Tentative Goals

I have a couple of tentative goals for when the baby comes and some of you may think me crazy when you read them. I'm bl'ssd to be able to stay home with Ava Sophia so that means I will have the time to be able to attain these goals. It also means that we're on a tight budget and the fact that I'm an eating machine on a special diet puts a bit of a dent on our grocery budget. Mind you, I'm not complaining about money but I'm clarifying what motivates me to try these things.

1) Nursing. I plan to nurse. We all know the benefits of nursing. I'm recently learning a lot about this and it's amazing how difficult it is. I've set my mind on doing this no matter how difficult it gets. I realize not everyone can nurse successfully but if I'm at all able to do this, I'm going for it. Formula is expensive.

2) Cloth diapers. Yes, I said cloth. It can bring to mind the long rectangular, white cloths that our grandparents used but there has been amazing innovations and you can find cloth diapers that have a lining and shell you can wash. There are diapers that grow with the child to toddler years. Check out an example here: http://www.bumgenius.com/products.php. They look like real diapers. Just buy multiples to get through 2 days worth of diaper changes. I'm not against disposables on principle and will use them for traveling, outside the home, at nighttime or whatever. People have pointed out that there will be a stink from dirty cloth diapers waiting to be washed but if you invest in a bin with a tight-fitting lid, it should be fine.

3) Cloth wipes. If you're going to use cloth diapers, you might as well use cloth wipes and wash them all together. They can all go into the one bin instead of maintaining two bins for cloth diapers and disposable wipes to trash. It's cheaper to buy a set of 12 or 16 or 20 once (you can buy 12 for $24) and use them over and over. There is a spray that you can buy to spritz on the cloth wipes to use on the baby. Mind you, I'll still get disposable wipes for going outside the home unless I find that I can use the cloth wipes anyway.

You may say that cloth diapers and cloth wipes mean extra loads of laundry which translates to a higher monthly water bill. We've asked our friends who use cloth diapers and they said their water bill only went up $4 a month. It's still cheaper than buying disposable diapers and wipes.

4) Another alternative to disposable wipes. You can make your own wipes. You simply follow a recipe using paper towels, warm water, baby soap, and baby oil.

5) Homemade baby food. A few months ago, we got a blender that has a food processor to make shakes and smoothies but my real purpose was to eventually make baby food. It's amazingly cheaper to buy and make food in bulk. You only need an hour and half to make baby food that will last a month or more. You just freeze them in ice cube trays and pop them into baggies to keep frozen. When it's time to eat, you take a couple of cubes and warm them up. Easy as pie. Did you know you can make your own yogurt for much cheaper? I pretty much have to cook from scratch because of my diet so why not make baby food from scratch?

These are just some of my goals in order to save money. I know people are skeptical because of the American propensity for convenience (disposable diapers and pre-made baby food) and I definitely understand that these goals above are nearly impossible for full-time working mothers. If I were working, I wouldn't have to worry about saving money by cutting corners and stuff. The more I think about it, the more I realize that convenience isn't absolutely necessary when you're staying home with the baby and living on a budget. It may require more work but it would quickly become routine.