Tips for Saving Money Shopping for Your Baby

baby
Photo by CC user Somedragon2000 on Flickr.

Are you about to head out of the house and over to your favorite kid’s stores? Whether you’re currently pregnant or already have a few of your own, you probably know two things- shopping for kids is fun but can also empty your wallet pretty quickly. Here are some great baby shopping tips that help to keep you cruising those aisles while helping your bank account survive the day.

Use promo codes and coupons

A fantastic way to save money throughout your baby’s life is the use of promo codes and coupons. Not only will you save money in the first place when you purchase the item, but if you decide to sell your items down the road when they’re not needed anymore, you’ll be able to either break even or maybe even possibly make a few bucks off of them. Another great thing about promo codes and the like is that you can generally find them pretty regularly throughout the year, meaning you won’t have to wait for Black Friday or a big end of the year sale to reap the benefits.

Coupons are also a great way to help with the affordability of higher end brands such as Carters and The Children’s Place. These tend to come in two different styles, percentage off coupons and value off coupons which are represented in certain dollar amounts such as $10 off of $50 and so on.

Avoid impulse buys

Though they are so easy to come across, the thing that you’ll always want to avoid is walking into a store for milk and coming out with a basket full of new baby clothes and bath accessories. This is because even though you may think you’re saving money, especially if the item is on sale, in the end you’re spending much more money than you budgeted for. Remember, just because something is cute and makes you ohhh and awww doesn’t mean that you have to have it. Chances are you have something very similar already at home.

Buy in bulk

When you decide to buy in bulk at places like Costco and Sam’s Club, you’re choosing to buy a lot more at once of the same item. This is a great idea if you use baby wipes and disposable diapers because in the end, the price per diaper is a lot less in bulk than it would be at your normal store in a smaller box. If you use baby formula, you’ll also see a nice chunk of savings as well. However, you don’t want to buy baby clothes in bulk unless you yourself have twins of the same gender or are buying for friends as well. This is because babies are always growing and constantly becoming too large for their current clothes and shoes. If you were to have a bulk amount of oneies of one size, you’ll most likely find that your child never gets a chance to wear them all before moving to the next size up.

Buying for babies and young children can be absolutely fun in every aspect, until you reach the cashier. Then the realization of how much money you’re about to spend hits you like a ton of bricks. In order to avoid this happening to you again, keep the above tips in mind.