There are essentials that your LO needs but a lot of what we buy are extras that in reality we don't need. How many of us will be honest enough to say that their LO has outfits in their wardrobes which have hardly or never been worn before they didn't fit anymore? Do you really need to spend £800 on a pram? You may WANT to but that is not the same as NEEDING to.
We've spent £800+ on a pram and lots of other ridiculous things, but only because we can afford to do it - if you have the money to do it, and it is your money there's not an issue whatsoever.
However, if you are using someone else's money, i think you should obviously be spending the minimum and making the money stretch etc x
You want to know what I honestly think, even if it is your own money you should be questioning whether you need to spend that money. The things we are spending this money on will be used for such a very small period of time that it has never seemed worth it to me. I am also not convinced you necessarily get better quality the more you spend. We have a Mothercare travel system that I bought when I was pg with my son. After he died we decided to keep it to hopefully use in the future. However Em hated the car seat and we had to buy a Maxicosi one. It didn't fit on the travel system so my pal gave us a loan of her Bugaboo and in comparison to my 3 wheeler it is dead flimsy and we were so glad to not have spent that kind of money on a pram.
We are in a strong postion financially but I could never justify spending that kind of money on Em just now. Her room is gorgeous and she has lots and lots of pretty clothes but I worry about setting a precedent that everything needs to be top of the range or that we need every toy or gadget. Where does it stop?
Aww shame you find it flimsy, so many people recommended it to us - i can't complain one bit
If it's your money, you are entitled to do whatever you wish with it, we can justify it, and we are so lucky to be able to buy whatever we like - i don't mind spending £800+ on a pram seen as it is 0-4 years and can be used for our next baby
We've also got plenty of second hand clothes, groegg from ebay secondhand, carboot sale clothes, second hand bouncer, i love a bargain too
However, if you are using someone else's money i definately don't think you can be frivolous with it.
My friend's mum bought her a second hand quinny buzz (I think!!) from ebay, for £80, would have been about £600's worth of stuff. She refused to have it because it was secondhand!!!!!!!
!! xx
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That's true. We've probably spent less than the SSgrant and we've got everything we need. It's all about spending your money wisely and realising that second-hand things genuinely aren't that bad! I understand people who want new things and that's fine by me. But we need to be a bit more open minded towards things, I couldn't afford to have everything new! Im glad there are websites like ebay and freecycle. I love a bargain.. !! xx
or the HIP grant
