When you’re living in 650 sq feet with a curtain as your “privacy door”, you start to wonder how you’ll ever fit in with a whole other human (and their things!)into your life.

My husband and I had just graduated, gotten married, and moved across the country to New York. We were alone, excited, and already on a tight budget. Two months after our big move, we found out we were expecting our first child.

The unknowns of parenting can be so exciting, especially as new parents! But the unknown that frightened us a little more than others was the unknown costs. Baby blogs, influencers, and email ads all target you with what you “NEED”. I never knew that baby products could cost so much for such a small human. Then, when generous people started asking for a registry all I could think was, “Wow, how nice but also ...where are we going to put all of that?”

Living financially and environmentally “small” isn’t the easiest thing, but it’s also not as complicated as we make it out to be. Here are some tips to help fit baby essentials into your tight budget and limited space.

Budgeting for a Surprise Baby

Many people spend years saving up to have a baby, so if you have an unexpected pregnancy you may feel like you are not prepared financially for a child. Yes, inflation stinks and having a plan is nice, but you can totally pull off a successful financial plan for your family while pregnant.Whether your finances are kept to yourself or if you share them with a partner, everyone needs to be on board with the plan.

Here are some simple questions that can help you form a financial plan before your baby arrives. You don’t need to be a financial expert or take years to save up to successfully navigate budgeting for a baby. Here are some basic tips:

• Determine your financial priorities
• What do you need to pay every month?
• What will prenatal care insurance cover?
• Think long term
• Do you know what your maternity leave plan is?
• Do you have a will?
• Create a new budget
• What are your baby “must haves” and when you’ll buy them?
• Determine where you will fall short or have gaps

At the end of this process, you may realize you cannot successfully afford the new expenses a baby brings on. I’ve been there and this realization can be stressful. However, that is what our social safety net is for. You can check out our resources on applying for food (WIC), housing, or child care assistance.

Talk to friends and family! If you have a community willing to support you, let them in. I know this can be a humbling experience, but no one makes it through this world alone.

Now don’t create a plan and then just leave it in excel sheets untouched. Schedule monthly check-ins for yourself or your partner to provide you peace of mind when it comes to bringing a baby into the world on a budget.

Tip: If you have a partner, create your financial plan with them and be on the same page!

Looking for more financial direction? Use our Financial Priorities Worksheet as your guide!

Baby Registry Essentials

A budget-friendly baby registry is a must if you are limited on space. We had very limited space for baby gifts. But willing to receive any generosity thrown our way, we created a baby registry.

Tip: If you’re tight on space like we were, create a fund for gift cards and donations. It can be uncomfortable to tell excited friends, “The best gift would actually be money or a gift card.” Giving and receiving gift cards isn’t as fun as cute baby items covered with dinosaurs and ridiculous puns. But if you don’t have extra space AND could use the help financially, don’t be afraid to keep it real! Will it upset some people? It could possibly upset someone but most people just want to support you on your new journey.

So, you said yes to gift cards and building the registry—now what? Build your registry!

I won’t lie, I could have filled up 650 sq feet with aesthetically pleasing baby gear quite easily. I tried and was disappointed when I realized that 1. We couldn’t afford that and 2. There was literally no space for it. So what did we do? We created a minimalist baby registry checklist. Every item on our list was a baby essential. This helped us financially and kept our apartment clutter-free.

We got back to the basics. Build your registry from the ground up. My philosophy for a registry is to keep it simple:

• A place for the baby to sleep. Buy once and get a crib that can turn into a toddler bed. These are all over Facebook Marketplace and Buy Nothing groups. Or get a space-saving bassinet or a safe co-sleeping bed attachment now and then worry about the toddler bed when the time comes.
• A mode of transportation
• Carseat/ Stroller travel system
• Baby wrap
• Diaper bag
• Clothes to wear (for you)
• Baby clothes
• Easy access clothing for you to pump or breastfeed
• Tools for feeding baby
• Bottles
• Nursing cover
• A high chair that attaches to a table chair
• Things to keep you both healthy
• Baby grooming kit
• Bath items
• Nipple cream

You can buy all the extra “fun” stuff later on with any remaining registry funds. You can use a service like babylist.com or make an Amazon registry. If you need help building your registry, check out our Must Haves here.

Organizing Your Space

What can you fit, what needs to go, and how will you organize once it’s all there? Here are a few things to think through as you prepare a space for your baby:

Where will you store the stroller? Does it fold well?

Is there a way you can limit light in the baby’s part of the room so you can put them down for a nap and continue to be up?

Where do you plan to nurse/pump?

In the end, the only furniture we bought was a space-saving bedside bassinet, changing table, and skinny IKEA toy organizer for baby clothes and medical accessories. When folks say less is more, they really mean it.

Valuing Practicality over Perfection

We ended up moving a month after our daughter was born, living with family for a few months (which is a whole other story!) before ending up in a new, larger space. Everything we bought was to help us live “small,” and we carried that practice with us.

I know that a baby in a small space can be overwhelming but remember, they are small. They don’t need very much— just your love. And, you’re more creative than you think!

Sometimes we aren’t in a life season where our babies can have the perfect Pinterest nursery. If your changing table and diaper pail end up in the kitchen next to your table, then you’re just like me and you’re going to be fine. Remember practical things matter more than perfect things. And you can be an amazing mom even if your resources are limited.