by Kristy Martz

Created on: May 22, 2009

When I was pregnant with my first daughter, I was shocked to see how expensive maternity clothes were. $40 for a shirt I will only wear for a few months? I don't think so! During my second pregnancy, I found a different way to stock my closet with stylish and inexpensive maternity clothes.

My secret? I went to the Salvation Army thrift store for almost all of my maternity clothes. I just could not justify spending a fortune on maternity clothes that would get very little wear. Shopping at Salvation Army allowed me to buy a lot more of a variety of inexpensive maternity clothes for a lot less.

Inexpensive Maternity Clothes Tip #1

Keep in mind that you probably won't need true maternity clothes for first part of your pregnancy. You can usually get by with roomy pants and shirts for a while.

Check out your local thrift stores regular clothing early in your pregnancy when your own clothes are just starting to get snug. You can also wear these early pregnancy outfits just after you deliver your baby.

Many thrift stores have regular sales. You can get some great deals on early pregnancy maternity clothes by keeping tabs on what days the sales run.

Inexpensive Maternity Clothes Tip #2

Check the elastic on pants. If a woman wore the pants at the end of her pregnancy, the elastic may be stretched out. Don't buy maternity pants with loose elastic. The same applies to maternity shorts and skirts.

Try on all maternity clothes before you make your purchase. Even if you aren't very far along in your pregnancy, you can get a good feel for whether something is too stretched out. If you purchase inexpensive maternity clothes that you can't wear, you aren't getting a very good deal at all!

Inexpensive Maternity Clothes Tip #3

Try to find a thrift store in a nice neighborhood. These stores usually have high quality, yet inexpensive maternity clothes. Sometimes you can find maternity clothes that still have the tags on them. You can also find more variety, including business maternity clothes, in these neighborhoods.

Inexpensive Maternity Clothes Tip #4

You don't have to sacrifice your personal style in order to wear inexpensive maternity clothes from a thrift store. If you are a leather kind of gal, you probably wouldn't feel comfortable wearing a pink teddy bear maternity shirt. You don't have to sacrifice style just because you are pregnant.

There is a wide variety of inexpensive maternity clothes out there to choose from. I found some funky striped maternity pants at my favorite thrift store. I loved those pants!

Inexpensive Maternity Clothes Tip #5

You don't need a ton of maternity clothes. You will have a baby in your arms and your maternity clothes packed away in boxes before you know it. Just stick to the basics and throw in a couple of unique items.

If you do your laundry every week you'll have plenty of maternity clothes to last your entire pregnancy. So what if you wear the same shirt every week? Nobody is going to remember that once your baby is born.

Most of us can get by with a maternity wardrobe that consists of:

3 or 4 pairs of jeans - $5 to $10 each
2 or 3 pairs of slacks (or funky striped pants!) - $5 to $10 each
7 casual shirts - $1 to $5 each
2 or 3 dress shirts - $2 to $8 each
1 dress - $5 to $10

Use your money wisely and stock up on inexpensive maternity clothes at your local thrift store. You can use the money you save on buying items for your baby. Better yet, use the money to take one last vacation before the baby is born!

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