Last night, WCCO (CBS) aired a fun feature with Natalie Nyhus and myself (both new moms), to talk about how to save money on diapers. Because let’s be honest, diapers are EXPENSIVE and the littles go through them as fast as I go through Goldfish crackers (which is a lot, don’t judge).
Click the image above to watch the news story!
So what’s the trick to saving money on diapers? I’ll give you the full un-edited version (as last night’s version obviously has to be cut to fit certain timeframes and time allowances). Here’s my tips that I’ve learned to save money on diapers over the last year and a half.
But First, The Criticism
Your baby does know the difference. I want to address the criticism that came shortly after the piece aired on TV. At the end of the segment, it showed me saying, “The baby doesn’t know the difference!” to which some moms wrote to say that the babies do know, especially if the baby has a reaction and can’t wear a certain kind. Yes, I get that. Completely. We had the issue with Up&Up diapers actually, that they weren’t absorbent enough and Little Miss got bad diaper rash, so I do know that the baby can know the difference between diapers. However the point I was getting at when I had said that was that babies don’t care about the price. Now you find me a baby that cares about the price of their diapers and correct me if you want, but I’m going to stand firm on that one for now. 🙂
Cloth diapering is the cat’s meow. Holy smokes, there are a lot of cloth diaper mamas out there! I am completely impressed every time someone tells me that they use cloth diapers!! For real. We didn’t go that route, however, so I can’t even begin to vouch for how it works or costs, or any of that stuff. I did mention it as an option to save money when filming the segment, however with limited time allowances, it didn’t make it into the final cut so I apologize. I do acknowledge it is a great way to cut costs when it comes to having a baby, and give you mamas huge kudos for doing it! It’s not easy!
Tips to Save on Diapers
Alright now that we got all that goodness out of the way, let’s get into the nitty gritty of money-saving. Here are my tried and true ways to save money on diapers.
Do your research. Alright so let’s say you love using Huggies diapers (I do, that’s why I’m going this route). Go out and research what deals are currently running, or what sales are about to take place. You can usually find early ad releases online from coupon bloggers and this is a great way to see if there’s a special baby deal coming up at a store near you.
Grab your coupons. Once you’ve found a sale, try and find coupons that will go along with that sale. Here’s a great example; every now and again, Target has a big ‘baby’ sale and they offer a certain savings like $20 off when you spend $100 or more. Win! So you’re going to check the coupon database to see what kind of coupons are out there for Huggies, there’s usually $2 or $3 off coupons offered in the Sunday paper or printable on Coupons.com. Now if you’re lucky, Target will also be running a ‘buy 2 boxes, get a $10 gift card’ deal on Huggies – this is my favorite! Don’t forget to also check the Cartwheel app to see if there are any more offers there. So, take advantage of all these offers. Go in, and buy 4 boxes of Huggies diapers (usually priced at $24.99) and one small thing of wipes ($1.97) to get to the $100 mark. Once you use the sale ($20 off $100 or more) plus coupons (let’s say (4) $3.00 coupons) and get back two gift cards, you’ll have only spent $49.93 on 4 boxes of diapers and a thing of wipes, and possibly more if there is a Cartwheel offer!
Check out those lovely postpartum whispy hairs! lol
Stock up when you get a great price. I have a set stock-up price that I aim to hit when I buy diapers. My magic number is anywhere under $13/box or under $3.00 for a smaller bag of diapers. So whenever I have the opportunity to purchase diapers at that price, I stock up with enough to last me until the next deal (so at least 1-2 months, minimum).
Buy in bulk. If you don’t want to mess with coupons, a great way to buy diapers is Sam’s Club or Costco. These warehouse stores give you a discounted price and loads of diapers per box! Plus, you’ll be stocked up for a while with just a couple of boxes.
Subscription services. One of my favorite, super easy ways to get diapers is to use subscription services like Amazon Subscribe and Save. This service allows you to be sent a box of diapers of your choosing once per month and by signing up, you get 20% off. It’s that easy. Now the 20% off is for Amazon Prime members, otherwise non-members get 5% off. Target also offers a subscription service, along with Jet.com and Honest Company as well.
Use cloth diapers. Oh yes, we’re back to this because I know you guys are passionate about the amount of money you can save with cloth diapers. Now I have never used cloth diapers so I can’t give specific details on the savings and costs, but I feel like I should include this one because I know it is a great option if you are willing!
Don’t size up until you need to. As I’d mentioned in the above TV segment, don’t go to the next size up until you have to. Because the larger you get in sizes, the fewer diapers you get. But you end up spending the same price on each box, so really you’re getting the biggest bang for your buck on the lower sizes. Now if you do need to size up, definitely do that, because comfort is key for your little one.
What ways do you save money on diapers? Share a comment below!
Hearts,
Sarah
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