First baby expenses

Following up with my post last night with regards to baby-related expenses, I decided to a rough calculation of how much we have spent so far. This is to give us a good gauge of how it will be should let's say, a second one comes along, insya'Allah. I try to be as detailed as possible to what I can remember. Of course, IF a second one comes along, some of these items can be passed over to the second kid, which makes us save more money - YEAY!

	ADMINISTRATION
	DESCRIPTION	COST
	Prudential Mum2be	320.00
	Prudential Baby monthly premium (Sept)	70.00
	SUBTOTAL	390.00

	MUMMY
	DESCRIPTION	COST
	Anmum chocolate milk - 2 packets	60.00
	Bra-extender - 3 pcs	6.00
	Confinement food by Ummi Abdullah (14 days package)	540.00
	Diaper bag	98.00
	Pigeon Nipple cream	18.90
	Pigeon Nipple puller	8.90
	Pigeon Nipple shield	8.90
	Post-natal Massage	600.00
	Spectra M1 Breastpump bundle	248.00
	Stretchmark body lotion by Bio-oil	14.30
	SUBTOTAL	1,603.00

	BABY
	DESCRIPTION	COST
	4-in-1 Cot inclusive of mattress, changing station, delivery & installation	433.90
	Anti-dustmite spray (bought during Baby Fair)	10.00
	Baby's clothes & blankets - Balestier Point	133.60
	Baby's clothes from Mothercare (Harbourfront)	121.50
	Bibs - Qoo10 (3 pcs)	9.24
	Cot bumper - Qoo10	48.90
	Foldable bathtub (Qoo10)	30.18
	Pigeon Liquid Cleanser (1 bottle + 2 Refills) - Lazada	31.50
	Pigeon Liquid Detergent (1 bottle + 2 Refills) - Lazada	19.50
	Sebamed toiletries (Facial cream, body cream, bubble bath - Qoo10)	114.70
	Stroller by Chris & Belle Miracle Zappy X - Carousell	99.90
	SUBTOTAL	1,052.92

	BABY'S SEMINAR
	DESCRIPTION	COST
	6 Aug 2016 - Everything about Breastfeeding talk by Mrs Wong Boh Boi (Couple ticket)	7.00
	17 Sept 2016 - Pregnancy Care & Childbirth by Raffles Hospital (Couple ticket)	12.50
	24 Sept 2016 - From Bump to Birth Seminar (Single ticket)	16.05
	8 Oct 2016 - The First 365 Days (Couple ticket)	5.35
	SUBTOTAL	40.90

	ANTENAL/HOSPITAL CHECK UPS
	DESCRIPTION	COST
	1 Apr 2016 - Dr. Lim (GP)	178.00
	20 Apr 2016 - Dr. Lim (GP)	106.00
	4 May 2016 - KKH Clinic A	171.20
	2 Jun 2016 - KKH TPS	490.27
	23 Jun 2016 - KKH ADC (Detailed scan)	139.10
	23 Jun 2016 - KKH TPS	81.32
	28 Jul 2016 - TPS (OGTT)	213.14
	1 Sept 2016 - ADC (Growth Scan)	126.26
	1 Sept 2016 - KKH TPS	87.74
	SUBTOTAL	1,593.03

In total, we have spent about $4,679.85 and this sum has yet to include the short hospital stay I had during my 26th week (and maybe my occasional craving episodes hurhur).

Some of these purchases come along with sample packs & freebies, which really helps out in minimizing the expenses to a certain extent.

Eg.
- The Sebamed bubble bath I bought from Qoo10, has sample packs, which I am intending to pack together in my hospital bag.
- The breastpump bundle which I bought from the baby fair has a number of goodies like the cooler bag, nursing cover, ice packs, manual pump adaptor, Hakka breast pump to name a few...
- The goodies from talks/seminars that we attended espesh the one from Breastfeeding talk where we received 4 boxes of breast pads, 4 packs of breast milk storage packs, 2 pillows, 2 bolsters, 4 packs of wet wipes, 2 sets of newborn pajamas inclusive of mittens.

There are items yet to be bought though. Things like milk bottles and diapers - which we intend to buy only after the little one is born. Also, gotta thank my SIL for handing us down some clothes and miscellaneous items - more savings for us. Haha. :)

The list is rather extensive huh. I mean, this is just the beginning. I hope I can control myself with the baby's clothes after its arrival. :/

Till my next update.....which I hope, won't take too long. Hehe.

Note to self: Can you afford it?

I owe a whole lot of entries, but there's just a number of stuff that I am occupied at the moment like sourcing of contractors/stuff for home & preparing for the arrival of the little one. Both of these will be happening around the same time next month (!!!) and I am not sure which will come first!

But what I do know is that, both of these weigh heavily on our savings & we must really look into what is necessary/what is not.

We have done up an excel sheet for our house renovation budget and as much as we (or me myself) would like a certain appliance/a certain sanitary fitting/a certain look to our home, I have to drop the idea because it's not necessary. As long as it functions the way it is supposed to, we are good insya'Allah.

The same goes for our insya'Allah firstborn's expenses. The monthly hospital visits, the baby's clothes, blankets, cot, lotions, insurance...etc. And these don't come cheap. Someone asked me once if I'll be doing any maternity photoshoot - I am glad to report that I won't be (even though there's a complimentary photoshoot by Friso!)
Reason(s) being: Mr. J doesn't like taking pictures in general and even though there will be some keepsake for us, again, I find that its unnecessary. To each his own.

Note: Maybe I should do up an excel sheet for all the stuff that we have spent so far for baby eh?

And someone was also discussing with me the type of wards to be admitted into, together with the hospital (government/private). I did joke with Mr. J once to let me stay at an A1 ward type in KKH, but being him, of course he wasn't for the idea. Lol. Staying in B1 (4-bedder) is just as fine with me - looking at my sister's & SIL's experience when I visited them in 2013 & 2014 respectively. For me, a one or two day hospital stay, is something like a wedding. You pay a sum for the few day(s) stay, but what's coming after that, is far more important. Like baby's daily essentials - diapers, lotions, detergent, polyclinic visits.

All in all, if you have the budget for it, go ahead. As for Mr. J and I, we intend to spend on what's necessary, and save what we can. Ever since I got married to this man, I learn to save more than I spend and I'm thankful for that. I even start to look at Groupon for any good cheap deals (ya I know I used to whine each time he looks at Groupon for deals LOL but nowwww I get it ok - anything to help us save!).

This entry is to remind me to "Ukur baju di badan sendiri" and to not follow the lifestyle of others' as a benchmark. If others can afford it, it's their rezeki from Allah. If you can't afford it, Allah has reserved some other form of rezeki for you, insya'Allah. :)