Therefore, when I was contacted and told about the Cloth Diaper Closet, a cloth diaper lending program for low income families, I thought it was a wonderful resource and was happy for Heather to share a little about why she chose to cloth diaper, and a little more about this program, so that hopefully you, too, would be able to benefit.
Hi! My name is Heather. I blog about natural and affordable ways to raise baby at Frugal Green Baby and also run The Cloth Diaper Closet, a lending program for families in need. I'm here today to show you how you can save money cloth diapering as well as help others in need!
How Cloth Diapering Saves Money:
No matter how you slice it, cloth diapering saves tons of money. A brand-new, basic cloth diaper stash can cost as little as $100, or over $400 if you exclusively use name brand AIO diapers, like bumGenius Freetime diapers. Add a package or two of cloth wipes, and you've got a completely re-useable system! Buying used or making your own for free are also very frugal options.
Coming up with $400 or even $100 up front may seem like a lot, but the cost of disposables for just 2 years really adds up- conservatively estimating around $1600 for generic diapers! Please note, this does not even include the cost of wipes, which will add on a couple hundred.
The best part about cloth diapers is that the savings continue even after your child potty trains. Plan on having another? Just save the diapers and your cost to diaper the second one (and any others) is FREE! How outstanding is that?
Don't plan on having any more kids? Cloth diapers have an excellent re-sale value! Depending on the style and brand, it is not difficult to get between 50-70% of the retail price. I have actually done this many times when testing out different diapers and it was not hard at all. Craigslist, diaper swappers, and even Facebook are great places to start.
Another option is to 'pay it forward' and pass on the diapers to a family in need. Every week, I get emails at The Cloth Diaper closet from families in desperate situations that are so greatful to receive the most basic used cloth diaper stash.
How the Cloth Diaper Closet was Born:While preparing for the birth of our second child this past March, I spent countless hours researching ways to save money. When our first son was born in 2005, we made more than double the income we do now, and bought just about whatever we wanted.
This time around had to be different, because honestly, we had just enough money to pay basic bills. If we really scrimped, we were happy to have $50 to put in savings at the end of the month. Not a lot to work with, or so I thought at the time.
Since having our son, we also became aware of many environmental concerns. Like so many other parents, we wanted to live more consciously, as well as leave a healthier legacy for our children.
After seeing how awesomely cute modern cloth diapers are, I was sold! And surprisingly, so was my husband!
I was very excited to start this cloth diaper journey, but first had the challenge of finding cloth diapers that we could afford. Many parents come across similar problems of having the knowledge and desire to cloth diaper, but lack affordable options.
Many of the big box stores or boutiques carry cloth diapers, but they are usually the ones that cost $20 each. Yikes! An average cloth diaper stash has around 24 diapers, so that was definitely out of the budget!
After much research, I found many alternative brands that were not only very affordable ($5-10 each!) but also worked wonderfully! I also re-discovered prefolds & flats and just how functional and durable they are.
During this research phase, I found many other parents that desired affordable cloth diapers, and I spent a lot of time talking about all the benefits of cloth diapers, as well as what a huge cost savings it was!
This led to me starting up my blog, Frugal Green Baby, which is filled with information and resources for parents wanting to live frugally and naturally.
Around the same time I started the blog, I also felt very led to create a program that would help others get started cloth diapering. I knew that many parents would be able to put together a cloth diaper stash with just some basic knowledge of inexpensive brands and where to get them. But for others, something needed to be done- and viola! The Cloth Diaper Closet was born!
What is the Cloth Diaper Closet, and How Does it Work?
The mission of the Cloth Diaper Closet is to share a natural & earth-friendly way of diapering with those in need.
The Cloth Diaper Closet is a nation-wide lending program that provides cloth diapers to those in need. If you can not afford cloth diapers due to very limited income, or an extenuating circumstance, please apply!
Diapers are sent out to approved families on loan based on need and availability. The family is able to use them until the child is potty trained or until they decide to stop cloth diapering. The family then sends the diapers back to us so that we may prepare them for the next family. This wonderful cycle allows many families to benefit from each set of cloth diapers!
One of the key aspects that makes the program so successful is community effort. The Cloth Diaper Closet graciously accepts all types of diaper donations, as well as diapering accessories. Please consider sending your diapers into us when done using, or if you feel led, to send new or pre-owned diapers- countless families thank you ahead of time!
If you would like to learn more about how to cloth diaper, we have an awesome resource page to get you started! For more details on The Cloth Diaper Closet lending program, please visit us at Frugal Green Baby- where you'll find a thriving resource of information on how to live a natural, earth-friendly lifestyle while raising baby- the frugal way!
Blessings, Heather :)
Are you a cloth diapering family? Would you cloth diaper, but the outlay financially is too much for you? If you cloth diaper, how much did you spend on cloth diapering? What did you do to keep it cheaper, or was that less of a concern for you?
We cloth diaper! I honestly didn't realize they were a "thing" but I started wondering about them when following frugal homemaking blogs (like Penniless Parenting!)- although I wasn't a parent yet, many of my favorite bloggers were and talked about how much money it saved. I initially invested in a stash of FuzziBunz One Size pocket diapers (they were being clearanced on Zulily because a new line was rolling out) and three BumGenius diapers from a local boutique (they had made a Groupon available). Over time, I sold some, bought some others, and won tons (Maria change-diapers.com posts a roundup every Friday of all of the cloth diaper giveaways she's been able to locate), which gave me the opportunity to try lots of styles and brands. So our daughter was exclusively cloth diapered from day 6 until she was completely toilet trained at about 22 months, and we have all of those diapers prepped and ready for her little brother, due in two weeks :) I did buy him a small stash of prefolds and covers during Black Friday sales online because OS diapers were leak prone while my first was too small to fully occupy the space inside the diaper. But the new additions were inexpensive. I love never running out of diapers and having to buy at full retail in a pinch! And since I hate buying things that just become garbage, we use cloth wipes as well. Cloth diapers are seriously a gateway drug to buying other reusables!
ReplyDeleteWe cloth diaper our daughter. We use a combination of prefolds/covers and pocket diapers. I got 2 packages of Indian prefolds (12 total), 4 Thirsties covers, and a package of Snappis fasteners as baby shower gifts. I also bought a cloth diaper stash from a woman who wasn't using them anymore. I got 14 BumGenius 3.0s, all the inserts for them plus a few hemp inserts/doublers, 4 Thirsties covers, and a few other random pocket diapers, 1 AIO, 1 pair of training pants, and a roll of disposable liners (which I haven't used but am keeping around in case of diaper rash) for $50. We also bought 2 more packages of the Indian prefolds on Amazon for $12 each. I also use cloth wipes (cheap baby washcloths). So far we have spent less than $100. The only thing with prefolds and covers is that they're sized, so we'll eventually have to buy more, but they're so affordable that I don't really mind.
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