How much has your baby cost you?

I'm just interested to know how much your baby :baby: (babies :baby: :baby: ) have cost you in terms of getting all the cot/prams etc. Do you keep all the big stuff for #2 (+). There's a baby boom this year, as well as the credit crunch. Can having a baby be inexpensive?

I think having a baby could be less expensive than what we've done!
As this is my first and possibly my only child - and I had wanted a child for some time - I spared no expense! In hind sight some of the things we purchased may have been a little extravagant but I wanted to do it!
All of the nursery furniture and bedding cost about $1800. (See, I really didn't have to spend that much AT ALL!!!) This also includes pictures, lamps, accessories.
I am fortunate that I have 3 SILs and a sister that all have little boys so I have been loaned TONS of clothes and toys. I do buy some new clothing but I haven't purchased much.
Since I breastfeed, that has saved us some money but now that he is eating solids we are spending more.
I do spend more on laundry items like soap and stain remover and I do at least one load of laundry a day. Before Owen was born I probably only did two or three loads a week.

24P, that's the most important thing; as long as she's fed, clothed, loved and has shelter

Well, we were quite blessed. I got a ton of clothes for the first 6 months of LM's life at my baby shower, bath toys, diapers, ect. It was very nice. My aunt gave me her crib and high chair, she only has one kid so they were practically new. My friend gave me Pottery Barn crib sheets and bumper, and skirt, and they are just TOO CUTE. My mom got a TON of great stuff off of a yahoo group called Freecycle. People list stuff they are willing to give away, then you ask for it, and if they decide to give it to you, you go pick it up. We got a swing, baby bath, co-sleeper, carseat, and stroller this way, ALL in GREAT condition.

Another way we have saved money is by signing up on the Enfamil formula website. They give out 5 dollar vouchers a few times a month, and we go to Costco and buy the big cans of Enfamil formula, and sometimes we have two of those coupons, so we get 10 dollars off, and it's a steal. I also signed up for a baby coupon thing, so I get all sorts of coupons for Babies r us, ect.

If I had the money, I of course would have bought the best furniture for LM, but we didn't have money to do that, so we took what we were given, and it has worked out well for us. She is very loved and happy, and doesn't know that she is using secondhand furniture

I think all in all, we spent about 300 dollars of our own money to get ready for the baby. Monthly, with the cost of diapers, baby food, and formula, we pay about 170 dollars.

In my pittiful broodiness, I had a browse and added the necessities up lol as a max, so not stupidly expensive, but not too cheap either. I then extended it by a few hundred so that it leaves room for any bits and bobs (I didn't include toys and clothes). So it was £900, I then moved up to £1500, so that there's room

Makes me feel better than we won't have to wait too many years when we're both teaching. As teachers are dual income will be £2600 a month (at the starting salary). So that's cool And after a year, my bf gets a 'golden hello' of £5,000 (taxable). So I know we'll be able to save up in the next few years

Just got to persuade the bf lol.