Save on Maternity Clothes

As a soon-to-be mom I am busy stashing away all extra cash for the baby and future expenses. Yet I am also insanely excited about being pregnant and welcoming the new little one. This is why I began wondering what my prgenant belly would look like and what things I would need the minute I got pregnant. I quickly found out that maternity clothes are expenssive! maternity is often excluded from store sales, is marked up highly because they know you need it and frankly, not always good quality. I don't want to spend a mint on maternity clothes - I want that money for hte baby! Here are some tips and tricks that I found:

Don't Buy it Until You Need It: I started cruising the maternity racks looking at all the items on clearance. However most of what is on the racks - clearance and regular priced- was very seasonal. I appear to be carying small and thus won't really need maternity until after the summer. Sure some of my tighter clothes won't fit, but the bulk of my clothes still drapes over my growing belly in a comfortable and fashionable way. Normally I browse summer clearance to stock up for next Spring/Summer but obviously that's ridiculous in maternity. You never know when you'll need it. So despite some cheap items on the clearance rack, I did not buy. Cheap is great, but not when you don't need the item and have no definite future use for it.

Network: A lovely box of maternity clothes made it's way over from my sister's house the moment she heard I was pregnant. It was full of nice dresses, an evening gown for me to wear to an upcoming family event, and wonder of wonders, a winter coat! I had been wondering where I would get a good winter coat. She got her maternity at various sales and from various friends and now she is passing it on to me. Some of the items that have gone out of style can be easily spruced up while others are totally great with no work needed. I have a feeling my cousins are probably looking to unload their stuff as well. Everybody wants to get more use out of this stuff. If you are lucky enough to receive such generosity take care of it well and return items as soon as you can. If you are told not to return then pay it forward and lend it to someone else.

Don't Ignore the Regular Rack: Some of todays styles work over pregnant bellies. They are loose and flowy. And the same item costs more in the maternity section. So don't forget to look at the regular sales and normal women's section. Shopping the maternity aisle at regular department stores is often more cost effective than shopping at maternity-only stores. Maternity stores often charge more because this is a specialty market. They don't even have good sales.

When Sales Happen, Act Fast: Sometimes maternity items do go on sale. Make sure to move fast as many items sell out quickly. Get free shipping when possible and if something comes that you don't like: return it! Do not keep anything that is not comfortable or that you don't love. There is no point in buying a maternity item that you will only wear once or twice. Most of what I am going to need T-shirt and top wise came from Old Navy clearance. I even got some dressy sweaters. All for really cheap, and they sold out quickly.

Close Your Eyes: Maternity clothes is always placed next to baby clothes and items like strollers and cribs. This is not an accident. Stores know you are so excited about your new addition that you are more suceptible to impulse buys than usual. You get sucked in by those adorable onesies or the 'sale' on cribs. Yet most of these items are not good buys and you should be thinking over big ticket purchases before you make them. Keep your eyes on the rack in front of you. Do not wander into the baby section.

As a last ditch effort, if you really need something that is just too pricey for you, consider renting it. Ideally I don't want to buy a fancy wedding appropriate dress in maternity. It's going to be expensive  I can never wear again. Yet I have the wedding of a sibling and I will be walking down the aisle. So I am looking into renting. Sites like Rent Maternity and local lending programs offer dresses for rent at prices far superior to buying them.