When I found out we were expecting our first little babe, I hit Amazon and started building the registry of my dreams to include every product I had read was a MUST have.  Although I did reel it in a bit with a second draft (thanks to a reality check from my dear husband), between the items purchased for us by loved ones and the things we bought ourselves, the amount of money that was dropped to give this little love all of the items the internet told me I had to have, was hefty.

There will always be big-ticket items that are worth forking over the dough, but the money savvy mama knows there are plenty of ways to cut cost when baby is on the way.  Here’s the rundown of items worth the splurge, and others worth saving.

Save

Pre-Owned Goods

With the increasing popularity of Facebook ‘Yard Sale’ and B/S/T (Buy, Sell, Trade) pages, purchasing pre-owned baby goods are not only common but encouraged!  Here are the items we purchased pre-owned:

Bumbo Seat // We absolutely LOVED our Bumbo!  I hadn’t included one on our registry (because a Pinterest link told me it wasn’t a necessary item), but I found myself really wishing I had purchased one pretty early on.  I found a pre-owned pink Bumbo on our local Mama Swap page for $5 and jumped on it.  The entire seat is 100% wipeable so it was a piece of cake to clean, and I saved myself $40.  Major win!

Baby Clothes // Some of my favorite sleep sacks (these Carters zip-ups) were $1 each on our local Swap page.  Clearly not a big bank breaker, but I loved having at least 5 of these on hand and it was great to grab some inexpensive pre-owned extras.  For NB or even 0-3 sizes, buying pre-owned is a great way to stock up on things that your LO will wear a handful of times.  Holiday outfits are also a great item to buy used, since they’ll typically only be worn once.  In addition to local Facebook pages, I love ThreadUp and Poshmark for baby clothes.  I always double check to make sure clothes are from a non-smoking home, and look at pictures closely for flaws or signs of major wear.  Generally I’m looking for Excellent Used Condition (EUC) or Very Good Used Condition (VGUC). *Sign up for Poshmark with code FAIRCHAA for $5 off your first purchase!

Toys // Tyler and I were always anti-baby toys, in hopes we would avoid clutter as well as sensory overload for our new little love, but when you actually have a LO who constantly needs entertaining, you buy the damn toys.  We had literally no toys on our registry (aside from teethers) and when the time came I was panic shopping on Amazon, or cruising local pages.  Some baby toys are very inexpensive and totally worth buying new, but other times it’s really great to get a deal and a quick exchange.  I’ve saved so much buying toys that other’s children just weren’t interested in, and maybe used once or twice.  I always look for something easy to clean (usually wipeable, dishwasher safe, or washable), and EUC or VGUC.

Budget Friendly Buys

Crib // A wise Mama friend once told me to skip that expensive crib.  I can’t thank her enough, because I’ve absolutely loved our budget friendly Ikea model (and Olivia has no idea how much it cost).  It’s high quality enough to be safe and sturdy, but I know when we PCS I’ll have no trouble leaving it behind because of the reasonable price tag.  Ikea has been a furniture saving grace for us throughout this international PCS, and this crib is absolutely no exception.  Shop: Similar HERE and HERE

Splurge

Dock-A-Tot // I was on the DAT bandwagon early on in my pregnancy.  When my Mom bought us one as a baby gift, I was SO excited to use it, but when Olivia came and didn’t take to it right away, I was beyond bummed.  It wasn’t until about 4 weeks in, that Olivia finally warmed up to this miracle product, and it was our #1 ally in bedtime through 4 months. We also loved the ease of traveling with it.  Use this link to get $10 off your Dock-A-Tot!  Shop: HERE, HERE // Similar HERE 

Jellycat // We love Olivia’s Jellycat bunnies not only for their super soft fur, but they’re just so classically adorable, making them both fashionable and functional 😊 Shop: HERE

Stroller // I had some major hubby convincing to do when I decided on the Uppababy Vista stroller for our little babe.  The price tag is a hefty one, and it was a bit of a tough pill to swallow for my budget minded husband.  I found a fabulous price on the year prior model, and even though the company wasn’t able to ship to our APO address, it cost under $65 to ship from family to our APO still saving us over $150 off retail.  The major perk of this stroller is the ability to convert from car seat to bassinet to toddler seat, with the additional capability of converting to a double stroller when the time comes for Baby #2.  The ride is super smooth, it fits nicely in doorways, and has a great turning radius.  In my opinion, investing in a great stroller is key, and I would make the same choice if I had to do it all over again.

Baby Carrier/ Hiking Backpack // If you’ve been following us for a while, you know how much Tyler loves our Deuter Kid Comfort 3.  This was his #1 contribution to our baby registry, and he put in quite a few man hours doing researching the best pack.  Since we aren’t major hikers, I’ll have to admit I felt like it was a little crazy, but we’ve honestly used the crap out of this thing!  It’s more of the perfect travel carrier, and hiking pack all in one.  It has so many pockets that we don’t need to carry a diaper bag (which is a major win), and Olivia is so comfortable in it that she often falls asleep.  This thing has made it through Black Forest hiking, Budapest exploring, Christmas markets, Italian Ski Slopes, German chocolate fests, it’s super functional and a great option for when a stroller is a bit much.  We’ve loved this brand, the model, and it’s been one of our favorite baby items to date.  Shop: HERE, Save (Earlier Model, $50 savings) HERE

What are your must have items?  Any that you’d recommend saving or splurging?  Let me know in the comments!