are you an all out shopper for baby or do you just buy the necessities?

Some mama's have closets full of clothes for their babies, some it never gets worn. My niece has TWO walk in closets full of clothes. Been that way since she was a baby.

I'm more of the "buy what you need, don't buy it if you won't need it" type. My kids litterally have 2 weeks worth of shirts, socks and underwear (as in 14-16 of each) and then 4 or 5 each of shorts/pants. Two pair of shoes.

Bailey will have, as did the other kids, about the same, plus a few extras with clothes, and about 8-10 sheet/blanket combos

I wash clothes daily, so I've never been one to have a HUGE dipe stash either. 5-6 covers, a few aio's and about a dozen to two dozen prefolds. I have a couple of fitted's for swimming and stuff, but that's about it.

then the towel washcloth thing. My niece and nephew EACH had as babies, and still, as older kids, have like 14 washcloths and 7 towels. Hers are pink, his are blue. Mine have like 2-3 each.

I know it's really what works for you, but I'm curious. LOL. Also, why are you the way you are? is it out of necessity due to budget? are you just a bare minimum person? do you go all out b/c you just love to shop? did you grow up with EVERYTHING and you want your kids to also or don't want them to have everything? or opposite, you had little growing up and want them to have more than you did or you felt you turned out fine?
(Yeah, I'm really just being nosey, LOL)

For me, it's a variety of reasons. I for one, can't afford to just buy everything I see, but I don't have the space, either. Growing up, my mom MADE me wear the best of the best. She worked a full time job, while my dad paid the bills, her check bought me everything and took us on shopping sprees. I hated that. I knew as a teen that I'd just rather my kids have ME and decent clothes. I've bought my children clothes at the dollar store and they've been just as nice as the things mama bought me at the mall. I'd rather my kids have a relationship with me and still fit in than me not be here b/c I want them to have the best of the best, ya know?

okay, just wondering. gabe needs something, so I've gotta run

~Kana

Your reason for not having a lot of "stuff" was interesting. I think every woman has a different reason for her own opinion. Mine is that my father is a pack-rat, to the point of making my mother miserable with the clutter. I despised this part of his personality and have always strived not to have that same weakness. My hub is a huge OC, clean freak, so I've had to adjust myself to yet another level of "no clutter"- "keep it clean".

Anyways.

So, those two things coupled with just flat out not being able to afford to go on a shopping spree every day keep our closets and drawers down to the bare minimum. Which I *like*. It's less to keep track of, less to keep clean, less waste, less money. Less *IS* really more sometimes. I never got into the whole buying every little thing for the baby... I just could never justify the bells and whistles. Tommy calls me "the most sensible woman on the planet", and I love that.

So, yes, to others it may appear that we "go without", but really... we have more than enough... it just isn't the typical amount that everyone else has. :: shrugs:: It's all perspective. What person A can't live without, person B has no need of. :)

yeah, I agree, Jen, every woman is different, and it's those differences that make us all be able to come together. I hope my first email didn't come of as me going to judge anyone.

But I have found, in talking to other moms, while a lot DOES depend on budget, so much of it is psychological from childhood :-) it's interesting to me, LOL

But I have found, in talking to other moms, while a lot DOES depend on budget, so much of it is psychological from childhood :-) it's interesting to me, LOL

Yeah, I agree... we don't realize, as children, how much our parents faults are forming us. We can either take on their faulty traits, or learn from them and be different. I just wonder what "trait" I'm passing on to my children, ya know? I could list a bunch of my own faults that jump to the forefront... but, it's usually the one thing that we don't think is a big deal or don't even recognize as a "fault" that winds up being passed on. ::snort:: my dad swears that he has NO problem with being a pack-rat. hehehe Anywho... I find it fascinating too... why we women do what we do.

men are the same way, Jen, I just think it's more "visible" in women, as we are usually the ones who do the shopping, decorating, etc. I can guarentee that if Brian were left to do the shopping for the kids and stuff, we'd have WAY TO MUCH JUNK. he's in the "i had nothing, my kids need more" camp. Although he's getting better. I think seeing me as the spoiled brat that I can be at times (yes, I'll admit it) from being an only (living) child and a mom who wanted everything for me (i was spoiled more, too, i think, b/c they lost Christopher, like they made up for him with me, ya know)

I grew up not having name brand stuff, extra stuff or really the cool stuff. I didn't really notice much til teen years, and then I was able to work and get some of those things myself...but it never was a big deal to me to have "stuff".

I had friends whose parents had way more money than mine did, who got all the "things" they could ever dream of but who, really truly would have been happy with nothing had mom or dad just been there, done things with them...loved them more. Rather than replacing physical love with material possesions.

We don't have a lot of stuff. We always have plenty of clothes for the kids (thanks to hand me downs - rarely buy any) but when we do buy something, it's from walmart. We flat out don't have the money. But if we did, Harold would have everything pricey and expensive and flashy, because he never had that as a kid and wants it for his kids....me, I know the value of a dollar and want my kids to also.

As an adult, with my kids, I've not ever really had the money to just go out and buy whatever I wanted for them. So, I don't really know how I would be if I had more money. Lol. I'm thinking I would still shop for bargains, take hand me downs and go sparse on stuff.

This is an interesting thread, Kana! [lovesmile]

Hmm... [whatthink] I like to have the 'right' amount of stuff for baby. heeehee! :lol: I do enjoy shopping, but I don't enjoy having an over abundance of stuff. That goes for everything. I find enjoyment out of using and taking good care of what we have, and really can't stand clutter and crowding. [whatcrazy]

When it came to babies, I did so love buying them clothes and such. Baby clothes are sooo cute! [heart] But, I didn't buy more than they could reasonably wear. With my first, I was given three baby showers, and the baby clothes/gifts rolled in throughout my entire pregnancy and for Scotty's first two years! Seriously, the number of clothes he had actually stressed me out! [whateww] LOL! [rotfl] I'd only boughten a few things for him myself, but he had tons and tons of stuff. Crazy making! [whatwacko] Scotty wore a new outfit every single day, and I didn't like that. Felt like I had to do that, though, or we wouldn't get to all his clothes (which we didn't), and then I'd feel guilty. :???:

Something else about me is, I really love giving nice things away. If I have anything I find I'm not using much or at all, it goes away quickly. I've thought time and again that I wish I lived closer to you girls cuz so I could give things away to my sisters here. *sigh* :???:

[lovesign]

Joy [welcomewave]

I will buy something if I think it's cute, but I won't buy it at full price. I have the basic's and if I NEED something then we just go get it. I think you have to be balanced and wise with what God gives you. So sometimes I will splurge a little but only if it's a great deal.
I love to shop, expecially for my kids and for others.

I try to keep things in the "just the right amount" category. I avoid over indulgence as a general rule, but I also think there are times when a bit of a splurge is worthwhile. I shop almost exclusively second hand for clothes, particularly for the kids, but for myself as well whenever possible. This allows me the freedom and ability to sometimes get things that are higher quality than I would otherwise be able to afford, kwim? Being that my kids are the oldest/first of the grandkids on both sides of the family, and that my friends have kids either the same age or younger than mine, we rarely get hand me downs. (But I love them!) Mostly we get (for Fiona) my sister's "extras" because she does like to indulge in clothes for her kids and she has a few friends who send hand me downs her way.

Dh and I are just now in a place where our income is predictable and comfortable. For the first (almost) four years of Liam's life, we were a student family. All those years I frequented Value Village *all the time* to provide for the kids clothing needs. Now living in a place where I don't have the luxury of large consignment/thrift stores (yes, I do consider that a luxury! lol) I have started to frequent ebay more. While you can spend piles of money there, if I'm careful and watch the listings, I can most often find what I need for the kids at lower cost. (And it makes going to the mailbox so much fun! :D )

Does any of this come from how I was raised? I suppose. My mom was really thrifty growing up. She shopped clearances all the time. I'll never forget the summer she came home from some massive clearance sale with bags full of clothes for my sister and I, simply because she found it all super cheap! :mrgreen: That said, there were times as a kid when I just wished I could be 'like everyone else' and have the brand names. My most vivid memory of that though, wasn't of clothes...I didn't really care about clothes....it was in relation to care bears and cabbage patch kids. I had knockoffs and always wished I could have the real thing. So I guess part of me is trying to find the best of both worlds. Being thrifty and cost efficient, but having some of the nicer stuff, all the while trying to teach my kids the value of a dollar and what is really important. Hopefully I'm doing okay with that.

99% of what my kids have were given to us... including the furniture... I would go all out if we had that kind of budget, but the practical side of me says no, we have what we need... lol. So out of necessity I don't buy much.... MIL always gives gifts and the kids get lots of hand me downs from cousins, so it's unnecessary. I've bought clothes when the kids puked in the car and we were away from home and out of changes of clothes for them... I think that's the only time I have bought them clothes (except shoes which i end up needing to buy on occasion).

I did wish I had a rocking chair for when Nathaniel had colic when he was little, but we got through it without it I guess, but it would have been easier than walking around all night or trying to rock him on the couch. We managed...

For my children we tend to buy a combination of clothes. For play clothes that I know are going to wear out I will buy those from Wal-mart/Target. However, my husband and I are planning on having a large family and as such have decided that some articles of clothing are worth spending the additional money so that they will last as hand-me-downs. Nice, going out clothes usually come from the mall and usually church dresses/suits come from gymboree.

The one thing that I am incredibly picky about are shoes. I have to spend extra for shoes for my kids. They are all pretty hard on shoes and I have found that I can spend $15 on a pair of shoes that fall apart in a month or hit a sale and spend $35 on a pair that last until the kids outgrow them. The other thing that I will spend additional funds on is a good winter coat. For the same reasons mentioned above, if I can pass it off as a hand-me-down then it is well worth the money!

I am so sporadic with my buying. Certain things I will go all out while other things no way. I'm pretty much a 'get what we need' due to not liking the clutter but if I see something that is an 'extra' that I really want I'll get it. I do spend a lot more than I should on toys but kids are rough on them and if you buy cheap toys they break. Not only that but I'd rather have a FEW nice toys that are sturdy than tons of small ones that will break and be all over the place. I'll also spend more on shoes and jackets.

We haven't had to buy much as far as clothes, we have clothes with tags on them still that Payton has outgrown, all different sizes from newborn up. We received so many clothes as gifts when I was pregnant with Payton that we never got around to wearing them all, or they fit him during the wrong time of year, etc. I really didn't like having that many clothes, it's ridiculous having them crammed in the closet and looking back I should have given some of them away. If we have a girl I'll have lots of blue clothes to get rid of ;)

There really is no correlation with my childhood though, I didn't really have much growing up and it didn't really bother me. I tend to spend more on Payton though than my parents ever could have or would have on me with certain things.

When our kids were little the Lord really provided for them clothing wise. My sil and I had babies every other year for awhile and we passed boys' clothing back and forth. Of course, by the time something made it to our younger boys, it definitely had seen better days. A friend of a friend gave us tons of Oshkosh B'Gosh overalls and fuzzy sleepers. My mom was still working at the time and bought wonderful clothes for our kids. Our daughter, being the only girl, didn't do too bad either. :-D

I didn't buy them namebrand shoes or clothes when they were young because I didn't want that to be their value. If something came along, that was fine, but it wasn't how we bought clothes.

Personally, I do not like shopping for clothes at all. I don't like looking around and trying things on. Ack! I tend to keep a pretty simple wardrobe.I don't like lots of any one thing and try to minimize or give things away. Now, give me some time (and money) in Wal-Mart and that's a different story! :mrgreen:

Generally, though, I try to keep things simple and free from accumulating. Just something the Lord has been teaching me.

I didn't really buy much for my kiddos my parents bought them everything!
They were like that with me, I'm an only daughter. Seriously, I can't stand shopping [whatwacko] Now that my girls work they buy everything, THEY DON'T NEED :???: Me...I get just what I need :mrgreen:

LOL, Donna, but it's their money, you can't tell them how to spend it.
My cousin laughs at me b/c I bought 3 shirts brand new, and she said "Oh my gosh, the world is going to end, Kana bought new clothes". I smiled, and said, yeah, but they were on clearance for $1.50 a piece" LOL

Your reason for not having a lot of "stuff" was interesting. I think every woman has a different reason for her own opinion. Mine is that my father is a pack-rat, to the point of making my mother miserable with the clutter. I despised this part of his personality and have always strived not to have that same weakness. My hub is a huge OC, clean freak, so I've had to adjust myself to yet another level of "no clutter"- "keep it clean".

Anyways.

So, those two things coupled with just flat out not being able to afford to go on a shopping spree every day keep our closets and drawers down to the bare minimum. Which I *like*. It's less to keep track of, less to keep clean, less waste, less money. Less *IS* really more sometimes. I never got into the whole buying every little thing for the baby... I just could never justify the bells and whistles. Tommy calls me "the most sensible woman on the planet", and I love that.

So, yes, to others it may appear that we "go without", but really... we have more than enough... it just isn't the typical amount that everyone else has. :: shrugs:: It's all perspective. What person A can't live without, person B has no need of. :)

Yep, ditto with me...except for DH being a clean freak...I could only dream of that one! But yep, never got into all the buying everything for babe. I'm good with the necessities.

Plus, I'm sure there's gonna be plenty of times when my son's older when I'll give in to his wants when I know he doesn't need. But while he's young enough not to care, then I don't care much.

Ugh, Kana tell me about it :???:
So, Valorie came home the other night, "MOM I GOT THE BEST DEAL ON THESE JEANS....70 DOLLARS!" The brand is TRUE RELIGON?!
I'm like wow, I can buy food for the month with 70 dollars...KIDS!! Must be nice though :mrgreen:

LOL. and I"m flippin' out over here over the deal I got. A pair of maternity jeans and a maternity top for $3.50 this afternoon, LOL

Wow....now that's a deal!!! Where did you go

Hospice thrift store. Everything was half price in the store today

Love the Name HOSPICE!

it's a nursing home for cancer patients who are in their final stages. All the profits made in their thrift stores go to help families with medical bills and funeral expenses.

What a great idea! I wonder if they have a shop out here like?