love and money

All this baby gear is pretty bloody expensive. Several people are offering me second hand stuff which I think seems like a good idea - as long as its all clean, in working order and safe (and not too ugly of course!). There are however many people who think this is terrible, and you should only have the newest, best, most expensive of everything for your bundle of joy. and they'll make you feel bad about the idea of second hand - probably to help justify to themselves the ludicrous amounts they are spending on cute designer this and that. Implying how much you spend is a sign of how much you love the baby. Of course I don't plan to scrimp on quality or safety if it would have any impact on us or the baby, but I don't think it will make baby any happier to have a room full of matching designer furniture and accessories. and as my partner says, I don't remember any of the products I had as a baby. So I figure instead of spending 10 grand on all the first stuff for the baby (as one of my colleagues did), I could spend 1 grand and put the other 9 grand in a high interest term deposit for the baby when its no longer a baby - bet baby would remember and appreciate that more! or just spend the extra on more useful, practical or fun things and activities that will help improve baby's and our lives.