Most parents can testify to the fact that diapers and wipes cost a fortune. I still cringe when I have to buy a package of diapers for my son, and we are potty training him, which means we are buying less diapers than we were a year ago. There are some cost cutting strategies, though, to help take the pain out of buying diapers.
First of all, you should know what a good price on diapers is. For women, who I am sure buy diapers the most regularly, this is easy. But for the menfolk... well, that is not so easy. I remember standing in Food Lion a few weeks ago when they had their Pampers on a 3 day sale for $7.99 a pack. I told the dad standing there that that was a great price on diapers. He smiled broadly and put a few in his cart, I am sure to go home and boast to his wife on getting them so inexpensively. Of course, prices will vary and to be honest, I refuse to pay more than $9.99 per package of Pull-ups or Easy-ups and I know which stores carry them for that price every day and unless they are on sale at the store I am in for that price or less, I refuse to buy them there.
Secondly, you need to use coupons. Manufacturer's coupons are FREE MONEY. Think of someone handing you two dollars just for using their product. Are you going to say no? With today's economy, coupon usage is a must-do to save money on groceries. Diaper coupons can be found easily in Sunday Papers, and are often available on the internet. Sign up with Pampers and Huggies to receive coupons via mail.
Third, you should combine sales and coupons whenever possible and stock up. For me, CVS regularly runs promotions for both Huggies and Pampers. So, I try to time my diaper buying during those times. For instance, a few weeks ago, CVS had a promotion where you buy $30 worth of Kimberly Clark Products, you get $15 back in ECB. That was your money back anyway,
but you can sweeten the deal and use coupons to pay even less. So don't balk at laying out $30 on diapers in one trip! Sometimes you need to pay more to reap the reward.
Last, sometimes it is necessary to break from the idea that you need to buy name brand. Unless your child needs a name brand due to allergy issues, you should pick up a package of generic or store brand diapers at least once to give them a try. I use CVS store brand diapers in between sales and promotions and have generally not had any problems. Plus, you can use CVS brand coupons on them, like the current $2/$10 CVS brand purchase that may print on your register receipt or can be found in a purple pamphlet near the pharmacy in many stores. Though it is not well known, many name brand manufacturers make different kinds of diapers and sell them under store named brand labels. For instance, at CVS the other day, I found some CVS brand pull-ups that were looking an awful lot like the Huggies brand. The package was 40 pull-ups for the cost of a 26 pack of Huggies Pull-ups. Upon closer inspection, the diaper itself contained a copyright to KCWW, also known as Kimberly Clark World Wide. The CVS brand pull-ups were not perfectly identical to the Huggies Pull-ups counter part, but close enough. I got 14 diapers more for the same price as the smaller pack and I also used a $2/$10 coupon to save a little more. I have no worries that I will like this diaper since it is distributed under the CVS brand label, it has a satisfaction guarantee.
Sign up for Huggies coupons here: Huggies
Sign up for Pampers coupons here: Pampers
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