Adoption, young children and saving money

bluep

Sorry, I don't think there's on particular nappy thread, however, I stock up two ways:

Tesco:
use the 1000s points for £50 spend and buy their huggies 2 for £16 offers and baby wipes online and get it delivered. This means that we get loads of clubcard points each year (i.e. around 10,000 per year which = £400 of deals vouchers towards a holiday or alton towers annual passes for us all - we live nearby and toddler is free to get in so a GREAT way of spending a family afternoon or day).

Boots:
every now and then Boots do triple points offers, plus there are codes on the discount thread for 1000/750 for £75 spend or £50 spend or £10 off a £50 spend, plus they give 500 point offers for £40+ spend on baby items, plus they do boots wipes buy one get one free and for example 2 for £16 on huggies....AND don't realise that all these offers combine so you end up with say 2000 points on your boots card (worth £20 in store), 6 packs of nappies and 10 packs of wipes for £50 or so. The points are always useful in boots - just use them to buy more baby wipes on BOGOF in store!

Other things to do:
get yourself a next online account, signup for emails and hope that you get VIP invites for the sale or if no invite, check back here on the forums at sale time and use one of the methods to get into the sale early (i.e. there are usually ways posted in threads here), buy lots of half price bargains for the next size up.

Ebay - if you see anything that you want in children's shops, usually you can find it brand new but cheaper on ebay! I buy a lot of shoes on ebay for my daughter as I know for instance, I can have her measured up in a shop for kickers or try on nike trainers, then say I want to go away and think about it....hehehe, then buy that size in that brand on ebay and know that it will fit properly! If you are careful, you can get kids shoes that have barely been worn as they've been grown out of.

Quidco - join this cashback site and use it to click through to anything you buy online - it all adds up and I've got over £300 cashback this year along by buying insurance, tescos, boots, christmas presents and stuff through there.

Start hanging out at:
here - on the bargains forum
www.hotukdeals.com (all sorts of bargains!)
www.paidtoshop.co.uk (tescos codes)
and buy christmas presents/clothes/essentials as and when they come up cheap rather than the time of year when you are desperate to get them.

NCT sales - join up and volunteer to help at the next sale - that way you'll get to see everything as you help them lay out the stuff, plus the volunteers get 30 mins before the doors open to shop first and grab the good stuff! This is a goldmine for all sorts of toddler equipment/clothes and its usually very cheap and good quality. I also sell our old toys and clothes there too - made £60 in the last sale and it was all stuff I would have given to the charity shop otherwise even though it was good stuff. Plus, you will make friends who have children the same age and thats good for advice/playing locally etc...

www.freecycle.co.uk - sign up for your local group as people give away all sorts of great stuff free for collection - garden toys, clothes, videos - anything really! We gave away our old car as it was too good to scrap but didn't want to sell it for a couple of hundred quid and then feel guilty if it conked out on the buyer! We've recieved a huge pile of Little People toy sets, a baby walker, clothes, child's bike seat and helmet...and more!

LOL. I think that's enough for now! Let me know if there's anything you'd like to know more about.

Ophie

My god bluep, you are my new guru!!!

I bow at your feet!!

x

lynzpower

Another top tip is for clothing and such like, check out next clearance sales, and clarks outlets - usually in outlet villages.

Im sure you are well up on Surestart and othersuch groups, do check whats on in your area - they often have days out at heavily reduced rates nad of course play opportunities galore.

Ophie

I know about Surestart, but not sure if I qualify for it due to me adopting.

Its amazing when its your own child how all professional knowledge etc goes from your head and you become like an orstrich... spending lots of time with my head burried firmly in the sand.

I shall look up Surestart.

THank you lynz

angie_baby

Ophie, you sound like an excellent mum to me! i wish you all the best with your little girl. I dont have any real advice, but thought that reading though your thread i had to post. You already know that a mum/dad is the person who looks after you, guides you through life. And you sound like a great mum to have. Angie

lynzpower

Ophie wrote: »

I know about Surestart, but not sure if I qualify for it due to me adopting.

Its amazing when its your own child how all professional knowledge etc goes from your head and you become like an orstrich... spending lots of time with my head burried firmly in the sand.

I shall look up Surestart.

THank you lynz

You will qualify for sure start, as its for children and thier parents! Which is what you are!! :T

bluep

Yep, my childminder takes my daughter and another little girl along to all the surestart events now that I am back at work - they are there for children in their area - simple.

viticella

I adopted my two last year. IKWYM about feelling a fake in pregnancy circles but no-one will actually mind.

Try and let it be known among people with older children, we had bags of outgrown clothes given us from a person who was herself adopted. when you have kids you end up with loads of clothes that are actually quite hard to get rid of and its a pleasure to give them to someone who appreciates them.

It's tempting to go overboard with bedrooms etc, we were very rushed and kitted them out with Ikea basics and a few stickers, and they have been fine. I'm sure you will be deluged with toys and gifts that first christmas, better to invest in some good storage! You will also appreciate having a decent pushchair as it sounds like you will use it a lot, and a sling like a Huggababy that suits up to toddler age. both of these, try out in the shops and then buy off ebay.

our Surestart group has been fantastic and as a bonus, introduced me to some lovely mums who have become good friends.

viticella

Hey, I forgot to say congratulations and welcome to adoptive parenting, it's a precious experience :-)

Ophie

Thank you viticella.

Its creeping up on me soooo quickly. I keep telling myself not to buy anything else for her, but I go out and see something and think thats soooooooo cute, she will really need that. So now I have a wardrobe full of clothes, I've not got many toys as apparently she is bringing loads from foster carers. If I don't like them I can freecycle them or ebay them and then buy ones I like.

I have a puchchair that was over £200, but I got it at a reduced price of £49.99. It fills my entire boot... means I can't go mad on shopping cos no boot space in the car for purchases so money saving all round!!