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How much money cloth diapers save

June 14, 2012 — 6 Comments

How much money does cloth diapering save you? Let me break down the costs!

Initial Investment of diapers and material:

  • 12 – One size fuzzibunz diapers – $200
  • 1 – 20 pack of liners – $20
  • 1  - Wet hamper – $20
  • 1 – Wet bag – $15
  • 1 – Bum genius diaper sprayer – $45
  • Diaper safe detergent $10
TOTAL COST: $310

Average cost of disposable diapers every month: 

Total Cost Average: $100/monthly

 

Basically you make up the difference in cash after 3 months and some change. That doesn’t even count if you have multiple children! Savings of up to $900 for the first child and $1200 for every child after that! BOOM BABY! CASH MONEY.

Thank you to my wonderful WIFE for providing me with the numbers and so forth!

They even look quite stylish and provide a lot of comfort for your baby…

cloth_diapers

Peace out peeps! Feel free to contact my wife over at chillmommy.com for more in-depth questions. She is the cloth diaper genius!

In Fatherhood, Saving Money , , , , , , , ,
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Best money saving tip for vacations

May 23, 2012 — Leave a comment

With today’s economy, it almost seems impossible to go out on a vacation. I’m here to tell you that it’s possible! Here is how you can save hundreds of dollars on vacation…

Whenever you are looking for your next vacation destination, start looking for hotels that have small kitchens in them. These are typically called “extended stay” hotels. Condominiums or house rentals work as well. You would be surprised of how comparable the rates are to regular hotels. The best thing about getting a “extended stay” hotel or condo/house rental is the fact that they all have a kitchen. The great thing about having a kitchen is that you can BUY YOUR OWN GROCERIES AND SAVE HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS! 

Don’t fall for having to buy an overpriced hotel room and have to pay for every meal! Go grocery shopping! If you want to treat yourself…go out to dinner once or twice.

 

EASY PEASY

“If you have a travel tip of your own, head on over to Budgets Are Sexy to enter his $1,000 giveaway, in partnership with HotelClub!”

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3 Easy Ways to increase your Credit Score

May 22, 2012 — Leave a comment

The goal in life is to be debt free but it’s always good to have an awesome credit score as well…right? I’ve got 3 Easy ways to increase your credit score that are completely free!

 

1. Keep that one credit card open! Don’t close it!

- I know this sounds kind of crazy but it actually helps your credit score! I have one credit card with great rewards that I use for gas every one in a while or a small purchase here and there. I keep a small running balance on the card to keep the payment activity on it as well. This increases your credit score by maintaining on-time payments and increasing the length of history on your account!

2. Get the company to remove some of your negative items on your credit report!

- Yes I said it…you can get the company that you have a bad past with to remove some negative items on your credit report! All you do is write the creditor the reason why the bad debt happened and ask them to kindly remove it so that you can have continued business with them. For a list of good will letters go HERE

3. Dispute any mistakes with the credit bureau!

- This one is easy. Go through your credit report and take your time. There’s going to be a mistake somewhere in there. Once you do find a mistake – there should be an option on each credit bureau website to dispute a mark on your credit report. Give them as much evidence as possible that the mark is wrong. It usually takes around 30-45 days for them to investigate it and usually it will be removed after 30 days.

EASY PEASY!!!!!

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Having a baby isn’t that expensive!

May 21, 2012 — Leave a comment

Many of you will look at this and probably laugh but it really isn’t too expensive to have a baby (as long as you have good health insurance…)

Many people will completely tear themselves away from the thought of having a baby because of the potential costs. Look at it this way: There are many homeless families in the world that are surviving off of nothing and figuring out ways to feed their children. I’m sure you aren’t in that bad of a situation.

Realistically it will change up your finances a bit but It’s just money being moved around, not really losing more money…

Okay, buying everything that is needed at first can be expensive but that is what Baby showers are for! Ask for practical items, don’t ask for clothes because you can get plenty of those from hand-me-downs or thrift stores! Babies are in and out of clothing extremely quickly…It will actually blow your mind.

Another argument that many people bring to the table is the cost of food and diapers. I have a solution for that as well… 

Don’t buy disposable diapers! CLOTH DIAPER.

I’ll be honest and say that I’m still getting used to cloth diapering but my wife is a pro at it now. The up-front costs can be around $300 for one child but you never have to buy diapers again and can use them for the next child. HOW GREAT IS THAT!?

One more argument is that the cost of formula is ridiculous…

I’ll agree with everyone on that, the price of formula is INSANE but try to get the mother to try breastfeeding at first. I definitely understand that there are moms out there that it just doesn’t ever work for them. Even then, the cost of formula per month isn’t more than what you would spend on one or two video games…Maybe $40/100 month.

Chances are…if your child has grandparents, plenty of toys will be purchased.

It’s awesome how many ways a child can play with one toy. At first it’s just a chew toy…then it turns into a drum stick! I don’t want to hear that it’s too expensive for toys because you really don’t need to buy that many. HA!

 

So I have dealt with the biggest expenses that a parent can run into with a new child…Have good health insurance and the rest will fall into place. No more excuses!!! I can do it, so can you!

 

 

 

In Budgeting Tips, Fatherhood , , , , , ,
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Plan in the next 3 years

January 30, 2012 — Leave a comment

So many of you are wondering what my plan is for life in the next 3 years? Here it is:

I’ve been contemplating for many months now what my next move is in life. There have been many discussions between myself and people who are close to me. It’s hard to know exactly might happen but I’ve come up with a couple of plans.

Plan #1

  1. Save up money for the next three years to pay off all of our outstanding debt: $30,000 (that includes student loans)
  2. Go back to school and get bachelors degree
  3. Find a job in Indianapolis
  4. Build up Dad Blog to become more popular

Plan # 2

  1. Save up money for the next three years to pay off all of our outstanding debt: $30,000 (that includes student loans)
  2. Get deployed to save up money for a house
  3. Build up Dad Blog to become more popular
  4. Eventually go back to school and do deployment jobs until I finish school

As you all can see. Both of the choices are almost the same but there is just one difference. The difference is just if I’m going to stay in Indianapolis or not. My family and I would love to stay in Indianapolis but if we can’t find anything in the next few years, it looks like I will be deploying.

In Life , , , , ,
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