Tips and Savings

Hi again

These are tough times; and we need to cut back on a few things here and there (some more than others). The one things that I learned with my newborn was to think out of the box (not just at work).

While making my baby shower list, some one suggested a diaper genie. And I thought why am I going to waste money on this. No baby in the world has bowel movements that would require this machine while at home; think about it. If you're at home and its time to change the diaper, you do it. You clean your bundle of joy dress them up and put them down. Next is getting rid of the dirty diaper. You go to the bathroom, deposit into the toilet what needs to be there and flush. "Oh look no more messy smell", then you take a plastic bag from the supermarket (we all have them, right), you put the dirty diaper inside tie a knot and into the trash.

Do the math people. How much are those bags for the genie vs how much are the plastic bags that hold our groceries. Most of us save them and use them as trash bags anyway so what's the difference.

Now when you go out you can either carry in your diaper bag these plastic bags, or if like me you belong to one of the mega supermarket clubs, such as Costco, you by sandwich bags. They seal fine and once your done changing the diaper, you fold it up and zip it in the baggie.

Another thing that I learned was not to buy the so called special baby water, that the specialty baby stores are so keen on pushing on to us. By yourself a thermos and boil water. By keeping the hot water in the thermos you'll have warm water to mix the baby's formula at all times day & night. When you are almost out you dispose of what might be there (maybe into a plant) and start over. Boil more water and pour into the thermos. You already have the water and the stove in your house, do you really need to spend more on bottled baby water?

So, you'd like to hear more tricks. Well you can carry your thermos in your diaper bag along with baby's formula. Or you can purchase an item called Nursettes. They are a little high in price; however if you purchase them directly from Enfamil you'll receive a case full. So when you go out you can just carry the bottles that you need or want. When baby's done with feeding you throw away the bottles and keep the nipples. Again you can store the nipples in baggies and reuse them.

What do you think about sterilizing - it can be tricky. This is one special trick I learned while my daughter was in NICU (oh yes, you see, I told you in my first blog that I've pretty much done it all). So getting back to sterilizing. In NICU you have these tiny babies that need to be fed warm milk; do you think they have stoves and bottled water etc. Oh NO!!! They have microwaves. I thought this was fantastic. Go to Kmart Walmart what ever store you like and purchase a big microvable plastic bowl. Put water in your new bowl, open the microwave and put it to boil for 10 minutes. That's all you need. Anyone who uses a mircowave knows that everything heats up very quickly and become very very hot.

So now you've now sterilized your baby's bowl. Whats the next step, put your baby bottles, nipples, pacifiers inside with water and put into the microwave for at least 10 to 15 minutes. Once its done, put on a plate some paper towels, and using thongs remove extremely hot items and place them over the plate, then take another paper towel and cover them. This isn't rocket science and inexpensive. You are reusing recycling and reducing your bottom line; which is at the end what we want to do and try to succeed at it.

Now living in So. Florida does have its benefits due to our almost year round sunshine. When you wash your baby's clothes you can use Dreft its a little expensive but it does protect baby's delicate skin & clothes. But when drying why not line dry? We live in an apartment building and although my child is 7yrs to this day I still line dry. The vitamin E absorbed by the cotton fabrics will transfer on to your baby, perhaps not in large quantities but every little drop helps. Remember vitamin E helps protect our bodies from our hot sun.

My thoughts on coupons varies; very few are great deals especially when the household is 2. Plus sometime you're not really saving because in the tax charged at the checkout line will recover your so called savings. My suggestion go shopping with a list and calculator; get to know your prices and options. I'm a firm believer that Target's toilet paper brand is the best bang for your buck as well as Bounty's (pick your size) sold at Target. But remember you need to do your math and see what works for your family size and situation.

Until next time - have a great day!!