Have you saved $$?

Hi I am new to this board. I have a 2 year old and am expecting another LO next year. I did not CD with ds but would like to give it a shot this time. I have been doing a lot of research and am wondering do you really save any money after all the diff diapers you buy and covers and laundry det. (I make my own) and pre rinse and wash. It just sounds like your detergent bill, water, and electric would make up for the money saved on not buying diapers. Any thoughts on this?

If I'm being honest? NO, I haven't saved money...but it's all my own fault.  I was pretty addicted to buying/selling cloth diapers for a long time, and finally settled on the cheapest stuff! I LOVE prefolds, flats, and Green Mountain Diapers Workhorse Diapers..and a few PUL covers. You can do cloth SO stinking cheap, to the point that you would start saving money in just 3-4 months even with a full stash of flats and PUL. HTH!

Right now my stash is as follows..and very simple/versatile.
Dozen prefolds
2 Dozen Flats
Dozen Workhorse diapers
Dozen covers

Yeah, mine is a big fat NO!

But, like Jessica said, it is my own fault. I had fun obesessing over my diapers for a while, bought, and sold a lot. I tried a lot of things out there and spend a lot of $$ doing it...way more than I would have spent on sposies. BUT....I had a blast doing it and now I know what I love. And, I love the cheap stuff! I use mainly flats, sometimes prefolds, a few inexpensive but absorbant fitteds for naps, and 1 expensive fitted for night for the baby. I spent the most $ on trying different covers.

I will see savings with the next baby. I worked on a full stash for 2 kids up front, so I have all sizes now from birth to potty in the items I love.

As for utilities costs...I use cloth diapers, family cloth (cloth toilet paper) and kitchen cloth. We buy no disposable paper anymore. I do a load of diapers daily and kitchen cloth every other day. My water bill has increased maybe $5/month! I don't see a difference in my electric bill. I do line dry my laundry 75% of the time, though.

In short, you can save money for sure! Only as long as diapers don't become your new hobby. And, it started as saving money for me, turned into something fun to shop for and try new things...and now it has morphed into a content stash which will save me money from here on out.

I would say I have probably broke even on DS2.  I have bought almost all diapers used.  Just a few new.  It can be done very cheaply with PF and Flats and PUL Covers.  I am okay with not saveing a ton of money since it has been fun and I liked trying new things.

As far as the gas/water/electricty bills...there has been no increase, if so it is so insignificant.  You really only adding a couple extra loads of wash., its not like you are filling up a swimming pool...(which we do every summer)If done right and frugally, you can absolutely save money.

I have definitely saved money. Stick to simple diapers (cotton) that are easy to wash and don't wear out as quick and you will see savings pretty quick.

erinchelsea wrote: I have definitely saved money. Stick to simple diapers (cotton) that are easy to wash and don't wear out as quick and you will see savings pretty quick.

Agree!

for washing I do a rinse, wash, rinse and that is it. Flats dry in about 30 min. and the few fitteds I have I just hang dry the rest of the way. I really have not noticed an increase in my utility bill. As for the diapers, the less you try out and change the more you can save. I started over 3 years ago and no that I have saved a lot! My sister started with her 3rd DD and between us and 4 kids now (2 for each of us since we started CDing) rotating the diapers around as needed we have saved a lot of money! PF's and Flats and basic fitteds and the savings can be found pretty quickly.

I have totally saved money. Harry is my second in cloth FT and he is using all of his bros older dipes.

I thought about it some more last night, and with 2 in full time diapers buying Luvs from BJs would probably cost $75ish/month? Since DS was born 9 months ago, that would come out to $675 and I haven't spent that much on CDs since them. I guess I forget how much even the cheap sposies add up.

Edited by Clare_S - 26 Oct 2011 at 11:21am

Even CDing for just 1 can really save, if you keep it simple. DH always laughs that when they are a NB is when cloth really pays off - so when they go through 5 diapers in 5 minutes you are not just throwing them away.

If you keep it simple it could really pay off and the nice thing is that when you are done, you can sell what you used.

Yes.  I've saved $$$$$.  I have also spent frivolously so I could have saved even more.

I would say I'm about even money on cloth diapering. I have a few really pricy diapers that haven't seen much use and other inexpensive ones that are on their third child. I also have quite a bit of diaper equity built up. Some of our diapers could be sold today for $20 each, wool covers for $30, and others will make great cleaning rags in a few years because they aren't worth selling.

erinchelsea wrote: I have definitely saved money. Stick to simple diapers (cotton) that are easy to wash and don't wear out as quick and you will see savings pretty quick.

Totally this.

I don't think I will have saved money but more or less broke even. This is my last and only cloth diapered babe. I didn't start until 6 months so didn't have to worry about buying smaller stuff - mostly OS diapers so that helped. I haven't noticed an increase in water bills or anything either.

Yes, I will definitely save money if I stop shopping now. :)

I bought most of my stuff on ebay & GMD. I plan to buy the flat-folds at the local bazaar here (I live internationally).  Baby isn't born yet but I think I'm good to go for a few months at least. Then we'll see if I get carried away! I'm tracking the costs right now so I could probably give you a more detailed answer in a year or so. :)