free is good

i knew that having a baby is an expensive process. from all the doctors bills to all the new gear the kid will need once it's here.

but good lord. i didn't realize i'd be SO overwhelmed with STUFF. do i need to register for THAT or should i just try to buy THIS 2nd hand? i'm kinda at a loss as far as what are ABSOLUTE must haves and what are "it'd be nice but not 100% necessary" wants. my head spins every time i look at babies 'r us or target online to try to figure out WHAT i need to/should register for. honestly, it's making me a little bit crazy.

THEN, there's all the unasked for advice. the "you HAVE to buy a new crib! you can't borrow one or buy a used one!" the "are you going to do THIS or THAT?" i know these people mean well. honestly i do. however, they're just making me crazy!

the bottom line is threefold:

1. we don't have any money. i mean we barely have enough money at this point to pay our bills. i'm hoping that vrock gets a job soon, but with the economy the way it is and the fact that i'll be out of a job come mid april, well, you know how that story ends. that's a HUGE factor as to why we moved in with my folks at the end of last month. which has helped.

2. i REFUSE to pay massive amounts of money (that we don't have!) for certain items (crib included) that the baby will only use for a specific period of time and then not need anymore. i'm willing to buy (or register for) the car seat/stroller combo because i know that we need to have something that will pass all the safety inspections, etc. i have a few friends that i can possibly borrow a crib from, FREE, and when i don't need it anymore or when they need it back i can return it to them. i'm TOTALLY ok with that.

3. we don't have a lot of room, since we're not in our own place. this also makes it difficult as far as procuring baby items, etc. IF we had our own place & the funds? this would be a totally different post. we'd get a new crib that converted to a toddler bed & then to a headboard/footboard for a full size bed. at least THAT way? we wouldn't be buying a piece of furniture for 2-3 years, as would be the case if we bought JUST a crib.

so i was talking to a gal at work and she said the magic words: freecycle.org

i'd never heard of it. so i checked it out. and boy, did i score!

first i got a basically brand new baby bathtub. yeah, it would only have cost $20 to buy a new one and it's something i probably could have registered for. but? i didn't have to. it was free. all i had to do was go pick it up.

then? i really scored. i got these:

for free. yes. i got them both from the same gal plus 2 big bags of cloth diapers (some of the nicest i've ever seen) & a few other assorted things that she threw in. all for FREE! the pump alone is around $200 and the swing runs between $75 - $125. now, once we're done with them, i'll put them back up on freecycle for someone else to use. they're in excellent condition and i'm just so excited about being able to start collecting things for the baby & not damaging my wallet in the meantime.

i'll still look on there and at consignment shops & the big garage sale one of the communities around here has at the end of april. but it's looking like we can at the very least cut some of the baby gear costs in half if i continue to be lucky with freecycle!

it almost makes some of the crazy go away.

almost.