Today's first time parenting tip - Look back on the past year's expenses to figure out your new budget

If you're the budgeting type, chances are you made one to account for the new expenses you knew would be associated with having a baby. Chances are, you were way off. Now that the year is up, it's a good time to go back, look at your expenses, and figure out a budget for the second year.

There will always be things you can't account for, but if you set aside money for medical expenses and Christmas, knowing that you will have to spend money on them, it can make December a whole lot easier to get through.

To help you out, here's what we spent last year on baby expenses. Take them for what it's worth.

Formula, food and Diapers - $100 a month
Day Care - $3000, this was for about 6 months of part-time care. Yipes!
Health Care - An extra $145 a month for health insurance, and about $500 in out-of-pocket costs
Christmas - $50, we went light
Misc - About $500. This is all the baby gear and miscellaneous stuff you need
Clothes - We got a lot of clothes for the baby shower, and then when he grew out of those it was Christmas time, and we got a bunch more, so we really didn't spend much this year. Next year I'm guessing we'll spend around $500, but we'll see.

If you get paid by the hour, you might have to account for lost wages since I missed work 4 times because my son was sick, and my wife missed work twice. Add in time off for 4 well-visits to the pediatrician as well.

See all the first time parenting tips