For those of you that don’t know, I am a worrier. I worry, and stress out, about everything; regardless of how seemingly inconsequential the ‘event’ really is. When we found out that we were going to have another boy, my blood pressure went through the roof.
Seriously! How in the world could we afford to have another kid?
As my wife and I were having our weekly budget meeting, the conversation drifted, as it is prone to do, to the boys; specifically to whether or not having two kids was twice as expensive as only having one. My initial response was ‘of course it is’, but then I started thinking about it more.
For our first child, we had to buy everything. Sure, we received a few outfits here and there from friends or family, but most of it came right out of our bank account. The funny thing about kids is that they grow; and grow quickly. To the frugalist in me, it seemed like we spent the entire clothing budget, and then some, on toddler threads.
Fortunately, the aforementioned cheapskate refused to get rid of toddler’s clothes as he grew out of them. Boy, do those clothes look cute now?
Want to know what else looks amazing?
Our infant’s room! We did not have to purchase anything new at all. Our oldest decided that he wanted to move into the big-boy-room (our guest room) so we did not have to change a thing! We are now using the same crib, changing table, and rocking chair. Our only decorating expense was a few 2020 stretch canvases that we painted his name on and a new blankie-bear for him to sleep with.
Another expensive item that we did not have to buy again was a new car seat. We checked, and double checked, to make sure that the one we had wasn’t expired and we were good to go. There is absolutely no sense buying a new one when the old one works just as well. Just make sure that it is still safe to use.
Furthermore, we think that we are saving a ton of money by using cloth diapers. I would, however, recommend that you investigate the potential cost savings before you opt out of disposable diapers. Not only are cloth diapers disgusting, you may find that your energy and water bills increase as a result of having to constantly wash those suckers.
There are, of course, a bunch of loosely related expenses that have increased as a result of having a second child. As previously mentioned, our water bill has increased slightly. It is difficult to determine whether this is a result of washing more clothes or the fact that our older son now fills the bath tub up completely every night. When he was younger we could get away with filling it about half way. Long gone are those days!
Additionally, just because we use cloth diapers at home doesn’t mean that we never buy disposable diapers. We always have a nice stash on hand to use when we have to go to the store, or to church. I am absolutely sure that the volunteers in the nursery are happy with that decision.
As we look back over the past 11 months, we can say, without a doubt, that we are blessed. Despite our recent budgeting miscues, our financial situation has not been negatively impacted by having another child. If you don’t count me, that is!