This isn't a new idea.
I don't even have a new take on it or anything extraordinary to add to it.
But, it is a good idea that I wanted to share.
We like to keep lunch simple around here, I'd rather use my brain powder (and effort) on dinner. Steven takes care of most of the left overs from dinner because he takes his lunch to work. So, what are John and I do to do?
Most days we just eat whatever random stuff I have in the fridge/pantry that doesn't take that long to heat up... like popcorn and yogurt. But I remembered that a friend of mine hid carrots in her son's mac & cheese. And who doesn't love mac & cheese. Total comfort food. I'm not even too fussy, I think the stuff out of the box is great! And super cheap... 55 cents a box (for HEB brand). However, John's a good veggie eater (Praise the Lord) so I did a few things differently.
"Healthy" Boxed Mac & Cheese Makeover
1 box mac & cheese ($0.55)
1.5 cups frozen broccoli ($0.50)
1/4 cup butter ($0.30)
1/2 cup pureed carrots ($0.20) or squash or whatever.
1/4 cup milk ($0.10)
I boiled water (with salt added in) and then tossed in my macaroni & the frozen broccoli. Boiled for 5 minutes (or whatever your package says), then drain. I added the butter to the hot noodles & broccoli and mixed until it melted. Then I add the carrots, powdered cheese & a splash of milk (I didn't measure the milk but I'm guessing it was about 1/4 cup). Add the milk slowly to check for the right constancy.
It made two lunches for me and 2-3 for him (depending on how hungry he will be tomorrow) for $1.65, or 40 cents per person per meal. I don't think you can beat that for simple healthy lunch. You could make your own mac & cheese instead of using the box... but I think as far as cost goes the box may win (I haven't looked into it, though). You could even beef it up with some meat, or bacon bits, or beans (if you want a cheep protein).
Okay... now I've wasted too much time blogging about lunch... Back to work!
Showing posts with label Cost Analysis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cost Analysis. Show all posts
Monday, June 6, 2011
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Baking Torment
Confession: I'm addicted to an expensive habit...
meet parchment paper!
"Modern parchment paper is made by running sheets of paper pulp through a bath of sulfuric acid... a process which is reversed by washing the chemicals off followed by drying. This treatment forms a sulfurized cross-linked material with high density, stability, and heat resistance, and low surface energy – thereby imparting good non-stick or release properties." -Wikipedia
HEAT RESISTANT & LOW SURFACE (energy but I think they mean) TENSION.
Those words excite the engineering part of my brain that tangos with the housewife part of my brain. Nothing sticks to this stuff AND I can cook at very high temperatures... like for pizza or pitas. I think I fell in love with parchment paper around the time that I found artisan bread... but recently I discovered that I use this stuff at an alarming rate!
I joked that I don't turn my oven unless I have this in the house... and then I noticed it was on my grocery list a lot... then I figured that I was spending around $10 a month! On Paper I throw away each month! Ouch!!! What makes it worse is that I could just flour/oil a surface to keep it from sticking... or invest in one of these.
Ahhh.
So, I'm warning you not to get addicted as I have. For now I'm entering into a self inflicted weaning program.
meet parchment paper!
"Modern parchment paper is made by running sheets of paper pulp through a bath of sulfuric acid... a process which is reversed by washing the chemicals off followed by drying. This treatment forms a sulfurized cross-linked material with high density, stability, and heat resistance, and low surface energy – thereby imparting good non-stick or release properties." -Wikipedia
HEAT RESISTANT & LOW SURFACE (energy but I think they mean) TENSION.
Those words excite the engineering part of my brain that tangos with the housewife part of my brain. Nothing sticks to this stuff AND I can cook at very high temperatures... like for pizza or pitas. I think I fell in love with parchment paper around the time that I found artisan bread... but recently I discovered that I use this stuff at an alarming rate!
I joked that I don't turn my oven unless I have this in the house... and then I noticed it was on my grocery list a lot... then I figured that I was spending around $10 a month! On Paper I throw away each month! Ouch!!! What makes it worse is that I could just flour/oil a surface to keep it from sticking... or invest in one of these.
Ahhh.
So, I'm warning you not to get addicted as I have. For now I'm entering into a self inflicted weaning program.
Monday, May 23, 2011
I can can!
I'm making my Granny so proud right now.
I've been kinda interested in canning mainly as a way to preserve things we grow. We've never had enough tomatoes to warrant the investment, but I'm still interested. Once I found Mary Ostyn's blog I stumbled upon her canning videos. It seemed simple and I had most everything to try it... so.... I decided to try it today!
I thought jelly would be a great thing to start with (especially since our tomatoes are being stubborn about ripening this year). She has a great grape jelly video, but we aren't crazy about grape jelly. However, we do LOVE strawberry... especially the HEB more fruit kind. So I thought it would a be a fun project to compare the cost and see how hard it was.
I used my HUGE stock pot we got as a wedding present... I love that thing. And for the cans I had four 1/2 pint kind left over from Aunt Becky's friend's Thia Peanut Sauce... I miss that stuff... and one 1 pint jar left over from some local honey we bought a while back. For a jar lifter I use our kitchen tongs... but I went slow making sure not drop a slippery hot jar. It will be nice to get an actual can lifter, but I'll have to start producing more veggies so that it warrants the cost ($10 at HEB).
I ran to HEB to get the missing ingredients that I did need to make the jam. I thought about going to Sam's to ensure that I got a great deal on strawberries, but I'm often tempted to buy extra things when I go to Sam's because the prices are so good. So, I went to HEB and got strawberries ($1.5/lbs... not the greatest deal, but a good one nonetheless), fruit pectin and lids. I used the recipe that came with the fruit pectin. It was simple to follow and came with great directions.
Here are my humble jars processing. Canning makes me feel homey... and I like it!
And here is the final product! They were still hot in this picture and the pectin hadn't set up, but everything went like the website/recipe said so I'm sure they will turn out. They are so cute!
Okay. So how does the cost break down. The HEB fruit spread cost $2.50 for just under 1.5 cups. I made a little over 5 cups and the cost for 1.5 cups was $1.50.
So, it's not the hugest of savings, but it did work out cheaper. I think if I would have gotten a better deal on strawberries (like say grew them or picked my own) then I would see more savings. However, that being said it did save me a little over $3.00 and I made it the most expensive way. I know if I make grape jelly the way Mrs. Ostyn makes hers (she buy frozen fruit juice concentrate) I'm sure I'll save on that and I may try that once we run out of strawberry.
I'm planning on keeping it pretty simple. Canning can get scary if you venture too far outside of fruits, tomatoes & pickles. Anything other than that requires a pressure canner and you have to be extra careful not give your family food posioning. I would love to be able to make my own stews (& maybe cream-o-soups) and can them and to be able to can green beans or the purple hulled peas I grow. But for now I'll just make fresh soup and freeze my green beans and dry out my purple hulled peas. We don't have a huge back yard and it's best to start small anyway. I can just focus on growing berries, tomatoes & cucumbers to make jellies, jams, salsas, tomato sauce, barbeque sauce, pickles, relish, etc. Really I think I'll have enough variety to keep me busy. Just be warned family, you may receive can goods from us for Christmas :)
Now I'm super excited about our tomatoes... if they will ever ripen!
I've been kinda interested in canning mainly as a way to preserve things we grow. We've never had enough tomatoes to warrant the investment, but I'm still interested. Once I found Mary Ostyn's blog I stumbled upon her canning videos. It seemed simple and I had most everything to try it... so.... I decided to try it today!
I thought jelly would be a great thing to start with (especially since our tomatoes are being stubborn about ripening this year). She has a great grape jelly video, but we aren't crazy about grape jelly. However, we do LOVE strawberry... especially the HEB more fruit kind. So I thought it would a be a fun project to compare the cost and see how hard it was.
I used my HUGE stock pot we got as a wedding present... I love that thing. And for the cans I had four 1/2 pint kind left over from Aunt Becky's friend's Thia Peanut Sauce... I miss that stuff... and one 1 pint jar left over from some local honey we bought a while back. For a jar lifter I use our kitchen tongs... but I went slow making sure not drop a slippery hot jar. It will be nice to get an actual can lifter, but I'll have to start producing more veggies so that it warrants the cost ($10 at HEB).
I ran to HEB to get the missing ingredients that I did need to make the jam. I thought about going to Sam's to ensure that I got a great deal on strawberries, but I'm often tempted to buy extra things when I go to Sam's because the prices are so good. So, I went to HEB and got strawberries ($1.5/lbs... not the greatest deal, but a good one nonetheless), fruit pectin and lids. I used the recipe that came with the fruit pectin. It was simple to follow and came with great directions.
Here are my humble jars processing. Canning makes me feel homey... and I like it!
And here is the final product! They were still hot in this picture and the pectin hadn't set up, but everything went like the website/recipe said so I'm sure they will turn out. They are so cute!
Okay. So how does the cost break down. The HEB fruit spread cost $2.50 for just under 1.5 cups. I made a little over 5 cups and the cost for 1.5 cups was $1.50.
So, it's not the hugest of savings, but it did work out cheaper. I think if I would have gotten a better deal on strawberries (like say grew them or picked my own) then I would see more savings. However, that being said it did save me a little over $3.00 and I made it the most expensive way. I know if I make grape jelly the way Mrs. Ostyn makes hers (she buy frozen fruit juice concentrate) I'm sure I'll save on that and I may try that once we run out of strawberry.
I'm planning on keeping it pretty simple. Canning can get scary if you venture too far outside of fruits, tomatoes & pickles. Anything other than that requires a pressure canner and you have to be extra careful not give your family food posioning. I would love to be able to make my own stews (& maybe cream-o-soups) and can them and to be able to can green beans or the purple hulled peas I grow. But for now I'll just make fresh soup and freeze my green beans and dry out my purple hulled peas. We don't have a huge back yard and it's best to start small anyway. I can just focus on growing berries, tomatoes & cucumbers to make jellies, jams, salsas, tomato sauce, barbeque sauce, pickles, relish, etc. Really I think I'll have enough variety to keep me busy. Just be warned family, you may receive can goods from us for Christmas :)
Now I'm super excited about our tomatoes... if they will ever ripen!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Pizza Rolls... how to with pictures :)
Yum!
A local pizza place has these wonderful things call peperoni rolls. They even have a special night when they are only 50 cents each. Sounds like a great deal, huh? Well, it is... for eating out. But not for penny-pinchin-I-can-make-that-(almost)-from-scratch-for-less people like me! The cost per roll for mine are about 22 cents.
And honestly, I had the idea of making pizza pocket type contraptions to stash away in our freezer for quick lunches for Steven or for dinner-on-the-go-kind-of-nights. However, I've found that these are easier for me to make and a lot less messy to eat than pizza pockets (you don't really need a plate with these). I'm thinking we are for sure going to fill our freezer with these when we have our next baby.
I looked and looked online for a tutorial on how to wrap these suckers up... but the best one I found was this video (don't ask me how I found it). I did a couple of things differently than he did but in general (aside from the weirdness that is a vegan zombie) I think it's a pretty good tutorial.
Here is what you'll need...
Dough (I use artisan bread dough)
Extra flour for dusting
Some kind of sauce
A touch of water
Olive Oil
Cheese
Toppings (pepperoni, spinach, onion, chicken, etc)
Here's how to put them together...
Get you're dough out on a well floured surface.
And Roll it out like you are making a pizza.
I learned a little bit since I took these pictures and you don't want to roll the dough out too thin or the cheese will leak out. I've made them (several times) since this picture and have rolled the dough out a little thicker (roughly 3/8"... that's somewhere between 1/4" & 1/2") and it works much better. Sometimes cheese escapes, but most of the time it holds it all in.
Next Cut the pizza dough into slices
I was experimenting in these pictures. The optimum number of slices is 8! If you do 12 (like I did on the right) they come out too small. 8 is great. One pizza feeds our entire family for one meal... 4.5 pizza rolls for Steven, 2.5 for me, 1 for John. But make a second pizza so you will have left overs for the next day.
And then put on the toppings. Keep all the toppings in the wide section of the pizza slice. And keep all messy ingredients far away from little helpers... he kept bugging me for pepperoni slices.
Next, the tricky part. The roll!
So if you look at the bottom of the picture and work your way up you can see the stages.
The arrows are my attempts at making these pictures better. I've found that it's best to take the two flaps, in the very bottom slice, and bring them ALL the way over the toppings. Then press them down firmly (sealing it and preventing cheese escapes). Then start to roll. As I roll I like to seal the edges whenever I feel like there might be a spot where cheese will escape. It's not really as hard as I'm making it out to be... and if your cheese escapes you can just peel if off the cookie sheet and feed it to your cheese loving husband.
Then take some marinara and water it down a bit. Add some oil and whisk till it's all combined. Then paint over the pizza rolls on the baking sheet. I set mine on parchment because I put everything on parchment... I don't think I turn on the oven if I don't have parchment in the house.
The next batch I made was spinach. You can brush the top with olive oil and put a spinach leaf on it (or an our case a spinach leaf and a piece of cheese because I had to keep the plain spinach separate for John because he couldn't have dairy yet)... really just some way of identifying it so that you don't have to cut it open to figure out what is inside.
Like I said, they were a big hit and we have pretty much made them once a week since I took these pictures. You just can't beat feeding a small family of 3 for under $2!
A local pizza place has these wonderful things call peperoni rolls. They even have a special night when they are only 50 cents each. Sounds like a great deal, huh? Well, it is... for eating out. But not for penny-pinchin-I-can-make-that-(almost)-from-scratch-for-less people like me! The cost per roll for mine are about 22 cents.
And honestly, I had the idea of making pizza pocket type contraptions to stash away in our freezer for quick lunches for Steven or for dinner-on-the-go-kind-of-nights. However, I've found that these are easier for me to make and a lot less messy to eat than pizza pockets (you don't really need a plate with these). I'm thinking we are for sure going to fill our freezer with these when we have our next baby.
I looked and looked online for a tutorial on how to wrap these suckers up... but the best one I found was this video (don't ask me how I found it). I did a couple of things differently than he did but in general (aside from the weirdness that is a vegan zombie) I think it's a pretty good tutorial.
Here is what you'll need...
Dough (I use artisan bread dough)
Extra flour for dusting
Some kind of sauce
A touch of water
Olive Oil
Cheese
Toppings (pepperoni, spinach, onion, chicken, etc)
Here's how to put them together...
Get you're dough out on a well floured surface.
And Roll it out like you are making a pizza.
I learned a little bit since I took these pictures and you don't want to roll the dough out too thin or the cheese will leak out. I've made them (several times) since this picture and have rolled the dough out a little thicker (roughly 3/8"... that's somewhere between 1/4" & 1/2") and it works much better. Sometimes cheese escapes, but most of the time it holds it all in.
Next Cut the pizza dough into slices
I was experimenting in these pictures. The optimum number of slices is 8! If you do 12 (like I did on the right) they come out too small. 8 is great. One pizza feeds our entire family for one meal... 4.5 pizza rolls for Steven, 2.5 for me, 1 for John. But make a second pizza so you will have left overs for the next day.
And then put on the toppings. Keep all the toppings in the wide section of the pizza slice. And keep all messy ingredients far away from little helpers... he kept bugging me for pepperoni slices.
Next, the tricky part. The roll!
So if you look at the bottom of the picture and work your way up you can see the stages.
The arrows are my attempts at making these pictures better. I've found that it's best to take the two flaps, in the very bottom slice, and bring them ALL the way over the toppings. Then press them down firmly (sealing it and preventing cheese escapes). Then start to roll. As I roll I like to seal the edges whenever I feel like there might be a spot where cheese will escape. It's not really as hard as I'm making it out to be... and if your cheese escapes you can just peel if off the cookie sheet and feed it to your cheese loving husband.
Then take some marinara and water it down a bit. Add some oil and whisk till it's all combined. Then paint over the pizza rolls on the baking sheet. I set mine on parchment because I put everything on parchment... I don't think I turn on the oven if I don't have parchment in the house.
The next batch I made was spinach. You can brush the top with olive oil and put a spinach leaf on it (or an our case a spinach leaf and a piece of cheese because I had to keep the plain spinach separate for John because he couldn't have dairy yet)... really just some way of identifying it so that you don't have to cut it open to figure out what is inside.
Like I said, they were a big hit and we have pretty much made them once a week since I took these pictures. You just can't beat feeding a small family of 3 for under $2!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Velcro Not Allowed
I love Bumgenius, but I only put up with the velcro. A friend gave me a bunch pocket diapers (not Bumgenius, no stay dry liner, but they are still great for nursery/babysitters) and they have snaps. After using them a while, I realized that velcro was pretty much evil. I hate velcro chains in the drier.. and I hate how lint and various strings (even my hair) gets stuck in the velcro tabs. Don't get me wrong, it is more adjustable on the baby... but it's not for us.
I was STOKED when Bumgenius came out with their 4.0s! However, we don't have tons of money to spend on my every diaper whim, so I had to make my well-well-loved Bumgenius work. I considered getting the tools to convert mine to snaps, but I ultimately decided to have someone do it. The cost to convert my Bumgenius myself was the same as the cost to have someone to do it and the only velcro I have is Bumgenius... all my other cover & pockets are snaps (or buttons on the wools).
So, After finally getting my Bumgenius converted I've decided that Velcro is no longer allowed in my house when it comes to diapers!
Here they are before...
And here they are converted!
I actually found someone to do them by a facebook ad. I usually don't click on those, but I guess they finally figured out the way to my heart :) She allowed you to pick which snap colors you want so I decided to have fun with the colors... and I really liked how they turned out. You can get matching colors, but I figured it would be good to tell these apart in case they start to leak.
The shipping kinda took a while, but I think that was my fault because I paid for the least expensive shipping and thus the slowest. It was hard to live without my Bumgenius. I'm not sure how long I was actually without them, but I totally used disposables in place of when I would use my Bumgenius. I'm so happy to have them back :) :) :)
If you are interested in having your diapers converted she does give a discount for removing the velcro yourself... and we took advantage of that. I recommend taking off the velcro yourself not only to save money but to make sure the pul doesn't get punctured in the process.
Happy Diapering!
I was STOKED when Bumgenius came out with their 4.0s! However, we don't have tons of money to spend on my every diaper whim, so I had to make my well-well-loved Bumgenius work. I considered getting the tools to convert mine to snaps, but I ultimately decided to have someone do it. The cost to convert my Bumgenius myself was the same as the cost to have someone to do it and the only velcro I have is Bumgenius... all my other cover & pockets are snaps (or buttons on the wools).
So, After finally getting my Bumgenius converted I've decided that Velcro is no longer allowed in my house when it comes to diapers!
Here they are before...
And here they are converted!
I actually found someone to do them by a facebook ad. I usually don't click on those, but I guess they finally figured out the way to my heart :) She allowed you to pick which snap colors you want so I decided to have fun with the colors... and I really liked how they turned out. You can get matching colors, but I figured it would be good to tell these apart in case they start to leak.
The shipping kinda took a while, but I think that was my fault because I paid for the least expensive shipping and thus the slowest. It was hard to live without my Bumgenius. I'm not sure how long I was actually without them, but I totally used disposables in place of when I would use my Bumgenius. I'm so happy to have them back :) :) :)
If you are interested in having your diapers converted she does give a discount for removing the velcro yourself... and we took advantage of that. I recommend taking off the velcro yourself not only to save money but to make sure the pul doesn't get punctured in the process.
Happy Diapering!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Christmas Projects
I've been busy with Christmas projects and unfortunately I can't share some of the projects I've been working on because they are gifts... but I'll try my best to remember to take pictures to share with everyone later.
HOWEVER...
A couple of days ago I made our stockings. I was going to just buy them (after all it was pretty close to the cost of materials to make them) but I couldn't find stockings that I liked. I wanted variety but I also wanted them to coordinate.
My sister came down for the weekend I couldn't pass up the opportunity to show off Lone Star Quiltworks. Unknown to me, they were having a 20% off sale of EVERYTHING! (for the whole month, btw) It was very hard to resist. And Steven was with us so I went ahead and got all the stocking fabric, with his approval.
I only spent $20 at Lone Star and I had the rest of the materials to make the stockings at home. If I would have bought everything to make the stocking it would have come out to around $10-$15 a piece... a pretty close price comparison. HOWEVER, I love the way these stockings turned out and I couldn't find anything like it online. (Don't laugh, we don't have a mantel yet so these are attached to the wall with push pins... yes, next to the light switch... they may be moved befor Christmas)
I'm still debating if I will embroider our names on them. I like they way they look just plain and I'm not sure if it would take the stocking to the next level... or not. Jury is still out.
On a funnier note, we started looking at the Christmas fabric when choosing fabric... but we ended up in the Civil War Repo section. I laughed! But we did find fabric we liked. There is not much I don't like in the CWR section at Lone Star. John's was the only one that came out of the Christmas fabric.
HOWEVER...
A couple of days ago I made our stockings. I was going to just buy them (after all it was pretty close to the cost of materials to make them) but I couldn't find stockings that I liked. I wanted variety but I also wanted them to coordinate.
My sister came down for the weekend I couldn't pass up the opportunity to show off Lone Star Quiltworks. Unknown to me, they were having a 20% off sale of EVERYTHING! (for the whole month, btw) It was very hard to resist. And Steven was with us so I went ahead and got all the stocking fabric, with his approval.
I only spent $20 at Lone Star and I had the rest of the materials to make the stockings at home. If I would have bought everything to make the stocking it would have come out to around $10-$15 a piece... a pretty close price comparison. HOWEVER, I love the way these stockings turned out and I couldn't find anything like it online. (Don't laugh, we don't have a mantel yet so these are attached to the wall with push pins... yes, next to the light switch... they may be moved befor Christmas)
I'm still debating if I will embroider our names on them. I like they way they look just plain and I'm not sure if it would take the stocking to the next level... or not. Jury is still out.
On a funnier note, we started looking at the Christmas fabric when choosing fabric... but we ended up in the Civil War Repo section. I laughed! But we did find fabric we liked. There is not much I don't like in the CWR section at Lone Star. John's was the only one that came out of the Christmas fabric.
Steven's...
Mine. I LOVE my body fabric!... every time I see it I smile!
And John's! We love his top fabric.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Diaper Report... the sequell!
****re-post*** I accidentally put 1/4/09 instead of 1/4/10 when I originally posted this... sorry... you get to read it again.
Steven and I will be using cloth diapers while at home and I did a summary on why and the cost of both cloth and disposable diapers. I've needed to post a sequel but have been so busy with graduation that I have put it off for quite a while. My sequel is mostly because one of my friends helped me refine my numbers for the cost of disposables (she has four kids and definitely know the ropes of diapering) and because we have kinda changed on minds on which cloth diapering system we want to go with.
The truth is, Steven and I will use the least expensive route no matter which option actually happens... be it cloth or disposables. As far as disposables go, if and when we use them we plan on cutting coupons or investing in a Sam's Club membership... like our friends.
Below is the updated spreadsheet.
I'm still learning a lot about cloth diapers and the more I learn, the more excited I get. I would have never believed how excited I am to change dirty diapers!
Steven really likes the diaper with a cover system and I'm a fan of it too! Mainly because you get a lot of use out of the covers and because the pocket diapers or all-in-ones require stuffing... boo for stuffing diapers! CottonBabies, a company we really like, just came out with a new system called "Econobums." They are made with less expensive material and half the cost of other diaper/cover systems available. I'm keeping my eye on the reviews because they are so new and I'm a little worried about how the diapers will do with multiple children... but even if we have to purchase a new set for each child, Econobums are still cheaper than using disposables exclusively.
A full set of Econobums is $150 dollars. That is 9 covers and with 36 diapers. That should give us at least a day in between washes at the beginning and possibly three days when little John gets to potty training age. The great thing is that Ecocobums are one size... which means that they can expand as the baby grows. See this picture to get a better understanding of how the diaper grows.
CottonBabies also has a new line called "Flip" again its a diaper/cover system. They seem very durable but a little less than twice the cost of the Econobums. They are priced similarly to other diaper/cover systems available. I'm also watching the reviews for Flip because they are new, but I really think I'm going to like Flip diapers. You can get a full set (8 covers, 36 diapers) for about $270 dollars. I hope that we receive Flips as gifts so that this option is more economical. We will probably use both Flips and Econobums.... possible a Thirties cover if John get really big (Thirties has a large cover that fit bigger kiddos well... so says most diaper review websites).
So if you round up for other things like increase water/electricity usage, purchasing a pail and liner to store dirty diapers, the re-usable wipes and other cloth diapering expenses it come to about $250-$300 dollars for cloth. Disposables are about $600 per child.
So... based off of those numbers alone we plan on using cloth diapers. Even though it is more expensive to use disposables we will probably dapple in them a bit... for trips to visit family, when we take the baby to church, when he goes to a sitter or if he gets that dreaded diaper rash.
Anyway... I'm excited and will probably post picture of little John in a cute cloth diaper when I post about how cloth diapers works out for us! More to come!!!
Steven and I will be using cloth diapers while at home and I did a summary on why and the cost of both cloth and disposable diapers. I've needed to post a sequel but have been so busy with graduation that I have put it off for quite a while. My sequel is mostly because one of my friends helped me refine my numbers for the cost of disposables (she has four kids and definitely know the ropes of diapering) and because we have kinda changed on minds on which cloth diapering system we want to go with.
The truth is, Steven and I will use the least expensive route no matter which option actually happens... be it cloth or disposables. As far as disposables go, if and when we use them we plan on cutting coupons or investing in a Sam's Club membership... like our friends.
Below is the updated spreadsheet.
I'm still learning a lot about cloth diapers and the more I learn, the more excited I get. I would have never believed how excited I am to change dirty diapers!
Steven really likes the diaper with a cover system and I'm a fan of it too! Mainly because you get a lot of use out of the covers and because the pocket diapers or all-in-ones require stuffing... boo for stuffing diapers! CottonBabies, a company we really like, just came out with a new system called "Econobums." They are made with less expensive material and half the cost of other diaper/cover systems available. I'm keeping my eye on the reviews because they are so new and I'm a little worried about how the diapers will do with multiple children... but even if we have to purchase a new set for each child, Econobums are still cheaper than using disposables exclusively.
A full set of Econobums is $150 dollars. That is 9 covers and with 36 diapers. That should give us at least a day in between washes at the beginning and possibly three days when little John gets to potty training age. The great thing is that Ecocobums are one size... which means that they can expand as the baby grows. See this picture to get a better understanding of how the diaper grows.
CottonBabies also has a new line called "Flip" again its a diaper/cover system. They seem very durable but a little less than twice the cost of the Econobums. They are priced similarly to other diaper/cover systems available. I'm also watching the reviews for Flip because they are new, but I really think I'm going to like Flip diapers. You can get a full set (8 covers, 36 diapers) for about $270 dollars. I hope that we receive Flips as gifts so that this option is more economical. We will probably use both Flips and Econobums.... possible a Thirties cover if John get really big (Thirties has a large cover that fit bigger kiddos well... so says most diaper review websites).
So if you round up for other things like increase water/electricity usage, purchasing a pail and liner to store dirty diapers, the re-usable wipes and other cloth diapering expenses it come to about $250-$300 dollars for cloth. Disposables are about $600 per child.
So... based off of those numbers alone we plan on using cloth diapers. Even though it is more expensive to use disposables we will probably dapple in them a bit... for trips to visit family, when we take the baby to church, when he goes to a sitter or if he gets that dreaded diaper rash.
Anyway... I'm excited and will probably post picture of little John in a cute cloth diaper when I post about how cloth diapers works out for us! More to come!!!
Friday, October 23, 2009
My Diaper Report
I have many Mommy friends right now and I am very thankful for the knowledge and experience they provide! (You know who you are girls… Thank You!!!) Currently, a little less than half of my Mommy friends use (or want to start using) cloth diapers. So I decided to do a detailed report diaper report. It’s more for me to get my thoughts together, but I hope to also use it to explain to all why we are deciding to use cloth diapers.
Cloth What?
Now, let me tell you… the world of cloth diapers is way complicated… at first… it gets easier, I promise. There are several different styles (or methods) and brands and different ways to folds and snaps and Velcro and even a bungee/snappy thing? It is very interesting and overwhelming at the same time. The only real way to decide is to talk to moms who are doing or have done cloth diapers before and hear their thoughts on things. I feel much better about it and even excited about trying them, but to explain it to you let me show you some pictures…
Pre-folds with covers: the traditional rectangular piece of fabric that you fold around your baby can secure with a snappi (used to use safety pin). The cover is to protect the clothing from getting wet… it’s made out of a non permeable material and does not have to be wash with every use (usually washed every 2-3 changes). Video1. Video2. Video3.
Pocket Diapers: designed just like a disposable diaper and just as easy to put on. The pocket allows you to put extra liners in and allows for less diaper changes. They are more expensive, require a wash after every use and take longer to dry. We hope to receive them as gifts, but may purchase a few for the convenience on trips and with baby sitters. Also… bumgenius (also runs cottonbabies.com) gives diaper grants to missionaries so we really want to purchase this brand whenever possible. Video1. Video2.
All-in-ones: This eliminates the stuffing part of the pocket diapers, you could still put an additional liner in at night but it would be similar to the pre-fold method. I have heard that they take a very long time to dry and that they tend to wear out sooner. Video.
One-sized: very similar to the all-in-ones, except snaps allow you to adjust the size (first link is for a pocket-one-sized diaper). Video.
And the list carries on as far as options go. For the diaper with a cover system, you can have… pre-folds, fitted liners, flat liners, or contour liners with fleece covers, wool covers or synthetic covers. Sorry I didn’t research them all. I more interested in what I have seen work with my friends.
We decided to go with… pre-folds and covers during the day and pocket diapers for the evening, sitters or trips with some disposables when necessary. Pre-folds are the easiest to clean and pocket diapers not only allow for double liners at night time but they also make cloth diapers easy for guest who want to help out with the baby. Our friends that use pre-folds don’t bother with snappies because the cover holds the diaper in place. I like the idea of one-sized diapers but Steven feels they may be too bulky and he is right!
Pros and Cons
Disposable Diapers
Pros
-convenient & easy
-no extra laundry
-everyone knows how to use them
-convenient & easy
-no extra laundry
-everyone knows how to use them
Cons
-will permanently take up space in a landfill
-have to buy them continuously
-may take longer to potty train (disposables are designed to keep babies dry and as a result they don’t know when they are wet)
-some studies say babies have more diaper rash with disposable.
Cloth Diapers
-will permanently take up space in a landfill
-have to buy them continuously
-may take longer to potty train (disposables are designed to keep babies dry and as a result they don’t know when they are wet)
-some studies say babies have more diaper rash with disposable.
Cloth Diapers
Pros
-they don’t produce waste to fill landfills
-more economical
-less chemicals on baby’s precious bottom
-may be easier to potty train (babies know that they are wet)
-reusable with each child (in fact the more kids you have the more money you save)
-cloth diapers have come a long way… with the new advances they are almost as easy as disposable!
-they don’t produce waste to fill landfills
-more economical
-less chemicals on baby’s precious bottom
-may be easier to potty train (babies know that they are wet)
-reusable with each child (in fact the more kids you have the more money you save)
-cloth diapers have come a long way… with the new advances they are almost as easy as disposable!
Cons
-have to clean with every use
-increased laundry
-may leak
-can’t use them with diaper rash ointment (ointment can reduce absorbency because it is designed to repel water.)
-need special soap to wash them (some detergents cause a waxy build up and can reduce absorbency)
-not as easy to travel with (you have take your dirty diapers with you)
My Thoughts
I hate the idea of contributing to our growing landfill problem!!! However, like my husband I have a passion for saving money… so I don’t mind a little extra work to help reduce the waste I put into the landfill. We already compost and recycle… I fell like this is the next responsible step when it comes to good stewardship with our planet.
I am also very excited about the potty training thing.
I’m not too worried about the cleaning and extra washing concerns… if I start with the first baby they day we bring him/her home then I won’t notice the disposable vs. cloth diaper difference. Besides, it turns out we already use the “correct” detergent! Some recommend soaps are Dreft, Ivory, All Free Clear, and Charlie’s Soap.
About diaper rash… it happens… and we can run and purchase a small pack of disposables... we may them for nursery visits at church anyway.
You may wonder about the extra water used. Well, we believe that water is a more renewable reasource than landfills. God designed our water to be re-cycled... evaporation, rain, etc...
Being responsible with God's creation (earth) and saving money are our reasons for using cloth diapers.
Cost Breakdown
Here is my break down on cost.
Average Changes per day
Cost Breakdown
Here is my break down on cost.
Average Changes per day
(this is what I calculated by. It may be off by a bit, but I wanted to just picked some numbers, based off of online research, so that I could compare cost)
0-3m.................................... 12 times a day
0-3m.................................... 12 times a day
3-8m.................................... 8 times a day
8-15m................................. 6 times a day
(((most cost were based off of what Steven and I register for at Amazon and Target)))
(((most cost were based off of what Steven and I register for at Amazon and Target)))
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)