Friday, August 7, 2009

I Saved $1,600 in 6 Months!

Wow!  How did I do it?

Baby saver

First, I use cloth diapers and wipes.  Our entire diaper stash was purchased either as baby gifts or with baby gift money, so we have spent exactly $0 purchasing diapers in the last 6 months.  Yes, there is a negligible amount of money spent on laundering the diapers.  About 6 cents per load for electricity and water.  Compare that to the average cost of about $70 per month for disposable diapers and wipes.

Second, I breastfeed.  Compare that to buying formula, which costs roughly $180 per month (that's actually on the very lowest end of the price spectrum), and buying all of the bottle-feeding supplies, which will be about $100 extra if not more.  I understand that the extra $100 for supplies could also apply to breastfeeding moms who pump, but I haven't bothered with any of that so in my case it doesn't count.

IMG_5342

Also, don't forget another hidden savings of breastfeeding... the US Department of Health and Human Services reported that “Total medical care costs for the nation are lower for fully breastfed infants than never-breastfed in­fants since breastfed infants typically need fewer sick care visits, prescriptions, and hospitalizations.” (see here)

So add those together and I saved my family *at least* $1,600 just in the last 6 months!  And the saving just keep adding up every day... awesome!

1 comment:

  1. That's wonderful that you didn't have to buy any of your diaper stash! I wish I learned about cloth earlier, though I think I still would have waited to start as we did not have a washer and dryer for a while. But I love to hear of others who were able to get on the cloth diapering boat early!

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