A frugal life is an easy life!

When your new baby is about to arrive, the temptation is to buy lots of things and with the price of baby things going through the roof, it makes frugal sense not to go overboard!
Every company under the sun wants to sell you something, wants you to hand over your details for a small free gift, etc. Beware!

Here is my guide (a dad's view) of what you will/will not, need for a new baby:

• Baby grows/baby vests - I would stick to just six of each, 0-3 months size. Anymore than this is a waste, you'll end up giving them away in 3 months time. White and yellow are a safe bet, with maybe the odd babygrow in a colour once baby has arrived.
• Baby bottles - Just three of these with "newborn" teets. Mum breastfed here so many bottles were not needed, but even so, most baby milk products warn about not keeping many bottles pre made up in the fridge. Later on at 6 months old, the teets can be changed to accomodate the older baby and we just use two bottles now, to suppliment our baby's food.
• Muslin squares - Thin sheets of material that are ideal for wiping up sick, food spills and baby's face. I got a pack of ten of these, they are easily washed and dry fast, we are still using them now our sprog is aged over 9 months. A godsend, definately a must buy.
• Johnson's moisturising bath wash, baby lotion, talcum powder, baby shampoo, etc. - I picked up various sizes of these, whilst on offer at different shops. The idea was, to have a little cupboard full of baby stuff, to be used when baby arrived. Most of it, was a complete waste of time and money!
  Our health visitors and hospital staff advise against using lotions and creams etc, on newborn babies.
  Even now at 9 months old, we still only use a tiny drop of baby shampoo and a drop of moisturising bath wash once a day. The only other thing we use regularly is a bar of baby soap.
• Cotton wool - Sounds obvious, but you can never have enough. Next time you are at the supermarket, have a look at the bags of cotton wool that come in strips, not balls!
  Pick up as many as you like, they should be around 85p each and I got 12 packs in, they all got used up within a month. I still buy 6 packs at a time. A definate buy for new baby this. The advantage of strips over balls, is that no matter what the size of the nappy, the strips can be ripped to size, with balls you'll need to add some together.
• Vaseline - Each to their own, but for me I bought a big tub of vaseline and a big tub of sudocrem. We started using vaseline, then after a couple of weeks went out and forgot it. We had the sudocrem with us and used it whilst we were out. After just a day of using it, our sprog had nappy rash!
  We returned to vaseline and (touch wood) our sprog has not had any nappy rash at all since.
  One thing I would advise, which ever cream you use for baby's bum, rub it in well. It is a barrier cream and if rubbed in well, it will stop any rash from forming.

Other considerations:

• Toys - I would advise you go easy on buying these. A plain rattle for example, cost £8 at the early learning centre (now owned by mothercare) - you'll find that friends and family will buy toys as gifts. Save the toy buying for later.
• Cot accessories - Again, ease of wasting your hard earned cash on these, they are really not needed for the first 4-6 months. Musical mobiles are everywhere, we have only ever used one single elephant that ties to the cot side, that plonks a tune out when you pull its tail, and this was a gift.
• Cot bedding - One of the most expensive outgoings is a cot bedding set. With the end of cot "shield" for newborns, most important we found, was the cot sheets.
  Obviously, with any leaks, having only one cot sheet for baby meant a constant stream of washing and drying and putting back on. Get a couple of spares, cot blankets don't tend to get dirty too often, even in the event of a spill or leak from nappy.

I shall add to this post as my memory recalls what worked and what was a bad buy...