Second, third, forth and more hand...

I'll kick off by singing the virtues of second hand... (by second hand I mean not brought as brand new).

I'd hazzard a guess that about 90% of the essential items that our daughter needed as a newborn, and now about 80% of her essential items as a toddler were/are second hand. Things including her cot, sterilser, blankets, car seats (both with know history), changing table, highchairs, sit on bike, buggy-board for the pram, wellies and clothes. Lots of non-essentials too; books, toys, DVDs, bibs and tons of art and craft materials...

These things coming from family and friends with older kids, eBay, charity shops, 'Nearly New' sales', the local library (selling off old stock) and website like freecycle and fridgemountain. Friends have also lent us things on long and short term loans, rather than us having to buy them, while they were not needed in their households. It goes without saying that when the items are no longer needed they are returned, passed on to friends/charity or even re-sold (our sling was brought new for £45, and I sold it on eBay for £30 to a lady in the north of England setting up a sling library).