Big savings!

I posted about this on my Facebook page and thought I should share this with the rest of the world.

. I have realized that by the simple acts of just breastfeeding and cloth diapering, I have saved over $10,000 in the past 6 years!

There is a laundry list of things this also includes besides just formula and diapers. There are diaper wipes, rash cream, extra trash bags, extra fees for trash pick up, training diapers, gas for late night runs to the store when you run out of something unexpectedly, bottles, artificial nipples, liners, bottle brushes, and pacifiers. 

 

This is just the tip of the iceberg!

 

We save even more than that by not going out to eat more than 1 time a month, growing and storing our own food, sewing our own clothes, making our own soap and household cleaning supplies, never buying clothing, household knicknacks, or fabric unless it is on clearance or without a coupon, treating our small illnesses at home homeopathically, not going to the doctor for "well visits" or even "sick visits" (why do you need a doctor to tell you your child is healthy? Why do you need a doctor to tell you that your runny nose and cough is a virus?), and just plain staying home. As Eric says, " You are a STAY AT HOME mom, not a go everywhere under the sun all day mom...".

 

I am planning on saving even more in the near future by never buying kleenex or paper towels again. I bought a bolt of unbleached muslin, on sale of course, from JoAnn Fabrics, and have slowly, between other projects, been making reusable paper towels and hankerchiefs with my serger. They are a cinch to make. You may be thinking that it makes more laundry, but it doesn't. Just thrown the hankerchiefs in with a load of whites and the papertowels in with a load of towels. I will tell you that I do air dry them so they don't shrink, but that is a cinch to do too! I bought a couple of these and have them hanging off the shelf brackets in the room off of our master bath. I air dry tons of things on them like swim suits, lingerie, wool socks, cloth diapers, and anything else cotton I don't want shrinking in the dryer. I have even taken the curtain off of the window and use the curtain rod to hang up my cotton skirts to dry by the sun and with help from the air conditioner vent as well. That does 2 things efficiently. Drying my laundry and adding moisture into our air.

 

All of these little things add up to big savings!