Stocking up for a new baby can get really expensive. There are so many things to buy – furniture, a stroller, clothes, and everything else that a new baby needs – that it can truly drain your wallet just to prepare everything for an impending birth. With so many purchases to make, it’s a great idea to seek out the best deals you can find.

• The best deal for baby gear is free. You’ll probably get offered some hand-me-downs from friends and family, especially if you know people who have toddlers or preschoolers. In fact, when parents decide that they don’t want to have any more babies they can get quite generous with giving away baby items. If you are fortunate enough to have used baby gear offered to you, consider accepting it.Plenty of parents have a desire to give their babies only the very best products, and your first inclination may be to turn down the used baby items offered to you. Keep in mind, however, that by accepting these items you’re freeing up money to put toward other baby necessities.
• Some used items are almost new. Shop at most consignment stores and you’ll quickly realize that the best stores are stocked with items that seem barely used. Why not buy a gorgeous crib at a consignment store for a fraction of the price of a new one, especially if you can’t even really tell that the crib is used to begin with?Garage sales, thrift stores, and classified ads usually feature some great baby products at much lower prices than their brand-new counterparts. Be sure to shop around for the best deals.
• Buy new, but never pay full price. Start buying necessary items early so you have plenty of time to seek out the very best deals. Sign up for mailing lists at baby stores and your mailbox will soon be full of coupons and special offers. Look for clearance sales and other discounted events.If you insist on buying things new, at least make sure you aren’t paying full price for the things you need.
• Ignore labels. Most parents will agree that while extra functions can be quite nice, a crib is a crib, a stroller is a stroller, and a highchair is a highchair. Try to ignore what labels are trendy and instead take time to find the features you like.Buy the trendiest baby gear and you’ll pay the highest price.The more time you have to search for great deals, the better chances you have of finding baby items at a really low price. Remember: Paying full price means you’re paying too much.

I recently heard a story about a woman who got an interesting discount, just because she was pregnant. She went into a sandwich shop for lunch one day, ordered her food and then was told that she got 10% off. She thought maybe the sandwich was on special and sat down to eat. Before she left the owner came over and told her that because of her being pregnant, she got a discount every time she came in and that in the future just sit down, tell him what she wanted and he would handle the rest.

While this special treatment was incredibly nice and thoughtful, and pregnant women all around the world probably think that more places should do this, it is not common to find places offering women special treatment just because they are pregnant. Most restaurants do not have discounts for pregnant women, neither do most stores you will find in your local town. Sometimes you can get lucky though.

One type of special treatment that many pregnant women in their third trimester would appreciate is a parking spot or spots reserved close to doors of shopping centers and grocery stores. By the time you are ready to deliver, walking a mile to buy some milk because you can’t find a close spot does not sound too exciting. Especially in the heat of the summer, or if it is cold, snowy, icy or raining outside. However, you can occasionally find these special spots at local grocery stores and chains. If you do you generally have to get a “pass” from the store that you hang in your window letting them know that you are in fact pregnant and they are only good in the third trimester and for the first couple of months after your baby is born.

It would also be nice if places like big amusement parks, where you are told you can not ride the rides, would offer discounts to pregnant women. Instead at most of them pregnant women are forced to pay the full price of $40 or $50 so that they can go in and walk around for hours while their family gets to enjoy the rides that they paid for. We are not aware of any amusement park that offers this type of discount, but if you are, please let us know so that we can tell all pregnant women to go there!

If you can not find a place in your neighborhood that offers special treatment to pregnant women, bring up the idea yourself. Mention it to the owners of your favorite restaurants, and to the manager at your local grocery store. Make them see that offering parking spots or discounts on food would help bring in the pregnant women who want to walk only 20 feet, instead of a mile, and those that don’t feel like cooking, but would rather just grab a quick bite to eat. Many times it is not done just because it isn’t thought of. After all, not everyone can be as smart as a pregnant woman.