Washing Diapers

Washing Diapers

Other cost:

Unless you are washing by hand with no soap (gross!) there are other cost to consider.

How much does it cost to wash and dry cloth diapers?

Washing Energy:        

Expect to be doing two to three load a week- I figured 12 loads a month. Each load cost about $.40 in energy to wash. (Cheaper if you have a more energy efficient washer.)

 Drying:

            Line drying is free. Sun is a natural bleacher and kills germs. Out of laziness or being in a hurry I have used the dryer. One website estimate that to cost $.36 a load.

So add the initial $91 dollar plus $57-109 a year.

 Cloth diapering cost $148-200 a year.
That is a savings of $85-137 the first year and even more the second.

Now what about that soap? ...

LAUNDRY DETERGENT

My friend buys a detergent for hard water.  It cost her roughly $.18 cents a load.

I decided to make my own for hard water. Here is the recipe and cost:

Cloth Diaper Detergent

Here are my high estimates, rounding up dollar amounts and not counting buying it on sale or the store brand.

½ cup Baking Soda: $.25 at $1 for 2 cups (1 lb box)

½ cup Washing Soda: $.34 at $4 for 6 cups (3 lb box)

½ cup Epsom Salt: $.37 at $3 for 8 cups (4 lb box)

½ cup Free or Baby Oxiclean- $.80 at $8 for 5 cups (3 lb box)

$1.76 for 32 loads or about $.06 a load. (Rounded up- very up)

12 loads a month =__$.72__ total detergent cost per month or $8-9 a year.

Still, that is a savings of $76-129 the first year.
The second year you would save at least $132-171.
And those are conservative numbers. It can easily be double that! Is it worth the time, money, and poop rinsing?

Another way to look at is this way

If each load contained 12 diapers and the soap cost $.06 and the total cost of energy (I used Mr. Electricity’s calculator) to wash them is $.40 a load, that equals $.46 a load.

So each diaper will cost you less than $.04-.07 depending on if you use the dryer.  That is way less than the $.13 for disposables. Seriously, you would be cutting you diaper bill in more than half!

Okay, now comes a bonus:

When you are done using cloth diapers you can sell cloth diapers, if they are still in decent condition. So expect another pleasant return. Now they cost even less!

However, the biggest money saver, and my favorite thing about cloth diapering is the wipes

Coming next- FREE WIPES!...

Cloth diapers- Money Saver?

Cloth Diapers a Money Saver?

There is an economical cloth diaper on the market that claims you can cloth diaper a child for about $100-$200.  That’s the starting price anyway.  Then there is the cleaning, washing, wipes, etc. Small hidden cost.  Is it still worth it?  When I found an exceptionally good deal, I decided I’d try it out and see if cloth diapering is really worth it.

My disposable diapers are 12 to 15 cents apiece.

I use 6 diapers on a good day for a  young toddler and an infant goes through even more (8-12).

If diapers cost $.13 six times a day,  that equals about $285 a year. I realize that’s a low number, but is washing out pooh going to be worth it?

Let’s find out

I bought 4 diaper covers and 22 pre-folds for $56 dollars. If you have a newborn you will need more. These particular covers get dirty with almost every poop.

I skipped the wet bag. (They are about $6)

I also originally skipped the diaper sprayer since my shower sprayer can reach the toilet.  After one time of use I realized (as pooh went everywhere) the spray was too wide.  We bought one for $35.

That is $91 total.

In just under 4 months cloth diapers would pay for themselves.

Of course that is if there was no other cost…

Cloth Diapers- Pros and Cons

Now that my toddler is (or should be) potty training, I guess it's about time I get around to posting about those cloth diapers.  Did you know that one of the benefit to cloth diapering is that most children who use them will want to potty train earlier?  That's because disposables are so good at soaking away all that wetness that it doesn't really bother them.  However, cloth diapers don't and that can be uncomfortable.  Because cloth diapers don't soak it all in, you do need to be on top of changing. No sitting in a soiled diaper for hours or that could lead to some serious diaper rash.

There are several pros and con to cloth diapering.  I used to be against them as my earlier post will show.  Here are reasons for and against

Against-
Rinsing and washing poo
More diaper changes (possibly)
Large up front cost

The biggest pro can be the money.  Do they really save all that much?  I had cheap disposables and wasn't all that convinced until I did some math.

Coming next- Cloth diapers how much of a money saver...

Disposable Diapers

For my newborn I tried out several disposable diaper brands

Huggies

Huggies Swaddlers

Pampers

and

Up and Up

Luvs and Parents Choice do not have newborn sizes, at least not at my local store.


Here is my favorite and why:

Huggies- I love the umbilical cord cut out.  While other diapers look like someone took scissors to the top and shaved a little off, Huggies actually has a good cut out for the umbilical cord.

Huggies

Pampers

Huggie Swaddlers are nice, but not worth the price, because...

Once the cord fell off I switched to Up and Up. I liked the diaper and it was the cheapest one. They hold up great and don't leak.

As far as Pampers.  I was disappointed. It was my least favorite out off all of them.  Bad cord cut out.  Baby leaked.  Did not like the feel of them.  Will not be buying again.

Thank you Huggies for making a good cord cut out.
And yay for store brands.  Glad Target carries newborn size diapers.

Baby Mobile

I really wanted a black, white and red baby mobile for our newborn since those are the colors they can see best.  The cheapest one was around $30 and that was for the low quality, "I'm going to break on you" kind.  I thought back to what we did with our first kid and I realized I had made her a mobile, why not do it again?

Time to attempt to get crafty.  We borrowed a photo mobile from my brother and printed some designs from the internet.  I pasted them on card stock and there to go.  A virtually free mobile, that's way cuter than the $30 one. And I get to personalize this one by putting black and white family photos in it.

Saving on Diapers and Wipes

I am so excited at what I just discovered.

As any parent knows, babies go through a lot of diapers!  I was comparing prices online to those in the store when I noticed Amazon Warehouse had a thing called "Open Box".  The packaging may be damaged but the product is still just fine.  However, because of the damage to the part you throw away anyway (the box), they sell it at a discount.

I got name brand diapers and wipes for less than the store brand I normally buy.  Considering I prefer the better quality for the first few months of baby's life anyway I super happy about it.

I will be keeping my eye out for Open Box diaper and wipe deals in the future.




Also, I know stores like Target occasionally run specials such as buy two packages of diapers get a $15 dollar gift card.  These are not always the cheapest diapers so be aware, but when it's there own brand and I figure I'd be spending the gift card on more diapers anyway, it made it a cheaper option for diapers as well.

Savings With a Goal in Mind

I read an interesting article in the news that made me look at savings in a different way.

lhttp://www.deseretnews.com/article/865618681/Bucket-list-budgeting-How-to-squirrel-away-money-for-fun-things.html

I have always been a saver.  I like the security, say when for a year you need to use a part of your savings every month just to get by. (Cough cough)

Anyway, I realized savings with out a goal for that savings can be hard.  What's the point?  That is reason I love to save- my goals.  Perhaps it is not a trip to Italy, but my goals are a nice emergency savings, retirement, and owning a home.

Things like retirement can be very far away. In the article, it talks about saving for short term goals (within 5 years) as well.  For example, my 5 year financial bucket list includes a nice trip, new(er) car, and a large down payment on a house. That is why I am so excited this year about savings!  Our emergency fund is back up where we want it to be so every penny we save from here on out goes to fulfilling our financial dreams.

What kind of things do you want to save for?  How do you plan on increasing your savings?