Savings Some Money!

Savings!

Hey, Party Peeps, it’s me again …

I know what you’re thinking, twice in one week. I know it’s shocking, pull yourself together.

I remember when we found out about sweet Baby M and all her goodness. Everyone offered advice and told us how expensive babies were. I’m here to tell you, yes, babies are expensive, but not as expensive as some like to tell you.

I’ll share with you our tips on savings and still getting top grade products for our babies!

Clothes, Toys, Furniture . . . you name it. 

Trust me, I know how tempting it is to pick up 3 outfits at your weekly Target shopping trip, but try and refrain. First, if you’re like me, your family will do it for you. Seriously, between my sisters and our church pals, close friends -  Baby M and J have outfits to last until they’re in toddler attire.  

What happens is that you have your mind set on consignment selling, “I’ll buy this $35 outfit and resell it at consignment for $20!” Wrong. You’ll be lucky to get $15 for the outfit, maybe.

So here’s the skinny on baby clothes and toddler clothes . . . you go and shop consignment sales and stores, you’ll save a ton of money, trust me. Also, if you can find local swap shops on Facebook and you’ll have a year around consignment sale!

Same thing goes for toys & furniture. Let someone else pay the $80 for the toy or the $250 for the Pottery Barn chair, you come in months later and pay the $15! No joke, I’ve scored some amazing deals on used items!  My favorite is when  someone posts “free” on an amazing toy or piece of furniture.

Diaper Bags

Our first diaper bag was a gift from my sister, she bought me this adorable Coach diaper bag. I loved the look and loved the storage.  . . Until we had to travel with Baby M. The bag is really designed with small storage areas and not really good for cloth diapering or a lot of diapers. So I knew I’d need something different when  carrying for 2 babies… so I searched, read reviews and thought a lot about the Ju Ju Be bags. I fell in love with the reviews and then I started shopping for the bag. I was a little overwhelmed with the price, but I kept searching. Then . . . low and behold, someone posted a bag on a used swap page on Facebook. The person listed the bag for a 1/3 of the retail price and the bag was in perfect condition, complete with changing diaper station set. Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

 

Used Ju Ju Be, $46

Diapers

I shared with you that we started cloth diapering and I love it. I love the savings, I love the cuteness and I love knowing we’re helping our lovely Earth. So when we started the cloth diapering process, I knew I couldn’t justify to buy all new, I mean some diapers are $20-32 brand new. That’s a whole lotta money when you need 20-30 diapers. So I read a lot of reviews and found that we would start off with pockets. We also opted to try Alva brand and love it! We use flour sack towels and microfiber inserts. When buying used diapers, you need to be cautious and inspect so many things before purchasing. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, do your research. Also, just this week, while scoping another consignment place online, I found a set of 30 newborn & small diaper lot. Normally, the lot would cost roughly $250, but I scored the lot, with inserts, with disposable inserts and liners for $35. Oh, and the diapers were brand new . . . 

So for about $300 we will cloth diaper both girls, until the potty training days. Oh and before I leave the cloth diaper subject, the resale value on diapers is amazing, if in good condition. So I’m feeling pretty confident in selling the newborn lot for triple of what we paid. Selling the newborn lot will fund new diapers for the girls, new inserts or even different creams.

 

Huge Diaper Lot 

Coupons

I know when you hear the word coupons you think of the people who clear the shelves at the store, then pay $.01 for everything. I’m not to that level, though I wish I could spend the time to get to that level. I’m to the level of paying $12 for a total that started at $70. I mainly shop at three stores – Walgreens, CVS and Target. The stores print off different coupons, have coupons available online and even provide store bucks to use on later purchase – or in Target’s case, gift cards. I buy most of our household and some groceries through couponing. It takes me roughly 30 minutes a week to plan out what I will buy using coupons. I don’t clip coupons from the newspaper – shocking I know. I actually opt to not receive the newspaper and sometimes I score great coupons through friends, my sister or church peeps.

When you go to the store, make sure you go with a list and stick to the list. Seriously, you’ll thank me later. Sometimes I go in and I buy 5 toothpaste tubes, 3 shampoos and 4 body washes. Yes, that’s weird, but overtime, it adds up. So in one month I’ll usually stock our family for the entire year. It’s true. We haven’t had to buy a single toothbrush, body wash, lotion or shampoo product in a long time, years. It’s because of my one month of couponing. Of course, sometimes C will want to try a new body wash, toothpaste or toothbrush, but for the most part, we have a closet packed with goodness.

In closing, I want to make sure you each know that in buying used, comes some worry. People are shady and sometimes will not give you the right information, sometimes they don’t show when meeting you for an item and sometimes the item is not in great condition, as they advertised. So please, use your judgment, do your research, ask questions and bottom line, if you don’t feel safe meeting someone or don’t think the product is as advertised, walk away/don’t go. It’s okay, life goes on.

Whatever you decide, make sure it works for you and your family. I never let my couponing or any other money saving fun, spoil our family time, church time or anything else. 

Here’s to hoping I’ve helped you save some dinero! J

Until next time,

Mercedes