before i ask my questions let me tell you a little bit about myself; i am a 20 year old, unmarried junior in college. i just found out i am pregnant, a surprise, and now i have lots of planning and life-altering decisions to make. i am desperatley looking for a full-time job (hopefully with insurance) so i can pay the bills, and support a baby. i just broke up with my boyfriend of 6 years about 2 months ago and now that he knows he speaks to me like i am an idiot and doesn't want me to keep it. and blah blah blah (more drama) on to the questions!

couple of questions for the wise:

1) any ways to save/make money in these short few months before the arrival, and afterwards?

2) any places you guys found cheap/used baby things?

3) what types of government help do you/have you had? how did you go about getting it?

4) if you are/were single did you have trouble with new relationships because of the baby?

5) did you give the father the option of being in the childs life or give him one or the other? (i honestly believe that if he is in MY child's life, there will be more harm than help)

6) where did you end up living? (home, own apt, government housing) did you end up living with roommates? if you did, how did that end up working out?

7) how did the rest of your family react?

8) did you end up continuing/finishing school (college or high school)

9) what was the most useful baby toy/accessory you acquired

10) any other things you feel like telling me? any helpful tips! i need all the help i can get!!!

thanks in advance it really, really means a lot to me :-D

OK....here we go!
First and foremost......Babies are NOT as expensive as we are led to believe!
Diapers and formula, are pretty much all that are going to be out of pocket expenses.
State and Federal aid are availible and reasonably accessable. They should cover all prenatal, birth, post, and infant care.
As for Dad, that is up to you, time, and circumstance. Follow your head and then your heart. Becoming a mother will blow your mind wide open in regards to what is best for (your) children.
It will all be alright. Do what you KNOW is right, and nothing else will fail.

Lots of good questions, I'm glad you're ready to start planning for your little one!
If you live in the U.S. one program that I highly reccomend is WIC (women, infants, and children). I'm sure other places have something similar, I just wouldn't know what they call it there. But this program is a nutrition program, and you get vouchers for free specific nutritious foods while you are pregnant and/or breastfeeding, and if you choose to formula feed, once your baby is born you sign him/her up with the program and you will get vouchers for free formula, baby cereal, and baby juice. You will get grocerey benefits until 6 months post-partum, and once your baby is 13 months old he/she will get vouchers for solid food until age 5.

You can also get government help for day care. You will have to fill out forms but once they go through you can get drastically reduced prices for daycare. To get these forms go to your county's job and family services center.

You will also want to look into food stamps and medicaid or healty start for your little one (and yourself) which can also be done at job and family services.

As for school, I encourage you to try and continue with it. My baby is due in 2 months, and I will be continuing with my degree (I'm a sophomore in university) through the last part of my pregnancy and once he is born. A lot of colleges have family housing, which is where I am living. They are apartments that are for students with families, and usually utilities (including cable and internet, woohoo!) are included in your monthly rent. Sometimes they will even provide furniture. You should definitely be able to get government aid for your tuition if not for your housing once you state on your fafsa that you have a dependent. Most single parents in school I know have basically gotten their tuiton completely covered, which is a great help.

check out consignment and resale shops for used baby furniture or clothes, such as Once Upon a Child.

Good luck, and let me know if you need anything!!

\"2) any places you guys found cheap/used baby things?\"

try ebay. you can pick up pretty much everything you need for a baby there and theres always good bargains to be found.