How to Save Money on Maternity Clothes
Congratulations you are pregnant! It is such an exciting time, and with everything that you need to buy for the baby, you do not have much money to buy maternity clothes for you.
Saving Money and Making Money has some great ideas on how you can still be stylish during your pregnancy, but without shelling out a ton of money on clothes that you will not be able to wear after your little one is born.
Look In Your Closet
Look at your closet to see what you already have before you run out to buy maternity clothes. Leggings can be worn for at least the first four or five months depending how much weight you gain. Tunic length tops are great since they have more stretch. How about cardigans? You can wear those over tops or dresses. Dresses are a great option as well since midi and maxi dresses are flowy. Even if you do not have these items in your closet, they are great basics to buy since you will be able to wear them after your little bundle of joy is born.
Buy The Basics
Do not go overboard and buy all kinds of “trendy” clothes. Keep it simple. Once your baby belly is bigger and you need actual maternity clothes, buy just a few maternity pants and/or jeans and rotate them. Buy t-shirts or long sleeve t-shirts that you can layer under sweaters or blazers in a larger size. Utilize consignment shops, Goodwill, Community Aids, etc. to find gently used maternity items. You might just be surprised what you find.
If by chance you have a big event to go to during this time spend the money on something nice but go to the clearance racks to find an appropriate outfit.
Ask Your Friends or Co-workers
It usually happens that when one friend gets pregnant, all your friends get pregnant. Is there something in the water? Doubt it, it is just that your friends are usually around the same age when deciding to have children. That is a good thing if you would like to save money.
Let us face it, maternity clothes are not cheap, and it is not like you are going to be able to wear these after your baby is born. If you work in an office and need to dress up every day, you will need at least ten nice outfits. (And that does not include what you may wear at home or off the clock.) Who has the money to buy an entire new wardrobe as well as getting everything that you need for the new baby?! Not me. And even if I were independently wealthy, why would I?
When I was in Corporate America one of my co-workers was pregnant and then another one of the girls got pregnant. The first one brought in a huge trash bag that was full of maternity clothes from all her friends that had been pregnant. Her and her friends passed the bag around so that the other pregnant girls could take advantage. Everyone always ended up buying a couple of things and they added to the bag, making it easier and more affordable than purchasing an entire new maternity wardrobe.
I always loved this idea.
Spend your money on the baby instead and still look like a million dollars!
As the hubby always says…Saving Money IS Making Money!
