I've been spending an awful lot of time doing laundry, recently. It seems like there is at least one load that ought to be done every single day. Sometimes that feels pretty overwhelming, and it is easy to think "if only I were using disposable diapers, I wouldn't have to work so hard!"
So easy, in fact, that I found myself thinking that pretty often last week. Until I actually sat down and figured out how much money I was saving every time I washed a load of diapers instead of paying for the same number of disposables. It is really pretty impressive.
I wash about 30 diapers in each load. 30 disposable diapers at the BEST price I can find (17.7 cents each at Sam's club) = $5.31 that I'm not spending. $5.31 x 3 loads a week = $15.93 not spent each week.
Is it worth it? Well, it takes me about 10 minutes to hang a load of diapers on the clothesline. And I don't fold them when they're dry - just lay them all on top of each other in a stack, so the time spent taking them down is neglible. Maybe 12 minutes all told for each load, or 36 minutes for the week.
That gives me an "hourly wage" of $26.55. Not bad for hanging laundry! Somehow knowing that I'm saving money at a high hourly rate helps me see the value in the work.
Not spending $65 on diapers each month works for me. Especially considering that our initial cost for the cloth diapering supplies was less than $130! And truly, it is no harder to dump a cloth diaper into the washing machine (which we use as our diaper pail) than it is to dump a disposable in the trash. The real difference is in the amount of laundry, not the "ick" factor.
Besides: cloth diapers don't leak nearly as often as disposables do. :)
Cloth diapers really do work for me. Extra laundry and all.
Check out Shannon's site for more WFMW tips!
6 comments:
What type of cloth diapers do you use? I have been having a TERRIBLE time with disposable leaking diapers and I'm considering cloth diapers, I just have no idea where to start looking for information.
I used to LOVE washing my kids dipes:-) I know I am sick lol Great tip! Do you use prefolds or All in ones? I did both but honestly preferred prefolds and when mine got older I actually pinned.
I love cloth diapering too! Everytime I wash a load I like to tell my hubby how much money we saved and how much landfill space. Great post! Maybe others will be inspired too. :)
I am another cloth diaper fan. I switched about six months ago and it is funny how relieved I feel wehn I can walk by the disposables and not have to buy them. I am finding them addictive however. I have been going to diaperswappers and trying out a lot of different kinds of cloth diapers just for fun.
Yay cloth diapers! :-)
Thanks for sharing that calculation - I know that it is cheaper to do cloth, but I had never really thought through just how much we save by using them!
I am so glad you linked to this from the WFMW entry! My son is due in July and a few weeks ago I started researching cloth diapers. I didn't have a lot of trouble with leaking with my daughter's disposables, but I stuck with Pampers Cruisers and they are NOT "cheap". This time around I wanted to save money and I have even more concerns about the chemicals and gels in the diapers than before. I figure even if I only use cloth part-time it will more than make up for the cost of disposables, and I've found a chlorine/gel-free diaper company that offers bulk deals for the rest of the part-time. :-)
You've really broken down the cost vs. savings so well here. I will have to show my husband. He's all about saving the money, but also doesn't want to overwhelm me with labor as he may be away for a while for work during baby's first year. Instead of my generic hourly rate figure, yours is fantastic AND it reminds me I've made the right decision for financial and "green" reasons!
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