frugal living on maternity leave

[pinkmallow]

Any tips for living more frugally whilst on maternity leave? I am getting the basic pay and for various reasons was unable to save

[3perfectweemen]

Hi pink ... I'm going onto maternity and I'm going to start bulk cooking. Il make large pot of stew large pot spaghetti Bolognese ,large pot of chicken noodles stir fry , individual portions of lasagna and large pot of mince. I've bought loads of aluminium Chinese dishes I'm going to portion them all out and label them. I'm also going to portion out homemade chicken curry and soups and freeze them so when I can't be bothered or have time to cook il take a meal out instead of doing takeaways. I Shop Lidl and Iceland saves me a fortune and go to pound shop for bath cleaning things its great.

[eastmidswarwicknightnanny]

Sign up to mumsnet surveys and product tests we have tried couple different nappy brands over the past year.

Also sign up to Tesco orchard we get to try lots New products

Make sure you are signed up to every baby group like pampers, hipp organic etc for vouchers n free samples (Emma's diary is good one)

Batch cooking as above is great

Look out what's available at your local children centre with my first 5yrs ago there was loads free stuff this baby there was nothing as all now means tested but some areas offer more than others.

If you breast feed obv that's cheaper and often breastfeeding groups you can attend with baby

Some church hall have baby/toddler groups cheap or free

Lots these baby sing and sign etc do first class free trial you could try lots different ones and not sign up for paid classes after!!

Baby swimming private companies can be expensive so look around and also look at local pools some do structured baby swimming classes for reasonable price.

Shop around for Xmas and birthday gifts make use of night feeds for bargain hunting online.

Food shops - sign up for first shops with all supermarkets to get £12-£15 off first £60 shop Google for codes and use several different email address for multiple shops waitrose is only one that does it on address so only works once.

Use kidstart cash back site when shopping online get cash back at loads places and goes into savings for little one. Can give you my referral link if you want.

Can you see I have just had a year mat leave!!

[CaptainTightpantsforPM]

This is an old thread but the information onit is still really good.

Best tip thread