Cost for the 1st year of Twins

Hi girls,

My twins will be here on oct 7th, i was just wondering how much does it cost for twins 1st year. Just curious and thinking of making a budget also and what else do i need to do and what i can take out on monthly budget, ofcourse not in the babies needs but everything else around the house we spend the money on like cable and phone and other misc bills and stuff in which we can cut on. I also have an 8 year old so his activities and all also in consideration i have to think about, also i want to start thinking about his summer camp for next summer so i guess i want to put some money aside for his camp every month or so.

So all you experienced mothers in twins can you gals please give me an idea how much does it cost for twins 1st year in this wonderful world

 

My twins cost us on average $500-$600 a month. Granted we bought pamper diapers and wipes, top notch forumla, etc. My mom bought 90% of their clothes so that's not including clothes. That was just basic neccessities. GL with your soon to be arrivals!

 

at almost 5 months old we spend $200/month on diapers (luvs), we get WIC, but if not it would cost $200/month for my sons formula (hes on nutramigen), and about $100/month for my daughter. toys we get off craigslist, clothes we get second hand off ebay. im planning to make my own baby food (supposed to be super easy), and im in the middle of switched to cloth diapers, sorta using both right now, so that helps with money (or lack of it rather!!). if you keep their toys/clothes in good condition you can resell and make some money back. we bought everything on sale for the nursery- each crib cost $50 brand new, i painted a old dresser white to match it, they dont have bedding sets cuz i think theyre cute, but silly. i made curtains out of sheets (polka dots! very cute), and bed skirts out of the same sheet set. the bigger items like swings, high chairs we got from the shower. hopefully some of the other ladies will be able to give you a little more help.

 

We have got to figure out a budget here soon! We don't seem to skimp or try to save on anything. We buy Pampers everything, Similac,
Gymboree, Gap...it's ridiculous. I did find some VERY cute onesies at Wal Mart and some cute pants at Target, so that seemed like I was
at least making an effort! Pottery Barn Kids is killing me!!!!
But, seriously...the honeymoon's over...we went through a lot to get these girls so I think we went into it with the attitude of hey we've waited this
long and been through h$ll so we are going to get these girls everything! That has lasted up until now, at 3 months old! ha ha!

A family meeting will be held soon to start figuring up a budget: joining Sam's Club, stopping the clothes buying, paying more attention to the formula we waste. One thing I will NOT change is Pampers diapers (at least not for now) and Similac. No generics there.
Good luck!

 

I'm so cheap. I breastfed, cloth diapered, and made baby food... plus dressed them entirely in gifts and hand-me-downs for the first 6 months. After that, I bought their clothes mostly at the outlet mall or consignment sales. Most of our big stuff was either given to us or purchased used (you don't really need an $80 exersaucer when they use it for something like 3 months!) I didn't keep track but I probably averaged less than $100 month.

 

I stopped counting ...

 

I think there are some things you can do cut down on the costs - like looking at garage sales, community sales, second hand stores, ebay etc for some items. I only really bought a crib and car seats new - the rest was second hand or borrowed. Clothes for the first 5 months were all footed sleepers because I couldn't be bothered to fight with clothing that went over the head etc. I bought like 20 sleepers at a second hand store for like $40!
What I was happy to ask for from people as gifts was gift certificates for housecleaning, meal service, and some of the big things like stroller, change table etc.
We also breastfeed so that saves lots of money, we used costco brand diaper wipes (they are great), but we always splurged on diapers a little - figured the less leaks the better!

 

For the first 4 months we averaged about $500.00 a month for Pampers brand diapers, Good Start Culture B Formula and Similac Lactose Free Formula (they were on different formula), wipies, rash cream, toiletries, etc......just the essentials.

Good Luck!!!!

 

I stopped counting as well...budget, schmudget....
We do buy Pampers Diapers, Huggies Wipes and Similac Isomil which add up to quite a bit (can't WAIT for them to drink milk!!)
Other than that, I don't notice that we are spending TOO much money?
I don't buy clothes from baby gap, janie and jack, gymboree on a regular basis (maybe for a specific occasion) but buy them from Target, Walmart, Childrens Place, oshkosh outlet etc.
They grow SO fast that it is really hard to even keep up, so other than their 'special' outfits we don't spend a fortune on their clothes. It's just not worth it when they grow out of them in a month or two
I was fortunate enough to have 3 baby showers & we received so much stuff (clothes for all different ages and toys/jumparoos/swings etc). Registering for all of that stuff really paid off :good:

 

Lets see.. 100+ per month on diapers. 26$ per can of formula. (nutramagen) Both of them so.. about 500$ just for that. 1 can every day and a half or so. Plus all the clothes and wipes and Misc.

 

At 8 months here are our "fixed" expenses:


$65/month - hospital grade breast pump
$60/month - Parent's Choice formula (to supplement)
$80/month - Luvs fiapers (the only ones that don't leak overnight for us)
$100/month - baby food (though I have started making some, too), yo-Baby ypgurt, Puffs, etc.
$10/month - wipes (big box of Parents Choice - 14pk - lasts about 6weeks)


Then there are dr. visit copays, prescriptionds, clothing when needed, a new toy/book here and there....

Not too bad, but definitely a dent in the budget!

 

We use Similac Isomil Soy formula due to allergies to everything else, Pampers because Huggies leaked for us, and Playtex Drop In's bottles because I thought they would be easier to clean. We monitored usage and found that formula, diapers, and bottle liners cost $80 per week.

We don't buy clothes because my MIL & SIL go crazy on that end and bring 2 to 4 outfits each visit. We got swings, bouncy seats, exersaucers, etc. from our baby shower or hand me downs from my sister.

I did find that Target brand Tylenol & Mylicon are 1/3 the price of the name brand for the same ingredients. Also they have bottle liners for 60% cheaper than Platex. I try to save were I can, but we just figure we are always gonna be tight on money.

 

Thank you girls, its been great, so i assume that it prob won't be more than $600 for top-notch things, not that i will go to that route but it does make my mind at ease, coz i was thinking if i could afford some 2 to 3 hr help after my mom leaves. mom will be here for 1 month and then she will leave.

so i can put that also beyond my $600 budget.

you girls have been great, love you all :bow2:

Mina

 

We spend over $400 a month on just formula.. Diapers is about $40 a week, buying 2 large boxes..

 

These are estimates...
$35 monthly on hospital grade pump rental.
$60 month on diapers (Luvs at Costco, 2 big boxes)
$15 month on wipes (Target brand)

No formula costs yet (and hopefully not in the near future).

 

QUOTE(Kate1587 @ Sep 16 2008, 08:32 PM) [snapback]983327[/snapback]
We have got to figure out a budget here soon! We don't seem to skimp or try to save on anything. We buy Pampers everything, Similac,
Gymboree, Gap...it's ridiculous. I did find some VERY cute onesies at Wal Mart and some cute pants at Target, so that seemed like I was
at least making an effort! Pottery Barn Kids is killing me!!!!
But, seriously...the honeymoon's over...we went through a lot to get these girls so I think we went into it with the attitude of hey we've waited this
long and been through h$ll so we are going to get these girls everything! That has lasted up until now, at 3 months old! ha ha!

A family meeting will be held soon to start figuring up a budget: joining Sam's Club, stopping the clothes buying, paying more attention to the formula we waste. One thing I will NOT change is Pampers diapers (at least not for now) and Similac. No generics there.
Good luck!


LOL same here with the clothes, dressing 2 girls is so much fun!

I do use the generic diapers and formula to save money. I put the cheap diapers on them during the day and then at night we use Huggies overnights. I have no idea how much it costs, I know most of the clothes I buy them are not "neccessities" so mine would be skewed anyway.
When I was using the name brand formula we were spending $50/week on formula. Now we are spending $22/week. (we go through 2 cans per week)

 

I had read somewhere that for twins, you will go through an average of 5000 diapers the first year :blink:

That's insane!!

 

We spend

$50 a month in diapers (we use BJ's or target brand)
$20 a month in wipes (whatever's on sale at BJs or BJs brand)
$150 a month in formula (Target generic)
$50 in clothes (I mostly get them off ebay but buy a few occasionally)
Probably $30 a month in toys (if I add up everything I've spent and divide by 12, got everything second hand though)
I'm guessing food is going to be around $100 a month in average (after 7 months)

So roughly $350 a month for us for the year... but then you add the big expenses like crib, car seats, high chairs, swings etc (got those off craigslist too), it's closer to $500 a month.

 

I'm just learning but we use the pampers swaddlers so they are more expensive than some but I go through probably 10-15 diapers a piece a day but best thing to do is buy things in bulk at Sams or Costco and so far I've spent probably 600-700 in since birth just on nick nack stuff......