Saving some green (beating the baby-buying blues)

As I've detailed in a previous post, my wife and I are pretty careful with our finances. We realize that babies are expensive, so we're always on the lookout for ways to save money in preparing for Little Elvis' arrival. Early on in the pregancy, we had some success in getting some items from Craigslist. If I remember correctly we got a high-chair for $18, a bassinette for $30, baby swing and mini-stroller for $15, a Snugli (baby carrier) for $10. All these items were only lightly used and looked practically new.

In addition to Craigslist, we found a new resource for finding baby bargains--consignment sales and baby-specific flea markets. There was a fund-raiser sale at a local high school last weekend where we got a baby play mat for $10, a backpack baby carrier for $8.50, crib bedding set for $12, and a vibrating, musical bouncing chair for $6. One mother tipped us off to a web site called www.our-kids.com . A little digging on the web site will allow you to find consignment sales of baby items in the DC area (there are also Our-Kids web sites for the Chesapeake and Richmond areas). This weekend we headed for a baby-item yard sale held at a local fairgrounds where we got a baby bathtub for $7, a DiaperGenie for $15 (with plenty of extra bags), and other miscellaneous items.

Another priceless thing you get at these sales is free advice from experienced mothers about which items are useful and how long certain items will be useful. I'm sure there are on-line resources in other markets -- feel free to comment with links for your area to share with other readers.