6 Steps to Save Money When You Are Expecting or are a New Parent

Having a child is simply the most amazing thing you will ever do, but becoming a parent is also very costly. Websites and apps have been developed to help us work out the costs around having a child, but when you first find out that you're expecting or even if you've just become brand new parents, it might be that you have to start considering budgeting, unless of course, you're lucky and money is no object. There are lots of things that we can all do to save more money but what are the best ways to start saving on things as expectant or new parents? Here are my top six very easy tips!

1. Start meal planning - I have only recently started doing this myself and it really does save money. I used to buy random bits of different dinners and end up with way too much and even sometimes not enough. Most of the time I ended up chucking out of date food away and I was getting so tired of spending so much each week only to end up binning it. Meal planning is a great way to make sure you only buy what you need for that week.

2. Shop online - I do all of my grocery shopping online since having Ethan, I can't imagine how long it would take for me to attempt to do the food shop with him and how much extra I would end up spending in store! I do it all online when he's in bed so that I can fully concentrate and ensure that I don't overspend. 

It's not just regular shopping that's handy to do online, either. I also look online for other essentials and for anything else I need or want to buy. Shopping online allows you to compare prices on everything so you can make savings on whatever you buy. It can be really useful for any higher costs that you can't avoid. If anyone in the family needs new glasses, it's not something you can really put off. But if you look online, you can find affordable alternatives to what you might find in-store.

I've seen lots of affordable prices for glasses online, including both frames and lenses. It's easy to see the selection of prescription lenses that are available, compare prices, and decide which are best. Although you get some free NHS benefits when you're pregnant, eye tests aren't included. So it's useful to have ways to save, especially as pregnancy can affect your eyesight.

3.  Use voucher codes - Always check to see if there are voucher codes available for things you want to purchase. Sites like vouchacodes.co.uk offer codes for many top stores including Argos and Toys R Us. You can sometimes get huge discounts with these codes so it's always worth checking to see if they are any codes floating around at the time that you go to make your purchase. 

4. Compare prices and get stores to match better deals from competitors - When you're shopping for 'that' pram, a car seat, a highchair or anything else, go online and check to see if you can buy it cheaper. If you find it at a cheaper price, ask the store you're in if they'll match the better price. Stores like Toys R Us and Mothercare matched better prices for us all of the time when we were shopping for Ethan. We always checked on Amazon and if the price was cheaper and the product was in stock then they would match it for us straight away. So it's always worth checking and then asking!

5. Choose what you buy for your new baby carefully - Make sure that you read lots of reviews before you commit to purchasing and always think about how long the product is actually going to last. Newborns tend to spend a lot of their first few weeks to a month in sleep suits as they're so comfortable, so you probably don't need to buy newborn sized outfits (unless you wanted to obviously). Another thing that might not be worth buying are booties and/or shoes for newborns, they really don't need them -  but it's personal choice of course. :)

6. Sign up to free Mum and baby clubs - There are tons of great pregnancy offers, information, competitions and freebies to be had when you sign up to free online Mum and baby clubs via brands such as Cow and Gate, SMA, Aptimil, HiPP and Kidstart. Rather than spend time trawling the internet for the best clubs to join up to, I'd recommend using a site like Mum and Baby Online (mumandbabyonline.co.uk) which allows you to sign up free to all the best mum and baby clubs in one place whilst they trawl the web for great pregnancy offers, information and freebies and deliver them straight to you in a monthly email. 

I hope these tips help. Like I said above - it's quite costly having a child or children so it's always worth trying to save a few pounds here and there on things if you can. If you are expecting or have just become new parents then a huge congratulations to you, they really are worth every single penny and of course - every sleepless night ;)