Do real nappies (reusable / cloth diapers) really save money?
I only used disposable diapers for my baby's first month.  However, I now use half disposable diapers (for part-time daycare) and half cloth.  My son is now 1 year and during a normal weekday, I go through 4 disposable diapers and 3-4 cloth diapers (this count includes a double thick cloth diaper for night).  On the weekend, I use about 7-8 cloth diapers a day.   For disposable, I buy Costco's Kirkland brand diapers which gives me about 200 diapers for $50.  I tend to go through one pack every other month.  For cloth, I bought FuzziBunz One-Size Diapers.  These are pretty expensive diapers (about $19/each) but I wanted ones that would last over multiple children (I chose these over the BumGenius because I thought snaps would last longer than velcro).  I bought 24 new cloth diapers which means I wash diapers every 2-3 days.  A couple of weeks ago I totaled up my receipts for cloth and disposable diapers and determined that I will recoup my diaper costs at around 16 months of part-time use. Notes: I just remembered a blog post at CashMoneyLife - Cloth Diapers vs. Disposable Diapers.  I had come across it a little while after posting my answer to a question at moms4mom.com - What can I expect to spend monthly on disposable diapers? And what do/did you spend? and I had linked to it from there, too, since it contained some information about disposable diapers. However, since you're asking about real nappies, i.e. cloth diapers, it is also relevant to your question, since it was discussing both kinds of diapers.  Here are some choice excerpts from the CashMoneyLife post: ...   The beauty of cloth diapers is   that while the upfront cost is much   higher, the ongoing cost is much   lower. Once you purchase them you are   only paying for laundry detergent and   the energy to wash/dry them. (Note:   I've also known people who have passed   along cloth diapers to other family   members or bought/sold them on   Craigslist, both of which could be a   cheaper option if you are willing to   do either).   ...   Which is better? I think they are both   great and I encourage you to try cloth   if you have young children. The cost   and environmental benefits will make   it worth your while. Then use   disposable diapers for what they were   intended for: a convenience. There are also some excellent comments following the post by readers who have also used cloth. "I don't think they do. And here's why. If you don't want your child to get skin irritation, you need to watch closely and change the ""nappy"" right when it got wet. For newborns it means like every 2 hours. It creates a big pile of laundry, but the main thing — additional burden on mother. So, even if you save a little on diapers, you will spend that on water+electricity bill + comforting the mother more often than you would otherwise."
This. People say on Reddit pretty often 'Oh, you should buy a new fridge to save your electric bill'. Meanwhile, old fridges are built like tanks. You will never make up the cost of electricity when you factor in longevity and cost to purchase a new fridge, and I'm sure the manufacturing process and pollution from making a new fridge is worse then continuing to use a functioning one. The same holds true for other appliances as well. sure it is  they are saving on distribution  and paper costs  so they pass the savings onto you with increased costs.  so what it is a joy to read.  thats also a little less than half the price of my cable.  thats retarded. I agree with Rich Seller.  Avoiding a trip to the store is a benefit.  Not only do you save the time and hassle, but there's real money saved if a car trip is avoided: I maintain a spreadsheet for all of my car expenses – depreciation, maintenance, insurance, license & registration, gas, etc. Combined with starting & ending odometer readings for the year, I can see exactly what it costs me to drive one kilometre.  Granted, some costs are fixed simply by virtue of having the car, but gasoline is a variable cost avoided when a trip is avoided. I edited in the total annual out of pocket for each level to help illustrate what's going on. Your question makes sense, of course, but it's less a matter of afford vs an attempt to save. The way these plans work is to allow some choice based on your past experience. I can afford any option, but knowing the number of visits we have had in the past, the lowest cost option has the highest premium. A young couple who hardly sees a doctor may choose the highest deductible, risking the potential $3434 extra they may pay in a bad year for the savings of $1016.  Personally, I'd not be able to guess accurately enough to benefit from the middle choices, and can see the two extremes being picked most often. Smart. Add in daily necessities like toothpaste, disposable razors and toilet paper and you've got Walmart and Costco by the balls.   Most people are spending their money on consumables and are much more conservative these days. If I were them I'd stick to food and the daily needs and not even bother with clothing and furniture and such. Keep it simple I think. In and out. My brother's wife does some pretty intense couponing. She recently posted on facebook when she bought about $300 worth of items for $30. It was almost all toiletries and food that her family uses regularly, though there were some items they've now got 3 months supply of. She told me that it is a pain to track and exploit all of the different coupons/discounts but the savings help to offset the cost of homeschooling 4 children. They are certainly only suggesting that the money you pay to recycle the bulbs is tax deductible as a donation, assuming that they are indeed a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Donations of goods are only deductible at fair market value. Light bulbs that no longer light up have no market value, so only the payment could possibly be deductible. The solar roof is more expensive until you factor in that you get free electricity for life after it's installed. That power has value. It reduces your electric bill.   If all you want is to cover your house, then use a tarp. Buy a lot of best quality of products. We are happy to help you. Just visit Budget Closeouts and order any item you love to get it on your doorstep. We have many categorized items of General Merchandise for personal uses, daily uses, apparel, fashioned clothing, watches, kitchen accessories. You can purchase toys and much more for your infant. There is a branding clothing including towel and other wear. New fashioned and artificial jewelry for women available at our site at low cost. I know that for me personally, if I buy that giant box of Goldfish instead of the bags, it doesn't mean I'm saving money... just eating a lot more Goldfish.  The trick, I think, to buying in bulk is to make sure that you're not consuming in bulk.  You're not likely to go through more dishwasher detergent just because you bought the big bottle, but you may find the kids are eating a lot more fruit snacks, or you're throwing away half of that huge bag of baby carrots that went bad, because you bought in bulk. For a while I tried shopping multiple grocery stores, checking fliers each week from three different stores and then making the trip to all three stores to save ten cents on each item. After a couple months, I decided it just wasn't worth it.  So, I picked my favorite store.  I shop once a week, after reviewing the flier and making a list.  I clip coupons and try to only buy what's on my list.  (I confess that coupons sometimes get me to buy a brand or item I wouldn't have otherwise... it's my weakness!) The biggest place that we save money though, is by paying attention to meat prices.  I know that chicken and pork go on sale for $1.99/lb every 4 to 6 weeks at my grocery store.  When it does, I buy a enough to last until the next sale, and freeze it in single-meal portions.  Steak and fish are special treats, but on the rare occasion that they're less than $4/lb, I'll buy those.  We also try to limit our meat consumption to every-other-day. It's not worth it for me to obsess over the price of ketchup that I buy twice a year, but on expensive items like meat, and items we use daily, I become familiar with their regular prices and sale prices, and buy extra when it's on sale.  If, like me, you don't have room in your brain to keep track of the prices of everything, stick with the things you spend the most on, either because they're expensive, or you buy a lot. New clothes isn't exactly an emergency expense :) so I would strongly suggest that you budget for it on a monthly basis. This doesn't mean you have to go spend the money every month, just put a reasonable amount of money into the clothes budget/savings every month and when you need a new shirt or two, take the money out of the saved money and go shopping. If you buy a piece or two of good quality clothing at a time you'd also not run into the situation where all your clothes fall apart at the same time. By simplifying my hobbies, I have more time for money-saving activities such as researching deals, creating an effective coupon-clipping system, and making more foods from scratch (which doubles as entertainment since I enjoy it).  When I run frantically from activity to activity, I tend to mindlessly throw away more money, too.  By living more intentionally, I think about my purchases more as well. On the simplifying note, never underestimate the power of less stuff in terms of being able to fit into a smaller home.  That leads to less space to heat and cool, which leads to savings.  Everyone has their comfort level with less, of course, and some people love space.  There are just trade-offs to more stuff. With our “Budget Closeouts” you can save a lot of money as we are agents and Buy closeout Apparel have a more affordable Towels and Bath items than other closeout sources. All products are below general costs. Purchase a few plenty and get even larger discounts. You are right, and it's 40 cents per liter, not gallon as I originally wrote.  After 60 liters per month, it goes up to 70 cents per liter.  It's around 90 cents per liter right now where I am in the US.  Like you said, still cheap compared to the rest of the world ($1 per liter in India, $1.90 per liter in Britain).