How I've saved money post-baby

Babies are expensive. I know, right? Total shocker, that. I figured I would do another thrifty post as a follow-up from Lauren's post a couple of weeks back. When I was pregnant, I wrote a few posts about how to survive pregnancy and money was often at the forefront of my mind. I thought I would share some tips as to how we've done some canny money-saving since D has arrived.

Image: allparenting.com

Gifts- there's no denying it, you get a lot of stuff after you have a baby. We were very lucky in that family and friends were very generous and often asked what we would like. Generally, we asked for either clothes we were short of, size-wise, or vouchers for Boots and Mothercare. A while back, I posted this handy guide  to buying gifts for babies. We were also given a crib, which in the spirit of paying-it-forward, I am lending to Lauren once her sproglet arrives.

Offers- Boots are brilliant; their parenting club offers vouchers and ten points for every pound you spend on baby stuff (excluding formula). Our changing bag is also part of the the parenting club- it's not great (I lust after Yippy Dada bags), but it does the job. I've built up so many points and saved a fair whack of money with just this one scheme. Check out supermarkets as well; these schemes really come into their own once the baby arrives!

Ebay- I have bought some more expensive items from eBay- sleeping sacks (which are about £20 new; bought for £2-£5) and an almost new John Lewis snowsuit, which would have been about £25 for... 99p. You can get some proper bargains- just make sure you wash them in non-bio detergent before giving them to baby.

Charity and second hand shops- Where I live there is a plethora of both of these types of shop. I don't see the point in spending a fortune on stuff that D will grow out of quickly. I've found some real bargains in secondhand shops (there are specialist baby ones too- I once bought a dungarees/cardi combo that was a very upmarket French brand, which would have cost me double what I paid for it.) I've been given tips about stuff like Lego as well (apparently, you chuck it in some diluted bleach and rinse it off before giving it to kids.)

Any tips to add? Leave them in the comments or let me know on Twitter: @wuthering_alice