Save Hundreds on Maternity Clothes when You Are Expecting

With today's economy, spending hundreds of dollars on maternity clothes for only a few months of wear seems like an unnecessary expense. While that cute maternity bathing suit may make you look somewhat thinner on the beach in your third trimester, the $99-$125 price tag seems a bit steep, if not plain robbery, for a few inches of imagined slimness.

A single glance through any pregnancy and maternity magazine makes one thing clear: Marketers see the pregnant mother as nothing more than a consumer. In between the three or four useful articles in any baby or pregnancy magazine are literally dozens of articles and ads geared to get the pregnant mother to spend money.

Save yourself hundreds by following these maternity money saving tips when you are buying maternity clothes.

Avoid unnecessary maternity clothes

From $30 granny underwear to $100 maternity clothes and equally expensive maternity swimsuits, you can easily spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on clothes and items that will, at best, last you a few months before you outgrow them and have to get the next size up! Instead of buying expensive undies, find a style (like boy's shorts) in a size or two larger than your regular size, buy a comfortable 18-hour bra instead of an expensive maternity bra, and opt for a long shirt and shorts when you go swimming. Sure, you will not look as cute as those supposedly pregnant models in the maternity and baby magazines, but you will save yourself $100 that can easily go for something more useful, like a baby car seat.

Buy maternity clothes and items secondhand

Scope out your friends, church, family, local thrift shop, and online resellers like e-bay for maternity clothes, bigger shoes, and baby items. You will be surprised how many of your friends will be more than glad to help you out by letting you borrow maternity clothes. Shoes can be a problem, but you can easily find flats appropriate for pregnancy online or on the clearance rack. Try to buy maternity clothes that you will be able to use again those several months after you have the baby, when your waistline is a bit thinner, but your thighs stretch from sea to shining sea. Baby doll shirts, loose blouses and dresses, and capris with super-duper elastic wastes found at the thrift shop can add some style to your wardrobe without adding extra expenses.

Learn to accessorize and make the most of your wardrobe

Unless you work in a high profile job where you have to don the latest fashions every day, repeating a handful of outfits at the workplace should be forgivable. Have a few maternity clothes staples, like a good pair or two of jeans, some slacks appropriate for work, a few forgiving blouses, and comfortable bras. Mix and match several items and use accessories like jewelry or a cute scarf to accent the outfit. Added bonus? Even if you put on an extra fifty pounds, most necklaces, scarfs, and loose bracelets will still fit you!