If you are thinking about using a center (which I preferred to an individual caregiver- because centers have subs to cover teacher sick days and holidays; so my friends who use in-home have to take a lot of time off work to cover the days their caregiver got sick, or the 2-3 weeks of vacation their caregiver takes each year. Note: their contract still requires them to pay during the caregivers vacation time) get on a list NOW. Around here centers often have waiting lists longer than the length of a pregnancy.
In my area, the amount you can put aside in a dependent care FSA barely makes a dent into the cost of a daycare center, so while we planned to utilize it, it wasn't even close to the full amount- it you are using that to think about budgets. As soon as I got pregnant we started putting the cost of daycare into an investment portfolio. We thought it was a good way to start budgeting for it- we could spend 7 or so months being used to that money being "gone" while also starting to "save" for the future.
I found Schoola.com really useful for buying maternity clothes (baby clothes too). You can google search (or PM me) for a referral link to get a pretty good discount on your first order.
For my own circumstances, I'm also really glad I waited until very close to when the baby was supposed to be born to buy anything big; there isn't much need to do that early.
A number of my friends told me to wait and see if I actually needed a stroller before buying one- so many of them wear their babies they never use one at all.
In my area, the amount you can put aside in a dependent care FSA barely makes a dent into the cost of a daycare center, so while we planned to utilize it, it wasn't even close to the full amount- it you are using that to think about budgets. As soon as I got pregnant we started putting the cost of daycare into an investment portfolio. We thought it was a good way to start budgeting for it- we could spend 7 or so months being used to that money being "gone" while also starting to "save" for the future.
I found Schoola.com really useful for buying maternity clothes (baby clothes too). You can google search (or PM me) for a referral link to get a pretty good discount on your first order.
For my own circumstances, I'm also really glad I waited until very close to when the baby was supposed to be born to buy anything big; there isn't much need to do that early.
A number of my friends told me to wait and see if I actually needed a stroller before buying one- so many of them wear their babies they never use one at all.