Monthly expenses

Hi Ashley,

My daughter was born in June 2012, and I kept a detailed spread sheet of her monthly expenses for a year. On average we spent between R1200 and R1500 per month initially, but this was 2 years ago. This included buying random things like a milk powder dispenser and a bottle drying rack, small things that we only bought once-off. I found that things got a little cheaper for us after 6 months, but we never spent less than R1200 per month.

I had her on Pampers Premium nappies, in hindsight I should've just used the Pampers Active range and saved. Watch out for nappy specials in the papers, the packs come in different sizes. Always work out the price per nappy to establish whether it's a good price or not. For Pampers Active a price of R2 per nappy is good.

She was on formula very early on, about R400 per month. We spent a bit of money on clothes in the first 6 months, because she grew out of everything so damn quickly. I would definitely buy fewer clothes the next time.

Then all the usuals, toiletries, wet wipes, ProbiFlora, refills for her AngelCare nappy bin. We liked Pampers wipes when she was a baby-baby, but I've since switched to Pigeon (6 packs for R100) and they work perfectly. I also like Bumbies (4 packs for R50). For a newborn you can stick to your top-of-the-range brand, but be open-minded to switch to other brands a few months down the line.

I never shopped online. Nappies were always from Toys R Us since we have discount through Discovery, the rest were always through Dischem, Clicks and PnP. Formula was always at BabyBoom.

Hi Ahylton30

My son is 9months.

1. The cost of food-diapers and formula costs about R1200. With toiletries i bought a bunch from the Baby Expo while i was pregnant. My son is using Bennets and because its water based, its not harmful to his skin. Also i noticed that Bennets last me so much longer.

2. I watch the papers for specials and shop at those stores, i noticed that dischem and clicks have the best baby specials. Diapers are often R179 on special but if you are on discovery medical aid you get 10% of diapers at toys r us and reggies.

3. Havnt come across any to avoid.

4. i use organic brands and yes they are more pricey. clicks often have bottle Hipp on special and its great I also use Olli and purity organic.
i buy the Purity jiuces, they are reasonably priced. I give my son the Hipp cereals which are pricey...but clicks also has this on special at times. when they do i suggest you stock up.

5. You can get all you need at Baby City but thats if you happy with their prices. i drive around to stores, provided they at a close distance, coz it will defeat the purpose travelling half way across town for 2 different items. Just becoz one store has them R5 cheaper.

6. I have not yet ordered online. I have not come across any preferd online stores.

I hope this helps you.

Hi Ahylton30

its been over 4yrs since I had a newborn but remember a few things. (currently 4+weeks pregnant so will be in the same boat soon)

1- I spent about R700+- then, reason:
-Breastfed only while on mat leave and pumped then used formula after 4months for cereals if I did not have enough milk. I used the cheaper brand formula (on in a box)
-I used cheaper wipes from toys are r us which were way less cost wise
-used cloth diapers at home and disposable for trips (disposables I would buy at toys r us as they were cheaper)
-i made my own baby food making it cost effective only used cereals on days I didn't have enough food (usually rice cereal)
-I used Toys r us and Baby City as I found the other stores were more pricey
-I didn't order online
-I only used bennets aqueous drops during bath time and e45 cream afterwards. I used jnj shampooo and baby soap bars or normal green sunlight soap bars. No posers ettc. Clicks brand zinc and castor oil for baby bum
-I am not big on organic but maybe unknowingly I am.
hope this helps.

Hi Ahylton30

My son is already 2.5 years so its been a while since I focussed on newborn stuff, but I still remember some of the detail. He's still on nappies and formula, so I'm still up to date with prices.

1. At one stage (around 5 - 6 months) he drank A LOT of milk so I spent around R1000 on formula alone (with today's prices its probably around R1200 or more). I could only buy Novalac IT, which is perhaps slightly more expensive.

I normally bought between 2 and 3 jumbo packs of Pampers nappies as they were the least likely to leak, especially at night. Currently those packs retail for around R170 each if you buy at Dischem, Baby City or Toys R Us. I find shops like Pick n Pay to be very expensive most of the time. Baby City sells even bigger packs of nappies - I recently bought the Giant pack for R189, which had the lowest price per nappy that I've paid in a long time.

For wipes I only buy Johnsons & Johnsons unscented (yellow pack) which you can get for around R70 - R80 as a pack of 3 (240 wipes per pack). Not sure how much I use in a month.

2. I normally buy from Dischem or Baby City, sometimes from Toys R Us.

3. Personally I only like Pampers nappies and Novalac milk, but it varies from person to person. Some people say Huggies Gold work for them, but I didn't like it.

My son gets mild eczema, so I only buy Johnsons & Johnsons top-to-toe newborn wash (hence the unsecented wipes), which is reasonably priced.

4. I love the organic solid foods - Hipp, Ollie etc. The taste is so much better. However it has become really expensive lately. Not sure if its organic, but the Squish range is a nice lower cost alternative. Its not in a glass jar, but in a little pouch with a screw on cap. Most shops have it these days and there are many flavours to pick from. I like the fact that they don't add anything to the fruits etc. - apart from a few items, most of the Purity range contains added starches and stabilisers, which are things I personally want to avoid (my son's stomach is sensitive).

5. I used to buy everything from Dischem to avoid driving around, but they have stock issues lately, so I discovered recently that Baby City works better for me.

6. I do not order online for the simple reason that neither the formula nor the size 6 Pampers nappies are available from the sites that I trust to buy from. If they did stock it and the price was on par, then I'd probably shop from kalahari.net or takealot.com

Hope this helps a little.

Hi Everyone, please help me. I have a newborn and was curious to see other parents habits with regards to spending. I am finding it difficult to budget and am spending more than anticipated. I'm not sure if it's just my inexperience.

1. How much do you spend on average per month on baby food/formula and all his/hers skin products (toiletries)? I currently spend about R1 000 per month.

2. Where do you buy from?

3. Are there any brands to avoid?

4. Am I the only one that prefers the organic/eco brands. I know they are more expensive.

5. Are there any shops of which I can get all my baby essentials in one go (food, skincare, diapers) or am I the only one driving around to multiple shops.

6. Does anyone order online ?

Thanks so much. i hope this forum can help make my life a bit easier.

Thanks Ashley