Every Little Penny...

We haven't been spare-no-expense kind of parents when it came to the baby. We've tried to be reasonable. That said, the kid won't be doing without by a long shot either. I've mentioned this list before, but I made a long list of every little thing we'd need (by combining items from various online lists of things every new baby needs) and we tried to divide the cost fairly evenly over the past few months so we weren't shelling out too much all at once. Having a plan allowed us to adequately cut back on things we might otherwise have spent money on to accomodate the new expenses. It also helped when we had coupons or gift cards to use. For instance, every month or so we'd get a 10% or 20% off coupon to Burlington Baby Depot and we could go to our list and easily decide what to use it on...(usually the next most expensive thing on the list that was available at Baby Depot). Overall, it's worked rather well. I recommend list making...for all situations.
A few weeks ago I started collecting the last few things on my list like diapers, wipes, baby wash, diaper rash cream, etc. And I don't think I've paid full price for any of them. I thought I'd post my savings venues for those others of you who may need these things. This will save you the footwork I had to do!
First, I placed an order with diapers.com . They don't just have diapers...they have a ton of stuff. Regularly, the majority of their products are about what you'd expect to pay at Target or somewhere (reasonable, but not way discounted). However, they have a rotation of things that are periodically on sale. I bought Huggies because when I ordered they happened to be on sale for less than they cost at Wal-Mart. Also, on your first order you get $10 off and every order over $49 has free shipping. My order was right at $50 (I ordered some other stuff too) so with the $10 off it was only $40 and there was no shipping. The whole order was here within two days! So if you need diapers anyway, I recommend ordering from them at least the once and getting the $10 off. Plus, they come RIGHT TO YOUR DOOR. Diapers on your doorstep...it's a good thing! :)
Second, Huggies.com is offering a free sample of their new pure and natural diapers and you can get a $3 off coupon for a whole package.
If you're interested in environmentally friendly or chlorine free diapers, Seventh Generation makes some and offers coupons for their diapers and wipes on their website (seventhgeneration.com). You can print each coupon twice. 7th Gen baby products including dishwashing and laundry detergent are available at Babies R Us among other places.
And speaking of Toys R Us, if you have one of their reward cards (which won't cost you anything) you get every 10th box of Huggies (and maybe Luvs I think) diapers free. *They're also having a special on Seventh Generation and Earth's Best diapers and wipes this week.
Johnson's offers coupons on their website too for baby wash, shampoo, lotion, even their giftsets sometimes.
Finally, I like coupons.com. They have coupons for all kinds of stuff, and they're always changing. It's super easy to use and you can search by category (i.e. baby needs). Then, you just mark the ones you want as you browse and at the end you click print and it prints them right out on your printer.
The only thing I think you have to be careful of is buying a name brand something with a coupon you wouldn't otherwise have purchased. If you're not going to get Huggies anyway, you should make sure it wouldn't be cheaper to get another brand even with your Huggies coupon. *Speaking of name brands, Target changed their house baby brand to Up and UP and the Up and Up diapers are a pretty good deal--money wise. I haven't tried them so I can't speak to their durability, and leak or wetness protection (I guess I'll let you know how that goes in a few weeks!), but the price is right...and they're polka dotted...so they're really cute!!
My final suggestion? You're going to need a coupon organizer. Mine's got dividers for each category (baby stuff, groceries, household, dining out, etc.) and I try to keep them in the order in which they expire within each category.

There then, that's all the "every penny counts" advice I've come up with thus far, I think. Further suggestions welcome! :)

Happy baby bargain hunting!

P.S. Oh! And check for consignment shops...I found one here called Little Bo-tique (like Little Bo-Peep...get it?). It's upscale children's consignments and it's an adorable little shop. Looks just like a children's shop full of new cute baby and kid stuff only all the clothes are there on consignment from other moms! I got, like, six little outfits and hats and some onesies all for $15. Some of the stuff looked like it'd never been worn! Even though it'd all been washed and looked perfectly clean I still came home, tossed it in the washer with some Dreft and now I feel like they're as good as new...maybe better!