Saturday, freezing Saturday

Let's see. I was all impressed with myself and my $47 bill at the grocery store on Thursday...but today we visited BJs. Let's just say that total made up for the tiny Thursday spend. In fairness to myself, I have a newborn that goes through a trillion diapers a day and they ain't cheap. This randomness leads to my first tip of the day.

If you belong to a warehouse club, be sure to check their policy on manufacturer's coupons. At BJs they not only mail out coupons for their stores, they let you stack manufacturer's coupons on top of them. I was able to get Pampers Baby Dry for about $0.13 per diaper. Diaper brand is a personal preference, but for us Huggies have just never worked as well as Pampers. This is my second time around with a newborn, so I speak from experience.

Another major savings today came in the baby formula aisle. If you are expecting, or know someone who is, PLEASE sign up on the major formula manufacturer's websites (if you are willing to share your information). Today I saved $18 on Nestle Goodstart, and I have saved $5 on Similac. The coupons eventually die down, but if you have to buy it anyway you might as well save where you can. They also send you samples, so you can test out what your bambino tolerates the best. Both Enfamil and Similac sent me good size samples, including six-two ounce "nursettes." If your baby doesn't have a sensitive stomach (mine does, unfortunately), the best savings are found buying store branded formulas. I have compared labels and they are the same as the name brands, just HALF the price. I encourage you to speak to your child's pediatrician about this, since I'm in no way attempting to provide medical advice here; my sons' doctor said that we could go that route without any issues. I just chose to go with what I know works, as I'm a bit hesitant to try new things with my kiddos when it causes spit-up avalanches all over my new red sweater. For those that want to know, Goodstart is more broken down than the other two so is more easily digested - therefore reducing the number of avalanches on new red sweaters.

My last rambling for today, I promise, is about what I won't go cheap on. I'm a bit of a tree hugger (thanks Mom and Dad), so I have started making room in my budget for environmentally friendly products. I have been buying dish detergent for a little while and today I added laundry detergent to the mix. I figure by adding one product at a time it won't kill my budget or shock my system, being the frugal gal I am, but I kind of don't mind spending more to take care of our planet. I recycle, I reuse what I can and look for things that come with minimal packaging when I can (thank you Coffee People for shipping my K-cups responsibly). I need to offset my Keurig habit somehow. Now, when those things are recyclable I will feel MUCH better.