About Shoestring Baby

Welcome to Shoestring Baby! Shoestring Baby is a site focused making parents life easier on a budget.

• You need someone to help convince your mother-in-law that using secondhand baby gear isn’t crazy? I’m your girl.
• Looking for the perfect baby name? You’ve come to the right place.
• Need well-researched answers to some random parenting question? Pull up a seat.

Hi, I’m Elizabeth. By day, I’m a researcher who completed my Ph.D. prior to becoming a mom. My Ph.D dissertation focused specifically on pregnancy and education of young moms (here’s an example of my published research).

When I got pregnant and ended up on bed rest for hyperemesis and cervical incompetence, I had way too much time to do deep-dive research into all things baby (read more about my hyperemesis story and my bed rest experience).

This site was born out of all those hours applying my research skills to preparing for a pregnancy, baby, and parenting. Here are a few topics I specialize in:

DATA-DRIVEN DEEP-DIVES: Putting on my researcher hat, I love applying an analytical, rigorous lens to parenting topics.

Check out my analysis of the costs breastfeeding vs. formula feeding or one of my diaper comparisons to see what I mean.

BABY NAMES: Baby name trends and data analysis have been a passion hobby of mine for over five years. I’m the girl at the party telling people stories about the rise and fall of the name Heather and why Utah leads the nation in baby name innovation.

I love writing about baby names, like my hunt for the best vintage unisex names and this fun list of girl names with boyish nicknames.

FRUGAL PARENTING: I’ve always been frugal, but having a baby gave me laser focus on financial security and the environmental impact of consumerism. In a past life, I also worked in business education so economical decision making is foundational to me, personally and professionally.

While stuck on bed rest, I managed to get nearly all our baby gear used and/or free through neighborhood Facebook groups. And, I logged every penny we spent on our first baby so I have the data to back it up. Peak into some of our baby spending on one of my monthly baby spending reports.

We now have a baby and a toddler who are both the product of very medically-complicated pregnancies. A personal side goal of this site is to share my pregnancy challenges, because women’s health and pregnancy complications like hyperemesis and cervical incompetence don’t get enough attention or research.

Featured On:
Dollar Sprout: 7 Experts Share Saving Money Hacks
A Dime Saved: Expecting A Little One? Try These 43 Money-Saving Tips From The Pros
A Dime Saved: 23 Surprisingly Useful Life Hacks

I’m glad you’re here and am excited to share with you the cheap thrill of scoring a great used high chair or finding a new baby name. Plus, my partner is sick of me talking to him about how I saved $8 on a free changing pad, so it’s nice to have someone else to talk to about this stuff, you know?

Looking for more from me? You can also catch me writing at Suncoast Family Fun, my site for local family-friendly activities in Florida.