When our friends with kids told us about how expensive diapers are, I decided to begin planning ahead. I had just started learning to coupon and began adding diapers into my shopping hauls whenever I came across a good deal that was too good to pass up. This was back in 2014. The retail price of diapers can be us much as $0.40 each, and there were times I was able to buy them as low as $0.04 each. On average, it can cost around $750 for diapers in baby’s first year, so we’ll have saved ourselves hundreds of dollars by the time Bella is fully potty-trained. We had amassed a pretty sizable stockpile of diapers before Bella was born, even after gifting many packs to family and friends over the years for their baby showers. We’ve actually won a few diaper raffles because we would give multiple pack to the parents-to-be. Bella is now almost 2 years old. We’re in no rush to have her potty-trained, and luckily, we still have a lot of diapers size 4 and up that should last us until she’s ready to move on to the potty. We haven’t had to buy any diapers since before she was born. When building up our diaper stockpile, I used this infograph I found on Pinterest to figure out how much of each size we may need.

Of course, diapers aren’t the only expense new parents need to take into consideration when it comes to baby. When you factor in things like a crib, stroller, car seat, and other baby items, you could end up spending over $10K for baby’s first year. Check out Baby Center’s First-Year Baby Costs Calculator if you want a better idea of what expenses to expect. While all this may feel overwhelming for first-time parents, having a baby doesn’t have to break the bank. Here are some of the ways we navigated the finances of having a baby:

Pile up cash: When we found out that we were pregnant, we knew we had to get our finances in order. Being in Baby Step 2 of Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps, we were making as many extra payments as we could towards paying down our debt. While I was pregnant, we stopped making those extra payments and started saving all the extra money in our starter emergency fund from Baby Step 1 in case any emergencies came up. Fortunately for us, there were no major complications during the pregnancy, so after Bella was born, we brought our emergency fund back down to $1,000 and threw the rest of the money we had saved back towards our debt.

Research labor and delivery costs: This was one of the first things I did when I found out I was pregnant. I would definitely recommend checking your health insurance coverage so you know what to expect. I set up regular deductions from my paychecks into our Health Savings Account so that we would have enough to cover the costs of labor and delivery when Bella was born without having to incur any additional debt.

Look for free resources: We were pleasantly surprised to find that our hospital offered several different classes to help prepare first-time parents for childbirth, caring for a newborn, and even breastfeeding, all at no additional costs. We took every class that was offered, and we felt better prepared when Bella finally arrived.

Create a baby registry: We registered at multiple stores – Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Buy Buy Baby – (and ultimately used babylist.com to have all our registries in one place) so that we could take advantage of all their freebies and discounts. We received items like bottles, diapers, soaps and lotions, swaddle blankets, and even onesies.

Breastfeed: With newborns feeding as much as 8 times a day, formula-feeding can end up being very costly. As a working mom, I knew that it would be challenging to breastfeed, but I made it work, and I still nurse Bella to this day. I believe there are so many benefits to breastfeeding and that it’s one of the reasons Bella continues to remain in good health and thrive.

Make your own baby food and opt for whole foods: There have been stories circulating the news recently about how many major baby food companies had food products that contained high levels of heavy metals, and this made me extremely glad that we made our own baby food. Bella’s first solid food was bananas (mixed with rice cereal and breastmilk), and eventually our go-to baby food was a base of either sweet potatoes or apples mixed with vegetables. A 4oz pouch of sweet potato baby food can cost a much as $1.79, and we were buying organic sweet potatoes at $1.79/lb. When cooked and blended with water to make a puree, the organic sweet potato would yield a lot more than the 4oz pouch.

Don’t go overboard on clothes and shoes: When parents tell you that kids grow up so fast, it’s true! There are many clothes and shoes that Bella only wore once (or not at all!) because she outgrew them way too quickly. If you’re planning to buy baby clothes for your first-born, skip the newborn size and size up instead. Don’t worry about anything being too big because they will eventually grow into them. Ask friends and family if they have any baby clothes they don’t need anymore. Check your local thrift stores for baby clothes. When it comes to shoes, don’t buy them until they’re old enough to walk. Bella started walking full-time at around 11 months and she was a size 4C.

You don’t need a lot of (or sophisticated, high-tech) toys: Especially in the first few months. Bella’s favorite thing to play with was a plastic bottle. There’s something about the crinkly plastic that she found appealing, and a lot of other moms I’ve talked with said that their babies also loved playing with water bottles. Even empty wipes packs will do the trick! Have you seen those videos of moms that put a toy and a random household object in front of their baby? In all of those videos I’ve seen, the babies never picked the toy. It just goes to show that it doesn’t take much to entertain an infant.

Couponing: Like I previously mentioned, this is how I saved our family hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on diapers as well as other household and baby items (and it’s one of the ways we were able to get by a little bit easier when Zac lost his job, since we didn’t have to purchase a lot of things). I got into couponing after binge watching Extreme Couponing when it was on Netflix, and I learned how to do it from The Krazy Coupon Lady . The basic principle of couponing is to match up sales with any available coupons to maximize savings. I’ve heard some people say they don’t want to bother with couponing or shopping around for the best prices because “time is money”, but with all the technology we have today, it is so quick and easy to find good deals. Over 90% of net worth millionaires say they use coupons some or all of the time when shopping, so why not do what millionaries do?

I hope you found some of these tips helpful! There a lot of things we’ve learned about what to do (and what not to do) as first time parents, and we’ll continue to share them here. As much as you prepare for parenthood, you can never really be ready for what’s to come. Much love and respect to all you parents out there that are reading this. You’re doing a great job!