My Experience With Cloth Wipes

After deciding to use cloth diapers for various reasons, I decided we might as well use cloth wipes too. During my research on the subject I found that cloth wipes seemed superior to disposable wipes. I liked the idea of using only plain, warm water on my daughter’s behind most of the time, and using a gentle, non-irritating soap the rest of the time. In addition, the thought of the money we would save also appealed to me. In the last months of my pregnancy, when I was as big as a boat and unable to do much (I gained … Continue reading

There are HOW Many Kinds of Cloth Diapers?

After my husband and I made the decision to use cloth diapers, we undertook the daunting task of deciding which kind to use. The only kind of cloth diaper I’d ever seen or heard about were the good ol’ prefolds, fastened with diaper pins, and covered with plastic pants. I was ready to take on the task of rinsing poopy diapers in the toilet, learning how to pin without poking my baby, and wiping down the plastic pants with a washcloth, so they could be worn through multiple messes. There’s no doubt about it cloth diapering with prefolds is cheap. … Continue reading

Why We Chose Cloth

With the “Going Green” trend bigger than ever, most new parents have probably considered, or at least heard about, the idea of using cloth diapers. Although I have always known I’d like to use cloth diapers on my babies, I knew I’d need to convince my husband if it was going to work. I began reading articles on why cloth was better, so I could be armed with plenty of information should he fight to use disposable. Fortunately, he didn’t protest, and in the process I gained a wealth of information on the topic. After hours of reading, I discovered … Continue reading

Cloth Diapers: What is a Prefold?

Cloth diapers are a good way to diaper on the cheap. Compared to the cost of disposables over your baby’s and toddler’s diapering career, cloth tends to run cheaper. However, the initial outlay of money to develop a cloth diaper stash can feel rather appalling to an expecting family, especially if you’re becoming a stay-at-home mom or spending some time at home with your baby after the birth. If you’re willing to put a little bit of effort into cloth diapering in order to cut costs, then the prefold is the way to go. Contrary to their name, prefold diapers … Continue reading

Save on Baby Items

It is a fact that babies need stuff, lots of stuff. And all of that stuff winds up costing lots of money. Fortunately, with a few frugal practices, you can spend much less. Here are some ideas on how you can save on baby items. Announce it to the world If you are lucky, as soon as you announce that you are expecting, you will be inundated with offers for free baby stuff, such as equipment, clothes and toys. Friends, family and even casual acquaintances often have a ton of baby stuff that is sitting there waiting to be used. … Continue reading

All You Need is Love (and Diapers)

A friend of mine recently announced her pregnancy and I could not be more thrilled for her. She also shared her concern that she would not be able to get all the frills she’d seen in another friend’s nursery. What’s a mommy-to-be to do when handcrafted sleigh cribs, designer duds, and Cadillac strollers just aren’t in the budget? If you think babies have to be super expensive, think again! Budget Baby Rule #1: Fancy clothing is optional. Let’s get real here; most of those cute baby outfits do nothing more than slow down diaper changes and irritate new baby skin. … Continue reading

Cloth Diapering Tips

Cloth diapers can save quite a lot of money when you use them instead of disposable diapers. But sometimes they can actually cost more. This occurs when people purchase extra equipment or accessories to go with the cloth diapers, use cleaning practices that cost more money, or when they give up on cloth diapering because of the inconvenience. So, I thought I would include some money saving tips about using cloth diapers. The way to get the poop out of a diaper is to rinse it in the toilet. Some people simply grab and end of the diaper and swoosh … Continue reading

How to Save Money on Bathing Suits

The neighbors have already invited us to use their pool and with just a few weeks of school left, there is talk of making a trip to the beach. The only problem was the bathing suit situation. Here are my tips for saving money on bathing suits, or bathing costumes, as my more elegant friends call them. I am a big advocate for buying things used to save money, but I just can’t get over the ew factor when it comes to a used bathing suit. It is up there on my list with used underwear. I have a friend … Continue reading

How to Save Money on Cloth Diapers

Cloth diapers can save you money ($20 a week on diapers), especially when you have more than one child who will use them, but there is usually a large cash outlay in the beginning to purchase all of those cloth diapers. Most parents who use cloth diapers spend around $300 for them. Here are some ways to reduce that cost. Buy Used Some people get squeamish about buying used diapers, so you will have to determine if you fit into this category before you seriously start looking for used diapers. That said, if cloth diapers are washed quickly in hot … Continue reading

Smaller Garbage Equals More Money

We have been smug. I admit it. When we look at all of the garbage that our neighbors have out, we tend to feel that we are on the right track. This is because we know that the smaller our garbage is then the less money we are spending. While the neighbors can have three or more extra large trash cans a week, we have trouble just filling up half of our can per week. Once we are past disposable diapers (we just don’t want to do cloth), we may even cut that little bit in half. There are so … Continue reading