I've started looking for baby stuff, car seats, push chairs baby baths etc, and I cannot believe how expensive they all are! I know it sounds pikey but i am going to start with car boots, free cycle, eBay before I buy new. If you ladies get any other ideas, please share?
Me and the Man are buying a house too, so it's not like we have money to burn. Doing the two most expensive things in the same year: we must be crazy! 
Facebook can be a good place too. I bought a bag of baby girl trousers, £10 for a huge big bag full. Maybe there is a baby selling page for your area?
Also if it's your first you may find family members and close friends will want to gift you things, so can help with anything that is a bit pricey.
Also if you and your husband are working and have an intranet or staff noticeboard some people may be selling things. Anyone you both know who has had a baby in the last 12 months or so might have things for sale too.
Nothing wrong with car boot sales or free cycle or ebay buying. No point spending a tonne of money when you don't need to.
Some baby websites have heavily discounted items, so joining things like bounty or emma's diary can sometimes alert you to special offers. You could try entering competitions also to win some things too. Kiddicare have some reduced items for certain brands too.
Lots of ways to save a few pounds. I got a fair few things gifted from babies grand parents which I'm so grateful for as I'd never be able to afford them and my partner and I have bought what we could or got them second hand or reduced in any sales.
Happy bargain hunting Duppy! x
I saw in mother care a silver cross pram that converts to pushchair and comes with a free seat for £245 I thought that was a bargain considering how expensive they can be. . All being well I'm hoping I can have my cousins bits and pieces
We brought a house in Sept, conceived in Oct, so feel your pain! We've splashed out on the cot I want, everything else is being slowly procured from eBay and ikea!
There are some really good websites out there for cut price design ideas for nurseries, such as
pinterest.com/esutton76/bab...
pregnant.thebump.com/pregna...
Kiddicare & Bambino Direct.co.uk are good websites to buy reasonable priced baby stuff. But yes you'll start to realise it all adds up very quickly.
I remember when i was getting ready for my son to arrive in 2008 & feeling just "overwhelmed" to say the least! with everything we had to buy.
Its definetely important to not get carried away with all the cute stuff for sale though, even now im finding it a bit difficult to not Crazy buy, but obviously this being my 2nd child im a Lil more prepared for all those pretty, expensive things.
Same here. Dont want to spend too much on things which i would be leaving behind in UK after 2-3 years.
Kiddicare.com I bought all of my stuff in the sale :). My travel system was £215 my oak cot bed was £165 with mattress, these were my biggest price items! Not bad also got my baby monitor and sterilisers and smaller bits from amazon
We bought most things off ebay. We set the filter to anything within 10 miles. Then when we saw something we liked, we contacted people and we could nip over and see the item before we bought. We ended up with a mamas and papas travel system that was over £1000 for £90. We have also bought cot, crib etc. Its not be pikey, I think of it as responsible recycling!!!!! Everyone I've met via ebay, always have added things in, as they are always looking to get rid of stuff, wee bag of clothes, blanketss etc
Oh! yeah I like this whole idea of ebay and even for that matter the second hand hospice shops in Edinburgh. One of my friends in Australia started organizing a re-sale/re-shuffle/swap event inspired by all this. Its hard to control consumerism but being responsible at the same time saving money (for kids education or your dream house or that nice world-tour) is never a bad idea.
I think I would also do what you did. I dont use paper, because I am a climate change and social responsibility researcher and I really like this idea.
Pssst - also tried to work it out in my own hometown in my country - sad it dint work 
(not even for books)
Definitely! The only reason we brought anew cot is that I'm mildly obsessed by the Stokke Sleepi in white. They've been going on eBay for between £350 and £450, and by the time you've paid for a new mini and cot mattress, it was actually cheaper to buy the package from M&P!
eBay is not always the cheapest option - especially when people get that 'last minute if auction, must have' over bidding mentality!! At least it should hold it's value though!
I was so lucky, got pretty much everything from friends who've finished with having kids (I'm 40 so the last to take the plunge). I think I ended up spending about £50max on new stuff. DD is 7 weeks today. Yesterday I picked up an entire car bootful of clothes for her from a friend who had her DD in the same month 3 years ago, and I have a BIG boot! I also have about 4 big bags of clothes in the loft from another friend for 3+ months. People have been so generous.
Gum tree is another good one - we got our quinny buzz for £150 (inc both age seats & car seat) & we also got our cot from there, it's as good as new £200 in shops & we paid £55.
We have gone 2nd hand for most things & friends & family have loaned all sorts of things to help keep our costs down ... Happy hunting
Don't forget the NCT Nearly New Sales too (you don't have to be a member to go) some great bargains at them - we picked up a crib at one this weekend for just £20, new from Babies R Us is £160! Just need a new mattress. They have everything there from nursery furniture, prams and buggies, highchairs, toys - big and small, books,clothes galore from about 50p an item, evencloth nappies! You can find your nearest here: nct.org.uk/branches/events/...
We also used preloved, Gumtree, freecycle, eBay, checked local community sale boards, many Facebook selling groups, little pickles markets, baby and toddler markets and hand ons from friends and family. For my first we only got car seat/travel system and crib/cot matresses new everything else was at least 2nd hand. We didn't even pay full price for them as we made use of sales and voucher codes (do a Google search for the shop to find some)
I just found I had to have a list of what we needed and stick to it otherwise I would have gone crazy buying all the cute stuff and never used most of it!
Best bit is all the 2nd hand stuff we brought we can sell on again at nearly new sales and the like for pretty much the same as we brought it for
I am in the same position as u, am 19 weeks pregnant and have just bought a house, due to move in next month, haven't bought anything yet as wana move in before buying. I know a lot of people that are going to help me which is a bonus that I didn't ask for but any help is appreciated. the only thing I am going to buy brand new is car seats but other than that I am gona do some bargaining online. x
Have you thought about going to your local nearly new NCT sales? Have a look on NCT website, they will list dates for them in your area. Most stuff is in really good condition for a decent price.
I went shopping for baby stuff at the weekend and although I spent £85 i saved a fortune,
I looked online first to compare prices (I found boots had great offers on pampers sensitive wipes and nappies) I also wanted to but tommee tippey bottles the closer to nature anti colic ones all the shops have them in now but amazon has a pack of 6 on for 17.99 (bargin) as boots was £26.00 and mammas and pappas worked out at £34.00.
I have found alot of good deals and bargins on amazon all is new too so dont need to worry about second hand. I also saved a fortune on the tommee tippee microwave steraliser as everywhere was £30 but mammas and pappas has a special offer on at the moment I got mine for £13.95 obviously not including bottles.
I got my bouncer also in boots for £27 rather than £32 as is it online in argos.
Just thought I would share my bargins with other mams to be as every saving counts and we all know how expensive babies can be.
Good luck
I may be suggesting the impossible here but you could save a lot if you could find a way of getting people (namely in-laws) to give you stuff you really want and need rather than stuff they think you ought to have or stuff they impulse-bought!
Asda is also quite reasonable. They are having a baby event starting next week, so its time a good time to pick up bargains on bottles,pampers,ect.
Thanks Ladies, this is all fantastic and it's got me so excited!! I love a bargain I do and it makes it so much more fun!
Will start getting my list ready, however not sure where to start!
Don't forget charity shops. I've been going round the ones i my area, and talking to the people that volunteer there,so they are now actually ringing me when nice baby stuff comes in. I got a brand new - still sealed in box video baby monitor for a fiver, Moses basket and stand for 4 which i just need to get a new mattress for, but otherwise it's immaculate, some brand new still sealed bottles, nipple pads, for 1 pound each. The cot (again I'll get a new mattress) was 10 pounds, and a mamas and papas push chair with cosy toes and stuff, a tenner again! It's amazing how much stuff goes to charity shops that actually never even been used and once you start talking to the staff, they are so helpful and nice.
This is a fab idea and I love charity shopping on a normal day! Will start stalking my nearest charity shops this weekend
My dads girlfriend got a bugaboo cameleon 3rd gen with all accessorys for a charity shop in Portabella, all bits inc brand new for £50.. I was incredibly jealous!
) rest is destiny as they say 
New mother - feeding baby
Trying for a baby!
Baby almost due but feeling blue 
Baby movements 
Travel systems
