How to Save the Most Money on Baby Items and Gifts

While babies are amazing, they can also be quite expensive! For super-savers, people on a budget, and frugalistas like myself, paying full price for all of the gear that your baby needs is just not an option. After scouring stores, searching websites, consulting friends, and my own personal experiences, I put together a list of the best places that I've found to find great deals for all of your baby needs.

Most baby registries offer wonderful incentives for joining. For many, when you sign up in a physical store location, they will give you a goodie bag filled with free samples of diapers, formula, bottles, diaper rash cream, baby toothpaste, valuable coupons, and more. Additionally, some baby registries will offer a gift card for signing up, cash back on purchased items, a completion discount for remaining items, multiple baby discounts, and referral bonuses.

For a complete list of baby registry perks, visit the article The Best Baby Registry Reward Programs: 15 Top Baby Registries.

Some people are very into shopping garage sales, online yard sale sites, etc while others are not as big of fans of purchasing second-hand items. A valid concern can be making sure that the items that you purchase can be washed and sanitized. For example, it is not very easy to wash a stroller whereas you can easily sanitize plastic toys, clothing, and items made of non-porous materials. It is best not to purchase items with safety standards (cribs, car seats, etc) second-hand. Here is a list of some great items that you can find at large discounts at garage sales or second-hand shops:

• Large Play Sets; kitchens, tool workshops, exercisers, etc
• Sporting Goods: hockey sets, roller-skates, basketball hoop, etc
• Outdoor Sets: toddler camp chairs, fishing set, toddler tent
• Accessories for Large Items: Car seat mirror, car seat travel bag, pack and play net, stroller weather shields, etc
• Clothing

As you may already know, or will soon find out, babies grow out of clothing so fast, that they often will only wear an outfit once or not at all. I've been able to score baby clothes and shoes at garage sales with the original tags still on them.

Generally if you are expecting a child, friends and family will volunteer clothing and other baby items that they are no longer using. It is generally recommended to not accept second-hand items like cribs, high-chairs, strollers, and car seats as the safety standards are always changing. Clothing that is in good condition and other furniture pieces can be fantastic scores. While I bought a new crib for my child's room, the rest of the furniture came from family. Some pieces needed to be re-painted, however, it saved me a ton of money on nursery furnishings. You may score some great clothing and toys, which can be washed and prove as good as new. There will certainly be some volunteered items that are not to your taste, but you can always politely decline them or donate them to a local charity.

If you are looking to purchase items new, baby daily deal sites can be the way to go. New items will often show up at a set time each day and will be available until they sell out or the time expires. Find items at anywhere from 25% to 90% off retail prices.

• Zulily- Zulily has categories for girls, boys, women, baby, maternity, toys & playtime, and home. From strollers to baby carriers to changing tables to clothes and more, you can find just about anything on this site.
• Modnique Kids- Modnique kids section focuses mainly on clothing, accessories, and shoes. They often offer designer clothing lines at super discounts of 80% off and more. They also have more modestly-priced brands and will periodically send out coupon codes for 10% or $10 off to their members. Earn an additional credit for referring friends!
• Baby Half Off- Baby Half Off tends to have a smaller selection as they usually will just offer one or two products at a time. However, the discounts that they offer are substantial on the products that they offer. Sign up for email notifications of their daily deal so that you don't miss out on something you are waiting on. They also offer a $5 referral credit for friends that you invite.
• Ruelala- Rue La La has a great kids section that features clothing, diaper bags, toys and more. New sales daily offer a great selection. They have a one time shipping option that lasts for 30 days and will give you a $10 credit for each friend you refer.
• Baby Steals- This site features two sales each day with products that are drastically discounted below retail. Sign up for email alerts to make sure you don't miss out on a good one.
• Kids Woot- Kid's Woot offers a new deal each day with sections of sales available for limited time periods. They sell just about every kid's product under the sun, you just need to be patient to wait out the items you need. Also, be on the limit for "Woot Offs" which are sales held for 24 hour time frames where single products will be offered one at a time at a very deep discount until it sells out, at which time the next product will be offered.
• My Habit- The kid's section on this site features mostly designer clothing for children and babies, but occasionally also offers diaper bags, nursery décor and toys. Check around holidays for deeper discounts and earn a $20 credit for each qualified person you refer. Also, there is free shipping on every order and easy returns.
• MamaSource- This site offers a variety of products and services with a new deal offered each day and generally several deals going on at any one time. There are also deals on services such as language programs and learning programs.
• Plum District- This site has been called "Groupon for Moms". They offer deals on learning programs for children, photo books, personalized gifts, jewelry, books, and more. They will also provide a $5 referral friend for each person you have join.
• Baby Earth GaGa Deals- Baby Earth sells just about any product that you could need for your child. They have a special section of their site called "Ga Ga Deals" where they will feature a select group of products for deeply discounted prices.
• HauteLook- HauteLook offers designer clothing for women, men,and children. Their kid's section also offers sales on toys, books, and accessories. New sales start daily and there are usually 4 or 5 kids sales going on at any one time. Earn a $10 referral credit for each friend who joins and makes a purchase.

You can generally find coupons for just about every major baby brand available. Newspapers and online coupon sites will feature coupons for Pampers, Huggies, Luvs, Johnson and Johnson, Gerber, Aveeno, Gerber Good Start, Similac, Enfamil, and more. Additionally, if you visit the websites for each brand, there will often be an option to register with them and they will send you more coupons and samples via mail or email.

Save even more by registering for loyalty programs with some of the major brands and stores. Here are some of the loyalty programs:

• Pampers Rewards- Sign up for the Pampers Rewards Program and earn points for each Pampers product that you buy. There are codes on each product that you enter online to accumulate the points. Redeem points for entries into sweepstakes, discounts on products, and free products.
• Huggies Rewards- Similar to Pampers, you earn rewards with codes on each Huggies product you purchase. Enter codes online for diapers, merchandise, discounts, and more.
• Babies R Us- Babies R Us has several loyalty programs to help you save. Using their VIB (Very Important Baby) Card, you can load money onto the card to use to purchase diapers, formula, and wipes. For every dollar added, Babies R Us will add 10% more, up to $200 per year. Another program they offer is their Rewards "R" Us card where you earn 1-2 points for each dollar spent. Once you hit 500 points, you get a $5 gift certificate. Lastly, Babies R Us offers the "R" Us Credit card where you will earn 4 points per dollar spent at Babies "R" Us and 1 point per dollar spent elsewhere.
• Meijer- Meijer offers a program called "mPerks" where you earn credits for dollars spent. For their baby reward section, you earn 1 reward credit for every $100 you spend on baby items.
• Amazon Mom Subscribe and Save- With the Amazon Mom program, you will save 5% per item when you subscribe to receive 1-4 items (diapers, wipes, formula, etc) per month. If you subscribe to receive 5+ items monthly, you will save 20%.

Of course, purchasing cloth diapers and wipes is a great way to save. Several of the above daily deal sites will feature cloth diapers periodically to further increase your savings. Visit the articles The True Value of Cloth Diapering and How to Find the Lowest Prices on Cloth Diapers and Clearance Cloth Diapers: 40+ Websites to Help you Save to learn more.

When all else fails in purchasing the baby gear you want, you can wait for items to go on clearance. Babies R Us, Walmart, Target, Kohl's, Amazon, and Sears are some retailers that offer really great sales and clearance sections. You may want to sign up for emails to get notified of when new sale items are added. Additionally, you should always try to get extra coupon savings on top of those sales. Visit the article of How to Save the Most Money Online for more tips.

Have a great way that you get clearance baby supplies that is not listed above? If so, please share in the comments section below. I, and the other mommies out there, will thank you!