Stockpiling Diapers for a Baby

Published January 14, 2014 Updated August 17, 2019 15 Comments

For an updated diaper post (with new totals) as I prepare for another baby, and a step-by-step guide to how you, too, can stockpile diapers, read my new post on How to Stockpile Diapers for lots of details on how to build a stockpile of diapers for your baby.

It’s official. I’m in my third trimester, and my husband and I are both eagerly awaiting the birth of our baby. This whole pregnancy is passing by quickly so I am trying to take advantage of all the quiet moments as we prepare for our baby. Of course, I have quite a few projects I’d like to accomplish in the next couple months as well. One of the things I’ve been working on is building a stockpile of diapers. I want to share with you my reasoning and how I’ve gone about this task. If you are interested in learning how to stockpile diapers for your baby, read on for how I did it.

First, we had to make the decision of cloth diapers verse disposables. I realize this is a heated discussion but I don’t think it needs to be. If you want to cloth diaper, go for it! If you want to use disposables, that’s fine too.

I have nothing against cloth diapers but here is why we are going to use disposables. We live in a small town where our water bill is very high. By very high, I mean that we pay triple what most people in the city of Fort Wayne pay. It’s unfortunate but it is our reality. For that reason, I don’t need to be adding more loads of laundry to my weekly schedule. Yes, I’ll soon have baby clothes to wash but I don’t want to add diapers if I don’t have to do so.

Second, I researched the topic of stockpiling diapers quite thoroughly before I began this process. Money Saving Mom has some great articles in her Having a Baby Without Breaking the Bank. I also read through all the comments and opinions on Crystal’s Q&A regarding Diaper Stockpiling. Then, I compared the costs on the Diaper Decisions website, as they have a very handy chart estimating the cost of various cloth diapers as well as disposables. I appreciated that this chart took into account the energy costs as well as out-of-pocket costs for the diapers.

Finally, it was time to begin stockpiling diapers. I did it slowly without a set time frame and bought diapers when the deals were good. I have been stockpiling diapers for over two years now, ever since we started trying to get pregnant.

How did I do it? I watched for good diaper deals at CVS, Walgreens, Meijer and Kroger. I used money from my monthly grocery budget as well as ECBs (at CVS) and Amazon gift cards (earned via Swagbucks and Bing). Some weeks I bought diapers, and some weeks I didn’t. I was patient and watched for the best deals. My goal was always to stay under $0.10 a diaper.

I didn’t stay brand specific when purchasing diapers. I know that some babies could react to different brands of diapers so I have a wide variety of diapers in my stockpile – Luvs, Pampers, Huggies, Up & Up, Comforts, as well as the CVS and Walgreens brands of diapers. While I do not anticipate problems, if there are problems, I will exchange or donate the diapers in that particular brand.

I clipped coupons and tried to combine deals as best I could. For example, Meijer has recently been running great Mperks deals where you can earn $5 or $7 when you spend a certain amount in a certain area. I would use the “free” money and a coupon to pick up another bag of Luvs for for free. CVS regularly runs diapers deals to get $10 in ECBs when you spend $30. By combining coupons and ECBs, I added to my stockpile quite easily. I also found some great deals on Amazon, which I was able to pay for with my Swagbucks and Bing earnings. Again, no money out of pocket for those diapers!

When all was said and done, I have accumulated quite the diaper stockpile. Are you ready for a picture and specifics? Here you go!

I currently have over 2080 diapers in the baby’s closet, of various brands and sizes. The breakdown is as follows. I currently have 22 Newborn diapers (anticipating I’ll get some at showers), 862 Size 1 diapers, 704 Size 2 diapers, and 472 Size 3 diapers. For all of these diapers, I have spent $46.60 – which breaks down to $0.02 a diaper. The list price for all these diapers is $434.62 which means I have saved 91% on diapers so far.

I’ve had the time to stockpile diapers and I am quite thankful that I have done so. I would rather be over-prepared than under-prepared. If the baby outgrows a particular size (or brand) or diapers, I’ll pass them onto a friend who can use them or donate them to a Hope Center (our local Crisis Pregnancy Center). This is one I have done already to save us a lot of money for the baby.

This is one thing I have done to get ready for the baby. Feel free to ask any questions and I’ll do my best to answer! Did you stockpile diapers when you were awaiting the birth of your baby?

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