Starting a family and being MSE about it!

roversbabe

If it takes as long as it took us, you'll have LOADS saved. We tried for 7 years, then gave up. Didn't bother with contraception as we didn't think we needed it. 6 months after we gave up and decided to become child free, I was pregnant. Our miracle baby is nearly 1 now.

The only things that you really need new are a cot mattress, moses basket mattress (if you plan on using a moses basket) and car seat. Check out ebay, NCT sales and charity shops for other stuff. I managed to get a stair gate in excellent condition for £8 from a charity shop and I got a pile of reusable nappies for 25p each from a different charity shop.

Check out tesco and boots for freebies and I would second (or third) the suggestion to use reuseable nappies - we use them now and I've never looked back. Try out a few different ones first before commiting to buying loads of one style as you don't know yet what will suit your baby.

Good luck.

rb x

lizipants

congrats on the baby frontier! we have 2, a 3 yr old and a 10 month old and we have hardly anything money wise when both where first born and to be honest you would be suprised how little you actually need. as long as they have a pram, which can be second hand or uber cheap off ebay, a car seat, a cot and something to eat and something to wear you are onto a winner really. primark is fab for cheap baby clothes, packs of 7 vests are £5 but in the sale are reduced to £2, i bought loads. sleep suits are 3 for £4 (ithink) and are reduced to £2 in the sale to and wash over n over, i get them for our little girl. join all the parenting clubs, boots is a good one, tesco ahve one, hipp, huggies, pampers, they all either give you money off coupons or samples n sometimes both if you lucky. i never bought any weaning spoons all mine are free samples and if ur cleaver and have a few email addresses, like me, u can keep applying to the club and they will send you the samples. if you have any friends that have kids ask them if they have anything they dont want anymore like toys n books n bottles, these are stuff u have loads of n that hard;ly get any wear if your funny about having second hand stuff. also you are entitled to apply for the aternity grant which is £250, that arrives just before the baby is born and is good for the expensive stuff but if u shop on ebay you will get everything ith that and dont forget to claim child tax credit when the baby is born, it wont neccassarily mbe much but anything helps when u cant get out to work. well i tink ive covered everything ive done to keep costs down, oh and the pound shop is fab for baby wipes and nappy bags, dummies, feeding stuff, brush sets and bottles, the range at the mo is disney baby and they really are cute. well good luck xx