To Buy or not to Buy

Some of you may know that when M was about 1 yr. old I got into reading all the Tightwad Gazette compilations. This led to me choosing to do cloth diapers...to give it a try. I found people online that made them, I did a whole lot of research, and eventually I made my own as well, and this was fun. But I must say that diaper rash, was no fun. I washed them just like you are supposed to and I hung them to dry...and still. They never smelled cause I would do baking soda and vinegar, never bleach, never fabric softener.

I never could use them overnight even with special overnite ones. That just wouldn't cut it. So we did use disposables for overnight and for when we would leave M with someone or at church etc. Traveling as well proved interesting...that leads to a whole other story about making a new carseat cover at my grandmother's house! Me, sis, Aunt Kathy, and Mamaw. Too many seamstresses in one sewing room! Ha! But Oh the memories!

Well, so I donated just about all my cloth diapers to Blessed Births, for the more gung-ho moms that really get into that. And now I have come upon a version that is basically half cloth and half disposable! And I think I really like them. Here is the dilemma.

I'd like to introduce you to the gDiapers. I'm totally fascinated with the quality of the design here, and figure if any cloth diaper is going to work about as good as a disposable, this one is it. Of course, I haven't tested it yet, but I have purchased the getting started kit to see if I'll like it. These diapers involve a breathable cloth outer diaper (colorful too I might add), a snap in liner, that is basically like plastic, although I swear it isn't. This liner is the key to leak stoppage cause it is elasticized all around and is to hug in the crease of the legs like underwear or the inside of the disposables. Then they have these lovely disposable refill things that you can flush (although I wouldn't cause this is an old rental house that is also on septic). But even if you throw it away it involves no plastic, so it breaks down in 50-150 days in a landfill as opposed to like the 500 years that disposables take. The stinch on these is that the financial benefit from using cloth diapers is basically gone, cause you will be buying these refills at the same rate as you would by regular diapers. The price is slightly higher...not too bad really, but you know how specialty items go, you can rarely find a sale or coupon as I could with regular disposable diapers.

Now, I just said that today I purchased the starter kit and an extra, regular count refill pack. I'm gonna check it out, make a decision, and go from there. I put the receipt in the box of the starter kit and haven't opened any plastic. After sup, I'm sitting checking out the sale adds for the week and low and behold, diapers are a very hot item right now. If I had been couponing as avidly as I have in the past, I could really rack up. Rite Aid has pampers with a $2 rebate right now and combine that with a coupon you could get them for as little as $6 a small pack. Then there are Pampers Swaddlers on sale at Bloom for less then $10, though I don't remember the size of the pack. Still, if you have a coupon...then you're talking even less. So, this week is the week to buy if I'm gonna stock up for the boy who is coming in a few weeks. So do I contribute to the landfill in order to save some money (which ya'll know how I am about my budget), or do I do this new gDiapers thing...costs just a bit more, but you don't get the benefit of sales and coupons...?