Posts Tagged ‘Savings’

“Should I switch to cloth?” This question often sets in a couple of months after baby is born.  In the beginning, many parents use the small arsenal of disposable diapers they received as shower gifts, welcome baby gifts and from the hospital.  Once this supply dwindles down and parents are faced with the expensive reality of diaper changes, they often start to investigate cloth diapers.

What they often find is a bit of sticker shock. Instead of a quarter each, many quality diapers can cost upwards of $20. It doesn’t seem possible to save money with them, so families often bite the bullet and continue to purchase disposable diapers.

A closer look shows that while cloth diapers do cost more upfront, over time the savings are huge.  Many parents with babies spend about $40 a month on disposable diapers, and that is a conservative amount. Over 2 ½ years, the cost of using disposables runs about $1200. The price tag goes up for more expensive diapers or if the child potty-trains later. With another child, the buying simply starts again.

A look at the cost of cloth shows the true savings.  Using more expensive pocket diapers in three sizes (small, medium and large) costs about $1200. While this seems very close to the cost of disposables, consider that these diapers can be used for more than one child. Often, children are able to wear size medium until they train, bringing the overall cost down even more.

For bigger cost saving opportunities, prefolds and covers can cost less than $250 from birth to potty training. When using this system on more than one child, the savings are huge. One size diapers cost about $400 and can be used for most children from 10-30 pounds. Size estimates vary by brand.

With potential savings of $900-$2150, cloth diapers can make a lot of sense (and cents!).  In order to keep the savings large, it’s important to take care of cloth diapers. The better the care, the longer they’ll last. Here are some tips for getting the most out of cloth:

• Use the dryer sparingly.  Anything that has elastic is better off on a drying rack. Occasional low heat is fine, but elastic lasts longer out of the dryer.  For prefolds and inserts, the dryer isn’t going to do much to hurt them.
• Snaps last longer than Velcro.
• Sized diapers often last longer than one-size diapers. Since sized diapers are used for several months at a time, it’s easier to use them through multiple children. One-size diapers on the other hand, may go through several hundred uses over the course of one child’s diapering years. It’s possible to use them through more than one child, but expect to replace some as time goes on.

• Consider prefolds. Using prefolds at least part-time helps keep costs down. Without  elastic, Velcro and snaps, it’s easy for prefold diapers to last through multiple children.

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Michelle Rivenburg is a mom of two (cloth diapered) girls. She owns Snooty Booty Diapers and writes at Cloth Diapers Made Simple.

Yep, that’s true… On Black Friday (This Friday, the day after Thanksgiving), EVERYTHING in the store that is marked for sale will be just ONE DOLLAR EACH!

Can’t get much better than that! And if you’re lucky I might even bring out some items from Storage that haven’t been tagged yet for you to go through as an extra!

Most of our items are brand new or LOOK brand new, and we do have a small selection of Non-Clothing items as well! I know most parents out there tend to get a few gifts off the “Want” list as well as the “Need” list for the holidays… and what better way to save on the things on the “Need” list than to get them for $1 each?!?!

We will be opening at 9am on Friday Morning and will be open until 5pm – That’s 2 extra shopping hours for you!

If you’re heading out to hit some of the bigger stores in the morning, stop in here on your way home and tell us all about what you picked up! I love a good story, and Black Friday is FULL Of good stories!

We were hoping to be open yesterday to pass out candy and see all the kiddos in their costumes, but as the past has proven to be habit, whenever we plan to do something, things happen to make it impossible to continue!

We were having some technical difficulties yesterday (Halloween) and in the process of dealing with those we wound up having to make a big mess in the store, and we just couldn’t let anyone see it that way!

We spent the rest of the day sorting through things, organizing, rearranging and cleaning up. We didn’t even manage to finish it all yesterday, in fact as I sit here at almost 1pm there is still a bit left to do… there goes my idea of opening at all TODAY, haha!

I promise things will be DONE by the end of today, and we will be open tomorrow, and it will look better than ever in here!

I guess it’s not all bad, I have been warning people that there was going to be a mess here soon as we got ready to do an overhaul on the heating system… and well, here it is! Heating system is scheduled for repair next weekend, hopefully that won’t be too disruptive.

For anyone that doesn’t already know, we will be having an Avon party here at Twice Loved Boutique on November 15th at 4pm. Free gifts for everyone who comes, as well as food and drink for guests, free samples and demonstration products for you to test out, and some great savings for anyone who purchases or places an order that day! You can call 207-722-3519 or go to http://youravon.com/jessicawellman for details and to RSVP. No invitations are necessary, so bring a friend (bringing a friend counts as a referral for the yet-to-be-announced Avon Customer Rewards program we will be announcing!). We are just asking for an RSVP by November 8th for anyone who plans on attending so that we can be sure to have enough Free Gifts for everyone!

In celebration of Columbus Day, and not letting jealousy get in the way of life, I am having a buy one, get one free sale on men and womens clothes today only!

Details: For example – Buy a shirt, get one free! Buy a pair of pants, get another free! Free item must be of equal or lesser value, store will determine what qualifies at time of sale. Formal gowns and shoes not included.