If you were to ask my husband if we save money using cloth diapers, he might have his doubts. I have a large stash; more diapers than one single toddler could need. I have a bit of a problem, but let’s not talk about that now 
I have mentioned before that I used disposables for the first 6 months. I used “eco-friendlier” diapers and paid a little more for them. I joined the Amazon Mom program then when they had really great deals and saved 30% on them so I thought that using cloth would probably be a wash with the high start-up cost. I just went through my old Amazon orders and for the first 6 months I paid $252.88 in diapers and wipes. This is with a great discount that is no longer offered and does not count the packs bought at my local Babies R Us or Target. It also doesn’t take into consideration the silly bag systems for the fancy-shmancy diaper pail system that we had.
How much have I spent on cloth diapers in the past 11 months? Probably about $400, but this includes diapers that I didn’t like so much and have sold. I have made back almost $200 on selling our used diapers. Try doing that with used Huggies!
When you factor in the selling of the diapers, I have spent less to diaper my baby for 11 months with probably another 11 months to go, give or take, than I did to diaper him for 6 months in disposables! Keep in mind that if you went to your local store and bought a case of diapers, the amount that I spent for 6 months would be more like a 4 month supply.
I must admit that the amount spent above doesn’t actually give a fair picture of the size of my stash. If I hadn’t sold any of my diapers, my stash would be well over 100 diapers. How did I acquire this many diapers with so little money? I am going to leave review diapers out of the equation since not everyone has a review blog, but the following is how I did it:
- Shop around for sales and use coupons. The sites that I frequent have coupon codes listed right on their sites. Like the Facebook pages of cloth diaper stores for additional coupons and specials
- Buy seconds! What are seconds? They are brand new diapers with a slight flaw so the manufacturer can’t sell them at full price. I have only done this twice, but I still can’t find the flaw in the two diaper seconds that I bought. They were both supposedly for uneven stitching
- Sign up for (and like the Facebook pages) of daily deal sites like Baby Half Off, BabySteals, and Eco Baby Buys. Sites like Zulily (aff. link) also have diapers from time to time.
- Enter giveaways!! I cannot stress this one enough. For the first few months I never won anything and then suddenly I started winning like crazy! I have literally won a stash worth of diapers in giveaways since November. So yes, they DO pay off! Hint: follow the #clothdiapers hashtag on Twitter to find some great giveaways.
- Buy used! I bought a lot of used goodmamas for cheap and as mentioned above, I have sold a lot.
So get to building that stash!
We did the math recently and were blown away by how much we’ve saved doing cloth! We have a really small stash but luckily we are also using a potty, which helps.
I win a LOT of giveaways, but rarely win diapers. I think I’ve won maybe ONE diaper actually, after entering literally hundreds. They are just so popular and get so many entries than other giveaways. Pretty crazy considering how cheap the diapers are — I’ve won other prizes valued at over $100 with less entries than for one or two diapers. It’s a culture!
I am entering giveaways like crazy too and have yet to win anything! I’ll keep trying though!
I like the idea of using receiving blankets as flats. I went out and bought high end diapers for my first and now that I’m on the second I’ve been making diapers myself from old t-shirts as well as using blankets that we have oh so many of. I thought it cost a lot up front for all the diapers. I wish I would have know that you can use things you already have in your home. Regardless of how much you spend up front it’s still a lot of savings to cloth diaper.
It’s hard for me to understand how much money my husband is willing to waste on disposables! I far prefer cloth, but he has a tendency to fall back on what’s “easier.” My mother, too (who’s a frequent babysitter). Now I wish I’d thought to keep track of how much we’ve spent on diapers for a cost comparison!
I can’t find where to buy “seconds”–new dipes with flaws— for the life of me!
Try Cotton Babies clearance section