Mine would be to never go overboard on the toys. Always try to keep their toys basic (blocks, dolls, cars and trucks).

What's yours?

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You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.

They don't need 20 pairs of clothing for one age group (as a small child under 1). At least mine didn't. So much less laundry and money spent.

Store brand diapers work as well as name brand ones, at least during the day.

Plain old vaseline works great for diaper cream and for dry spots

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You don't need ALL the eqiupment that they sell; swing, travel swing, bouncy chair, walker, exersaucer, wipes warmer, bottle warmer. You DON'T need it ALL.

Do not waste your money on a Diaper Genie.

Target brand diapers work just fine for during the day.

Young kids would rather play with the box than the toy that was in it so don't go overboard on toys for little ones.

For clothes save money by shopping consignment shops.

I agree! We didn't even have a real crib. Just a port-a-crib. No change table. No swing. Just the basics. And if you can breastfeed, it saves a ton of money. No bottles, no warmers, no formula. We did cloth diapers too which saved us a lot of money over the long haul.

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Mom to dd (age 9) and ds (age 11)
blogging daily about purpose and personal identity

Target brand dipes, wipes and even formula are just as good as the name brands - we've saved hundreds since our baby was born by buying Target brand instead of name brand. Also, with Target formula, you can call their 800 number on the can and receive $3 off coupons each month! That means a can of formula for $8 vs. $25 a can for the name brand!

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Carpe Bargain - Seize the Deal!

Your child needs YOU, not things.

Be very clear about the values you want to raise your child in, then actively work to instill those values. Your community will be giving your child a different set of values and expectations.

It will be tempting to compete with your neighbors and 'win' in the best-mommy category. Your child will even give you the message that they will be happy if you were super-mom. Win the competition by not competing.

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"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

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If you have friends/family who already have children, see if you can borrow equipment. Most baby equipment aren't used for that long, ie: exersaucer. The best part is that you can return them once you are done so it's easy to get rid of the baby equip clutter!

Also, go to yard sales, tag sales and consignment sales for clothes. The kids outgrow stuff so quickly!

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Don't expect to be SuperMom right after the baby is born....or ever really. Bite your pride and ask, even beg for help for the first month or two. And don't be embarassed to have your MIL or your FIL help with chores, clean your house, do your laundry, run errands for you, etc.

I agree to not buy out all of BRU...although it's hard not to with all their marketing ploys and just being a novice parent. I tried to be careful with what I bought with my DS, but I still bought way more than I ever needed and bought a bunch of stuff that just wasn't worth it just because it looked cute in the store. I.e. way too many newborn and 3-6 month size clothes, a wipes warmer (by the time you get the wipe to baby rear it gets cold again), several different types of bottles, several different types of paci's, an infant carseat (if I could go back, I would have bought a convertible carseat from the start since you can put your baby into them once they are over 5lbs), and a Graco stroller (for our lifestyle this stroller couldn't keep up with us so we bought a BOB Revolution stroller).

And when you do buy or register for stuff, try to think ahead. Get good quality items that will last you through 2 or 3 or 4 or however many kids you plan on having. For all the big stuff I mainly got gender neutral stuff. Then I bought boy/girl accessories when the time came.

And definitely check out sites like craigslist or freecycle.org to get things for cheap or free to help save on cost.

And definitely ask your pediatrician and OB for samples of baby items, especially formula, during that first year. The manufacturers often stock your docs office with free formula and other baby items to help promote the items. At every visit I would go home with 3 or 4 small cans of formula for my kids (that saved me about $50 each time).

Sandra