) to set the budget, press hard on those variables and set money aside for emergency. Buy things only when needed to prevent getting all the white elephants at home waste money and donno what to do with them.

For pre-natal the bulk is gynae, scans n tests, n delivery cost... This is really depends on individual preference and conditions of health.

If have things hand down especially for big ticket items like cot, stroller, etc, And those nice to have but not sure useful or not like swing, rocker, would help to save quite a lot. So as for clothes and toys. If need new clothes can buy in bulk for different sizes (3-12mths) at one go, a few pieces of basic rompers is good enough, anything like 2 pieces, fancy pj are not practical and is a waste of money.

Baby food depends whether can bf or not, and how much bm can feed, price tag of fm is really terribly insane .... But can't save at all. Solid food won't cost a lot for home cook.
Diapers cannot save... Must look around for promo price hahaha. The rest of consumables won't be that much.
Baby healthcare ... Vaccine go polyclinic, dont want to visit pd, but touch wood then is really no choice.

Pre-natal cost for me budgeted abt 10k, didn't hit ... Got savings..
No CC ... So don't think would hit 30k for 1st yr.
 
Seeing the cost of infant care, I think it's more worth for me to be a SAHM since I got 2 to take care of. Cannot imagine having to send 1 to infant care n 1 in childcare. Luckily both of them bf until 3 yrs old. Everything so ex....
 
How i wish can be a sahm ... Lol. Yea bf long = save ALOT. I buy my girls fm from jb, so save ard 30-40%.. Somemore if got caregiver at home still need pay for the expense, not cheap.
I aso wonder 1yr old can attend wat lessons?
 
Thanks everyone for sharing your experience.

Indeed medical is really ex and polyclinics are really good places for affordable and decent healthcare. The only reason i am using pd is because my company covers medical expenses and vaccination. Really lucky in that sense.

I have further breakdown and analysis on the various items and will share it once i can find the time to put it together. Its work, baby, housework...work,baby,housework most of the time!

For enrichment, he is at this school doing right brain training...flash cards and stuffs...my wife suggested it and i dont have a strong opinion against so trying it out....still stand to be convinced it is helpful though :p
 
@marketmash
Hahaha.... Interesting analysis on diaper and milk powder... Your case is not so bad since you only start formula at stage 2.
Think the cost also depends on individual, how much and long can bf, size of baby etc. Somehow it's also hard to save for example say if your baby can only drink certain brand or low lactose milk, more particular on diaper if got sensitive skin etc. As parent we can only look around to see for any promotions, good deals and samples. At the end of the day a healthy (no unnecessary medical expense) and easy-going (ok with any brand of diaper and milk) baby would save a lot already.
 
Sometimes it's quite difficult to buy milk powder/diaper in bulk. Need to find place to store and u won't know when baby will reject the taste of the milk powder or whether the diaper will give rashes. I'm lucky that i only need to spend on diaper and glad that my kids both can use any diaper as long as it doesn't leak. Still toilet training my 3 yr old. Bought training pants from taobao at SGD$2 each compare to getting locally at SGD$10 each! Kid's toilettries and supplements i get direct from iherb, much cheaper than getting locally.
 
Pre-natal / post-natal: Can claim 3k from company, so that's nice
Child's medical expenses - I have the AIA card so seeing panel GP is free. Also can claim up to $1,500 in PD visits.
Breastfeeding LO now so the cost is minimal, only need to pay for the upkeep of this cow.
Diapers - Taught LO elimination communication so diaper usage has dropped dramatically. Also bought some cloth diapers
LO is blessed to have 2 sets of doting grandparents so we save on IFC fees.
And you'd be surprised how much cheaper certain baby items are on Amazon than here. E.g. Avent natural bottles sell for about 29 USD for 4 pcs. Over here I think it's S$30 for 2? Huggies wetwipes - About US$12 for a carton of 600 odd wipes. Braun contactless thermometer for about 50 usd as opposed to S$149 at Harvey Norman (exact item). Desitin cream - Can get one big tub of it in the US vs 1 tube here. Clothes - Got hand-me-downs as well as brand new ones from Carters clearance sales. Also got baby clothes (Gerber ones) from Amazon. Horribly cheap, quality is not too bad.
 
Very true that a healthy and easy going baby save alot of $ and head/heartaches especially since medical is the most expensive adhoc costs and daily essentials like diapers and milk are recurrings that cannot be stopped. I use credit card to pay and it help me save quite abit from the rebates. Of course online stuff are always cheaper as well
 
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