Onsies and diapers and cribs...Oh my! (PART I)

Yes, I have been MIA for a few weeks - many apologies. Thankfully, I am blessed with eloquent friends who are willing to put pen to paper, or fingertips to keyboard, in my absence. Many thanks to JHO for sharing the affordable beauty of Canada with The Vigilant Consumer community a few weeks back (if you missed the post, click here). I for one know that her tour guide services can cheaply be bartered for some Timmy Hortons or a an ice cold pint (don't forget the lime).

Next up, I am proud to introduce you to PapaBear. He'll bring the fatherly perspective to The Vigilant Consumer - fairly relevant since everyone seems to be popping babies out these days. In his 2-part posting (he must think I am paying him by the word) he'll explore some unique ideas for saving money with a newborn.

Before I turn the mic over to PapaBear, I just wanted to remind you of the two easiest ways to keep up to date when there is a new Vigilant Consumer posting (so you don't have to keep checking back daily, confronted by stale content).

• Simply type your email in the box on the right and click "SUBSCRIBE" (don't worry your email address won't be shared with unscrupulous characters).
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(From the desk of PapaBear)

I have this friend who calls me up one day and asks me if I want to write a guest blog for his new blog about shopping. So I say to my friend, “I’m too busy, I don’t really have time for you and your crazy single guy lifestyle with your going out to dinner, reading magazines on the toilet, and getting more than two hours of sleep at a time.” You know why I feel this way? Because I am the proud father of a 9 month old baby girl!

As everyone knows, there are three moments in life where you get overcharged… a wedding, a birth and a funeral. I’ll leave the wedding topic for another time, and hopefully, I’ll explore the funeral discussion many years from now. (See video here.)



Step 1: Make sure your baby is born at the best hospital. Then, the minute you bring your wife into the hospital to deliver the baby, steal every piece of baby gear in sight. I walked out of that hospital with 60 extra diapers, 30 extra blankets, 30 extra onesies, boxes of nipples, baby hats, pacifiers, wet wipes, thermometers, formula, and a stethoscope. Oh yeah, and a new baby daughter… and my wife.

Step 2: Join a Mother’s Club in a rich area. Rich people are the suckers who get overcharged for all the baby gear. When my wife got pregnant, she signed up for this Mother’s Club in our area. Mother’s Clubs have postings for free baby stuff that the mothers of the older kids are just dying to get rid of. So immediately, we went on the listserve and started collecting the free stuff that these rich mothers spent a fortune to buy brand new, use for a few months and then give away when their baby got too big. Nothing depreciates faster than brand new $300 infant car seats, $800 strollers, or $3,000 crib sets.

Stay tuned for PART II - How to save on car seats, diapers, baby food and clothes.