Things I Would Rather Buy

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 for free shipping! And also 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.