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Things I Would Rather Buy
March 28, 2008 1:51 pm | by

When my husband is working a lot of overtime I get tempted. Wandering through the grocery store, those cute little boxes of disposable diapers sing their siren song, “I’m so much easier, you can do a little less laundry since this week is so busy.” I begin to falter, reaching out towards a particular favorite brand, realizing no, I don’t want the smaller package, because then I have to worry about running out. But the price sets me back a bit. $20 for the big box. I look at my cart. $20 adds a lot to a grocery bill. Especially since disposable diapers are just trash. Trash I would have to pay $20 for.

My mind wanders some more. What else could I buy for $20? The possibilities are endless!

  • A book for myself (or two or three)
  • A couple of books for my kids
  • A pair of shoes on sale
  • A purse (never mind, I won’t be carrying just a purse for a while now.)
  • A special outing to the zoo or a movie with a child
  • Here’s an idea – just save that money.

Any one of those sounds much better than buying something that will just be trash two hours after using it. Really stinky trash. So, because I am selfish, I pass up the disposable diapers again and remind myself that no matter what I use on the baby’s behind, I still have to change it anyway.

But wait a minute. What about all that money spent on cloth diapers? That is a heck of a lot more than $20. What could you have spent that money on? Good point.

First off, that money does not add to my already astronomical grocery bill. Let’s face it, $150 for groceries looks different in the check register than $170. The money comes from the clothing part of the budget (floppy, lopsided budget that it is.) Secondly, cloth diapers are purchased and then you have them. They don’t go in the trash. They are there for your constant use.

Still, that is a lot of money to fork out all at once. So here is an idea: don’t fork it out all at once. Some people will want to buy it all at once and dive in, some would rather try out a few options first. Buy your diapers over three or four months and build a nice stash of cloth gradually. If you are ahead of the game, you can do this while you are pregnant and have it all ready to go buy the time the baby comes. If you are starting out later, it may mean that you don’t jump to full time cloth right away, but that is no reason not to start at all.

For example:
Month 1 you might buy
bumGenius 3 pack – 53.10
6 infant prefolds – 9.00
2 Bummis Super Brite covers – 25.90
Total: $88 – enough to cloth diaper at least part time.

The next month you might get more bumGenius, more prefolds, a wet bag, and some wipes. For more information about what to choose and how to get started, see Cloth Diapers – Just the Basics.

Before you know it you have a very well stocked diaper collection.

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Comments

8 Comments

  • My Boaz's Ruth said...
    November 11, 2008 at 12:55 pm

    DO DO DO buy 1 or 2 of different diapers until you find something that works for you.

    I got very lucky and the first thing I bought were stuff I could use.. (Albeit not my favorites, as it has turned out). But other diapers we have picked up in one or twos have turned out to be completely NOT my style at all so they are getting put back up for sale used for someone else to try. Through this process I am also finding out what I like/don’t like in diapers (don’t like: Velcro. Comes open in the wash and kiddo can take off his own diaper. Don’t like: Sized diaper. It means buying even MORE diapers when the child outgrows them. At the price, that’s unaffordable.)

  • sarah said...
    June 3, 2008 at 9:53 am

    well, i don’t really have this problem. we had people give us gift certificates for our pre-folds (which were a dollar a piece, so even if we did have to buy them it would have been $36) and we buy dappi liners, which are $4 a piece. the diapers here look great but at $18 a piece, ONE diaper cost more than our entire system. sorry, just can’t fathom it…and i really don’t worry about the extra 20 bucks i would have if i didn’t invest in cloth diapers. we wanted cloth for environmental reasons first, health reasons 2nd, & economical 3rd, and well, these diapers don’t look very economical to me though i am sure they work great. i’m just saying you don’t have to invest hundreds, even $50 bucks if you’re smart…and apparently broke like us:)

  • B said...
    May 19, 2008 at 2:20 pm

    You SOOOO just described my mental drama every time I go to the store! (well not EVERY time because, let’s face it — we don’t always have the extra money). But when we do, I’m sooo there with you. *Sigh*

  • Rachel said...
    April 21, 2008 at 9:25 am

    And when you think about all of the money you have invested in cloth diapering, (the whole time saying to yourself “it will save money in the long run”). You are kicking yourself in the butt if you buy disposables. For someone who doesn’t have cloth, to buy disposables is a need. If you have good cloth diapers at home, spending money on disposables is a flat out financial loss! And it”s not good for your babies tushy or the environment. Just walk right buy that isle! Be strong; you can do it!

  • Jenni said...
    April 11, 2008 at 11:25 am

    Congratulations, Tina!

  • Jenni said...
    April 11, 2008 at 11:24 am

    Great post, Cancan!

  • Tina said...
    April 4, 2008 at 11:26 pm

    I’m feeling better and better about my decison to CD the more that I read. I am newly pregnant and have started to stock up on my supply of CDs so I will have a complete stash when baby arrives.

  • CanCan said...
    March 31, 2008 at 3:50 pm

    I’ve been tempted before myself, but reason usually wins out. I like the way you broke down the cost of the diapers.
    I just blogged about cloth diapering yesterday and I linked to the cotton babies store.
    I think I’ll link to this post too, if you don’t mind!