Baby's butt on a budget

To my mind, baby's don't generally cost much, thankfully.

At least, not in the first few years, especially if you can avoid needing formula.

And using cloth nappies is a must if you're budget minded and, anywhere near calling yourself green.

Speaking of cloth, hehe, I just took receipt of some brand new fluff for our impending arrival! Ahhhh, I was so excited when they arrived, soft and squishy and looking so tiny...

Aren't they delicious?

Only 1 actual small, the other 2 are mediums, excuse the purple, I was being cheap as usual and buying seconds.

Not that I have any issues AT ALL with putting my boys in pink nappies, I have certainly done that in the past and this next lil' fella will inherit his older brother's nappy stash, including the pinks.

Now, cloth nappies can actually be pretty hard on the budget, if you let them.

$38 Aus is a fairly standard price to pay per nappy for some Australian and imported brands.

I know for a fact that my hubby would just about have a heart attack if I spent that much on a nappy and I would probably be too scared to let my kid poop in it at all.

The above nappies I actually bought from a work-at-home-mum in the US.

I found her through a forum, checked out what others have said about her work, applied the coupon code she supplied against my order, negotiated the postage rate and bingo.....here's my fluff.

I'm all for supporting Australian made but the bottom line is still important, and at least this way, I'm still supporting a mum somewhere to stay home with her kids.

And oooh, that blue nappy really is so cute and tiny, are babies butts really that small?!

I think I've forgotten......

Could you do without your washing machine?

When my washing machine broke down last week it was full of cloth nappies/diapers and cloth wipes.

In their just-emptied-from-the-nappy-bucket-so-as-yet-unwashed-at-all state.

Yum.

As well as some family cloth that my 5 year old uses.

Well, mostly him, occasionally the rest of us use it too.

Extra yum.

The machine, a front loader, filled itself, then would not start to spin but switched itself off.

I tried to start it again, with the same result.

So, the machine is full of very soggy, unwashed cloth nappies, cloth wipes and family cloth.

Mmmm mmmm.

I pity the poor technician who has to come and fix it.

I rang the company, who agreed to fix it under warranty even though it is eight days out of warranty.

Eight freaking days!? Do they program these things to break down in that time period??

One would hope not....

So I don the rubber dishwashing gloves and haul everything out of the machine and back into the bucket.

Buckets, plural. Everything seems to have multiplied.

And start thinking of my options.

Throw the stinky, drippy buckets in the car and drive around to find a laundromat. Blerk.

Leave them in the buckets for the week-to-10-days it will take the company to order a new motor and install it. Worried that the nappies etc will start to go mouldy on this option.

Start to realise how ridiculously reliant I am on this silly but useful modern day machine.

Determine that I will deal with this myself, in house.

Google hand-washing-cloth-nappies and find that other people wash cloth nappies by hand, so I can too.

The bath. Of course!

I dumped in the buckets, gave everything that needed it a bit more of a rinse directly under the tap, then filled the bath with the hottest water the taps can produce.

I then swished them all round with a big stick and squeezed and scrubbed with my gloved hands.

And drained the water.

That's the pre-rinse cycle on my machine.

Then I filled the bath again with hot water and some detergent and added a couple of kettles full of just boiled water for good measure.

And swished, squeezed and scrubbed as per above.

That's the wash cycle on my machine.

I know you were just dying to see it, so here it all is.

(Ignore the pink, yes, I only have boys but the pink nappies were a deal I couldn't turn down...)

Filled it again with hot and let it all soak.

That's the extra rinse cycle I use for washing nappies in my machine.

Drain.

Wrung it all out by hand.

Oi, one of these old fashioned wringers would have come in handy right about then.

(As a kid, our neighbours had one and we thought it was the coolest thing ever!)

Peg it out on the drying racks and wait several days for everything to dry because we're officially in winter - not good drying weather.

Then I do one load of towels this way before I decide to send hubby to the laundromat with a couple of loads of essentials.

Conclusion:

I could possibly live without a washing machine.

I would however need to be very organised and have a better wringing out system than just my hands, as that would help with subsequent drying time.

And summer would help too.

However, the machine was fixed this afternoon, so it's a moot point.

The technician did say though, that on the brand of machine I have, the 5 year extended warranty option would have been a good investment. Oh.

(LG, in case you're wondering. And he said the same for Samsung.)

And the new motor has a 3 month warranty. Ack.

I hope there's no more handwashing cloth nappies in my immediate future....

Sale at Eco Mums and Bubs - nappies and boosters

One-size pocket nappy sale, 50% off RRP = $15.50 for a one-size pocket nappy. The boosters are on sale too.
As far as I can make out these are Cheeky Butts nappies, of which I have quite a few of the sized pocket nappies with sewn in booster. Which I LOVE and are the mainstay of my stash.

Huggalugs Leg Huggers are also on sale on this site for 27% off, making them $12 a pair.

One-size Coolababy pocket nappies on a great sale too, $8, a saving of 47%. I've heard good things about these but don't have any experience with them myself.

And check out the Nappy Making Supplies page, for various deals. If you can overlook the spelling mistakes (please excuse me, I've always been a speller so mistakes stand out like dogs balls to me :), you might find something you need here.

Making your own cloth nappies? 15% off storewide!

Nappies Covered is an online store selling everything you could possibly want or need to make your own nappies.

And for 15% off store wide, just enter this coupon code MGV09 at checkout.

Check out the sale items section for an even bigger discount and there is also a remnants and seconds section where offcuts the right size for boosters etc are sold in packs.

Ooooh, oooh, oooh, nappy nirvana!

Gee, where to start?

There seems so much to this topic, I'm not sure where to begin. What got me on to the green and thrifty train? Well, after having my second baby, I got interested in modern cloth nappies, or cloth diapers as they are called in some parts. Everything went from there and I discovered that often, what is the thrifty or frugal option, is also the green option.
At the same time, I was looking for ways to make money from home, as I wasn't sure how mum working outside the home would go for us, with the two kids. As it turns out, it didn't work out particularly well, so I am certainly glad of all the research I have already done.

These are some areas where I've found it's easy to save money: Kids - toys, clothes, activities. The kitchen - cooking and grocery shopping. The laundry. House cleaning. Gift giving. The utility bills.

And ways to make money from home? The internet has opportunities, you just need to be aware of scams and the like.


Lets start with kids - Baby and kids market
Kids can be expensive, but they certainly don't need to be. Especially when they're younger....mine are 1 and 4, so beyond that will be a work in progress. Something I discovered that has helped me hugely in the cost of clothing my kids is baby and kids markets. These are held Australia wide and are jam packed with other parents trying to get rid of their children's outgrown and unneeded clothes, toys and equipment. $3 to get in, bring plenty of small change, bring your own cloth bag to stash your purchases in and try and leave the pram and kids at home.

If you're not close to any of these markets, what second hand avenues do you have available to you? Thrift stores, goodwill store, op shop, St Vinnies....get my drift? Consignment stores? Garage or yard sales? Ebay? Oztion? Craigslist? Another type of baby and kids market in my area is held several times a year at a local primary school, run by a Neighbourhood House.
It is really easy to get good quality, sometimes barely used, second hand kids clothes and equipment in this fashion.


And don't forget babies
My husband and I were lucky enough to be on the receiving end of a good friend divesting themselves of everything baby just when we needed it. That was a huge money saver, but if you are not that fortunate, the above sources mentioned are just perfect places to pick up baby gear too.
Oh, and don't forget the possibility of cloth nappies/cloth diapers. An upfront cost, but ultimately, good for your pocket, good for the environment and good for baby.
More on that topic coming up....