Borax

I am adding a feature to my blog: The Cabinet. As I do more projects, I am going to compile a list of the multipurpose stuff that I will pretty much always keep stocked in my cabinet. I am starting with Borax.

After making my own liquid laundry detergent, I decided I better find some other uses for the ingredients. Since I only need 1/2 cup of Borax each batch and I only need about 3 batches a year, I will have tons of Borax left over.

Then I had the brilliant idea to read the instructions on the box! There are three main uses for this naturally occurring compound:

• Kitchen
• Bathroom
• Laundry

I have only used it for a few other purposes so far as I mentioned in my last post (cleaning the bathroom and soaking the diaper pail) but rather than reinvent the wheel, I will link you to this great DIY blog.

At $3.99 per box, this stuff quickly pays for itself!

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap Part Deux

I made the detergent last Thursday night, then let it set overnight to gel. The following day, it was goupy and had to be stirred up to pour into containers.

Things I will do differently next time:

• Pour detergent from the bucket into containers using a funnel because I lost some detergent down the drain from spillage
  
• Have more containers on hand (I ended up putting some in an old UTZ pretzel container, I probably should have had about 4 large containers but I also didn't measure)
  

I tried out the new detergent and I am very happy with the results! I have done 5 loads of laundry including my clothes, hub's clothes, cloth diapers, & towels and here is what I noticed:

• nothing weird
• smells fresh
• softer than previous laundry even though I used no fabric softener
• detergent does not have the same consistency as the liquid kind you buy, and even after shaking its clumpy when you put it in the machine
  

Money-saving tips with making detergent:

Besides trying to use as many items you already have as detergent-making materials, you can use the things you buy for many purposes. I am finding more uses for Borax, Washing Soda, & Castile Soap and probably will soon blog about them. So far I have used Borax to clean my bathroom sink & as a deodorizing soak in the diaper pail.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

This might be the nerdiest thing I have ever done with my free time... enjoy :-)

I have been interested in making my own laundry detergent for about a while now, since one of my friends suggested trying it. I had to read up on it and collect all the materials and finally today I did it!

I decided to follow the Duggar's recipe with one exception, I used Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap instead of Fels Naphtha.

I planned to use Fels Naphtha and even ordered it from Amazon... but I checked the wrong address box and sent it to my old apartment. Since the address doesn't match my ID I could not pick it up from the post office... so silly.

During this little mix-up I happened to read a little about castile soap and have decided to use it instead and I had the soap returned to amazon.

Some reasons I am trying castile: I can pick it up from Whole Foods, it doesn't have the chemicals in it that are found in Fels Naphtha, & it's more eco-friendly. If it goes well and my laundry looks good then I will stick with it. If not I will switch to the trusty Fels Naphtha (because I am confident that if the Duggars use it for 19 kids then it must work).

Supplies:

• saucepan
• bucket
• something to stir with
• grater
• empty cleaned out laundry detergent containers
• measuring cups

Note: I think it is best to designate these supplies exclusively to the making of laundry detergent, or at the very least not use them for food after using them for detergent making. The soap I used is very gentle, but I still felt weird about using a pan that we cook on so I purchased one from a thrift store.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups hot tap water
• Dr. Bonner's Pure Castile Soap (Unscented Baby Mild)
• 1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
• 1/2 cup Borax

Here are my materials:

I gathered them from alice.com, a thrift store, the basement, the pantry, whole foods, safeway & tj maxx.



The first step was to grate the soap & melt it in water on the stove in a saucepan:







Melting Soap (you have to stir continuously):




All melted:



Fill 5 gallon bucket halfway with hot tap water:




Make sure your baby isn't eating the fringe of the living room rug and pause for a baby photo op:




Then finally stir in the melted soap, washing soda & borax into the hot water until dissolved:




Last but not least, vacuum up any washing soda or borax that you spilled so your dog doesn't lick it up:





Now I just wait overnight for the stuff in the bucket to gel. After 24 hours I can pour my mix into containers and start using it.



Chemical Descriptions:

Something to consider of course when you try something new that includes mixing up white powdery substances is whether it is safe and easy to do at home. After trying it out, I think so!

Being a chemistry teacher, I decided to read the MSDS (Materials Safety Data Sheet) for the ingredients.




Arm & Hammer Washing Soda is sodium carbonate (a relative of sodium bicarbonate, baking soda, but definitely not the same thing!). Here are the highlights of MSDS:

• Stable
• Incompatible (should not be mixed) with strong acids, aluminum & iron (& others that are not relevant)
• It is an irritant to eyes & skin and if ingested or inhaled
  
• For "normal use" no special gear is needed (like masks, eye wear or gloves)
• Wash hands after use before eating

Borax is sodium borate.

• Slightly hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant), of eye contact (irritant), of ingestion, of
• inhalation.
• Stable
• Store in sealed container

Nothing there that surprised me. It might make me a little more cautious about storage and accidental inhalation if I spill it or something. I am now wondering if vacuuming it was the smartest thing... maybe next time wipe down with water and dispose...


Not so much a chemical, but info about Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap:

• biodegradable & vegetable-based
• coconut, palm, olive, jojoba (whatever that is) & hemp oils
• great for sensitive skin
• organic, fair trade & not animal tested

Cost Analysis:

I have read that you save 70% and that one batch does 180 loads and costs about $2.

Still I do the math for myself with my specific ingredients and supplies at the price I paid versus the detergent I generally buy. I tried to find as many supplies as I could around the house, others I had to purchase:

saucepan - (thrift store) $10.99
bucket - $0
something to stir with - $0
grater - $7.99
empty cleaned out laundry detergent containers - $0
measuring cups - $0
4 cups hot tap water
Dr. Bonner's Pure Castile Soap (Unscented Baby Mild) - $3.99
1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda - $2.99 for 55 oz. though I paid shipping this time= $7
1/2 cup Borax - $3.99 for 76 oz.

Total for me to start = $33.96... seems a little outrageous for something that should save me money! so how long until I am saving??

My normal laundry detergent is Arm & Hammer Sensitive Skin. $1.99 with at Wegman's with a shopper's card. That is for 50 ounces or 32 loads.

$33.96/$1.99 = 17... I could purchase 17 containers of Arm & Hammer for this price.

I do 2 loads a day during the week, so 10 per week which means after 3 weeks I need a new container of detergent. Still it will take 51 weeks to spend $33. 1 year!

For comparison's sake... IF I normally bought Tide, which costs &7.99/32 loads, then it would take only 3 months to pay off. It would also be costing me around $140 per year for detergent.

With 1 batch of homemade detergent I get 180 loads or about 4.5 months. In 1 year I would need just under 3 batches.

For me personally it will take 1 year to payoff! I'm officially committed! But happily so because I am feeling good about controlling the ingredients in our detergent... my family tends to have very sensitive skin.

Just the ingredients per batch:

76oz box Borax = 9.5 cups
55 oz box Washing Soda = 6.875 cups

1 bar Castile Soap = $3.99
1/2 cup borax = $.21
1 cup washing soda = $.42

TOTAL = $4.62 for 1 batch = 180 loads

The Duggars website says it is about $2/batch... they probably buy Fels Naphtha in bulk.

In conclusion - it will cost me the same amount as it would to buy inexpensive detergent this year, about $33. Then next year it will cost me about $12 for the year.


Detergent Making Resources:
TipNut
Soap Making Fun

Ultimate Swim Diaper

Today at TJ Maxx I was surprised to find a swim diaper built into boys swim trunks! Yay! Since they were a mere $5.99 and I had a gift card, I got the only pair in Medium :-)

Here is my little guy modeling them:








I realize its a little early to get them, but it was TJ Maxx and you never know if they will have them again. Also he is 18 lbs. now and they go 18-22, so I am optimistic that he will still fit them.

The brand is "i Play" and you don't need to put anything on under, they are approved for public pools.

They also match baby boy's shoes:

Cloth Diaper Updates

My whole cloth diaper plan has been changed... for the better!

My SIL gave me a bag full of "Fuzzi Bunz" cloth diaper hand-me-downs. Now I don't necessarily recommend seeking out used diapers, but if you can get them within family, its a huge money saver.

No more waiting, as of yesterday I am going full throttle, cloth diapers everyday.

Now I am open to the possibility of getting other accessories. I went back to Abby's Lane (the cloth diaper store) just to look around. I'm still waiting until March to get anything else diaper related.

Here is what I found that I want to get in the next few months:

1) 2 Wool Covers ($22-$26 each)

Why? For overnight use. When the cloth diapers leak, it is absorbed by the wool. It does not leak through the wool and it only needs to be washed once a month.



2) 2 Cloth Swim Diapers ($13-$16 each)

Why? Even disposable swim diapers let urine through so they are just as good (I guess I never thought about it, but how could they stop it?). The cloth swim diapers are very thin, very cute, and inexpensive compared to buying swim diapers if you plan on going to the pool daily/frequently.



3) Diaper Sprayer $44.99

Why? Removing Solids (to flush down the toilet). This was recomended by the woman at Abby's Lane. It takes a little work to install, but seems worthwhile if you are serious about cloth diapering. I would not have done it if I had to buy all my cloth diapers because I am doing this to save money. I am also going to wait a little while on this because we are moving soon.



4) Bottom Cleaner $7

Why? For use when we are out of the house. This little sprayer is supposed to make it easier to clean a mess, which is helpful on the go.




In total if I get all of these "extras" it will cost a grand total of roughly $130. Still less than it would have cost to purchase all new cloth diapers.

Frasier's Haircut

I have been wanting to do this myself for years!! Frasier is our Golden Doodle and his haircuts are usually upwards of $90. $80 if I am lucky, and over $120 if I wanted to send him to a fancy place.

I am always feeling like a guilty pet owner because we don't get him haircuts frequently enough. :/ But it SO expensive. Now I can do it myself :)

We have had nice weather for the last two days, so this morning I went to Pet Smart purchased the same trimmer they use on doodles. I was happy it was in stock and on sale: the Andis 2 Speed



At $150, after two haircuts it will have paid for itself. Of course I would like to get some accessories for subsequent haircuts, but for the shave down I didn't need anything extra.

Here is the before picture:
(sorry its shadowy, but I'm not a photographer... working on that for the sake of the blog though)



I love when Frasier's hair is long and shaggy... but it was getting matted and way too long to manage. The only thing I could realistically do with my lack of expertise and his crazy long coat was to shave him down.

The trimmer worked really well, I was impressed.



Here he is halfway through:



I did his back first because it is the easiest, and his face last because I was the most nervous about it.

The baby was not happy for my attention to be on the dog. I spent most of the time singing "ABCDEFG..." and "lalalal elmo's song..." to keep him at least particially entertained while I was shaving Frasier.



I had to stop before I had finished a few details because 1-it was time to start dinner, 2-the baby was running out of patience, and 3-Frasier was trying to run away (although he was very good for most of it).

Here is the (almost) final product. I need to go back over some spots, trim his paws, and touch up his face and rear.



Curled up in his warm bed:



We like to refer to him as his alter-ego "Mr. Velvet" because he is so soft after being shaved.

I will aim to trim him every 6 weeks-2 months and learn to do the "teddy bear" haircut. I think that looks the best on doodles.


Tomorrow after his cut is polished up, I will put on his winter coat and take some better pictures :-)

500 Calorie Challenge

My hubby's office has a fitness competition going on and every week there is a challenge. The office is divided into teams and they get points for doing the challenges. This week it is 500 calorie meals. Since I am the meal planner (and because I love stuff like this) it was up to me to come up with recipes.

The meal has to be 500 or less calories, 15g of fat or less, he has to try it, rate it on a scale of 5 stars, and share the recipe with the office.

I Googled 500 calorie recipes, but I decided to edit something I was already planning on cooking because A) if I choose some recipe with foods we never eat I have to make a trip to the grocery store B) I didn't find a recipe on-line that sounded any better than the Dover Sole I had in the freezer.

Menu:

Dover Sole with Lemon-Pepper Butter Sauce
Steamed Green Beans
Whole Grain Rice Blend

Ingredients:

Trader Joe's Package of Wild Caught Frozen Dover Sole
Just under 1/2 stick of butter*
Lemon-Pepper Seasoning
Parsley
Salt



Green Beans
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Cayenne Pepper



Rice Select Royal Blend (Texmati Brown & Red Rice with Barley & Rye)
Cumin
Garlic Powder
Bay Leaf
Garlic Clove



Directions:

I started with the rice because it takes the longest. I just followed the package directions and added to it about 1/4 tsp garlic powder and 1/2 tsp cumin. I did not add the optional butter (which is why I chose to throw in a few spices to keep it from being too boring).

Next I set things up for steaming the green beans. I just added a few inches of water to a large pot, dropped the garlic clove and bay leaf in there. I never know how much it helps the flavor to put stuff in the steaming water... but I know it smells good.

The fish was next. I followed the package directions at first and put the frozen fish in to the pan.



After about 5 seconds I realized I didn't like this and put them into the microwave to defrost.



Once defrosted it was much better. I was using tongs to flip them and I regret that because as it cooked the fish became very tender and was falling apart! It didn't affect the taste but doing it again, I would use a spatula instead.

I used a cast iron skillet and set the temperature to medium-high. Then I melted the butter, added the fish and sprinkled with seasoning. I eyeballed the seasonings but I would estimate about 1/2 tsp Lemon Pepper Seasoning, 1/4 tsp parsley & 1/2 tsp salt. When the fish looked like it was mostly cooked (prolly about 5 minutes), I flipped it over once and removed it from the pan.






While the fish was cooking, I threw the green beans into the steamer and added seasonings.



Here is the final product:



Calorie Counting:

I have always known that butter is bad (duh) but it kind of shocked me with the calorie counting just how quickly calories from butter add up! On any non-challenge day I totally would have had butter in the rice & the veggies as well as the fish. So I have learned my lesson today.

1 serving Green Beans 20 cal 0 g fat
1 serving Rice 160 cal 1.5 g fat
2 Fish Fillets (butter included) 300 cal 13.5 g fat

TOTAL: 480 cal 15 g fat

*Note: I edited the butter amount to be just enough to make 15 g of fat. I was not going to have a drop less than we could get away with.


Cost Analysis:

Green Beans from Wegmans $2.99
1 cup (dry) of rice $6.29 / 5 = $1.26
TJ's Dover Sole Package ~$5-
(I lost the receipt for the fish so I might come back and edit this after going to TJs again, but I have to at least estimate and I am pretty sure it as 4-something because I bought it mainly because of the cheap price)

$9.25 for a meal for 3
$3.08 per person


So in conclusion we had a meal that was less than 500 calories, with 15 g of fat, and cost < $5 per person. Pretty awesome... every dinner should be that practical. :-)

I forgot to ask Hubby how many stars he gives it and he is asleep (I am furiously typing so I can do the same, but I have to get my blog in before bedtime, haha). I enjoyed the meal, the fish was yummie and I pretty much always like rice and veggies. I was a little worried about not having butter in them but the seasonings were just enough to make me forget about butter. I would cook it again.

Personal Finance Fridays: Couponing

I have decided to bring back an element of my original blog and I will call it "Personal Finance Fridays."

I am trying to get into "Couponing" so today I will note that I have purchased my first "Groupon." I love the new reality show about couponing and I insist on learning how to do it.

I follow "Capitally Frugal" who alerts me of good deals in the Washington DC area & I have the iPhone app... but up until today I hadn't come across a Groupon that was useful for me. (lots of them look enticing, but ultimately I would be spending extra money on something I didn't plan on getting like a hot air balloon trip or fancy massage)

Today's Groupon is $10 for $20 worth of Barnes and Noble stuff & next week is the February birthday extravaganza at my brother's house. We have at least 12 people with birthdays this month. I had decided to get books for a few family members and now I will be getting them at half-price :)

I love it when a deal comes together.

Birthday Blog

So this is going to be short (comparatively)... and not about any projects or recipes. Since it's my first birthday as a mom, it has me thinking a lot about my own mom.

I just want to say a THANKS MOM to her for being so much more than I ever appreciated as I was growing up. I always knew I was very lucky to have good parents... but now that I am a parent, I realize how much more goes into being a good parent.

My mom never complains... truly hardly ever. She enjoys simple pleasures like eating JuJuBes & for that reason I am happy that she is enjoying a cruise right now. And she very quietly did everything for us, her children... and still does. My parents are on the way home from a cruise that before booking, they made sure I was OK with them not being here on my birthday. Of course I am ok with that, they totally deserve a cruise!


(that's my mom with my son)

27 years ago, my mom brought me home from the hospital to a home with a 17, 13, 12 & 8-year old. With kids spanning those ages I think you sortof have to be everything at the same time. I can't imagine the incredible feat of having a 2nd child yet!

Today my parents have 14 grandchildren spanning ages 6 months to 16, and I think they totally love babysitting which involves being with their grandchildren and then handing them back to us to take care of when they wake up in the middle of the night.

That's all... now I have to go call my mom back, she called to say "Happy Birthday" from the cruise ship. :-)



If you have a little one, have you had a few "ah-ha" moments about your own parents??

My Cloth Diaper Rankings & Monthly Diaper Budget

Happy Heiny is moving up in the ranks... I was able to use it again right away after pulling it out of the dryer, the others were damp. I decided to tried it overnight. No problems! No leaks! Regular diapers had started leaking recently and I was going to have to start buying overnight diapers (which I might add are more expensive).



My initial reaction to these guys was to return them... soooo happy I gave them a second chance.



How happy is that heiny?

New Rankings:

#1 HH for not leaking overnight and being easy to wash & dry
#2 BG staying in the middle
#3 BB dropped because now that I like the others a little better, this one was the most expensive

Monthly Budget Transition:

As I said in the first post about cloth diapers, it is a big upfront cost.

February ~$120
-this includes 4 cloth diapers, 174 disposable diapers, 500ish disposable wipes & 5 washcloths

March ~$75
-4 cloth diapers & a clothesline
-at this point I will not need to buy anymore disposable diapers since I bought in bulk and have about 40 left from last month

April ~72
-4 cloth diapers
-now I can use cloth exclusively (except maybe when traveling)

May ~$0
-Done!

June ~$0

etc...

At the latest it will take until October to makeup for the initial cost

I have used the 3 I have two days in a row - which helps make up for the cost faster. I am allowing every other day because I know I can't wash them daily all the time.

I also learned that all hell won't break loose if I wash them with other clothing... I read a mom blogger's post on how she does laundry for her 6 kids & she washes EVERYTHING together. (Cultivating Home, link on sidebar). For now I am washing separately but I might combine all baby stuff (I mean half of the baby's outfits get spitup and poo on them anyways)

Setting up for Cloth Diapers

I was pleasantly surprised by how little I had to do to setup for the transition to cloth.

I was able to borrow a second "Diaper Champ" from family. I lined it with an old pillow case that has bleach stains on it anyways. I figure I will just throw it in the wash with the diapers.




Ultimately I will only need 1 but while I am using both, I need 2 to keep them separated.



Since I will be using cloth, I also bought some wash cloths from Target for $2 to use as wipes. To distinguish from striped bath time washcloths I bought solid colors. I don't plan on bringing these in the diaper bag when I go out... but at home it seems easy enough just to wet it with warm water, use, and throw into the diaper champ.



One thing I would like to set-up before I have too many more is a clothesline. The BumGenius label says only to put the stuffing in the dryer, so you have to line dry the outer part. I was pleasantly surprised by the Happy Heiny for drying easily.

Cost for setup: $0

things that seem nice but I didn't buy:
$15-$18 on a diaper pail liner (pillow case is just as good if you ask me)
$17-$25 wipes warmer (its easier for me just to run a washcloth under the sink water before changing the diaper)

Washcloths to replace wipes: $2, which pays off almost immediately :)

Making Brown Sugar

Last night I wanted to make chocolate chip cookies and realized there wasn't any brown sugar.

Turns out that's not a problem if you have molasses, which I didn't have... but I did have Karo syrup.

It's not exactly the same... but I tried it.

Without telling my hubby, I offered him some cookies - the true test - and he didn't notice that anything was different. They were as delicious as ever.

I wouldn't purposely use Karo... but I want to try molasses because I have read on-line that it's even better than store bought.

1 cup of sugar + 1-2 tbsp Karo Syrup (I attempted 2 tbsp but it was so sticky that a lot of it stuck on the spoon)




Mix together in a bowl. I used two forks to mix because it was super sticky.

Cloth Diaper Trial: Phase 1

I know I know, this topic is worse than baby food for non-mom readers. And I know, if you are a mom not using them you might think I am crazy. Read on if your curiosity permits...

I am taking the plunge. Before the baby was born, I had no intention of trying cloth diapers... the thought didn't cross my mind. In the midst of recovery + having a newborn with 12 diapers/day every other one poop, I seem to remember stating that I will NEVER EVER try cloth diapers... those moms are CRAZY! What are they smoking??

By about month 4 I realized that:

A) cloth diapers look cute on another baby in my moms group (is that shallow?)
B) I am so used to dealing with poo that I can't imagine cloth being any grosser
C) there are dirty diapers sitting in my diaper pale, what difference does it make if they are disposable or cloth
D) I am constantly doing laundry... will I even notice one more load every other day?

Around 5 months I had a conversation with another mom at a Christmas party. What a great topic for the holidays... poop and diapers... fun fun fun. She was very convincing about how easy they are and it piqued my interest.

Fast forward from that convo. to last week when I purchased CVS brand disposables on sale to get the $.18/diaper rate that I am always seeking out. Several times when I went to change those diapers the moisture was seeping through to his pants. I have gotten a little frustrated with this constant expense that isn't always getting the job done. And I'm not willing to pay the extra for Pampers (unless there is a great deal)

After lots of on-line reading and calculations... yesterday I finally did it. There is an on-line company called Abby's Lane that has a store in Manassas, VA and I decided to check it out.

I purchased 3 different brands of diapers to compare as a jumping off point. (I am not going to pay the $200-$300 to get a full set until I know what I am doing)

BottomBumpers (BB) One Size All In Ones, Happy Heiny (HH) One Size Pockets, & BumGenius (BG) 4.0 One Size Pockets. The brands, sizes, types, styles, & colors can be overwhelming.



I had my baby try them on for size to make sure they fit & determine if I needed to return any before use (the hats were for my own entertainment):







AAAAAAAAAAAND the winner for my favorite one because it was so super easy was BB:



BB were also the only "All In One" that I purchased, and they were the most expensive. On my first attempt, I messed up the other two by putting in both the newborn insert and the regular insert. I'll probably do a step-by-step instruction blog later.

Just for your reference if you are going to try it, my baby just turned 6 months old, he weighs 18 lbs. 13 ounces, 27.5 inches long and all three diapers fit well once I properly adjusted them.

In order, from first try-on:

#1 "BB" Bottom Bumpers All In One (snaps were so easy to figure out plus no stuffing)
#2 "BG" BumGenius Pocket (on my boy it seems like this on fits more snug than HH)
#3 "HH" Happy Heinys Pocket

I have decided not to return any because they all fit and I don't know what other factors there will be as I use them that might persuade me to change the rankings.

Things I didn't know until I purchased:

-cannot use diaper cream without a protective layer between the baby's bum and the cloth diaper
-to wash you do a short cold cycle, followed by a hot cycle with extra rinse & not all diaper brands have the same directions about what goes in the dyer...
-cloth becomes more absorbent after about 8-10 washes
-lots of regular detergents can be used, even the Arm & Hammer Sensitive Skin that we already have!


Cost Analysis:

The upfront cost is always what gets me about DIY stuff. You have to be really committed. I really hate the idea of upfront costs and then it not working out and ultimately paying more money than you ever thought you would.

For that reason, I am doing trial phases to ease into it. I purchased 3, and I am probably going to get 1 more this week. I want 12 total so if I get 4 per month then in 3 months I should be fully converted to cloth. (except maybe when traveling)

My initial cost:

BB $22.95
HH $18.95
BG $17.95 x 2 (if I buy 1 more) = $35.90

$77.80 for my first month with 4 cloth diapers (Note: I am still only phasing them in and this month will need disposables overnight and every other day)

Every day that I use all 4 diapers, it is equivalent to 4 disposable diapers at my estimated average of $.20/diaper (the average you find on-line is usually $.25 but that is based on San Fransisco prices and not necessarily hunting for the cheapest, which is what I do). I am erring on the side of more expensive than what I usually pay b/c I think the cloth is higher quality.

$.20 x 4 = $.80 per day

$77.80/$.80 = 97.25 days for me personally to gain back the initial cost

If I use them every other day b/c I have to wash them it will take 194 days or about 6 months. It doesn't matter if I buy 2 or 12 today... it will take 6 months for them to pay off for me. Trust the math on that one, I don't feel like writing it out :-) I just don't believe it will do so well for my monthly budget to get all 12 up front (it would be $200 minimum).

It will take 6 months after my very last diaper purchase for all my diapers to be worthwhile. So if it takes me 3 months to purchase them all, and it takes 6 months after that, then it will take 9 months from today. At that point, I will no longer have to purchase any diapers... yippee!!! And since I bought "One Size" diapers that come with newborn inserts, I will not have to buy new ones for a second baby (although it takes 24 diapers to exclusively use cloth diapers on a newborn... I will cross that bridge when I come to it)


IF I was typically spending the "average" of $.25 a diaper it would only take 5 months to pay off & if I was typically paying the high price of $.32/diaper it would take only 4 months. But since I already go cheapo, it takes longer to be worth my while... makes sense??




I will post more details of the process as I go through the learning curve.

Have you tried cloth?? Considering it??