Saving money on baby - cloth diapering

I have written about this plenty before, so I'll mostly be linking to other posts here, but I wanted to touch on this topic first because I'm gearing up for a big cloth diaper show on Saturday, so any of you local readers with more questions can come ask me in person!

Cutie Booty!

Cloth diapering has been the single biggest money saver in our home these past 2 1/2 years. I confess that I do buy disposables for trips longer than one night, and every time I do, I'm so thankful that I don't have to add that to my budget each week! Initially, it was all about doing what was right for the environment, but now I am equally if not more motivated by the financial return.

Because I do not use disposable diapers full time, I don't know firsthand what it costs. I know some mom's who find good deals online or use coupons, and they do save a great deal. I can tell you about how much I've spent cloth diapering, though.

When Izzy was born, I had $150 dollar limit to spend on cloth diapers, so I went with the cheapest diapers available - prefolds and covers. I bought 18 prefolds, 8 covers, a diaper pail liner and some wipes with that budget. As time went buy, I splurged and got a few fancier diapers and some more covers. When she got too big for those diapers, I bought some more and overall I may have spent $300-$400 total.

When Korban was born, I could have easily used what I had plus a few new covers (they start to lose their water-proof liner eventually), but I had just started as a consultant so I used my discount and some of my income to try out several types of diapers, so I spent a hundred or so there.

Now that we're getting ready to diaper baby number three, I know that I love the prefolds and covers I initially bought, but after two kids, my covers have pretty much had it. I'll be replacing the covers, but the prefold diapers themselves are still fine. I've only had two of those wear out on me.

I don't have an exact number for you, so I'm going to estimate way high here. After having cloth diapered 3 kids to potty training, I expect to have spent less than $1000 dollars. And that's including the cost to launder them, which is a couple bucks a week for water, soap and electricity.

The last estimates I saw for diapering a child in standard (not the natural brand, which costs more) disposable diapers showed a cost of $1500-$2000 per child. So, for three kids, that's $4500-$6000.

Why yes, I'm quite proud of my savings of $3500-$5000 dollars.

Here is a link to the Zukababy cloth diaper info page. I love their advice, and I'm a consultant for them.

Also, here are links to the prefolds and covers I ordered, if you are new to cloth diapers and need a visual.

And, here is a link to my past posts about how I cloth diaper, for your reading enjoyment.

Look for another post with more details about the diaper show!

The end!

The best financial advice I ever recieved

On Monday,  I shared how we keep our budget in line. Today, I want to write a brief post about some financial advice Dennis and I were given before we were married. This advice has helped us stay out of debt and make some decisions, like pursue a costly international adoption, that would have been way too risky if we didn't have some money in savings.

Always set your budget based on what the husband makes. That way, all of the money the wife makes can go towards savings/unforseen expenses. Also, if you decide for her to become a stay at home mom someday down the road, it won't be as big of an adjustment.

Of course, this isn't possible for many families, and many families may have seasons where they need to rely on the wife's income. This is simply some advice that has helped us out. It's not a rule or a law. Only you know what's best for your family. (So don't go feeling guilty if you're not able to do it!)

Yes, it's taken some sacrifices in the past for us to live this way, but it was well worth it when  I decided to become a stay at home mom and our budget was prepared for the pay cut. I haven't worked full time since Izzy was born, and I quit my part time job after Korban came.

It was also nice to have that extra wiggle room in our finances when I was working. Some months the money went straight to savings, some months it went towards Christmas gifts or a family vacation.

I love Dave Ramsey's saying when it comes to living on less:

Live like no one else now, so that later on you can live like no one else.

Think on it a few minutes, it will make sense to you eventually. :)

This post was shared at The Thrifty Home.

Switching back to a cash based budgeting system

Now that we are saving money for our adoption, we see a renewed importance in sticking to a budget. We've always been pretty good budgeters, but this past year I've been really relaxed with things. We decided last week to get back on the envelope system, and it's made a huge difference already.

Haven't heard of the "Envelope System?"
I can't say enough good things about the envelope system. To me, it's the easiest way to stick to a budget. Lately I've just been spending extra time each day working out debit or credit card receipts and tracking them online, then recording them into a spreadsheet or something, except I almost always procrastinate for a few weeks until I kinda lose track.

We have been able to stay out of debt and have the security of an emergency fund since we got married in 2008, and I can't tell you the difference it has made in being able to share our money or make life decisions without the stress that comes from living paycheck to paycheck. I give much of the credit for this to the fact that we have used the envelope system the whole time.

If you want to learn more specifics about using a cash based/envelope system, I highly recommend that you read Dave Ramsey's book "The Total Money Makeover." (The link is not working for some reason, but you can use the Amazon.com search box on my sidebar to order yourself a copy.)

You can also read a little more about the envelope system at Dave Ramsey's website here: daveramsey.com.

Here are the basics:

Get yourself some envelopes
You can use the link above to order a fancy schmancy little system to keep in your purse, or you can be  a little less classy (like me) and use one of those couponing folders with the slots in it. They are a couple bucks, and mine has lasted for 2 years now.

This is what it looks like. Except I found this picture here: on the internet.

Label your envelopes (or slots)

If you've never kept a budget, then it might take you a while to figure out what all of your monthly expenses are. Just start with what you can think of, and keep adding/altering as you think of them. Ours are:

Grocery Store/Food (this includes restaurant meals - our weakness for sure!)

Gifts

Car

Clothes

Haircuts

Gas Money

Blow Money*

Blow money is the money set aside for stuff that doesn't fall into any of the other categories, or if you "blow your budget" a little bit and need some extra cash when another envelope gets empty too soon. It always happens. You need a blow fund.

Stuff your envelopes

Figure out how much you spend each month on each category, write it down, and that's how much cash you put in each envelope each month. I keep a spread sheet on my computer to keep track of it. Also, this help me keep track of bills we pay online (internet, electric, city/water, donation, etc.).

Give yourself some time and grace

Dave Ramsey says it takes three months to make it work for you. I found that to be true, and we keep tweaking things to make it work best for us. Remember, the system is supposed to work for you, and not the other way around. :)

Now, we have a jar on our mantle right now that I call the "Samuel Jar". (Samuel was a boy in the Bible who his mother had to pray and wait a really long time for... kind of like us and our little boy.) At the end of the month, anything left in the envelopes is going into the jar. This is an amazing visual reminder for us of the importance of pinching our pennies right now!