After my recent post on Huggies Baby Wipes and why I love them, I thought I would put together a list of my favourite budget must haves around the house for babes- that are actually worth it. I love when writers and bloggers that I follow put together some ‘must have lists’, like the ultimate Queen Zoe Foster Blake, so here are some of mine!

I’m not a huge ‘brand’ name person, however I will certainly include them if I think they’re worth their weight.

Baby Butt Stuff 

Obviously Huggies Baby Wipes. I prefer these over your homebrand, your Aldi and anything else on the market at the moment because I find them super ‘moist’ for lack of a better word, and once they’re chucked into the plastic container, its really easy to grab one at a time and not use 7 per change. They retail anywhere between $10-$20 for a bag of 240 and are 100% worth it more than something a little cheaper, so keep your eyes out for specials. You can also buy the plastic tub, complete with some already in there, for around $5 and just keep recycling it.

My favourite nappies are the Woolworths Homebrand. Yep, and I’ve tried your Pampers and Huggies and expensive brands but the main drawcard to these is that I find them really big and they fully wrap around Evie covering everything. Some of the other brands (even the Coles Homebrand which I’ve been getting lately purely due to the fact that I ‘click and collect’ my groceries now) seem to have the main back and front and then just have ‘tabs’ that pull around, making them really ‘boy jock’ like. The Woolies ones never leak or give Evie rashes, and for a big 50 ish pack of Toddler ones we only pay $11.

Lotions & Potions

QV Cream is amazing. I went through about 5498 creams when Evies eczema used to be really bad, and this plain and simple one was a god send. No nasties, there’s noting fancy about it, and it’s cheap – especially when you get it from somewhere like Chemist Warehouse that have great prices on just about everything. You can use it as a general moisturiser, or as an eczema barrier cream too, and its good for the whole family. Around $10 for a 250g tub.

Body Shop Hemp Creams are ah-mazing. They just released a new all over one (like a body butter) that is super intensive moisture for 96 hours, and theres also a Face Protector. Great for dry skin, eczema, or just keeping hydrated. I used it on my belly + boobs every morning and night and its always crazy soft now. Both retail for about $25 a tub, with the body butter a bigger version and a lot heavier so they last a really long time.

Cheap and cheerful mainstream clothes

I feel like these are the huge obvious, but Kmart, Target and Best and Less are my go to for easy cheap clothes. $4 tops and leggings and $7 onesies at Kmart all the time, and some $4 tracks and jumpers at Best and Less are perfect for mucking about. Target are a little pricier, and with that comes a little more quality and longevity. I will however include here Bonds, because although a onesie retails at around $20-$25, these bad boys last forever. Evie still fits into her 0’s because they just seem to grow with her, even when she realistically can move into size 2 into other brands now. They are of such a good quality, if you get your hands on them, you can use them kid after kid.

This obviously is not supporting our local businesses, and some quirky and cool brands I have used and found recently include Custom Baby Designs (on Facebook) who do one for $14 or 2 for $25 of baby onesies, personally designed and made for you. They seem to use Best and Less as the brand for the basic onesie, and you can have them design anything you like!  Ouch Clothing are based in North Geelong and have some seriously gorgeous stuff, and the onesie I got for Evie a few weeks ago is a really beautiful fabric and design, though on the pricier side and more your ‘one off’ outfit that your everyday basics. They make some great blankets and baby wraps too.

Places to get your normal stuff, a bit cheaper.

So, Chemist Warehouse I love. ALWAYS has better prices than anywhere else. However some other places I have found that sell the products I need a bit cheaper than the RRP are:

• Pharmacies for formula instead of the supermarket. Even the smaller pharmacies like the ones in the Newcomb Villages, and the Priceline in Waurn Ponds sell Evies S26 Lactose Free for around $21 instead of $27 like the supermarkets – big difference!
• The Reject Shop – also sells Huggies, though not the huge packs I don’t think. You can always grab shampoo and conditioner from $3, and big packs of nappy bags from $2.
• Nurofen and Panadol for babies – get the pharmacy own brand. It saves you a shiiiiitload. Like $10 a pop shitload.
• I found out original Huggies Wipes at Woolies Express for $10, not on special which was cheaper than going into the supermarket so, who’d have thunk that  a servo would be cheaper.

Anywho – now that I’ve written them all down it seems a little boring and obvious, but just maybe one of you parents out there will read it and be like ‘shit yeah, what a great idea!’ and you’ll be able to find something cheap, cheerful and of quality in our local area, to help with your wine time funds!

Now go on – share yours with me already!