Claire Winograd of Aliso Viejo, Calif., knows she will have plenty of hand-me-down maternity clothes to wear after she conceives her third child. After all, she has sisters and friends who have had babies. "It's a big box that keeps going around," says Winograd, the mother of Nadav, 4, and Ari, 2.

Experts say it's never too early to put aside money for expenses associated with raising a child, expenses that begin before the baby is born with paint for the nursery, infant car seats and maternity clothes.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 2003 report on family expenditures, raising a child to the age of 17 costs parents anywhere from $130,000 to $261,000.

Create a budget for the nine months of pregnancy and a proposed budget for after the baby is born to get in the habit of planning. Money allotted for maternity clothes during the pregnancy may become the budgeted amount for baby diapers and new baby clothes after Baby is born.

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