Sunday, January 16, 2011

Q&A #5 -How much do cloth diapers cost?

Cloth diapers cost as much as you want to spend.
Seriously.

We were 'poor with a capitol P' when Henry was born.
We had the necessities but that was it.
Our first diapers - a prefold and covers package for about $90 - were the cheapest ones I could find online.
We have used those prefolds every.single.day for the past 2.5 years and Liza just outgrew the last of those covers.
From that orginal prefold package, I've bought larger covers and lots of used pockets and AIOs.
 I've spent about $350 in total since Henry was born.

Not bad considering all my babies will wear these same diapers.

To know me is to know I'm not that good with numbers.
But, I am good at googling and google tells me that disposable diapers cost about $60/month.
$60/month x 30 months =  $1,800

Wow.  That's a lot of money literally going in the trash.

So, I'm cheap and my budget is small.
I like buying used and I like a good deal.

But, if I wasn't so cheap and if we had extra spending money, I would definitely buy more diapers.
After all, they are ridiculously cute.

Don't even get me started on my current lust for skirties.

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Long story short, there is a cloth diaper for every budget.
You just have to make it work for you.

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Estimate how much you've spent on diapers.
Please.

Are you frugal like me or are you a sucker for cute fluff?

12 comments:

Mandi @ Living the Good Life said...

Reason # 1,455,031 why we must wait until Will is out of school to even think about baby number 3 is mainly b/c if said baby is a girl, I will need a large diaper budget just for wool skirties!!!

Mandi @ Living the Good Life said...

but to answer your cost question, add us to the capital P P-o-o-r category when we were pregnant with Tripp, so his stash from birth-18 months was prefolds and covers with a dozen pockets. Less than $200

Then, I really fell in love with (and had Christmas money to spend) wool longies, so I bought a few pair and a dozen or so used fitteds in a larger size that he wore until he potty trained. another $150 or so...

I added to my newborn stash with some nicer dipes with Charlie and my love for wool has only increased, so probably another $300 in the name of upgrade and extras

so, what's that $650 ish for my 2 kiddos? Sounds about right.

Laura @ Our Messy Messy Life said...

Yeah, skirties are ridiculously cute. I'm pretty sure it will be uncontrollable once Liza is walking.

Kaitlin @ More Like Mary said...

I haven't started using them yet-do I still get to comment?

I spent right around $300 for 19 All-in-Ones. 1 Fuzzibunz and 18 Bumgenius 4.0. Not sure yet if I'll need more, if I overbought, etc-but I KNOW it's gonna be cheaper than throwing a box of disposables in the cart every time I'm at Walmart!

There's also the cost of the accessories-I have two nice wet bags for storing dirty diapers and two small ones for keeping in the diaper bag. They were all shower gifts-but probably cost about 100 total.

Laura @ Our Messy Messy Life said...

Kaitlin, they are one-size, right? So technically, those can be the only diapers you need.

Just stay away from cloth sites when you have a few extra bucks to spend....it is dangerous :)

Kaitlin @ More Like Mary said...

Yep-one size. So hopefully they'll last through several children!

Jude and Alisha said...

Mine are all Rumparooz, probably one of the most expensive kind - but grandmas and grandpas (plus a few others) bought them for Charlotte since we didn't need any more baby girl stuff. I only have 12 but they usually go for $24 a piece. Definitely more than I'd spend myself!

I really like them though and look forward to using these one sizers for many many years on many many butts. So, they're worth the cash.

Laura @ Our Messy Messy Life said...

Alisha, Rumparooz certainly proved themselves to have excellent customer service too.

I was looking at you changing Charlotte and I was so impressed with how many snaps are on that diaper. They are MUCH more sizable than onesize Bumgenius.

Anonymous said...

As poor as you were, I believe someone gifted you the first set and also gifted you the 2 different Craig's List sets. But I will say that you would have bought them yourself b/c you were (are) a real believer in cloth diapers.

Laura @ Our Messy Messy Life said...

Mama, you are right....I suppose I should add that my parents have paid for quite most of our diapers.

Although, I'm pretty sure I paid for that first set of diapers from Craigslist......

Bethany said...

I have spent AROUND $300 for diapers. That being said, I trade, I gift them, I lend them and I sample new brands out- this has hurt my pocketbook to an extent but it's been so fun/beneficial. AND, still- it's saved us money. We've had to waste whole entire disposable boxes due to chubby man's rapid growth.

Megan said...

we're part-time clothy, so we don't have enough cloth to be enough, and we spend money on 'sposies - but I would estimate that we've spent under $150, and have at least enough dipes for laundry every-other day using cloth exclusively. And I guess that could be enough, if I were willing to do that much laundry! I buy all my cloth used or at discount, and have just started buying (and reviewing) pocket diapers. My first purchase was via Etsy, and I have one on its way from GoGreen.

Oh, and your kids are super cute!