Thirfty Tip of the Week

For many of you mom's out there, have you ever thought how can I save money when my baby comes. You can always save money by breastfeeding, or buying second hand clothes or baby items or even taking hand me downs (which by the way I love) it save so much money. Since becoming a stay at home mom with my last kid I had to think of other ways to save money, and one day I was talking with my husband Russ and we both looked at each other and said "well since money is going to be even tighter how about cloth diapering". Now at first I wasn't too excited about using cloth diapers, I have heard so many horror stories about mom's getting peed on while out with their little one because the diaper didn't hold. So I told my husband that I would give it a try but that I wouldn't guarantee anything. So I started to do some research on the Internet and found that there were so many different kinds of cloth diapers out there and how to care for them. Now some people will just buy new never been used, but not me I'm on a strict budget (real strict) so I looked to Craigslist to get my stash going. For the newborn set up I spent about $35 and it lasted me until he was about 6months old - which is really good I hear. Then it was time to move on the next size and this time I have spent about $80 or so and he is still in this size, and along the way I pick up bigger sizes when they are a good deal. I picked up some covers at a garage sale for $8 for 13 of them, can we say GOOD DEAL, I mean some new covers alone cost $8-20 for just one. I did more research on how to care for them, I would love to have diaper service one day but it's not going to happen. So all you need it a garbage can with lid fill it with some cold water and borax and just put the wet or poopie diaper in there and you are good to go until you are ready to wash, which is twice a week at our house. I will post some links to other sites that offer support on how to care for your diapers.

Speaking of poopie diapers, you can put a disposable liner in the diaper to caught the poop and toss it in the toilet with the mess on it and your done. If you're like me and don't want to wast the money on liners I just rinse the diapers in the toilet and then toss in the bin and wait for wash day.

Preston is 9months old and I have only had to buy 4pkgs of disposable diapers for him and that is usually for traveling or when he is sick. So far I have only spent about $150-200 for everything I need until it's time to potty train. Here are some pics of the diapers we have:

Prefolds- they do require a cover and a snapie to keep them in place
Fitted - they require a cover as well and may or may not need a snapie
AIO - all in ones no cover required, just like a disposable but all you have to do is wash and you get to use it again & again
Pockets - these are my favorites right now, you can stuff them for better absorbency so these and the AIO are great for using at night.
And there are way more types of covers and diapers out there, but this is what I use and it works for me, I do have to say I have enjoyed having him in cloth diapers not only is it cheaper on my wallet but it's way better for the environment.

Here are a couple sites that I have found to be helpful to me.
http://www.zany-zebra.com
http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com

Don't forget that you can make your own diapers as well and here is a site that can help you with that as well:
http://www.diaperkit.com

Also to save money on wipes you can go and buy a piece of flannel fabric at Joanne Fabrics, Michael's, Ben Franklin or Wal - Mart for like $5 and get about 8 or so out of yard depending on how big you want your wipes to be. I just use water as my solution but you can make your own just Google it.

** I will post pics once I find my camera**