Rather then just 'saving' money now (which is a good idea, but often gets whittled away quickly) use this money to pay things off in advance. Either put it on your mortgage, pay it in credit onto yu various bills (ie, electricity, gas, phone), And even buying some coles or woolies vouchers to put away for groceries once bubs is here. This way the mney doesn't get wittled away on other expense that pop up (and there will always be other expenses to pop up) but will actually be there for the things you will actually need them for. Also trying t stock up now on things like nappies, wipes, toilet paper, etc, that you are going to need - even if you already have heaps.

Definitely try living on as minimal as possible before bubs is born. If you have foxtel, get rid of it; reconsider the mobile phone plans; even reconsider if you need the home phone or not.

Make sure you ALWAYS use a shopping list when grocery shopping and stick to an allcated budget, adding the cost of everything as you go, so you can sacrifice things before you make it to the checkout.

Only use cash, not eftpos - it is easier to to 'forget' how much you have spent when it is on a card. But make sure you only have enough cash on you for specific things. If you have a credit card, top using it now, pay it off and either get rid of it or put it away somewhere safe - don't use it unless absolutely neccessary - It may be cliche but freezing it in a container of water does work.

Als remember that babies themselves are only as expensive as you let them be - they dn't need all of the 'extras' that people tend to buy nowdays - a couple of generations ago, babies would often be found sleeping in a drawer, fully breastfed and in cloth nappies - and although I wouldn't recomend bubs sleeping in a draw, the same principle hold true: they only need a place to sleep, food and nappies (and I know there are mum's out there who don't even think they need nappies ) There are plenty of second hand options around.

Also talk to your mortgage provider, you may be able to make lesser interest only payments for a while - this may means the mortgage take longer to pay off overall, but it could ease your financial situation by a couple of hundred $ a month, whilst on maternity leave.

Visit the Family Assistance website and use the estimator to figure out how much FTB you will be entitled to once bubs is born, and you should be eligible for the baby bonus, which is paid over the first six months after bubs is born and should help.