The TTC Swag

Trying to conceive is expensive.



At least it is if you are a control freak (just a little bit!) like me and must know what is going on at all times. Each month something new has been added to the regime.

The first month was the digital thermometer. I bought this months ago, but I believe it was 12 euro. I’ve joined Fertility Friend to track the temps, but so far I have resisted on splurging for the VIP membership.

Next up was the ovulation predictor kits. I know they have some of the simple strips which are cheaper, but after looking at samples of these online, I have a really hard time reading the lines. In an effort to take the guess work out of it, I buy the digital ones that produce a little smiley face. The amount of joy I get out of seeing that smiley face is ridiculous. I can’t imagine how I’ll feel if I get a positive pregnancy test! Unfortunately, the smiley face comes at a price. A box of 7 is 32 euro. Ouch.

This month we are adding Conceive Plus into the mix. Apparently this is the same thing as Pre-Seed, which is (from what I’ve found) only available online here in Ireland. The nice thing about the Conceive Plus is that it’s just a tube; it’s not separate application packets like the Pre-Seed. It will be nice if we get more than six uses out of the tube. The price is about the same – just under 18 euro. Double ouch.

Then of course are the pregnancy tests. I TRY to hold off as long as I can, but POAS is really addictive! I’ve also discovered that nothing will start your period faster than POAS. Depending on the brand, two tests run about 15 euro.

And of course there are the vitamins. I take EPO (pre-ovulation), B6, B complex, and folic acid. The price of these aren’t TOO bad with the EPO being the most expensive. The pharmacy does a 3 for 2 deal which is great.

All in all, this means I spend on average 50 euro a month on all this stuff. Yikes! It wouldn’t be so bad, but TTC swag isn’t nearly as cute as baby swag. I’d rather be buying baby swag!

Make your own baby wrap carrier for le$$

I have mentioned our DIY faux-Moby wrap, which were no-sew and cost us $21 to make two. We made ours when I was 32 Weeks Pregnant. It was SO easy! We just bought 6 yards of stretch knit fabric (mainly cotton with stretch) that was 60 inches wide, folded it in half, length-wise and cut it in half. I didn't even finish the edges since they were not frayed or unraveling, even after going through the wash! Super easy and like $21 for TWO baby carriers! Here's Mr. Divasaur trying his out (back when I was 32 weeks) with our first baby, Regina:




Regina is 16 pounds and LOVES to be carried like a baby. She loved the wrap and was all snuggly and wanted to nap in there! It was too cute. Mr. Divasaur was excited that he'll be able to wear Libby while he's working around the house and doing homework. He was also happy that I chose this blue-gray color for the fabric rather than some cutesy print or bright red or something. Ladies, if you're on a budget but want a nice wrap, I highly recommend you try making one. No sewing needed! I made ours 30" wide, but if you prefer a less wide one, check out these instructions.

Here's Mr. Divasaur goofing off. Please note...this is how NOT to wear the wrap (or the baby)!

He said, "In the summer, when it's hot you can wear it like a one-piece sunsuit...like this..."

And here's our baby girl, all snuggled in tight. In the two weeks she's been with us I've worn her about 18 hours/day. It's awesome...she loves it and I can get some things done hands-free while she nurses or naps. It's also helped me become very aware of her cues so that she doesn't have to cry to let me know she needs her diaper changed or that she's hungry or needs to burp. I love wearing my LO and love that I can do it for le$$.

She LOVES snuggling down in her baby wrap carrier!
And here are three more must-haves that I have discovered in this first two weeks as a mom:

1) Nursing Tanks - I love these ones from Target by Gillian and O'Malley. They are only $16 and come in side sling as well as full sling versions. I also got two nursing tanks from Walmart, but prefer these Target ones more...they're more supportive, longer and come in many more colors.

2) Lap Pads - These flannel and vinyl lap pads are old school, but they work! I have been using them for EVERYTHING. As a barrier between baby and the changing pad, and as sheet protectors on the Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper and Crib. They're cheap and easy and good for lots of things!

3) Always Infinity Overnight Pads - With post partum bleeding (lochia) I was not looking forward to having to wear a maxi pad for weeks. I am not a maxi pad gal...I much prefer tampons, but they're a no-no for post partum bleeding. Anyway, I discovered these awesome, super thin maxi pads by Always. They're AWESOME! And really do the job.

Money, money, money - part 2

Quite a few of you asked on my last post if it would be cheaper to buy items online in the USA and get someone to ship them over for me. The short answer is…sometimes. The longer answer is that it depends on what it is. Some smaller things, like books and some clothes, would cost less. However, larger, bulkier items will not because getting things mailed to Australia is pretty expensive.

For example, the stroller we want that costs $399 in the USA but $777 here – I did look at getting this sent to my mom, and paying to have it sent to me. However, the cheapest option USPS offered for a package of that size was over $300, so we still would have ended up paying nearly the same price as if we bought it locally. And shipping an even bulkier, heavier item like a crib? Forget about it!

Other things like cloth diapers are trickier. The biggest price difference is in the all-in-one designs, like the BumGenius 3.0. They’re not heavy by themselves, but once you get a pile of them, they are relatively bulky for their weight – so even though the box would be fairly light, the dimensions may mean they'd still have a shipping price that negates any savings we’d get from not buying locally. I’m still not sure about this, and am trying to figure out how to calculate it before I commit by buying in one country or the other.

The good news is that we are finding SOME deals. For example, we just bought two cribs at Target’s annual baby sale:

Hardly the fanciest model out there, but they were marked down $100 from their original price, which meant that each cost only $229AUD – that’s $10 less than the rock bottom cheapest crib I’d been able to find up until this point, which was $239AUD for Ikea’s Gulliver. Plus, since there isn’t an Ikea where we live, this saved us a drive to a larger city.

And that stroller we wanted? We bought it, too. Amazon had a short lived sale on just one color (amazingly, the one we liked the best!), marking it down from $399 to $277 – a whopping 31% off! There was still the problem of shipping, so before I bought it, I asked my mom if she would be willing to bring it over with her on the plane when she visits in May. The excess baggage fee is around $100, but even so it’s still coming out dramatically cheaper than it would have if we’d gotten it shipped or bought locally. It will mean we'll probably have to go without a stroller for a month or so, but that's OK - we'll just use slings in the interim.

So at least we’re saving in some areas, even if it’s still costing us a good bit more than it would if we lived in the States...you'll probably still hear me whine about budgeting, but hopefully I'll also have plenty of posts about what an amazing deal I got on something for the nursery!

Money, money, money!

I've mentioned once or twice in the past that the cost of living in Australia is generally much higher than it is in the USA - my dad and stepmom, who live in a not-so-cheap area of Southern California, were stunned at the high price of food, gas and general goods (furniture, clothes, cosmetics, etc.) when they flew out for a visit a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, baby stuff is much the same, and trying to set up a twin nursery on a budget has been frustrating, even though I'm shopping around extensively for the best deal and buying secondhand items when I can.

I thought it might be interesting to illustrate my problem with some direct, brand for brand comparisons of common nursery items in the USA and Australia (I'm somewhat restricted to particular manufacturers since not everyone sells in both countries, and I'm trying to focus on budget friendly items, which is why this is a bit Ikea-centric). Because the conversion rate is relatively close at the moment - $0.91AUD to $1.00USD - I'm only going to give prices in American dollars, since most of our readers are from the States.

Ready? Let's go.


DIAPERS
One of the big attractions of cloth diapers is that, over time, they're cheaper than disposables. BumGenius's 3.0 range is fast becoming one of the most popular cloth diapers out there. A single baby requires about 24 cloth diapers, if you want to wash them every other day.

Break it down:
- USA - the 3.0 runs about $18 per diaper (so for 24 diapers, it will cost you $432 to outfit your baby's bum)
-  Australia - your baby gets to go in a $34 poo catcher (that's a total of $816 - and of course, you have to double that for twins)



CHANGING TABLE
You need somewhere to put your baby while you're strapping on the diapers, right? The second cheapest changing table I could find in Australia was Ikea's Gulliver (the absolute cheapest was the somewhat rickety looking Sniglar, also from Ikea).

Break it down:
- USA: this bad boy will set you back $79
-  Australia: it's more than double the cost at $169

NURSERY CHAIR
Want somewhere budget friendly to nurse or rock your baby to sleep? How about Ikea's Poang rocker.

Break it down:
- USA - you can pick up the Poang for just $179
- Australia - that same rocking chair will cost you $493



CRIBS
Because we have to buy two of everything, we're looking for the most inexpensive - yet well rated - cribs we can find. While Ikea's "baby cage" Gulliver won't win any beauty prizes, it is one of the two cheapest cribs I've been able to find in Australia (the other is Ikea's Sniglar, which is even less attractive), and is highly rated in Baby Bargains.

Break it down:
- USA - the Gulliver retails for a thrifty $99
- Australia - you have to plonk down $218 for the exact same crib (and don't forget, you need two of these)

STROLLER
We wanted a side-by-side stroller (tandems are no good for twin newborns as both seats don't fully recline) that is narrow enough to fit through a standard doorway, durable and lightweight - after reading about a million reviews, we finally settled on the Baby Jogger City Mini Double.  It's not the cheapest option, but I think it's the one we'll be the most satisfied with.

Break it down: 
-  USA - the City Mini Double costs $399
-  Australia - get prepared to pony up $777 of your hard earned dollars

I'll stop here...I'm sure you're seeing the pattern! If you bought all of these things for your nursery in the USA, it would run you $1,719. In Australia, you're looking at $1,632 just for the diapers alone. Add in everything else, and you've hit $3,507 - and expensive stroller aside, all of these things are among the most budget friendly options around!

I don't know why there's such a huge discrepancy in prices. I think it's probably due to more than one factor. For example, the Australian dollar didn't used to be so close to the American one - I think it was around 20 years ago that it was only worth something like $0.50 to the US dollar - so there may simply be some residual, "Well, this is how it's always been" happening. There are also importation costs to take into account, but ultimately I think that prices are high simply because - well, where else are you going to go? We're on a lightly populated island, thousands of miles from anywhere. It's a captive audience, and if you need something, you have to pay what is being demanded.

The obnoxious thing is that the wages here don't really balance out the cost of living, at least in my experience - although some professions, like waitressing and teaching often pay higher, most others generally pay roughly the same or often less than they do in the States. So it's not as though we're all consistently making double the salaries to pay double (or triple) the prices. It's also deeply frustrating that, as I've mentioned previously, there really isn't much of a secondhand market outside of capital cities - and even in those it's comparatively scanty.

I guess I've written all of this to say...I'm sorry if it seems like I whine about money a lot (at least,  I feel like I do sometimes!), but this really has been a lot more challenging than I expected. And if there's anyone out there from Australia reading, please tell me - if you live in an area where there's isn't much in the way of secondhand shopping, how do you do this without going into the poorhouse???