New Parents, how much have you spent on mum&baby stuff?!

[paow]

Hello all!
I am 13 weeks and took a trip down mothercare yesterday, so many bits and pieces I will need that I am starting to wonder how much is all going to cost!
From maternity clothes to the cot, pram, etc.
I would love to get an idea from you lovely ladies to see how much roughly you've spent so far.
I'm hoping to get some stuff from family and bits from Ebay, so they don't cost too much! But would like to start putting some money aside now for all that.

Thank you!

i wrote a list and estimated the price and it came to around £1000, although after i have bought everything i think it will be more than that!

my list went from £1000 to about £500 and £200 was reusable nappies - althou we had the cot, pram and changer brought for us which was the expensive stuff, also I haven't bothered with the room all matching - just bumper and cover, got loads of stuff from here and ebay. you'll be brought loads of clothes - I didn't beleive anyone! lol. also mothercare I found v v expensive, look at tescos, babies r us or places like pound strecher - they do fleecey baby blankets (for a crib sized) for £3 and in the sale they're cheaper still! ooh and also wait for the sales, I got all my bottles/steraliser/hand punmp for £35 tommee tippee instead of the £70 odd it was ment to be in the sale.

eBay and your local free paper classified ads can save you a lot of money unless you really want the brand new fully coordinated nursery look.

We only bought stuff that we thought we needed and that we didn't get given second hand from friends or couldn't buy from Ebay/classifieds.

When your baby gets older you'll be desperate for the space in your home and will understand, like we did, why some parents are so keen to offload bulky stuff for free or very cheaply.

(ooh yes norms forgot that, I got 120 odd peices of NB and 0-3 clothing all sorts for £30 from a local lady, all good stuff as well, was v v happy) and she chucked in a pack of NB pampers!

I am not a new Mum, but I do remember that I saved loads of money getting bits from a NCT sale while pregnant with DS1. I also borrowed some bits from friends who had babies before me.
Munz is right in saying that you will more than likely be bought stacks of clothes after the baby is born, so you don't need to go overboard before the birth.

I am 39 weeks so baby not here yet- may have to buy more bits(!!) We spent about £1000 and were lucky because my parents bought us the travel system and in laws bought us the cotbed.It soon mounts up! We don't have much family though and don't know many people where we live yet so maybe you will be given more second hand stuff than we were. I loved the Mammas and Papas nursery stuff and found a little independent shop that could get it for 10-20% less so worth shopping around.

Lidl has some excellent baby items in at the moment i.e. nappy buckets at very cheap prices. Just incase you want to save some money.

wouldn't like to hazard a guess probably over a grand at least, tho i should say some stuff didn't even get used.

Thank you so much for giving me an idea, I will def look at the local paper and the nct sales, etc. and start putting some money aside now.

PAOW another good tip is to sign up for baby clubs eg tesco and boots pampers and huggies etc you get some fantastic freebies and money off coupons x

The Huggies club is really good, as not only do you get lots of money off vouchers, but you get a free changing bag packed with loads of freebies when you buy your first pack of Huggies NB nappies!