best ways to save money as parents Archives

You might have seen those scary numbers that tell you the cost to raise a child is over $200,000 from the time of birth until the age of 18. While there are plenty of ways to cut costs when raising your children, there’s one expense that hits you as soon as your child is born—the cost of diapers. We had two kids in diapers for 1.5 years, and I remember being so glad when they were potty trained as we got a large chunk of our budget back. While there’s no way to avoid this expense, there people do learn how to save hundreds on diapers.

How to Save Hundreds on Diapers

There are many techniques you can use to save, but you’ll save even more if you put several of the strategies together.

Use Cloth Diapers

Photo by Padmavathi Ashok Kumar on Unsplash

The best way to save is to use cloth diapers. Most people dismiss this idea because cloth diapers aren’t allowed at daycare. If that’s the case, use cloth diapers at home and buy disposable for daycare. You’ll still see significant savings this way.

Buy Cloth Diapers on eBay

I cloth diapered my son almost exclusively. I bought several lots of used cloth diapers on eBay with mixed results. I ended up with some very nice diapers, but I also ended up with some worn out diapers that I couldn’t use.

Do Your Research First

If you’re going the eBay route, first research which diapers you’d like to use. (There are so many brands of cloth diapers with so many different features. Cloth diapering is not like it was 30 years ago!)

If you buy new, your diapers will likely last through several of your children.

If you buy used, check the quality description carefully. You don’t want to end up with diapers that have very little life left.

How to Save on Disposable Diapers

There are quite a few strategies to save money on disposable diapers. Use as many as you can to save even more.

Buy Off Brand Diapers If You Can

Of course, the biggest diaper brands, Huggies and Pampers, cost the most. However, there are many off brand diapers that are much cheaper than the big brands. Look for Target Up and Up diapers, Walmart’s White Cloud diapers, or Luvs. Likewise, Walgreen’s and CVS each have their own house brand of diapers that are cheaper, too.

Use Amazon Subscribe & Save

If you have an Amazon Prime account, make sure to use subscribe & save. When you go to put the diapers in your cart, you’ll see an option to make a one-time purchase or to make the item subscribe & save. Thanks to Amazon Family, when you choose subscribe & save, you save 20% off your diaper purchase every time. You just have to make sure you have five or more products on auto-delivery at the same time to the same address. (FYI, baby food is also included in the eligible products list, so you can save there, too.)

Use Coupons

There are many, many coupons for diapers. You can check out Coupons.com, Ibotta, or Checkout 51 for diaper coupons. You can also email the company and sign up for their email. (Luvs is known to be especially generous with their coupons when you sign up for their mailing list.) Even Costco and Amazon have coupons for their diapers occasionally.

A Covert Way to Save

Diaper packages generally have a size range. For instance, Huggies Snug & Dry size 2 one-month supply has 222 diapers in a box and fit babies weighing 12 to 18 pounds. Size 3 of the same has 200 diapers and fits babies 16 to 28 pounds. Some moms save money by keeping their child in the smaller size diaper as long as they can because you get more diapers per purchase in the smaller size.

You’ll know it’s time to move up to the bigger diaper size when your baby has frequent leaks or blow outs.

Build a Diaper Stash

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Another option is to build a diaper stash before baby is born and when you can find diapers at a great price.

Some women ask each person attending their baby shower to bring a box of diapers or wipes. Other women start stocking up the minute they find out they’re pregnant. (You can find quite a few good sales on diapers in nine month’s time and end up with a nice diaper stash.) If you’re not sure what sizes to buy, there’s a handy chart one mom created documenting how many diapers in each size her daughter used during her first year.

One caveat here—be careful building a diaper stash. I’m actually glad I never built a diaper stash. Why? All my kids were born over nine pounds and didn’t even fit in the newborn size diapers. Second, one of my children had very chunky legs, so Pampers’ slimmer cut didn’t fit her well. We had to keep her in Huggies. If I would have stocked up on Pampers, I would have lost all of that money. Some babies are allergic to some diapers, so those can’t be used. For these reasons, I’d actually discourage new moms from building a diaper stash.

Buy in Bulk

If you can afford it, buying diapers in bulk is the way to go. The bigger the box you can afford, the less you pay per diaper. Costco is a great place to buy diapers if you don’t have an Amazon Prime account. Target also has sales for boxes of diapers where you buy a certain amount in diapers, say $100, and then you get a $25 gift card. This deal gives you a great incentive to buy in bulk. (Don’t forget to get and use the Target Red card to save 5% off your purchase.)

Final Thoughts

While diapers are expensive, there are strategies to learn how to save hundreds on diapers. Use some or most of these techniques and see how much you save. And remember, while diapers are a big expense temporarily, this expense will usually go away in three years. Then, it’s on to the next expense for you child.

How to Save Money – 35 Top Ways for Parents to Save Money

This is one of those articles that can be a useful resource for you, time and time again. As you read through, there will be things you can apply to your life today, but some tips may not apply til later. I suggest you bookmark or pin this post to ensure you have access to you it later.

Switch to bank accounts with no fees.

Cancel unused memberships.

Cancel subscriptions. Examples include magazines, newspapers, online entertainment, dating, or networking memberships.

Skip the cafe and bring home brewed coffee to work.

Eat out less; cook at home more.

Save money on your electricity bill. Install a smart meter (some libraries loan them out for free) to measure how much electricity your appliances are using. You could be saving more by simply unplugging what you can.

Contact your cell phone provider to ask how to save money on your bill. They may have a discount plan to offer.

When other phone companies cold call you, ask if they can beat your current company’s price.

Are you looking at a phone for your child that’s only to be used for emergencies? Try buying a prepaid phone rather than something on contract.

Comparison shop. This is huge for every major purchase in your life – from cribs to colleges.

Don’t buy “convenient foods” when you can make something from scratch. Frozen meals are quicker to prepare but you pay for the convenience and they’re often much less healthy for you.

Buy in bulk versus smaller quantities at traditional supermarkets (Costco, Amazon’s Subscribe and Save).

Batch your meals on the weekends. By preparing a large quantity of breakfast or snack foods during the weekend, you’re setting up your week to be more frugal and freeing up a considerable amount of time.

Save those pennies and dimes. Designate a family piggy bank for all your coins. When it’s full, go do something fun together.

Don’t balk at used items. Yard sales, thrift stores, and online garage sales may have just the items you’re looking for at a fraction of the price. Children’s clothing is a prime example, especially when they’re very young. They grow so fast!

Whenever you can, shut off your heat or air conditioning and throw open those windows. You’ll save a considerable amount on your utility bill in the long run.

Get creative with transportation. Can you carpool, ride a bike, or even walk to work? These may seem like extremes, but they’re also fantastic ways to save money on gas as well as preserve the life of your vehicle.

Reconsider that credit card “deal.” As popular as it is to accumulate airline miles or to snag that 30% savings at Kohl’s consider the long-term drawback your experiencing.

Be mindful of your spending habits. If you’re bringing home a paycheck, but there’s nothing left at the end of the week to drop into savings, then it’s time to dig in and evaluate what you’re really spending.

Clip or download coupons. Apps like Cartwheel or Paribus or RetailMeNot can give you convenient methods for saving on weekly expenses.

Wait at least 24 hours before making a large purchase. Give yourself a chance to come down from your “fever” to make a more thought-out decision.

Check your wallet. By knowing how much money you have before you walk out the door, you’ll be aware of what you can and cannot spend throughout that day.

Pack your lunch.

Find some free hobbies.

Identify wants versus needs.

Lower your car insurance by combining policies or paying it annually instead of monthly.

Learn how to save money on child-related taxes. See a full run-through of your options here.

Launch a “No-Spend Challenge”. Choose a spending category (i.e. fast food) and set a time for not spending any money in that category.

Try the 52-Week Money Challenge. Learn how to save over $1,300 a year here.

Use a monthly budget. I know from experience that this will help you conquer debt more quickly and save money before you ever spend money elsewhere.

Find deep discounts on Amazon merchandise through SnagShout.com.

Don’t spend your tax return; save it.

Automate a monthly transfer into savings. You’re much more likely to stick with it!

Pay $100 extra on your mortgage each month. This doesn’t save money in the short-term, obviously, but you’ll save thousands in interest over time.

Get accountability. However you’re saving money for your family, one of your most powerful tools is support. Not only does my spouse hold me accountable on a continual basis, but I love feeding off the positive energy in a supportive Facebook group of like-minded savers called “Your Debt Freedom Family.” We only discuss things related to our families and our finances – no spam or marketing. If you’d like to join, you can do so here!

The biggest progress I made when I was trying to figure out how to save money as a parent was remembering my “Why.” In my case, it was the little one growing rapidly in my tummy. She didn’t know it at the time, but my first child gave me strength, every day, to cut back, live on the budget, and save. It was worth it for her.

What’s one money-saving tip you’d add to this list? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

Are you a stay-at-home mom? Check out these bonus resources just for you!