Hey there! Ever wonder what babies cost? Using a combination of smart spending and lifestyle choices, we’re tracking our expenses so you don’t have so much to guess about. While it’s important to note that our choices are not for everyone, it’s certainly possible to spend less! While definitely possible to spend more! We consider ours a middle ground.
Things we’ve chosen to do:
- Wait for holiday sales to maximize savings on big ticket items
- Cloth diaper
- Gender neutral clothing
Because we plan to have a second child in a few years, the above three bullet points means we’ll have diapers, clothing, and big ticket items left over to reuse for additional savings. The savings we gain will go towards setting our family up so they’re not forced to work for abusive employers like we had to. This will give us more time freedom to be present in ours and our child’s life.
Cost of TTC (13 cycles)
| At home sperm testing | $80 |
| At home pregnancy/ovulation testing | $105 |
| Doctor visits and lab testing | $270 |
| Prenatal Vitamins and scientifically significant ayurveda fertility medicine | $677 |
| Total Paid after sales tax | $1,132 |
| Time eclipsed | 12 months/13 cycles |
Preparing for birth
| Accessories | $667 |
| Clothing (newborn through 12m) | $472 |
| Diapering | $271 |
| Education | $48 |
| Furniture | $298 |
| Post Partum | $140 |
| Toy | $33 |
| GIFTED (items & money) by friends and family | $995 |
| Actual Total Spend | $934 |
Medical Costs To Date (29 weeks)
| Type of Bill | Billed | Out of Pocket Cost |
| Doctor visits | $1,349 | $0 |
| Lab testing | $6,973 | $0 |
| Ultrasounds | $5,549 | $0 |
| Medical Devices (Breast pump) | $249 | $0 |
| Birthing Classes | $600 | $0 |
| Urgent Care/ER Visits | $8,557 | $0 |
| Total Paid after sales tax | $23,277 | $0 |
| Time elapsed | 29 weeks |
Surprisingly the NIPT was covered 100% by my primary insurance. Unsurprisingly, while this is the total billed for services I’ve incurred through November 2023, it is absolutely not what the insurance has actually paid. Between their plan discount and cost sharing, we have yet to see a formal bill. Because I work in healthcare, specifically with claims data, I’m taking matters into my own hands and educating myself on negotiating medical bills down. While I don’t have any medical bills coming because I’m also covered by a payer of last resort, my husband is another story. Within 6 hours of me being released from the ER, we were back at emergent care for my husband. It resulted in an emergency appendectomy. Of which the pending claims are totaling around $30,000 in billed charges with our primary. Because he doesn’t get secondary coverage like I do, we’ll be waiting on the left over bills.
While my job is a good education on the public insurance coverage side, it lacks opportunity to learn of the private insurance space. How am I educating myself? I’m Googling, listening to podcasts, and recently purchased Never Pay the First Bill. Because knowledge is power, it was well worth the $9 used off Amazon.
Meanwhile, I put in my resignation notice at work and my last day will be Feb 9th. I’m so, so, excited to be able to take the following 6 months post partum off to be with our baby and help get our family to a stable place. There’s many things I want to focus on in that time but first will be healing and recovery.
See our prior estimates of reproducing in the 21st century!
