Having a posh nursery kitted out at taxpayers’ expense with no doubt hundreds of freebies from solid gold potties to diamond-encrusted pushchairs, I don’t suppose we will see Kate and Wills trawling around the Bucklebury car boot sale or perusing charity shops on Kensington High Street.

They won’t need tips on saving cash while bringing up their baby. One night in the private hospital (what’s wrong with the NHS?) where she gave birth costs £5,000.

But there are many of us who do. New parents are brainwashed into spending a fortune when they really don’t need to part with very much at all. Research by a leading pregnancy magazine concludes that children can cost as much as £40,000 in the first five years of life.

I admit that nursery fees set you back a bit, but the study also took into account parents splashing out on bigger cars, organic food, new clothes, toys and children’s savings for later life.

I know it’s tempting to want the best, but you can bypass most of this and still give a youngster a decent upbringing.

Babies are cheap to raise. Contrary to marketing guff, you don’t need fancy ‘changing stations’ – what exactly are those? – ergonomically-designed baby baths, and designer sleepsuits. If your baby can tell the difference between Primark and Prada it’s worth a slot on Britain’s Got Talent. I picked up gorgeous baby clothes at car boot sales, and friends passed on their children’s clothes.

Charity shops are great for toys and books. I got everything from Barbie cars and horses, to Biff and Chip and Horrid Henry books from them. I cringe when I see people buying such things for toddlers in mainstream shops – it is such an unnecessary waste of money.

Why buy a singing, talking potty in the shape of a cartoon character for £40 when you can get a plain one that doesn’t answer back from Boyes for less than £2?

As for buying a bigger car, why do people feel it necessary to upgrade from a normal saloon to a to a 16-seater minibus after the birth of their second child? When I was young, families managed perfectly well in small cars.

My parents didn’t save any money for my future, and why should they? It was hard enough to save for themselves. I don’t put money away for my children, I expect them to make their own way in life, like me.

Of course all of this will be irrelevant to the Royals, whose child will probably have his own country pile and Learjet by the age of four.