Parents..what did you cut back on once child was born?

DH and I love going out to eat and to the movies etc but now that the baby will be here within a few weeks, obviously that is going to change. After my maternity leave, I will have to put the baby in day care so I’m figuring that will be at least $300/week. Add on diapers, formula and all the other extras that we need with a baby and I am wondering where we can cut corners. Obviously we won’t be going out to eat & the movies as much. We will when he’s a little older but not all the time like we used to, I don’t think. I am a big fan of using coupons and waiting for sales, I usually don’t buy anything full price, but what are some other suggestions of what we can cut back on?

TIA

Re: Parents..what did you cut back on once child was born?

We don't go out to dinner as much as we used to ~ cut coupons ~ I buy things on sale ~ I buy things I need rather than a want.

Re: Parents..what did you cut back on once child was born?

The things we cut back on happened naturally. We cut back on going out to the movies and doing stuff on weekends for a while. We didn't travel as much either. But we brought in food a lot bc I didn't cook all that much. Once dd got older we resumed our usual stuff. But still even today I don't shop for myself as much and we shop sales at the supermarket more. I found our expenses to be higher when dd got older bc of things like her school, classes, speech, etc.

Re: Parents..what did you cut back on once child was born?

Well, we really stopped going to the movies, in part b/c there was very little we wanted to see and then it was the hassle of getting a babysitter, feeding everyone and just felt like a huge production. Now that DS is older, we have gone to the movies. So if you are like us, you may just end up reducing the movie going out of the amount of time it takes to get things done logistically.

We do take out for $30, but have cut out the $150 dinners for the 2 of us, except for our birthdays and anniversary.

Re: Parents..what did you cut back on once child was born?

We dont go out anywhere nearly as much anymore, be that dinner, the movies, for drinks. That just happened on its own and not bc we were "cutting back". Just our lifestyle with a child now. Other than that, we are definitely more coupon and sale conscious.

Re: Parents..what did you cut back on once child was born?

We never go out to eat anymore. Between finding a babysitter and time, it's just impossible.

We try to go to Costco to buy in bulk.

And, we used to go on 2 vacations a year. We have not gone on any since before I got PG.

Re: Parents..what did you cut back on once child was born?

I cook a lot now.
I realized we only go to the park, so Josh's toddler wardrobe is nothing like his infant one

nothing is on a credit card ever.

vacations have been scaled back.
we still go places but not the big money trips we use to take.

presents to each other and others

Re: Parents..what did you cut back on once child was born?

I used to splurge on vacations, entertainment, spas, and eating out.

I've also become a coupon clipper with all things baby related. I won't buy diapers without a coupon. haha

Re: Parents..what did you cut back on once child was born?

Things we cut out ...

* Eating out (we used to eat out all the time, especially on weekends, we now cook instead)
* My designer bag/clothes/shoes habit
* My spa membership (once it's done, I am not going to renew it)

I've also taken up coupon clipping to the max

Re: Parents..what did you cut back on once child was born?

I would say in the beginning, going out to eat was the number one thing. Entertainment (concerts, trips) went down too since we really enjoyed doing things with the kids.

Re: Parents..what did you cut back on once child was born?

One of the best places to save is at the grocery store. Shop the sales and plan your menu that way. Clip coupons and use them where they double them. Eat seasonal fruits and veggies...they are cheaper than out of season ones.

Re: Parents..what did you cut back on once child was born?

We rarely go to the movies anymore. I don't get my nails done as often. In the beginning I did not buy DS clothes at all. He got so many outfits as gifts. I returned some of the 0-3 month stuff and saved the gift cards for later on.

Re: Parents..what did you cut back on once child was born?

We've definately cut back on going out to eat. Also when we do go out we go to Friendly's or Applebees. We now go to maybe 2 movies a year instead of two a month like we used to- we wait for things to come to Netflix now. I also try to use coupons when I can & I rarely buy clothing for any of us that isn't on sale.

Re: Parents..what did you cut back on once child was born?

Eating out, vacation, movies, lunch out, clothing for ourselves, etc.

Though I think we make up for our previous eating out costs when we go out now between the babysitter and the price of eating out!

Re: Parents..what did you cut back on once child was born?

weekly mani/pedis
weekly sushi
hair every 6 weeks (now it's more like 3 mos)
i cook much more
fewer unnecessary home purchases

Re: Parents..what did you cut back on once child was born?

Going out and movies

We used to do both all of the time, but it's hard to manage either paying for that plus a sitter OR getting DS to my mom's.

Thankfully DS behaves at our 2 fav (casual enough) restaurants.

Travel, too. It's also too much to travel with DS right now. We did Lancaster last year.

All I know is DH already knows I want to go to back to Bermuda for my 10 yr anniversary!