Everyone knows that babies are expensive and that starting a family requires certain sacrifices – both personal and financial. New parents eager to provide everything for their baby often either go into debt or completely give up their own interests and lifestyle in order to stay on a budget.

Parenting does not have to result in such difficult choices, however. As long as you remain flexible and creative, you do not have to deprive your baby or yourself in order to save money. The key lies in moderation: Not everything your baby touches has to be brand new and color coordinated. Not every romantic night out for you and your spouse has to be to the opera. In fact, limited time and resources can ultimately inspire you to reprioritize your wants and needs and more fully appreciate the simple joys of friends and family.

Creative Ways to Save

• Ask, and you shall receive. Other parents are often as eager to get rid of their children's outgrown "stuff" as you are to acquire it. Before making any major purchase, ask around or even advertise in your local neighborhood newsletter for the items you need. Large items such as cribs, Excersaucers and jogging strollers are happily given away by parents eager to make room for bikes, jungle gyms and Barbie dream houses.
• Trade, borrow and lend maternity and baby clothes. Buy only a few treasured outfits for your pregnant figure and cherished newborn – the rest can be secondhand. The pregnant You and your young baby will fit into each size so briefly that it is foolish to splurge too much. Starting the lending cycle with your friends at the beginning can lead to years of free clothes, toys and storage space for all!
• Don't feel like you have to have everything purchased before your baby is born. Besides a car seat, pajamas and a place to sleep (not necessarily a crib yet), your baby really doesn't need much at first. Most gifts arrive after the baby is born, and by prematurely paying retail for an extended layette, you may miss out on freebies people would have given you.
• Avoid the temptation to give a "theme" to your baby's nursery. This hurts you financially in many ways. First, you cut off many less expensive options or hand-me-downs due to your inflexibility in what you'll put in that room. Secondly, if people find out you have a theme, that is ALL you will get for baby presents. Finally, it dates the nursery for your child, forcing you to entirely redecorate when your 5-year-old son refuses to sleep in a room anymore that's covered in Beatrix Potter bunnies.
• Streamline your birth announcements. If you want an elegant birth announcement to place in the baby book, only order a minimum number to send to immediate family, godparents and older relatives who do not have a computer. For the rest of your friends, borrow a digital camera and make a cyber announcement that gives people what they really want to see: pictures of your baby!
• Skip the expensive baby classes, and instead turn to your local library or museum. Rather than signing up for expensive "baby and me classes" that last only a few weeks, check around to see if any libraries hold baby classes. Besides being free, these classes provide the additional benefit of being year-round, which allows you to better get to know the fellow mothers and babies. Plus, if you miss some classes (as always happens anyway), you don't have to feel guilty about wasting the money!
• Entertain in rather than dine out. Now is the time to finally break out your wedding china and socialize the old-fashioned way: by entertaining in your own home. This works particularly well when you have friends without children. Invite them over about a half-hour before Baby's bedtime, giving your friends time to play with her. Then your baby can sleep blissfully in her own crib while you "party all night," saving yourself the expense of both a sitter and a restaurant bill.
• Dine by daylight. If you do want to eat in a fine restaurant, check to see if it has a lunch menu, which could offer the exact same entrees as the dinner menu, but at a much better price. In addition, other patrons will probably be more tolerant of a loud baby if you choose not to hire a sitter, since you are less likely to be intruding on a romantic date.
• Re-think your idea of party time. Parties do not have to start at 8 p.m. Everyone with children (and even most without) will appreciate a 4 p.m. weekend dinner party. And keep it simple: Providing the party venue and utensils should be enough. Have a barbeque where everyone brings their own meat to grill and one side dish. The food will be tailored to each guest's taste, the cost negligible and the party will naturally be over before "baby meltdown" hour. Your single friends will be free to go out afterward, and your fellow parents will appreciate the good night's sleep without having missed out on being social that weekend!
• Go on shopping sprees every weekend – at garage sales! Garage sales, which are usually advertised in the Friday paper and start at or before 8 a.m. Saturday mornings, are a wonderful source for almost everything for your baby. Plus, it gives you a guilt-free opportunity to go off by yourself and "splurge" on things for yourself as well without going over budget.
• Party outside. You can still dance the afternoon away and enjoy your favorite music; just do it outdoors! Especially when the weather turns warm, outdoor festivals and concerts are a perfect way for the entire family to enjoy music, food and friends. Outdoor concerts are usually earlier than nightly indoor ones, and the larger venues allow you to put a greater distance between your baby and the music if either one becomes too loud. A hint: Bring a reclining stroller and mosquito netting, and you may be pleasantly surprised when your baby is comfortably lulled to sleep by the noise. Again, you've saved money by skipping the sitter, and outdoor concerts are usually reasonably priced or even free.
• Create free babysitting. Organize a babysitting co-op instead of hiring babysitters. By relying on the barter system and swapping "coupons" with your friends for hours spent sitting, you gain more than simply money saved: The co-op could easily turn into a wonderful group of friends that will continually expand as new members are inevitably attracted to your group. Co-ops are also more convenient when you need a sitter for a relatively short time (like for your hair appointment), when paid babysitters would be reluctant to commit for so little time and money.
• Vacation in groups. You can still have wonderful vacations, but include your extended family or good friends. This cuts cost considerably by either sharing hotel accommodations or even staying with people who live in a fun location. This will also enable you to do something you could never do on an independent vacation: relax, surrounded by doting loved ones eager to take the baby off of your hands.

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