Pregnant & Worried about debt!!!!

makeup

Hey There!

Congratulations! :j

I've not got children but my sister had her first 18mths ago and she managed to do it very MSE.

The other posters are right, there are lots of things which you think you might like but only a few that you actually need. I would try and ask in your circle of friends and family for anyone who has had a baby that can lend / give you things.

My sister was lucky and got a lot of stuff like a pushchair, baby bath, changing mat, bags and bags of clothes, mobiles for the bedroom etc etc

I would also get on Freecycle, there are tons of baby things on there. Perhaps your family could check out their freecycle as well, especially if you know people in a 'rich' area.

My sister also joined lots of breastfeeding clubs, baby clubs etc etc which were all either free or very low cost. SureStart will have a lot of info and my have expectant mother classes / clubs which are great for meeting mums in similar situation. They had toy libraries so she often just borrows toys rather than buying them.

My sister got a tip from my cousin's wife that there is a high chair in Ikea which is about a tenner and she said it was the best high chair out there, very sturdy, can put the baby in from quite a young age (with a towel behind for support) and has detachable legs so great for travel. Some of her friends spent far more on high chairs and then bought the Ikea one as it was so much better. My sister has that one and she is really pleased with it.

Also remember that your health is important during this time so don't scrimp on things like fresh fruit and veg and try not to worry too much.

I agree with other posters about putting up a SOA for more advice and also the tips about upping your income until Baby arrives.

Good luck!!

mum2one

I was in your boat when I was expecting dd ok this was back in 2002, but I went from 1k a month, to £250 ssp as I was sick as a dog from before I had even had the pregnancy confirmed and went off sick from 7 weeks gone, it wasnt easy I ended up in a lot of debt, but got there. I walked out from a voilent and abusive partner when I was 7mths gone.....
I had the cot and moses basket new, I brought a travel system off a friend, clothes etc, I was amazed at how much stuff I got given both as presents and clothes that people gave me, honestly as soon as u say I'm having a baby, everybody is so helpful and does everything for you.

I got a wack of items from Primark, Tesco, MAtalan, as babies they grow out of the items so quick, its not worth getting expensive items. xx

li'l_p

I'm in a similar situation, 20 weeks pregnant and worrying about how we'll cope. But to be honest you've just got to be sensible and realistic.

In terms of baby stuff & spending on that, I've got tonnes of stuff already for the baby and not spent very much at all. So far I have got a pine ikea cot (Freecycle), flannelette cot sheets (Freecycle), complete travel system (given to me by a friend who barely used it), baby bath (given to me), Tommee Tippee closer to nature bottles (£15 for 12 - offer in Home Bargains), Steriliser (£8.99 Home & Bargain), 5 bin bags of girls clothes (given to me off a friend - many still with tags!, a large amount of boys clothes (Freecycle), breast pump (£12.49, half price Babys R Us)... and I've just won a moses basket stand on ebay for £10, so a fraction of the cost in the shops.

This is my first baby and I am being sensible. I've seen friends lulled into the whole 'you need to buy everything' only to see that they didn't use most of it, so I'm being really cautious and trying to stick to essentials and the money we're saving getting free or cheaper stuff, allows us to pay for the stuff we wouldn't get 2nd hand (mattress, bottles, etc). I will also use car boot sales when the weather improves as I will probably get a hell of a lot of stuff there too.

Our income will be severely reduced too when the baby comes along, but I am frantically selling stuff at the moment on ebay and stashing this away so we have some extra pocket money to help. I am sure we will all cope fine, after all plenty of people have babies, some in worse situations that us, and if it was that bad, then noone would do it!

Good luck!

Toni_Broke

Agree with carboot sale, my friend sold all her baby things at one and they were immaculate.

mum2one

Hope you dont think Im being cheely, but one quick tip for buying from carboot for baby clothes, if the couple are at the stall, try buying from the bloke, as he will want rid of the clothes, where mum will try and be sentimental and ah but that come from xx and cost me xx,
You can get some bargains, one thing I found a godsend when I had dd was from Poundland fold up changing mat, I had 2, one in her bag, very handy as some baby changing units were not nice, kept the 2nd one downstairs at home, so where ever we were had mat upstairs and downstairs. xx