We are now at week 13 and so far this is what we have accomplished in our efforts.
1+ years of fertility treatments covered partially by insurance ~$2000 ($4000 total)
4 Visits for checking up on the babies ~$200 ($1000 total covered)
Carbon footprint: .27 Tons for transportation
The past two weeks we have been hitting garage sales and our church had a large rummage sales. We acquired ~12 outfits for each age group (newborn, 0-3, 3-6, 6-9, 9-12) up to one year. We also purchased plastic totes to organize the clothing into. We will be using these as the babies grow out of them to purchase and store new used clothing. Since garage sales only happen during the summer. We believe that this is a necessary evil, but as we have never thrown out a plastic tote, I think that they will get may years of use. My wife also decided that she must have a set of outfits at a local retail store that were on "clearance" and Buy one get one free. We also found a good soft front/back baby carrier at a local Maternity and Baby thrift store. The carrier was in near new condition and only cost $10.
Pros: We were able to find lots of good used clothing at garage sales in our area. Better than what goodwill or value village often carries and for $.25-$.50 per item rather than $4 at GW or VV or $8 at Retail.
Cons: You have to drive to the sales. Since we don't know the sexes of the babies yet, we couldn't purchase gender specific clothing which was most of what the sales had. Many of the sales had clothing that didn't match up with the age of our children (i.e. summer clothing when we needed winter and winter clothing when we needed summer).
Total cost $45 Garage Sales, $20 Retail.
Carbon Footprint: < .1 Tons
What we have learned
We will need to shop garage sales several times more to find the correct clothing for the age ranges (i.e. we still need newborn winter clothing). We determined that we needed the boxes because we need to plan ahead as you can't guarantee that sales will have the right kind of clothing when you need it. We were unable to find any twin strollers or car seats in good condition at garage sales, but found several single strollers.
What We Have and What We Need
Clothing: 50%
Toys: None for 0-6, only books for 6-12
0/1 Twin Stroller
0/2 Infant Car Seat Adaptable Stroller Bases
0/2 Infant Car Seats
0/2 Infant Car Seat Bases
1/2 Infant Front/Back Carriers
0/2 Cribs and mattresses
0/1 Changing Tables
0/1 Dressers
0/2 Infant Seats (Bepod or similar)
0/2 Playard Fencing (1 for home, 1 for travel instead of 2 playpens)
0/1 Large play mat for travel
0/2 Mobiles
1/2 Crib sheet and liner sets
0/1 Baby Monitor
Sunday, August 9, 2009
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