'In The Know' with The Dominos

This will likely be the most boring blog to most of you. But, when I was pregnant I read anything I could get my hands on that involved post-baby life. Even before we decided to get pregnant, I went to the bookstore with the goal of finding a book about life after kids. I wanted to know every stat out there. Sadly, the selection wasn't even low, it was non-existent. You can't find a book about LIFE after kids. You can find novels about it. Or you can find info on getting pregnant, being pregnant, and how to deal with a baby. But, there was nothing that would give me a glimpse into an ordinary familial household.

In an effort to help any of you out there who are thinking about becoming pregnant, or are pregnant, here's some info I desperately wish someone would have given me...

It's all about the money, right!? I did a lot of research about the cost of babies and all I could find was how much they cost over a lifetime. I wanted the month-to-month so I could work out our budget. Well, for whoever is interested, here is my rough monthly budget regarding Micah.


Clothes- I must admit I'm a penny-pincher in this area. I spend a modest $40 on average on clothing for Micah each month. I buy only what's necessary and rarely splurge. Right now there are more important things than his clothes. I buy about 1/4 of his wardrobe from consignment stores, and I'd rather poke an eye out before dropping $40 on a pair of shoes he'll grow out of in 3 weeks (no matter how darn cute they are!)


Formula is a new expense for us. I buy the Target Soy brand. It's about $13 for a tub that lasts about 8 days. So, that's about $55 a month. The store brand is much cheaper. A more expensive brand like Similac costs another $8 a tub.


Micah is on 2 medications. Prevacid and Reglan. They last about 3 weeks each. Prevacid costs $30 and Reglan $10. So, I spend an average of $50 a month on them.
With our insurance, Micah's well doctor visits are free. His sick visits (which he's only had one of) are $4!


If I pinch pennies on clothing, this is the area where I make it up. Huggies aren't the most expensive brand (outrageous Pampers have got that covered) but they aren't the cheapest, by far. We've found that Huggies Supreme (not the cheaper Huggies) work best with Micah. In a pinch we'll use the Target brand which work nearly as good. I can get 70 diapers for $13. Micah averages 7 diapers a day. (Yup- we've counted!) So that's 13 x 4...$52 a month? Check my math!


Micah goes through two boxes of cereal/oatmeal a month. That's about $5. I spent a one time amount of $75 to get a baby food puree machine, and handy trays to store the frozen food in. Now, I buy and make sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, green beans, peas, avocado, apples, and pears. Total cost for enough food for a month is around $30. Micah has once ounce of cereal, 3 oz of veggies, and 2 oz of fruit throughout the day.
If my calculations are right, thats $227 a month before adding in toys, or all of the equipment a baby requires! Hoped that helped someone!