Strict budget.

[Heavenscent86]

Thumbs up Strict budget
Hi, I am on a tight budget for my new baby. My first child was born back in 2007 so I don't have anything left of hers apart from a blanket and a couple of dresses. I intend to buy a pushchair second hand, hopefully with a carrycot, I plan on trying to get the Quinny buzz if I can as I had a Zapp from 6 months with my daughter and loved it.
Someone has already given me a Moses basket so will just need to buy a new mattress for that.
Anyway I will be buying my car seat brand new and am wondering what make I should look for that is relatively inexpensive and safe. I am lucky enough to have a £50 mothercare voucher to put towards it if I buy from there.
Also what are the essentials I should have on a tight budget for when I bring baby home? I didn't have much of a budget with my first child so am feeling a bit lost this time.

My top tip is to get a car seat that lasts. We got one that goes from new born to 4 year old. My son is 3.8 and is only getting a new seat because he's going to be a big brother!
K

Car seat and mattress is all you need to get new. I've bought a bugaboo pram with. Accessories for £161, a cit for £10, baby bath, bounce seat and changing mat for £10 all together and a bundle of clothes off all from eBay, all in fantastic condition. You don't need to spend loads.

Find your local Facebook selling group, sometimes There's even a baby specific selling group, get joblots of used clothes for cheaper than ebay and no postage to be paid. I'm talking £15 for a bag of 80 items, winter coats for £2 each etc.

We Got everything off there. Beats ebay hands down.

Anything else you need as you go along, same place.

If you're doing reusable nappies, check our Facebook selling sites cloth nappies for sale, reusable nappy selling page, preloved cloth nappies and accessories.

Same for nursing clothes - Facebook selling page Can I breastfeed in it UK - but for these ebay bundles are good too.

Keep an eye on ebay bundles.

We started buying about 20 weeks and brought things when we saw them on offer so have only paid full price for a couple of things.

All the big supermarkets have baby events so worth looking out for those.

We got some amazing prices at a nearly new sale. I've got friends that have brought bundles of baby clothes from eBay.

We've tried not to buy too many clothes as we think we will most likely get a fair few for gifts.

Also depending on when you are giving birth you can either shop the January sales or if your like myself and giving birth beforehand save from buying things like toys etc and ask for them for Christmas

Thanks everyone. Some great tips here. I will keep my eyes out on eBay and for sale items too. I'm undecided about reusable nappies. I'd like to try them but I don't know anyone with any experience of them. Apart from my mum used them years ago and said the smell from them was terrible. Also I don't have a tumble dryer so it depends if they are quick drying or not.

We are planning on using reusable nappies without a tumble dryer also. We've figured we may need to buy a couple more to allow for drying time but figuring that the nappies should last better being air dried and also not using the electricity of a dryer. The nappy lady website and a few others allow you to fill in a questionnaire with your requirements. Also look for sales little lamb are currently doing one :)

My council used to offer £25 if you sent receipts to show had spent £50 or more on reusable nappies - they could be new or second hand! Might be worth seeing if your area offers anything like that?

For the car seat we got a Joie stages. It's £150 but it lasts from birth to approximately 7 years old (depending on how tall they get) so you wouldn't have to get a new one for ages.

I've also got great stuff off freecycle, a lot of people give away the bigger items. Although all freecycles seem to vary on how active or good they are.

Check what you are entitled too in terms of child benefits and tax credits. You can get the forms before the birth and fill in most of it so it's not a big job after the birth.

There's lots of free activities at the library and children's centres / sure start for after they are born which is a great money saved and good if you want to get out and meet other parents. Some do bumps meet ups for free too - so no need to pay for nct or similar.

As others have said, Facebook selling sites, preloved website and local sales.

For cheap nappies there's a price comparison site called bum deal which will save you heaps. It also has a page of local eBay bargains, for your tems that are pick up only

We will be.doing the same op. Our son was born in 2008 and we couldn't save anything as we thought he would be a one and only. There are baby markets advertised locally with stalls. A bit like nct sales but run by a business. I'm planning on investigating these. I'm also hoping that family and friends with young children may want to pass on unwanted items, fingers crossed, as we did this when our son out grew his stuff.

OP reusable a from your mums era are unrecognisable from the ones today :) from the world of terry cloths fastened with pins, boiled to clean and plastics on top, welcome to the world of Harry Potter nappies, all in ones, velcros, buttons, you name it :)

I got the Quinny Buzz on eBay, came with the carrycot, buggy attachment and a maxi cosi car seat which is compatible with the chassis on the Quinny. Worth keeping an eye out for offers on the maxi cosi :)

Ebay is great to get expensive cot beds fror a fiver if you can collect. Get a cheap new mattress from Ikea.