Great 'pregnancy MoneySaving' Hunt

kettlenic

Great thread - thanks for all the tips!!

I am going to start putting a little aside for nappy allowance - not keen to buy in advance as have seen so many on ebay where people have bulk bought and have too many in the wrong size!

I have been lucky enough to have been given a lot from my sister in law - who is not money saving at all

and my parents want to buy the pram so thats a big expense covered which is wonderfully generous of them.

I am making a list of tips from the thread and my sister is organising a baby shower in August so will asses what else we need after that and hit the carboot sales

thanks to a tip on here I noticed a baby girls bundle on freecycle which I have responded too so fingers crossed x

Lindy_-_Loo

If you dont want to buy extra sheets for your moses basket, use old pillow cases of bed sets. Both my boys were born prematurely and had serious reflux issues and we would go through many sheets a day.

One night I realised I had run out so used a pillowcae and never looked back!

Mossop93

Big tip: Check your area for a baby clothes swap (or set up your own). You take in the clothes your baby has out grown and swap them for some in the next size up.

It works well as a continual cycle because there will always be someone with a bigger kid donating and a smaller kid looking for clothes.

We used to have a great one that you donate and collect from. If you have no donations you pay a small bundle price and then the money from that is used to buy a bundle of stuff from eBay or facebook to replace what's gone to you. I'm not sure if its still going, if not I may set up my own one to continue doing that as I know it was a god send when little one was having growth spurts!

Leggings - lived and dyed in them when pregnant! Used to get them for £3 off eBay because they were decent enough quality. Still get them there in fact. The crotch's can go a bit after 6 months but easy to stitch up or replace as only cheap. And during pregnancy I'd normally bought another pair before the crotch had gone haha.

If you plan to bottle feed get the ready made formula. They're less than £1 per carton. Get a few different brands. Then when you find the one your baby likes buy the tubs of formula. £10 is a lot to pay for formula that's gonna be used once and then have to buy another. And hard to sell on (I mean would you buy opened formula? You don't know how its been stored. Could have bugs in it! Eww).

If anyone asks what they can do/buy for you as a baby gift - ask for baby grows/sleepsuits or for them to prepare some meals that you can freeze.

Learn how to make flapjacks/breakfast bars. At 4am when you're tired, hungry and feeding the baby you want something quick and small to snack on. Chances are you won't go grab grapes or an apple. So make your own healthy flapjacks! (I have a quick easy recipe - fruit and nut meusli in a bowl. Zap some butter in the microwave so its practically liquid, mix in some sweetener or sugar - quarter cup per half cup of butter. Pour it over the muesli and mix until you can't mix it anymore. Add more muesli if your mix is too runny. Stick it on some greaseproof paper on a baking tray and into the oven for 10-15 minutes at 220C. Voila!)