Thrifty pregnancy and new baby tips...

[PregnantGrrrl]

What thrifty tips do you have for during pregnancy / when you have a new bubba?- Share them here!

My tip- stuff overpriced maternity Tshirts. I bought a stack of Primark vest tops a size or two bigger. £1.50 each! And vest tops are handy for breastfeeding too.

Here here for Cheap Primark tops!
Also- for knickers for your hospital bag- sod uncomfy paper ones- I got 5 cotton pairs for £2.50 in matalan.

xx

Freecycle, to give away the mountains of outgrown things, and recieve lots, mostly in great condition!

I also cut the legs off my DS's outgrown babygros/ trousers and sewed them up to make short ones for the summer.

i did that too re: knickers. I bought a pack of Asda granny pants and binned them after use.

And heavy flow towels, rather than expensive 'maternity' ones.

swallow your pride and ask to borrow stuff friends' babies have grown out of - cot, bouncy chair, clothes, babygym, pushchair, anything.

Get a Boots Advantage card -its amazing how the points (ie. money) adds up on the card.
Also look out for BOGOF offers, Boots have them all the time.

No matter how cute they look, babies don't shoes until they can walk.

or even better, get baby stuff in Tesco using a John Lewis credit card - cheaper than Boots and you get Tesco points and JL points.

And the pampers/huggies etc clubs send you regular £3/£4 off vouchers, which if used on a bogof mean almost free nappies.

Babies don't care what they wear so long as it's comfy.
They are also oblivious to matching decor in the nursery

ebay ebay ebay! Especially for toys/baby clothes.

We have a swapshop as well as freecycle too that's really good.

agree about Ebay too.

i had DS's pushchair brand new, £60 less than the shop price, plus 2nd hand steam steriliser and baby monitor for hardly anything.

not to mention the MN classifieds boards, had a few bargains from there too

Ebay, Freecycle and borrowing for me!

My poor LO isn't going to know the meaning of the word 'new'. My calcs say I've saved about £900 (compared to buying mid range items new).

Good luck!

And don't buy a single 'proper' book until they are at least three. G for cheapo card ones or plastic.
DS munched/ripped his way through a very expensive collection of 'that's not my..' books and a few others within weeks.

Don't bother with the full matching nursery malarky. We just painted the room, then i got some tester pots and a cheap stencil. When DS is old enough to hate the stencils, we can just paint over them.

Frugal baby tips here

don't fkn buy up mothercare

young babies need the following:

-some clothes, very basic these, sleepsuits and a few cardis and so forth.

-some method of carrying them. a sling is cheap and fine for the first few months for most parents. or get a pushchair secondhand

• cosleep

-breastfeed

-don't fgs buy sodding JARS. they taste like sawdust and are bloody expensive

They do not NEED anything else

Do bear in mind resale value when you buy though. We have got nowt back for our basic graco, nor our mothercare own brand stroller. We got a p+t and some other bits when baby #2 arrived and have got our money back.

(I meant at least SOME of our money back. Sadly the ceiling then fell in )

Another vote for ebay. I don't think dd had much at all that was new except travel system (but that was in a sale). We got a cot off a colleague for £30, a Mamas and Papas one worth 5 times that much and in perfect condition.
Hand me downs for washable things like bouncy chairs, play mats etc. This time, we're having twins so have bought matching stuff off ebay. Steriliser and bottle warmer for 99p each!

She had new outfits etc, but most of the things we were given second hand were like new anyway. Saved us a fortune!

Also, really think about what's essential. Change table only really essential if you have an c-section. I planned on using a change mat on the floor but had an emergency section and got a change table from Ikea for £18 a week after dd was born.

Don't be proud about 2nd hand stuff, we've got some amazing bargains from NCT sales (cot for £30), Car boot sales and Charity shops.

there is also NOTHING wrong with splashing out on stuff you love for the baby, imo. but if money is tight, then...you can cut RIGHT back

even if you do have a c-section, a normal chest of drawers with a changing mat on top does just as well.

and bath them in the kicthen sink.

Ikea does some amazing bargains not only are they cheap but usually well designed and last for ever. (Bedding in particular)
All you need is someone who can put the furniture together.

but go with a list - Ikea is one of the worst places for coming home with much more than you set out to buy, which is never thrifty.