Today -8 Ways to Save Money on Baby Items
Babies are amazing, cute, cuddly, fascinating, insatiably curious, and utterly loveable — especially when they’re playing with one of those fabulous L.O.L. surprise dolls. But alas, babies are also expensive, and can put a dent (or maybe a big hole) in family finances.
The good news is that whether you’re expecting a bundle of joy or you have a newborn at home, you can cut back on costs, but without dialing back on the essentials.
Here are 8 great ways to save money on baby items:
- Don’t splash out buying the latest and greatest toys. Wait for sales and shop second hand. And don’t be surprised when your child has more fun with the package and wrapper than the actual toy.
- Sign-up for new baby schemes to get all kinds of freebies. Retailers and e-tailers like — make that love — parents with newborns, because they know you’ll be buying a lot of stuff over the next few years. For example, when you set up a “baby wish list” at Amazon, you’ll get a free nappy tub worth £10. What’s more, when you create a registry, you can be assured that the gifts you receive will be useful vs. useless. Everyone wins when that happens.
- Speaking of nappies (because you can never have enough nappies, right?), depending on where you live, you may be able to get a voucher or cashback from your local council for reusable nappies.
- Check (and then double-check) to confirm that you’re getting all available NHS benefits. For example, some mothers-to-be believe that they can only access free dental treatment and prescriptions during their pregnancy. In fact, they can access these benefits for 12 months after they give birth.
More ways to save money on baby items
- If family and friends are eager to see your bundle of joy, remember that babies up to their second birthday fly free on most airlines (provided that they sit in one of their parent’s laps). If you’d rather stay on the ground, children up to age five travel free on the UK rail network.
- If you’re a working parent and neither you nor your spouse earns more than £100,000 per year, then you can take advantage of the government’s tax-free childcare scheme. Here’s how it works: for every £8 you put into your account, the government will top it up by £2, up to a maximum of £2,000 a year per child.
- Resist the urge to buy baby shoes. Yes, they’re adorable. But they’re also basically useless because they won’t help your baby until she or he starts walking.
- Baby food is notoriously expensive — not because it’s super-ultra-high-quality, but because it’s convenient. Well, if you can do without the convenience (after all, you’re doing without sleep, so what’s a little more sacrifice?), then make your own baby food in bulk. In addition to having total control over the quality of ingredients, you’ll also save a lot of money.
The Bottom Line
Maximizing your spending power is an important skill to learn. Whether you’re looking to complete an office renovation with the help of a firm like Key Interiors, or you’re trying to find the best deal on a new pram, smart spending principles always remain the same. So keep this in mind moving forward.
You might also like my post on the best baby budgeting tips
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