How to Save Money in LA with a Baby on the Way
Apr 17
Grace left the Philippines to pursue her career in food technology in the US. Armed with a degree in FT from UP, she now works as a QA Manager in one of the biggest food companies there. Currently pregnant with her first baby with husband Jiri, Grace continues to enjoy the benefits of working abroad as well as living the life in full with her family. You can follow Grace’s adventures online via Filipino Mom + Czech Dad = American Baby.
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We live in one of the richest countries in the world, but with the economy in turmoil, having a baby is becoming more and more of a financial challenge. We always want the best for our baby without compromising safety and quality. As my husband and I are slowly preparing to become new parents, we are slowly discovering smart money-saving techniques to help us in this tight economy. Here’s some of them:
1. Choose the best insurance coverage and get covered. Giving birth to a child is not cheap. Here in the US, normal childbirth costs without insurance and without any complications would range from $10,000 to $13000. If there are any health complications for the mom or the baby, that cost could spiral up to $150,000. My husband and I are both fully employed and have good medical insurance coverage. When we got married and decided to become parents, we had to put everything on paper to find out which insurance coverage will give us the best bang for our buck. My company has a PPO (Preferred Provider Organization), while my husband’s has an HMO (Health Maintenance Organization). There are advantages and disadvantages to both, but in the end we ended up going with his HMO since the premiums are relatively cheaper and it provides very good maternity coverage. You can read about the comparison between the two from About.com.
The trick is, before renewing our coverages, we made sure that we put everything on paper and did the math. We took into account all the money we needed to spend during the whole pregnancy journey, not just the money we will be spending during the time when I am in the hospital giving birth to our child. My husband’s HMO insurance included free ultrasound for all prenatal visits, free yoga classes, and free childbirth education seminars. I thought it was such a great deal because if we were to avail of these services elsewhere, we would end up spending $5000 more. Plus, staying healthy during the whole pregnancy will prevent having complications which consequently leads to more hospital time and more money spent.
2. Before buying baby stuff, do the research and be a smart shopper. In buying baby items, our first step is making sure that these items are safe. One of the websites that we visit to do our research is the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Customer reviews also help. But I look for unbiased opinions.
Once we are certain about an item, we look for it in specialty stores like target and babies r us to be sure that it is really what we want. We note down the price, then go online to find out if we can find a better deal. Normally, we would find good deals at Amazon or Craigslist. If you do go this route, don’t forget to include shipping and taxes in your computation. Sometimes it is still better to go to the store.
3. Use credit wisely. I have 4 credit cards, but I only use 2 of them. Both have rewards points on them. I pay them in full every time, so I never get to pay interest or late charges. What’s best about it is I accumulate points for every dollar I spend which can later on be exchanged for gift items, free hotel stays and free airline tickets. Before giving birth to our child, I have planned a “babymoon” for me and my husband using the points I’ve accumulated through my credit card. We have a monthly budget for food, gas, etc. Instead of using cash to pay for those, I pay it with my credit card and rack up the points. Then we use those points for entertainment. So technically, we pay nothing for entertainment. Plus, we get to improve our credit score by using credit wisely.
4. Go online to get educated. Getting educated about pregnancy and childbirth is one of the best tools that any new mom can have. But it doesn’t have to cost anything. If you do not have the money to spend for Prenatal information classes or pregnancy books, you can always get those information online. Two of the best websites that I go to is My Baby Center and The Bump.
I am one of those people who sometimes prefer print media over online media. Sometimes I have to print out articles to read them instead of reading them from the computer. If you are one like me, you may want to get free magazine subscriptions. Here are 2 magazines that are very informative and are given out free: here and here.
5. Do not spend too much money on maternity clothes. Being pregnant doesn’t mean you have to be ugly, but it also doesn’t mean that you have to spend ridiculous amounts of money on clothes. I was surprised to find that bargain stores carry maternity clothes. Two of my favorite bargain stores, Marshall and Ross, have a maternity section. Instead of spending $30+ for maternity pants at a regular maternity store, I spent $15. On my big shopping day, I walked away from the store with 4 items: 2 tops and 2 pants and only spent $50.
It’s easy to save money even with a baby on the way if you look in the right places.
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