Angela Wynne - The Baby Cheapskate Guide to Bargains: How to Save on Blankets, Bottles, and Everything Baby

Angie Wynne, of Atlanta, is a mom with a purpose: She single-mindedly tracks all the latest deals on diapers, formula, and other baby necessities and posts the finds on her Web site, BabyCheapskate.com. One minute on her site can save you hours of shopping aroundand lots of cash!

Parents Magazine

Find discounts on all your parenting needs at BabyCheapskate.com, which scours the Web for the best deals every week.

All You

Why youll like it: Another money-saving page, with baby bargains, product reviews, and links to great deals. The page also features top diaper and formula deals of the week. What parents talk about: Gift ideas, which products are best for traveling (Pack n Plays and Britax car seats, in their opinion), and input on other sites to find baby items on sale.

Babble, which included Baby Cheapskate in its
Top 50 Facebook Fan Pages for Parents

If you have a baby, or are shopping for a baby, or even know a baby, you need to know Baby Cheapskate. I head here every week to find out where to get the best deals on diapers.

Mom Central

Guide to Bargains

How to Save on Blankets, Bottles, and Everything Baby

ANGELA WYNNE

NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY

NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY

Published by New American Library, a division of

Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,

New York, New York 10014, USA

Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto,

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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices:
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

First published by New American Library,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

First Printing, May 2012

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Copyright Angela Wynne, 2012

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

REGISTERED TRADEMARKMARCA REGISTRADA

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:

Wynne, Angela.

The baby cheapskate guide to bargains: how to save on blankets, bottles, and everything baby/Angela Wynne.

p. cm.

ISBN: 978-1-101-58533-7

1. Infants suppliesPurchasing. 2. Consumer education. I. Title.

RJ61.W96 2012

649.122068dc23 2011047207

Set in Granjon

Designed by Patrice Sheridan

Printed in the United States of America

PUBLISHERS NOTE

Publisher and Author have exercised reasonable care to ensure that the information contained in the Work is complete and accurate. However, neither Publisher nor Author is engaged in rendering professional advice or services and accordingly both expressly disclaim all representations and warranties with respect to the completeness, accuracy and/or suitability of any information, ideas, opinions, procedures, and suggestions contained in the Work. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary elsewhere in this Agreement, neither Publisher nor Author shall be liable or responsible for any liability, loss, injury or damage allegedly arising from any information, ideas, opinions, procedures, and suggestions contained in the Work.

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers, Internet addresses and other contact information at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party web sites or their content.

ALWAYS LEARNING

PEARSON

Id like to offer my heartfelt thanks to some wonderful people, without whom this book would not have been possible: To my agent, Chris Park, who with her question about whether I had ever thought about writing a book got the whole ball rolling. And to my editor, Mark Chait at NAL, for his belief in the idea of the book and for his expert guidance. To my mom, Sharon Atcheson, the original cheapskate and master shopper who, much to my consternation as a teen, schooled in me the basics of frugality that form the foundation of my blog and this book. To my husband, Peter, and my son, Nate, without whom there would be no blog and no book at all. To the countless readers who have taught me so much about parenting and community. And to the chorus of moms who contributed their suggestions, stories, thoughts, and wisdom to this book.

If youre like me, the first thing you did when you found out you were pregnant was grab some baby magazines. Well, the first thing I did was turn really pale and sit down on the toilet. The second thing I did was tell the babys daddy. And then there was the obligatory OB appointment. But grabbing as many baby magazines as I could get my hands on (and smuggle out of the OBs waiting room) was right up there on the list.

These magazines were filled with advertisements for the latest, greatest, must-have baby products, all carefully worded to convince you that no mother in her right mind would attempt parenthood without them. If a weighted, hand-shaped pillow was going to help my newborn sleep through the night (hah!), then by golly it was for me. Only later, after the euphoria of my pregnancy had faded a little, did the sticker shock set in.

Babies. Are. Expensive. Period. A 2009 U.S. Department of Agriculture study sets the price tag of a baby born into a middle-income family in the United States at more than $23,000 for the first two years. Thats nearly $1,000 a month spent on housing, food, transportation, clothing, health care, child care, and other expenses (get your own estimate at www.cnpp.usda.gov/calculatorintro.htm). Whats more, many families budgets take a double hit as they shift from a two-income household to a one-income household should one parent choose to stay at home to care for the child(ren).

The good news? That figure is much, much higher than it needs to be. Why? Because rookie parents too often lack the benefit of experienced parents cost-cutting wisdom. They buy things they dont need and pay too much for things they do need. They are forced to learn the secrets of saving on baby through trial and error.

That was the case for my husband and me. The initial feeling of joy at our impending parenthood quickly gave way to the shock of discovering that diapers and formula (should we use it) would cost more per month than our car payment. Since we were self-employed and bringing in rather modest paychecks, a baby had the potential to be a serious budget buster for us.