Hello.
My name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud yr the
Order Kerni Whoalbury and a waddery woman. And before we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of which this podcast is recorded on a wondery country, acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming through as this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing and the storytelling of you to make a difference for today and lasting impact for tomorrow.
Let's get into it.
She's on the Money, She's on the Money.
Hello, and welcome to The Money, the podcast for millennials who want financial freedom. My name is beck Syed and with me is Victoria Divine, former financial advisor and a new mama. Hello, how are you feeling.
I'm good. Actually, you would be surprised.
Yeah, you don't look like you haven't slept.
That's because I, at this point in time, have a baby who is relatively forgiving. Don't get me wrong, that could change at any moment, so we're just taking it day by day. But he gave me a great sleep last night. And I am taking wins where I see them.
That's so good, very easy to have a baby.
That's not what I said, Okay, I just said I'm taking the wins when I get But Beck, I am very excited to be back, especially with this episode. And yes, this episode is the confluence of both of these things that I love. It's all about how much it really costs to bring a baby into the world. It's obviously a very big time in every aspect of when you're
in this of life. Believe me, I know now, and unsurprisingly, many soon to be parents are very blindsided by the true cost of pregnancy parenthood, which obviously actually starts to accumulate way before the baby arrives, right, And I feel like I have felt this through and through so I have been keeping track of exactly what I have been spending and now I'm going to share it with you, so Beck, because preparation it breeds success. I'm here to break down the true cost of having a baby in
Australia in twenty twenty four. So today we're going to be talking about Obviously my experience, and my experience is not the experience of every single person, Like birth and pregnancy is different for every single human being. It could be zero dollars in total for you to have a baby. Let's be honest, there is a way, but it could also be tens of thousands of dollars to have a baby. And to be full transparent, I went through the private system.
I will tell you what that cost me. We are going to talk about why I picked that, what I would pick next time, but we will also be breaking down the cost of birthing in private versus public. We're going to be talking about the cost of fitting out a nursery, and then after the break, I'm going to be giving you the cost of parental leave and childcare and some tips on the unexpected areas that have really
added up that could break the bank. And I think that that might be a pretty good place to start.
Yeah, I'm actually really excited for this episode because personally, I'm like, I don't have any idea how much a baby costs. I just like, how do they spend so much on like something that doesn't you know what I mean, Like, I'm so confused by it. So I'm very excited about this one. I'm very excited about your insights on this. But do we have a figure on what it costs for the average Australian to have a baby.
Yes, so obviously I'm speaking on behalf of Steve as well, but this has been one of the most exciting times in our entire lives, and of course that actually has meant that we've had to make some fine outial considerations and do some restructures and work out what's going on. So obviously, again, every single family is different. I don't know, I felt when we're putting this episode together that I
was like, do I tell everybody what we've paid? Because obviously we have a lot more privilege than a lot of people. We have two full time working parents in this situation, and I look at it and go, Okay, that's not the experience of everybody. But I think by me sharing it, it just gives you an insight. By no means is that the right way to do it, though, Like, the right way is the way that works for you
and your family. So every family is different. But for the average Australian, the price tag that comes with adding a tiny human to your family is huge. So from the moment that your pregnancy is confirmed to the years of child raising that come after the financial commitment is very high, and the average monthly cost of having a little baby in your life is between seven hundred and seven hundred and fifty dollars back per month.
That's a hectic financial load.
It is a lot of money, but it doesn't have to be sure. But also lots of people spend more than that full transparency. Thus far, I have spent.
More than that. Yeah, I was gonna ask you.
I have definitely spent more.
Okay, okay, and I'm sure we will get into that more. But I imagine you would have had all of your spreadsheets and budget in place before Harvey was born.
Yes, because I am nothing if not prepared.
I wouldn't expect any less. Did your own costings come out similar to this look on average?
Yes, but we also went through the private system, which is much more expensive than the public system. But then also we've made, you know, some bougie baby purchases that we definitely didn't have to make that you definitely don't need, but we have appreciated so things like we have purchased a sterilizer for our baby bottles because Harvey is taking formula and I didn't expect him to take formula, but the sterilizer costs like two hundred dollars, whereas you could
just boil water and sterilize the bottles that way. So that to me is a pretty bougie unnecessary purchase, but it's one of those things that does make life easier. Doesn't mean you need one, absolutely not, but if that's, you know, the bane of your existence, to me makes a lot of sense. But one of my girlfriends was like, that is unnecessary. I just boil my bottles, and I'm like, you do you boo?
We are all different, Okay, Yeah, well you know, you got to do what you gotta do. And I feel like, if it's saving some time and it's a convenient, then why not if you have the money. Of course, let's start with, like, I want to know where your financial shocks were, because I know that, like first time baby, you probably like me in a way where you're like, I have no idea how much it's going to cost.
Yeah, So I think that's probably a really good place to start because I'm going to talk about loss here just as a little bit of a trigger warning. We had two losses before we got pregnant with Harvey and had a successful pregnancy and I don't think I had
comprehended how much that would cost. So I had a very rude awakening when I had my second loss and I needed to go into hospital to have surgery for that, and I realized I was not covered for pregnancy even though I had private health insurance cost so it ended up costing me because I was going through the private system. I'd set it all up through the private system because I had assumed that I was covered, and that's on me.
Like as the girl who reads all the teas and season understands the feace, you would think that I would know, but it's kind of like the plumber who has a leaky tap. I just assumed it was all good because the private health insurance that I had picked historically worked for me. But it wasn't working anymore because historically I wasn't lanning on having a baby at all. So we had to readjust my private health insurance at that point.
So my surgery for my second loss actually cost us thirty five hundred dollars out of pocket because no private health insurance was covering that, and it was done in a private system. In the public system would have been free. I was offered to move into the public system so
that I didn't have to have that. But again, I was in the very privileged position where my husband and I could afford that, and we both agreed that, given I was going through that situation, given my doctor was already there, I'd much prefer to spend that money, sure, and just stay in the one place and have the doctor that I would see for my subsequent pregnancies and the woman that had looked after me historically do that
surgery for me. So I felt more comfortable. But yes, that cost me thirty five hundred dollars out of pocket.
Is there like a reason why you chose to go private other than like the reasons that you mentioned, like comfort and having the same doctor and things like that. Were they any reasons for you?
I was really anxious because historically I'd been told that pregnancy would be hard for me. I have a couple of underlying health conditions related to my immune system that I knew I would need additional support for. I also historically knew that my grandmother and my mother had a pretty hard time during pregnancy and needed a number of interventions, so I assumed that would be the case for me. Sure,
I assumed correctly, and I did need those interventions. Like Beck, you saw me when I was like thirty eight weeks pregnant and still recording. I was so bloated and puffy because of my hypertension. It was ridiculous, Like I look like I had lost thirty kilos. The day I walked out of the hospital after having Harvey, it was elite. I felt like a new human being. But I knew
that these things were coming. And so after discussing it with Steve and having historically had private health insurance, to me, I was like, Okay, well let's go private. Would I go private again? Maybe? But I think I would also be quite comfortable in the public system as well. I've got a best friend who's pregnant at this point. She's
having a baby very very sooner. Babies are going to be like ten weeks of heart, which I'm very excited about, and she's in the public system, and I've kind of been comparing the experiences, and to be honest, given I knew that I would probably be a high risk pregurecy as well, I would have been very fine in the public system. So this isn't a this is better, This is worse. I think that we had just gone down that pathway. I already had private health insurance, so in
my head that made a lot of sense. But as we start talking about the financials of it, you might go, that doesn't make sense for us.
Sure.
Something I did not realize, Beck, is that when you go in the private system, obviously you have your private
health insurance. And I am paying one hundred and thirty four dollars per week for my private health insurance per week, per week, okay, And I had to do that because I had to step up from my previous health insurance, which was like sixty dollars a week, I believe because that private health insurance, same company, different levels of cover, did not include pregnancy and birth, whereas I had to step up to a level which is one hundred and thirty four dollars a week to get the pregnancy and
birth cover that I needed to give birth in a private hospital.
Okay, I guess it's hard to say now, and this is probably quite a personal one, but do you expect that you will kind of be able now to go back.
I will keep that level of private health insurance until I'm done having children, and then at that point where we'll probably drop it back down. So for me, this is a season, it's not a forever. We're now on like the gold ultimate level of cover, and it makes me feel really secure. But back to the thing that I didn't expect, in addition to having to increase my private health insurance, is that I would have to pay for a private obstetrician in addition to the private hospital cover.
And the private obstetrician is not covered by my private health so that cost me ten thousand dollars out of pocket. Again, I feel like I have to reiterate my privilege, and I feel really bad always bringing it up, but we're talking about my financial situation, and I think it's you know, fair to be really transparent, but also I don't want you guys thinking that I think this is expected. I
feel very grateful to be in this position. But that did cost us ten thousand dollars on top of you know, the private health that we're paying one hundred and thirty four dollars a week for, yes, and then I had to pay the excess on staying in hospital, and that was seven hundred and fifty dollars. Oh okay, we did stay in the hospital because we were private for a week. You know, a little bit of birth story. But I was induced, which means I went in the night before
and had another night in hospital. I then ultimately ended up having a emergency cesarean. Everyone is okay and healthy and happy, and it was the right decision for us, But having a cesarean meant an additional cost. Most of that was covered by our private health insurance. But the additional cost would be for the additional staff for the surgery, but also for an anethetist, and I am now another four hundred dollars out of pocket. For the anethetist, he
costs thirty five hundred dollars. My private health insurance obviously covered most of that, but we had to pay an excess of four hundred dollars for him. And all of that makes a lot of sense, but there's a lot of costs to just having the baby, and that's before you like deck out the nursery and get everything up and running. However, just keep in mind that those costs are private costs. Yes, they are not the costs that
are related to giving birth in a public hospital. Yes, in a public hospital, you do not have to pay for a private obstetrician because there's obstetricians on staff and they look after you there. That's why you're not guaranteed one, Whereas in my situation, because I paid for her, I was basically guaranteed that she would be there for my birth and she was yep. And also, if you have to have an emergency cesarean in the public system, it's
all covered. So for me, I had to pay for it because it was a private surgery, whereas you know, if you go down the public route, that's not a cost. So I'm feeling like I need to remind you of that because I don't want you to go, oh my gosh, if I have a cesarean, that'll cost me a bomb or whatever. Really that's not the case in the public system.
Okay, Yeah, it's definitely like not everyone. You didn't have to go private, of course, and public is really really an amazing system, Like we're really lucky, we are so lucky. But it is very interesting to know kind of like all the little ins and outs of it. Yeah, because I know you mentioned the anethetist. Yes, all the other things you had to pay for for the emergency cesarean.
That was all included, I coveted it was okay. My obstetrician did have another fee associated with doing a cesarean, so that was about one thousand dollars and that was out of pocket. And then I ended up spending a total of six nights in hospital before going home, and all of those were included because of the private health cover. So I paid that seven hundred and fifty dollars excess, and then I just stayed for however long I needed.
And then because I was in the private system, I did stay longer than what people in the public system would stay. So I know that if you were to give birth in a public hospital and to have a cesarean and have the exact same circumstances as me, you'd probably go home on day three, whereas I went home on day seven.
I am so cute. Like, let's say, hypothetically, you go in and you know, you pay for private health insurance. You go in to private You're not expecting all of these expenses, but they kind of hit you. Do you know before you leave the hospital you have to pay it all like, so you get invoiced for it later pay at your own leisure. Yeah, So it's funny because
I didn't expect that. I thought that they'd just invoiced us at the hospital, you know, we'd you know, pay for it then, and they're they're too shy.
Yeah, Well, for the hospital when we checked in for the birth, we actually paid the excess then, so we gave them our credit card details and paid that seven hundred and fifty dollars when we checked in, and then when we checked out, there was a fee to pay at the end because there were a few things that we had to pay for in hospital sure that weren't included much is that it was maybe like fifty dollars worth of cost, okay, And they were just things like
the physio band that I ended up being given for like my tummy to like kind of like suck it in a little bit and give me a little bit more support, and just like random medical supplies that weren't included. And this is diff everywhere. Everything for me was included in the hospital stay. So in the public system, every
hospital is different. But we had included nappies and wipes, and they had formula there if you needed it, and basically everything was included, whereas some public hospitals go beg you're going to have to bring your own box of nappies, You're gonna have to bring your own formula if you want to use it, and bottles and stuff like that, whereas for me, all of that was included. Yeah, okay,
but yeah, they invoice you once you go home. So we got a letter in the mail from our anethetist, and we paid our obstetricians separately as well.
Right, Okay, so that's birth. Let's talk about everything pre birth. I mean, I'm already getting anxious. I'm like, okay, this is just the day or few days of birthing, but there's so much before that.
Yeah, and I feel like, again, I spent a lot in comparison to what a lot of people do. It is not the expected. It's just what we did, and it doesn't mean that it's the right thing to do. But these are just things that were aligned to mind values. So prior to even conceiving or even trying to have a baby, both Steve and I did genetic testing. Okay, that genetic testing was eight hundred and fifty dollars and to us that was a really important cost. Sure, that
was eight hundred and fifty dollars out of pocket. Because at the time that we did it, it wasn't covered. Private health now covers a portion of that. I couldn't tell you what it is because I didn't experience it, but definitely call your private health insurance if you want to talk to them about that or what that will cost. And there's lots of different companies that charge different prices for that, but for us, it was eight hundred and fifty dollars.
And that's like to show you if there's any diseases in your family or yeah.
Or like genetic conditions that we need to be aware of. One of the things that they test for, which is obviously debilitating if you have it, is cystic fibrosis, and it tells you, you know, if you carry that gene, if I carry that gene, because it's actually recessive, which means, you know, if one of your parents had that gene, they pass it on to you. Wambam, thank you, ma'am. You fine, But if both of us carried that, there is a probability that our baby might be impacted by that.
So I just wanted to know all of that, and we were in the position to do so, so we looked into it. Where you started prenatals. Obviously I'm not a doctor, but my doctor recommended that I started prenatals at least twelve months before trying, if possible, because obviously then all the vitamins and minerals and stuff that are coming into your body can settle into your body and you can get your levels up because pregnancy does take
a lot out of you. But it's things like iron and folate fold Eate's really important for pregnant women, and it's full of stuff that just makes sure that the baby you make is a really good quality baby sure, which was important to me. So we started that early. And then obviously you've got pregnancy tests and ovulation tests if you're you know, going to track while you're trying, which we did, and that ultimately cost us I would say a couple of one hundred dollars in pregnancy tests
and ovulation tests. Ovulation tests were so expensive, fact, it's like sixty bucks a.
Bof How do you test that. You'd buy it like from the chemist or something.
Just buy it at the chemist and you basically pee on a stick and it tells you when you're going to ovulate, and that's when you should be trying. To do some baby making.
Oh okay, I don't know that existed. That's yeah, that's.
Critic cool once you get into it, like the science of it is really fun. But it did bring a lot of anxiety for me as well, Oh my gosh, we only have this period to try, and then if it didn't work, it was like heartbreaking because I was like, I did everything right. Like so it can be a very nuanced process, but I guess during pregnancy there's you know, those costs to get pregnant, and then once you are pregnant, you've got ultrasounds. So in the public system they are included.
In the private system, they typically cost between two hundred and fifty and three hundred and seventy five dollars. One of my last ultrasounds, it cost me four hundred and twenty dollars. I think I'd think seventy dollars was covered by Medicare and private health insurance didn't cover the rest, and I remember being a little bit salty about that one.
This was like a very stupid question.
But it's not a stupid question. You've never been pregnant, so I'm assuming that you haven't gone through the process.
Why would you know, the reason for the ultrasound being more toward the end is that because there's more land to cover.
No, I think it was more comprehensive. So it was like the time that the doctor had to spend with me because I had some complications in my pregnancy, which meant I was getting more ultrasounds than the average bear. And then one of the last ones, honestly, she was in there for like an hour and a half in comparison to like the Quick have they got ten fingers and ten toes and all of their stuff works. Yep, great,
no worries, wampam, thank you man. Sure it was a bit more comprehensive, but still four hunder and twenty bucks for an ultrasound wasn't on my budget. And then you've got other things. So we did private birth in classes and we did a few different things. But I spent about five hundred dollars in total for Steve and I to attend different classes to make sure we were ready for birth and I was ready for breastfeeding. And I
bought an online course that really helped as well. So those are things that are obviously nice to have because you could do your own research and you definitely don't need to attend one, or you could attend one through your hospital, which would be free, but I did that externally. And then up until about twenty weeks, I was trying to go to pilates, so I had purchased pilates classes and I bought one of those big packs that means that each class I think was down to like twenty
two dollars a class or something. Oh, completely wasted because I was so sick that I couldn't go, but I bought the pack because I was so excited about being able to do it, So that was a waste of money. Then I was doing things like acupuncture, so for me, acupuncture was one hundred and ten dollars a session and I got eighty dollars back, so that was a nice
thing to have. And then don't forget wardrobe editions of course, so there's a UK study that found that the average person who is pregnant spends about twelve hundred dollars on maternity ware during their pregnancy.
That's hectic.
I did not do that. I thankfully had a wardrobe that had a lot of stretchy things. By the end of my pregnancy, I was wearing my husband's shirts. I was wearing active wear. I was wearing you know, my husband's t shirts and stuff to bed. I didn't spend a lot. I would say I spent maybe three hundred dollars on quote maternity wear. None of it was actual maternity where though it was like a bigger pair of pants, or I bought, you know, a couple of stretchy dresses. Sure,
that was basically it. But I did definitely dress my own wardrobe and orrowed my husband's while I was pregnant, because good maternity stuff just wasn't cute.
No, I'm all sorts of money win. You know what you could do. You could cut the corners of your Singlet get those little volco A dots from Bunnings, and that's a maternity top.
I just have been pulling my top up, to be honest, that's good idea. Yeah, see this jumper maternity top. If you're willing to pull your top up.
Yes, now that's a broke tip.
I'm actually a genius.
That's really clever.
Thank you for coming to Victoria's pregnancy class.
So while we're on the topic, how about public versus private hospital costs?
Yeah, so we went through my public versus private health costs, but almost all births in Australia happen in the public system. Ninety seven percent of births in Australia in twenty twenty three were born in a hospital in conventional labor wards. So that has changed over the years. Like historically that wasn't the case. Birth is now quite medicalized. I would say of mothers who gave birth in hospital, three out of four, so seventy five percent of people give birth
in a public hospital. It is a brilliant system. I am not saying that because I chose to give birth in private that I think it's better. In fact, a lot of people said to me, oh wow, Victoria, like because of your high risk pregnancy, you would have had an epic time in public. In fact, public are better equipped to deal with emergency things that happen. And I gave birth at a hospital here in Melbourne called Francis Perry,
which is the private hospital I was at. And one of the reasons I chose that hospital was because it is in the same building as the Royal Women's Hospital, which is the best public hospital for women to give birth in. So I'm not saying that one's better than the other. It's just different horses for different courses.
Okay, v this money chat is stressing me the heck out that I imagine some listeners as well. So let's go to a quick break. But on the flip side, we're going to be chatting nursery and all the little costs that come with that. Also, I'm thinking parental leave and childcare is quite a hefty subject, and also i'm assuming very costly. Should we make this a two part series?
Now?
I think we should?
Yeah, Okay, let's cut that out. I'm no longer going to talk about parental leave and childcare because we've well fled on too much and I feel like it's interesting. So after the break, Beck, let's just do all of the nursery costs. I'll tell you how much I would be budgeting to set up a nursery. We'll talk about the average nursery costs here in Australia, and then we'll also talk about the you know, things that were completely unexpected.
Next baby episode we drop back, we'll talk about parental even childcare.
Perfect. Sound like a deal.
All right, let's go to a break and we'll see you on the flip side.
See soon. Welcome back everyone. Let's jump straight into nursery. I wonder how much you spent, and then we'll talk about like the average costs.
Yeah, okay, you're hitting a little bit of a sore spot at this point because we wanted to have the nursery done, but then we didn't get the nursery done. So it's full of all the stuff. But have we painted.
No.
We will be putting up wallpaper and we will hang some stuff at some point, but not one thing has been hung. That is fine. He has all the stuff he needs totally. But we bought a chest of draws that cost me about seven hundred and fifty dollars. Do you need a seven hundred and fifty dollars chest of draws? No,
but I did. I bought a crib. A crib is going to cost you anywhere between you know, two hundred bucks aka all the way up to three thousand dollars, which is what I spent because I got a really boogie one. Again, this is a judgment free space, and I'm only sharing this because I know you guys are pervy. This isn't me bragging. I just know all of you want to know.
Does it rock?
It actually does absolutely nothing like it is made off wood. Like it's the most disappointing thing in the entire world. We bought a nursing chair that was about twelve hundred dollars. Sure, I also was gifted a nursing chair that we have as well, so I have too, just for full transparency. And I was gifted the one I really really wanted, but it was more expensive, so I bought.
The other one.
So I feel really boogie having that, but just full transparency. We were gifted that I did buy the snow. I was gonna yosk about this snea the snow. The snow is about eighteen hundred dollars. I bought that from the memo. Do not regret that for one second?
Okay, what does it do with it?
I can't remember a baby and it rocks him back to sleep and it has like this app with it, so when your baby is a bit fussy, because sometimes babies, you know, they get a bit fussy in their sleep, but if you rock them, they just fall back asleep. But they need that attention. Does it for me?
I want an adult snoo mate.
The snow is the best thing I've ever done. And there's a lot of controversy around it, Like lots of people are like, oh, snow, that's a ridiculous cost. You know what, I would spend eighteen hundred dollars again for good sleep? Yeah, one hundred percent. Anyway, so we have the snow. We purchased a pram. My pram was about two thousand dollars. That's pretty standard for a brand new pram of that amount. Do you have to spend that? No,
you absolutely do not. You could go and get a very good one for a much lower price point total. I again made a lot of bougie purchases. Sure, and that's all I can think of off the top of my pulse. Would be included baby seat. Yep. So we purchased a capsule, a capsule we're going to have to replace at some point because you can only use this capsule up until he is about twelve months old or he hits the weight strictions on it. And our capsule cost us about eight hundred dollars.
Okay.
I did buy the capsule that clicks into my pram though, and that makes.
Me very happy, very convenient. Did you have to pay someone to professionally install it?
We didn't. We used a YouTube video and did it ourselves, and the capsule came with really comprehensive instructions.
Great.
We wanted to like do it ourselves, not because it's better to have it professionally installed, but in our heads, we were going to like put it in the car, you know, pull it out of the car at some point, we were going to put it in a different car. We were going to pull it out, you know, put the seats in the car down so that we can fit more stuff if we're moving stuff around. And I was kind of like, we're going to need to know
how to do this properly if we get it professionally installed. Mate, I'm not going to let you pull it out again. So we did it ourselves, but we did get it all checked and it's fine, perfect, okay.
And what about like a regular sort of nursery. What would someone on average expect to pay for their whole nursery?
Yeah, so on average, if we add it all up and it doesn't include being gifted anything or try to save any money or buying things secondhand, which I absolutely can recommend. Actually, Loki shout out to a brand. There's a brand called baby bey On and we got a baby Beyond bouncer and they are quite expensive, Like they're three hundred and fifty ish dollars for a baby bouncer, all right, so not cheap sure, but apparently they're like
baby crack. Babies love them. Harvey obsessed with his You put him in it, and he is just very content. This baby bouncer means that I put him in the baby bouncer. I go, you okay, mate. He looks at me kind of like daft. I don't know what's going on in his brain, but he looks at me and he's like, yeah, mom, I'm fine and I can have a shower while watching him.
Yeah, el eat.
So anyway, this baby bouncer is to me one of my favorite purchases. But the other day they posted on their Instagram feed how to buy one of their bouncer's secondhand to look forward to make sure that it's safe and secure, and they did the same thing for like their cots and stuff. They're like, well, if you're going to buy them secondhand, please make sure this works. This works, the safety on this is fine. Otherwise go forth and
you know, prosper by our stuff secondhand. That's a company that made me more, and like, honestly, baby stuff gets used for such a short period of time that I have bought a lot of my baby stuff just on Facebook, Marketplace or eBay because I'm like, well, it's been used for less than three months. Why would I pay full price? To me, that was insanity. So a cot costs about one thousand dollars according to research, a cop mattress is going to cost you anywhere between one hundred and three
hundred dollars. How much have you spend unless you talk, I spent about two hundred and fifty dollars on a cop mattress.
Okay, little baby.
Clothing, you're going to spend about four hundred dollars, you know, just getting all the basics together. Honest to god, when people say don't buy too many newborn outfits, you think they're crazy. They're not. They grow out of the mid point two seconds. Harvey is now two months old and in the zero to three month stuff, and it makes me really sad. Car seat is going to cost on average about six hundred dollars. Will caveat this with some advice.
You probably don't want unsolicited advice, but this is safety advice. But the one thing I would never purchase second hand is a car seat. Okay, I recommend you buy absolutely everything you can secondhand, get hand me downs, do all of that, but do not buy a car seat secondhand because you cannot trust other people to be completely transparent about whether that has been in an accident or not.
The second a baby seat has been in an accident, it is no longer usable, it is no longer safe, the safety mechanisms in it are dead, and it will not protect your child. So do not buy a car seat second hand. The only caveat I would say is if your sister's gifting you one and sit absolutely no, she hasn't been in a crash and it's her capsule and whatnot. So like, obviously again, grain of salt, use your brains. But that's the one thing that I would
never go on Facebook marketplace and trust a stranger with. Yeah, like, the safety of your child, I promise is worth the money. Change table. I didn't purchase a change table. I just purchased a change mat and popped it on top of the chest of drawers because I felt like it's gonna have a bit more longevity. Who could say in his room nappies and wipes.
Oh yeah, big one.
Holy snapping ducks. Do you know how many nappies my baby used a day?
How many from birth?
No, you have to guess, just a day. We're not even talking a week. How many a day is he using?
I'm thinking for a day five eleven.
Baby's got to go between eight and eleven times a day we change here. Snappy babies use upwards of three thousand nappies per year. That's going to cost you about five hundred dollars a quarter.
Okay.
I bought nappies in bulk and I regret that, so I thought I was real savvy beck and I bought a whole heap of nappies. I ended up getting like a discount online because I did this, you know, bulk order. Yeah, and he's already grown up to the next tri you born. Nappies are completely useless, but I have donated them to the Nappy Society, which is very very cool. So if you haven't heard of the Nappy Society, the Nappy Society take donations of nappies and then distribute them to mums
who need them. Oh and I think that that is so beautiful. And if you've got a whole heap of nappies that are the wrong size, they start to degrade. Don't keep them in the cupboard for your next child. They're not going to work. Donate them so somebody can use them.
That's really really sweet. I really like that.
You're probably going to purchase some toys as well. Yes, I haven't purchased any toys yet. We've been gifted a few, but he is still a newborn and doesn't interact with anything yet. You might want to purchase a highchairback that will cost you about three hundred and fifty dollars, a baby carrier that could cost you anywhere from fifty to three hundred dollars for any type of baby carrier, bibbs.
Forgot about the bibs.
Lots of mums don't use them. I do because after he has had a feed, he usually spits up, and I don't really want to his outfit, so I'm finding I'm not changing his outfit as often because of the bibs. That's a good investment. Something that was a brilliant investment for me was a breast pump.
Okay, how much is that?
Usually between three hundred and five hundred dollars An Mine was four hundred and eighty dollars.
Four hundred and eighty O.
Yeah, and I went for the big dog one because I wanted it to be hospital grade and strong enough and all of that stuff. And I don't regret that. But you can also buy secondhand pumps. And you might think of hey, that's a bit weird, but what you do is you buy the pump, which is actually the mechanism, and then buy all brand new stuff that you know, touches your boobs, the flangers, you know, the bottles and stuff, so the pump actually doesn't ever touch milk.
It's just a camp.
But you can buy new cords, new flangers, new like bottles and stuff, and that would be a really efficient way of doing it. And Spectra, which is the brand of the pump that I have posted the other day about what to look for when you're buying a secondhand pump. I love that.
People.
I literally like, isn't that cool that the brand like, hey, we know that not everybody can afford to purchase our product brand new. You know, the product is a good quality product, so we can't really afford to bring down prices, but buying a secondhand one could work. This is how you should do it. Yeah.
I really like that.
I'm obsessed. I just think it's so responsible.
Yeah. So you were saying at the start of the episode that you are also doing kind of like formula situation. Are you doing both or you.
Yeah, we're doing both. I had really low milk supply and needed to That's something that I'm also spending money on. Yeah, I saw a lactation consultant that costs two hundred and fifty dollars. I then had to go to a specialist doctor. Because this is controversial. Again, I am not asking for opinions. I'm just sharing my experience here. Harvey had a tongue tie, which is the little membrane under your tongue, and it was too tight and it was stopping him from feeding properly,
and we made the decision to have that cut. Okay, so he had that surgery, which was honestly not even a surgery. It was just a little snip and he didn't even cry. And I was really shocked by that because I was prepping for the worst. I cried way more than he did, and that has helped significantly. I'm now all medication to increase my milk supply and we're trying to get there. But formula costs US thirty six dollars a tin.
Okay, thirty six bucks a tin. How long does that last?
Usually for now, because he's a newborn and we're only using it to top up, we're going through maybe one tin every three weeks, but most babies will go through a tin a week.
Ooh yeah, just add that's the list.
It's just so expensive, like thirty six bucks on formula, Oh my lord.
Yeah, and what about like the vessel for the formula? How much of bottles?
Bottles are expensive? So bottles I didn't realize we're going to be an issue. Turns out babies have preferences. Ah yeah, and they like some and don't like others.
I see.
So one of the best tips I got at the start was don't buy a heap of bottles. You know, if you're buying a new one, it might sound good to buy heap of bottles, because then you've got heaps of them. Buy one, test it with your baby, make sure they're okay with it, Clean it a couple of time in between feeds, test it for a day or two, and then if they like that one, go on by a few of them. Don't buy all your bottles at once. Because this woman went and bought six bottles and thought, great,
these are the most recommended on the market. He hated them. I see, yeah, and so you can't return them they've been used. So I have six bottles that he doesn't like, and I had to go and purchase six months he.
Did, okay, and you just need that many just in.
Case, Yeah, just in case. But a bottle can cost anywhere between ten and forty dollars each.
Ah, I see, okay. So just like top of my head and also being kind of calculating as you're going, total is roughly like six thousand.
Yet about six grand out of pocket to set up for all the costs associated with a baby. So if I was putting a budget together, I'd probably budget about six thousand dollars for a nursery, sure, and then I would cut things down from there, like have you got a friend that has a cot that you could either purchase from them or have a hand me down and be gifted? Like can you find things on Facebook marketplace?
Facebook marketplace is so fantastic, And to be honest, I feel like it's the good side of Facebook Marketplace, because you know how Facebook Marketplace can just be a bit of a nightmare, Like people can be weird. Like I have met so many nice mums. When I've gone to pick up things, They're like, oh my gosh, how far along are you? And I'll be like, oh, I'm thirty five weeks and they're like, oh my god, I love this. Actually you're buying this, but I have a few xyz
and they like, we'll s in. They be like, oh, I just want you to have it. I don't use it anymore. And they've just been so sweet and like I will be doing the same thing and just selling my stuff on Facebook Marketplace when I'm done with it, especially things that I go, oh, that worked for us, but you know, probably won't use it for the next baby, et cetera. But yes, I would probably be looking at budgeting around six thousand dollars if you're wanting to be savvy.
But a recent study found that the average family spend is about seven nine hundred and eighteen dollars for setting up for a new baby, and then about six hundred dollars a month once they are.
So v Those are all the structured costs things that you maybe are expecting that you can put in a spreadsheet that you can put in a spreadsheet like I gave you a list of things that you would need to spend money on for your baby. Yes, but there are lots of other costs. Let's dive straight in.
All right, So there were so many additional costs, and I mean, not everyone is going to have them, but I had, let's say, a rocky pregnancy. I will be the first to say pregnancy not for me. Will I do it again? Probably, but not for me. Didn't enjoy it all? That's fair those women who were like I felt like my best self pregnant, you win. I lose pregnancies, just not for me. But in the grand scheme of things,
a whole heap of unexpected costs. I guess they're just part of the baby journey, which is why you should budget more than you're expecting. But here are a few things that I spent money on that I don't think you would have seen coming. Little did I know, beck I was gonna become best friends with a bottle of gavescon cavas Gone. Gavescon costs eighteen dollars a bottle. I mean, you can get it on sale. Unluckily, I always just had to buy it out of necessity. I wasn't waiting
for it to go on sale. Eighteen dollars a bottle.
I'm very privileged to not have known that.
It's really nice. Do you know how much I spent on Gavescon during my pregnancy?
Oh?
No, two hundred and fifty two dollars. If I was you, I'd be buying shares in them, like I'm keeping them in business.
Next time you for pregnant. If you do, I'm going I'll just let everybody, No, let's all jump on the Gavescon share. Yeah, because I'm basically keeping them in business at this point my newfound love during pregnancy. In fact, I do not want to touch one of these weather ten foot pole at this point in time. Fruit tingles because they actually have buy carbs soda in them. They helped to settle your tummy while you're pregnant, and they were so much nicer than Gaves Gone. They didn't do
as good a job. So I had both.
But fruit tingles were two dollars a roll because they still sell them in roles bottom shelf at the supermarket. If you're looking for them two packets a day at least I was consuming four dollars a day to my daily tab, So yeah, I spent I would saying about one hundred and fifty dollars on fruit tingles during my pregnancy. WHOA isn't that while? Yeah, fruit tingles?
Who would have thought people get some funny cravings when they're pregnant.
Yeah?
Do you know what else sucked? During pregnancy? I got perioral dermatitis, which basically gave my entire face a rash. Oh, and I was so uncomfortable. It was like really flared up. It ended up cracking on my chin and hurting something shocking. So you know what I needed to do? Go and see a dermatologist. Ah, four hundred dollars to see a dermatologist. About seventy dollars for the products to help with that flarer.
Yeah, just one time, you saw a dermatologist.
Just one time. She set me up with everything I needed and she was very nice by an email after that, But are you joking? Four hundred dollars? I also found out mid pregnancy Beck that I had very high blood pressure which was bordering on preaclamsia, which was not very fun.
Lots of additional blood tests covered under Medicare. That was okay, checkups and stuff which were free, they were included, but obviously I was then on medication, and that medication was costing me about sixty ish dollars a month to be on. And then in addition to this, I had to purchase an at home blood pressure monitor because my doctor said, look, you're going to need to test every day. You either
purchase one or you come in. I could have gone in for free to get my blood pressure taken, but then I would have had to drive, and I would have had to pay for parking, and also we're not talking about the time it would take to get to the hospital every day. But I spent about one hundred and twenty dollars on a blood pressure monitor from the chemist to have a home. It's very convenient, though, for
who after pregnancy? Maybe just for curiosity? Yeah, look, curiosity killed the cat because the amount of times I tested my own blood pressure and then freaked out and ended up in hospital because I was like, oh my gosh, it's still so high, what's wrong is the baby? It was just a really fun time. Yeah, okay, but yes, another one hundred and twenty bucks so those were so additional unexpected.
Costs doesn't does it?
Yeah?
And also a lot of McDonald's hash browns, but I didn't put them into a spreadsheet.
I don't even want to know.
I regret nothing. Yeah, we're an investment.
They are an investment.
And why are they not a dollar anymore?
Are they not a dollar?
Not a dollar anymore?
Cozie Lives.
Yeah, anyway, I think we're done here.
Okay, that's good because I was honestly on the verge.
Of you were gonna leave. I believe you're like babies.
Are boring on bit of tears actually for the amount of money that you spent, but also it is worth it because he's here and his beautiful.
Absolutely I'm biased because I'm his mother, but I'll always agree.
I do miss him actually, So before we go, though, I do want to know, is it any last tips or tricks or anything like that?
All right? So my number one tip would be establish your baby budget early on sure, and budget more than
what you're anticipating. Obviously you mentioned Cozy Lives before the world is a very expensive place to be, but I'd always be trying to put away as much as you can while pregnant or while trying to get pregnant, or planning a pregnancy, because it all does add up, and like it might not seem like the most fun way to celebrate having a baby or finding out that you're pregnant, but having money put aside, I promise you future you is going to thank you for that, and that is
going to ensure that you have a little bit more of a stress free pregnancy, because like, the last thing you need to be stressing about while pregnant is money, and the last thing you need to be stressing about while having a baby is going, oh my gosh, I didn't foresee this, you know, twenty dollar cost or fifty dollar cost, because they all add up, right, So I think you can focus your attention where it really matters,
and that's on having a baby. But making sure that your budget is on point and you've allocated as much as you can towards that is going to be a priority.
It's really solid advice. Thank you. I think it's a really great place to leave right now.
I think it's a good place to leave your Hearty's in a studio, like he's now a studio radio baby, So let's go hang out with him perfect.
Let's do it by guys.
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