Archive for June, 2009:
A roundup
I’m having surgery today (ok, someone please tell me WHY I have to be at the hospital at 5:15 a.m.? What’s so hard about 8 a.m.?) and I’ll be taking it easy for a day or two. Nothing serious. I’ll be fine.
Here’s some articles that I think you’ll enjoy reading:
Northern Cheapskate warns us to not be greedy with freebies. I agree! It’s easy to get caught up in the exicitement of getting something for free.
The Simple Dollar explains how the sunk cost fallacy can lead us to do something/continue doing something because we’ve already put money into it, and don’t want to “lose” the money. Fact of the matter is — the money is already spent.
It’s Just Change presents a good case for having a car emergency fund (this is in response to my post about using a general emergency fund for car repairs).
The Frugal Dad also has several emergency funds and explains why. It’s a strategy that might work for some, but not others.
Money Saving Mom shares her buy-ahead grocery shopping strategy. It takes some organization and planning, but you can save a ton of money this way!
Christian PF shares a distrubing bit of research findings that show on average, most people don’t donate much of their incomes (we’re talking around 2% here). In fact, the lowest-income earners give the highest percentage of their earnings. Maybe if people had less debt, they’d be able to give more. And maybe there are other reasons.
Trying baby food
This week, we introduced solid foods to Johnny. Originally, I was planning to wait until he was a full six months old, but for various reasons we determined he (and we) were ready to start him with solids about two weeks before the six-month mark.
This is fun! It’s such a hoot to see his face as he mushes food around his mouth and then opens it like an expectant baby bird. It took us four tries to find a booster seat that we liked and so far we’re thrilled with this portable seat from Fisher-Price.
I made homemade rice cereal by grinding brown rice in my blender and then following the recipe at Wholesome Baby Food.
Easy-peasy. I have enough rice powder to last awhile, and the leftovers of the first batch of rice cereal are hanging out in the fridge or freezer.
We’ll also introduce barley and oats in a similar manner.
Today, I gave him some organic unsweetened applesauce. It’s not the baby version — it’s the kind adults eat and this is perfectly fine for Johnny, as the contents are simply apples and water. If we weren’t moving next week, I’d portion some of it into an ice cube tray for freezing. Since we’re leaving though, I’ll just make sure Shane and I eat a decent amount of applesauce this week so it won’t spoil.
The jar was about $2 for 25 ounces, or $0.08 per ounce.
In the baby food aisle, I might be able to get four to eight ounces for $2. I’m not sure if it would be organic.
When local apples are abundant and cheap later this season, I might buy a bunch and make my own applesauce in the crockpot.
I plan to make all of Johnny’s food since it isn’t hard at all, it’s much cheaper and I will know exactly what’s in his food. Plus, I’m confident that homemade baby food tastes much better than jarred. I suspect that homemade baby food will make the transition to regular table food a little easier.
What’s more, making his food will make it easier for me to prepare healthier meals for myself and my husband. We don’t eat as many fruits and veggies as we should.
If I’m already steaming some veggies for Johnny, I can puree and portion out some for him, and Shane and I can eat the rest.
Do/did you make your own baby food?
Trying cloth diapers soon!
By the end of the month, we’ll be settling into our new apartment — complete with its very own WASHER/DRYER! You do not know how excited I am about these two machines. It’s been six long years of lugging laundry to a laundromat, down the hall or stairs or elevator to coin-op machines, or taking it to my parent’s house. Never again, please!
My disposable diaper stash that I built up before Johnny was born is starting to dwindle. I’m down to maybe 5-7 packs which should last another month or so. While I was able to get those diapers for super cheap, I think I’m ready to try cloth diapers.
I briefly considered doing cloth diapers without my own W/D. While it would be doable, many of you brought me to my senses and convinced me to just play the drugstore game and get disposables for cheap. Doing so saved my sanity in those early weeks and months, and I thank you.
I then shared how I stocked up on diapers pre-baby. And a few months ago, I shared our diaper usage up to that point. We’re mostly on par with my estimates for Johnny’s growth. He’s still in size 3s but ya know what? They seem fairly snug on him already and don’t always hold up to a night of peeing. I’m guessing he’s 17 pounds (we’ll find out for sure on the 19th) so he’s still at the lower weight limit for size 3s (16-28 lbs), but I’ve learned that the weight ranges are only a vague suggestion.
I want to switch to cloth diapers to save money in the long run and reduce how much trash our family contributes to landfills (with disposables, it’s BAD!).
I know many cloth diaperers absolutely love CDing. I don’t know how much I’ll like it.
Will it save money?
I think the cost savings will be substantial over the long haul. I was able to get at least six months of disposable diapers for about $160 (that’s including the newborn-sized ones we picked up in the early days at full price or close to it). I don’t know for sure how much we’ve spent on wipes, but it’s probably around $40. My average cost per diaper was around $0.07 (not including the newborns). Full price, Pampers can be $0.28+ each.
At that rate, let’s say our monthly average is $33. If I keep up that pace, it’s $396 per year or $1,188 for three years of diapering. And that’s if I can keep up that pace. I don’t think I can. When I was pregnant, I had the time to bargain hunt and hit up several drug stores per week for deals.
Since having Johnny, I haven’t done the drugstore deals hardly at all. I don’t have the time, and since I still have a big toiletry stash, I don’t need to right now.
Diaper prices have continued to go up. I think it would be a miracle if I was able to diaper my son for $1,000 if I did all disposables.
Depending on the type of cloth system I go with, it’s looking like I might be able to diaper him in cloth for $300ish until he’s potty-trained (how is this figure, folks?). If the diapers hold up well enough, I might be able to use some of them for a second child.
I’ve found several helpful posts from blogging friends:
The Natural Mommy is an experienced cloth diaperer and explains her process here. She also shows what the cheapest options are. Finally, she has a ’new-and-improved’ cleaning process that’s worth a look.
Surely you’ve heard about or seen the amazing series that The Simple Mom recently did on cloth diapers — it’s not to be missed!
I’m going to get a small amount of diapers to start out (haven’t fully decided on which) to see how we like them. My Pittsburgh bff (hi Renee!) has graciously offered to loan me some of her son’s Happy Heinys to test.
Based on my past posts, I know y’all love to share your opinions on diapers. Consider this an invitation to tell me things or point me to your blog posts about the topic.
