Free Baby Stuff for Low Income Families

When you have low or no income it can seem impossible to get the things you need for your new baby. However, there are resources throughout Australia that can help you provide for your new family.
Whether this is your first child or third there are support programs from the government, charities and even free samples from companies.
Take advantage of them all to help you budget your finances and get the things you need for your family.

Prenatal Help
If you are pregnant, there many things that you will need to prepare for. Of course there are a bunch of items you will need, but at this point your most important thing to focus on is yourself and your health. Often this is where you can get help from the Australian government through Centrelink for social benefits, especially if you are unemployed or a single parent. There are five Centrelink benefit programs that you may be eligible for before birth. They include:

• Parental Leave Pay
• Dad and Partner Pay
• Family Tax Benefit
• Parenting Payment
• Newborn Upfront Payment and Newborn Supplement

If you are already receiving government benefits from Centrelink, applying for and receiving these additional benefits can be easily done in minutes. If you are not receiving benefits, you can apply online and start receiving these benefits that will take pressure off your budget to enable you to buy the things you need.

 
One of the most beneficial for new families is the Family Tax Benefit and the Newborn Upfront Payment. These two benefits can usually enable a family or single parent to budget for the necessities they need to birth and raise their child in the first few critical months.

Birth and After
After you give birth there are a lot more issues to worry about including nappies, formula and proper nutrition for mom as well as childcare if you are going back to work and health care costs.

Most of these have government supported programs that can help pay for their costs or reduce their costs to you.  There are health care cards to ensure you and your baby receive the medical care you need for free or at a significantly reduced price and there are childcare benefits and rebates that can help you pay for childcare when needed. These government programs are meant to take the burden off your budget so you can buy the things you need to support your new family. Free services can often be the best free stuff you can get for your baby.

Free Stuff
One of the first things you should do when you become pregnant is to apply for as many free samples as you can. Many companies will vie for your business by giving you a free trial. You can get these free samples often from multiple places including their corporate website or from free sample websites. Get free nappies from signing up for a free trial directly on Huggies and Pampers websites or from these two free sample websites. You can do the same for infant formula and infant food as well.

If you need larger baby furniture, your best resources are local classifieds, online classified directories(Facebook, Gumtree etc), charitable organisations or the nation-wide Zilch free recyclery. Get all the free items you need for your baby without having to hurt your budget or go in debt. If you have emergency financial situations pop up and you need a cash injection, look at Advanced Payments through Centrelink or consider other benefit based loans versus expensive short-term loans.