Maternity Shopping Outside of Maternity Section Saves Money

If you have ever been shopping for maternity clothes either for yourself or for anyone else, have you noticed how expensive they are? It gets kind of ridiculous considering the short amount of time these clothes will actually be needed. I am currently in the second trimester of my third pregnancy and here are some tips that have helped me save some money and look good through my pregnancy at the same time!

Long Tank Tops
I have found that long tank tops, most of which I have gotten at places like Target for less than $10 each are absolutely essential. Costco also has some long tanks that have a shelf bra that are also very useful because if you are small chested like me you don't have to get so many sizes of bras! Long tank tops are so useful because they can be worn as a bottom layer with anything you are wearing, casual or dressing for work and they can be pulled down to cover anything that needs to be covered (like the hairband keeping our pants from falling down for example).

Extra Tip:
I also love these tank tops the rest of the time, I always nurse my babies and have yet to spend money on any of the fancy 'nursing tops' that I have seen. I use what I call the "over under" method where I layer two shirts, the bottom being a tank top and to access my breast to offer baby I lift my top shirt and pull down the bottom one leaving both my chest and stomach still covered. To make it even more subtle match the layers!

Ultra Low Waist Pants
Many of us by the time we get pregnant and start having kids (though not all!!) have stopped wearing these super low waisted pants that teenagers seem to like to wear. I have found that these pants are great for pregnancy because they are lower than our stomach as well as usually being very stretchy and accommodating to other changes taking place with our bodies. Of course it is important that if you go this route you get some of those long tank tops too!

Extra Tip:
Another tip for staying covered along with the long tank top is to use one of those bands that you can get in a maternity store that is just worn over the top of our pants/bottom of our belly. I liked these when my belly got SO big I really couldn't tell if it was covered or not.

Leggings
Like the other two items I have mentioned these can be bought in the young adults section of a store these days and come in a range of sizes so finding some that fit usually isn't a problem. I like leggings because long shirts or dresses can be worn with them.

There are only a few items really kind of have to be obtained at a maternity store (there's always consignment!) in my experience and those are work clothes. Most slacks and skirts for professional jobs are designed to fit higher up than the clothes mentioned above and so getting some with the elastic bands built into them is definitely recommended so that we can maintain that professional look. I have a few shirts and pants that I have gotten for this reason and I made sure that I saved them from my last pregnancy so that if I ever needed them again I would have them. Sweaters too came in handy for me when I was working and pregnant because they could be worn over the tanks and tshirts, so the outermost layer in other words is best made for maternity but what you wear underneath really doesn't need to be.