Saving for maternity - tips please!

[northernbobbydazzler]

I'm starting maternity leave around the end of October and wondering what tips people have for saving a bit of cash / surviving on less income.

I'm stocking up on household goods such as toothpaste, shower gel etc and buying my 'treats' such as premium face wash, make up before I finish.

I've suspended my gym membership... had grand ideas of swimming everyday when I finish but I'm pretty sure this isn't going to happen (I can always pay as I go). Stopped having acrylics and I'm sorting out some things to put on eBay.

Any other ideas? I'm quite conscious Christmas is going to fall just as my salary reduces drastically.

I found it wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be. I worked out what money I'd have each month and got used to living on that for a few months while I was still working, putting the excess into savings I could dip in to on maternity leave.

I just found I was more careful about spending money, and I wasn't really spending money on nights out, lunches while at work etc which all adds up.

Stock up on wipes, nappies in a selection of early sizes and start registering with online survey sites. When baby is small and feeding and sleeping lots you can earn a fair bit from these

Get cooking! Cook and portion up lots of things for the freezer. When your baby arrives you'll be too worn out to cook so takeaways will be really tempting, but start to add up.

Don't be tempted to buy loads for your baby's first Christmas - they'll be totally spoilt by friends/family plus they'll have no clue what's going on anyway. It's totally ok for Santa to bring nappies, sleeping bags, babygros, vests...

If you're asked for ideas for Christmas, you could ask for vouchers for a coffee shop... then you can still escape the house without dipping into maternity pay.

(Totally boring I know, but it may help )

Agree with PP about stocking up on nappies, wipes, even baby clothes in different sizes if you know what you're having - or if you have spare cash now buy a few gift cards then you already have some 'saved' for baby clothes - not as likely to spend gift card as cash saved up. Look for low cost or free activities / groups you can do with baby. Maybe set a smaller limit for Christmas presents this year. I just had to be much more careful, and like you have already started doing, cut out unnecessary spending.

Also, on the premium make up/skincare... don't know if anyone else found this, but because I wasn't wearing lots of make up everyday while on mat leave, my skin was really healthy so I could risk using slightly cheaper alternatives. I then kept my premium stuff for more special occasions.

Following with interest. I'm due January and love the idea of asking for coffee shop vouchers for Christmas, perfect for siblings to get me.

I also asked for vouchers for Christmas presents some for myself ie to buy some new clothes after baby was born, or ones where I could buy baby clothes or baby items from if needed.

I saved all my £2 coins so I had some cash available

I also did some batch cooking (DM also did some for me too) for the freezer saved me loads of time and as PP said lots of money, would have been too easy for dial a dinner !!

If you haven't already, do a review of your utilities bills, using a site like uSwitch or similar. See if you can switch to better deals, look for alternatives if you have an expensive satellite package etc etc.

Our mortgage company let us reduce the payments in the second half of maternity leave. I also looked at direct debits and decided if essential or not, so reduced or cancelled most charity ones for example.
When you get presents for DC, most shops will let you swap for a different size if you get loads of newborn or impractical outfits.

Start buying baby stuff now - keep an eye out for sales, baby events, nearly new sales, FB selling... you can save a packet this way. I do this for essential stuff (clothes, nappies, cot, sheets).

Yy to batch cooking.

Make sure you're clear on what maternity pay/allowance you're entitled to, and make sure you've done everything you need to do to claim it.

Try to cut your shopping spend - move down a supermarket, or try out a lower price range in your normal supermarket. Lots of them offer introductory £10/20 off your first home delivery shop - go through all of them!

Im already on mat leave but very soon my wage will drop to SMP so we have stocked up on baby milks in the next age group, boxes of wipes, tinned foods/food with good sell by dates. Family sized persil when on offer and softners. Dried Pasta and noodles also have a good date. Shampoo also and bulk buy toilet roll. Know it sounds extreme but these are the things we have found cost us the most out of our budget.

Sacrificing eating out also had saved us ALOT.

I have 2 small babies under 2 and i have found ALDI to be a godsend especially with nappies.Ive even switched my expensive face cream for an aldi one.(needs must :S)

I know lots of people have suggested buying up nappies/wipes in advance. I would advise against doing this. I bought loads of wipes before my twins were born (each time I did an online shop for ages before they were born I bought some as this was recommended by a friend).

One of my babies reacted really badly to the chemicals in ANY wipes except water wipes. I've got packets of the other ones still lying round my house and they are 10 months old.

With nappies you might find one brand works best but not till baby is here (for me I love sainsburys nappies now they are in size 4, hated sainsburys size 2 and literally would not use them cos they always leaked for some reason).

Supermarkets are great for baby clothes, buy other things second hand (furniture, toys etc). So many things are used for such a short time. I've also found that other than baby stuff and the supermarket I hardly spend any money compared to when I was working. Never have time to go out for lunch, when I get a chance it's only long enough for a soft drink or a coffee maybe an ice cream. I'm hardly out in the evenings and don't have all the shops right here for lunchtime shopping. I've purposely not looked on internet shopping as I think that could be so easy to spend a fortune.

I agree to not bulk buying nappies, wipes or milk as you just don't know how your baby could react and it be a massive waste.

Some great ideas... thank you ladies.

I've started saving my £5 notes (decided they're going to be my coffee & cake fund).

Washing powder is another thing I can stock up on!

Done my Christmas shopping list & going to get started on buying gifts before I finish work.

I worked out the difference between my normal salary and smp, and saved the difference. I had a lodger until I was eight months pregnant so that helped loads and hosted students the following summer as I was still on mat leave . Ebayed loads of things. Stocked up on all my make up I use daily.

Saved quite a lot by going out less. Not constantly popping to the shops in my lunch break. You'll be fine! Enjoy this special time x