The Daily Diaper

The Budget Mommy on Cloth Diapers

By Amy ⋅ November 12, 2009 ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

The following blog was written by Amy Murphy of The Budget Mommy…a place to find great deals.

My biggest motivator for using cloth diapers was the sheer cost of disposables.

After spending nearly $2000 on disposables with my first child, the thought was literally nauseating (or maybe that was the morning sickness?) the second time around.

I think you’d agree $2000 is a LOT of money, and I can think of several things I’d rather spend it on than something that’s worn for a few hours (if you’re lucky) and then thrown away!

The thing is, I purchased disposables in increments, so it didn’t seem that bad one at a time. You may be thinking that you can’t afford to shell out $200+ dollars at one time for a decent stash of cloth, so you keep spending $20+ a month on disposable diapers because it’s cheaper right now. And of course you buy disposable wipes too, adding another $3-4 to the monthly total. Here’s the secret…you don’t have to buy your whole stash of cloth diapers all at one time! Even if you are only buying 2 or so at a time, that’s still 2 diapers you didn’t have to throw away and replace.

How to buy cloth diapers inexpensively…

Here are some tips on how to buy cloth inexpensively. Believe me, when we started using cloth diapers we did NOT have very much money, so I made it my goal to get them for the best deal possible.

1. Do your homework. Nothing will waste money more than buying diapers you hate or won’t use. There are websites like JilliansDrawers.com that will let you pay a deposit and try out several different diapers for 20 days. Your total cost ends up being about $10 assuming you return the diapers in the manner you’re supposed to.
2. Get help. There are lots of types of diapers to choose from which can be overwhelming at first. Find a source or two that you trust (like a blog or a website with great reviews or a friend you know that does it) and get their input. If you don’t get some help it would be very easy to give up when you see the sheer number of options!
3. Shop for deals. Diapers.com gives you $5 off your first purchase and free shipping over $49. This gets you three Bumgenius 3.0’s , FuzziBunz, or Happy Heiny’s for over a $1 off each. DiaperJunction.com sometimes offers a coupon for 10% off your first purchase when you sign up for their newsletter giving you another great discount. They also offer FREE SHIPPING for purchases of $75.00 or more AND you can earn FREE DIAPERS through their “Get Your GREENback!” Rewards Points program.
4. Register for them. What could be more useful than being given cloth diapers as a gift? People are already going to spend $15 at least on your baby gift, so why not set up a cloth diaper gift registry? It will also give you a chance to get feedback from others you might not have known used or use cloth! Some cloth diaper stores offer gift registries, or you can use a service like MyRegistry.com to register for cloth diapers since not all of the major stores carry cloth.

cloth diapers do not have to be “knock you over” expensive…just be savvy, use these tips, and you’ll be saving money on diapering in no time!



Amy Murphy is a first time cloth diapering mommy of two. She started cloth diapering AND budgeting because her husband started law school. She can argue legal points while saving money and washing cloth diapers, but says, “I’m not good for much else.”

You can read more about Amy at her website, The Budget Mommy.

 

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Tags: Amy Murphy, cloth diaper gift registry, cloth diaper stash, cloth diapers, diaperjunction.com, diapers, disposable wipes, disposables, FREE SHIPPING ON CLOTH DIAPERS, jilliansdrawers.com, The Budget Mommy

Cloth Diaper Blog is published by www.diaperjunction.com.

Discussion

4 comments for “The Budget Mommy on Cloth Diapers”

1. If you aren’t opposed to using used cloth diapers they can be`even cheaper. We got our FuzziBunz for $7-8 a diaper. Check out http://www.diaperswappers.com

   Comment # 1 | Posted by Beth Kickert | November 12, 2009, 7:54 am

2. You can also get by with a few and wait for big sales (like the buy 6 get 1 free from cotton babies not too long ago) or supplement your stash with a prefold set like gro babys econobums or flip where you can add a few inserts at a time. Check for weekly cloth diaper giveaways (a google search will help you find some, and you usually can spot others in the comments or by mousing around) and there’s always the great cloth diaper hunt in may and november. One size diapers might cost a couple more dollars at a time, but they last through a longer time period than sized diapers. There are also growing in cloth options on many manufacturers sites, where people try the diapers for 30 days and you can snap them up for several dollars off!

   Comment # 2 | Posted by Jill | November 12, 2009, 8:14 am

3. When I first started cloth diapering I went entirely used from Diaper Swappers. I got some prefolds and covers initially and 1 or 2 pockets. Now I’m buying 1 pocket a week to transition. I’ve been buying used still or took advantage of sales like last week cottonbabies.com had BG OS on sale for $12 for seconds. It’s definitely much more economical, considering a thing of disposables is at least $8 and who knows how long they’d last. Definitely not all week for me.

   Comment # 3 | Posted by Amanda | November 12, 2009, 9:55 am

4. What a great idea to register for cloth diapers! I already have a baby registry with myregistry.com, but I never thought about registering for diapers. Great tips!

   Comment # 4 | Posted by Lisa | November 13, 2009, 9:16 am

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