Cloth Diaper Experiment Continued

So I have tried a few cloth diapers now, and so far my favorite are MamaKoala pocket diapers with their microfiber insert.  I double up and put in their microfiber and my charcoal bamboo insert if we are going to be out of the house for awhile.  I’ve only had one leaking incident so far, and that was probably because I didn’t have the diaper on tight enough, but it was an Alvababy diaper, and honestly I don’t care for them as much as the MamaKoala diapers.  I posted a link below if you’re interested in trying out the MamaKoala brand.  It’s the perfect price for experimenting with cloth diapers to see if it’s going to work for your lifestyle.  I have some Flip diapers coming in the mail next week, and I think they’ll be a little more convenient for when we are out and about.  I’ll catch up with you on that after I have a little time trying them out.  For now, sticking with the MamaKoalas and rocking the cloth dipes.  I haven’t made the leap to cloth wipes, I’m not sure if it’s worth it honestly.  But this whole budgeting thing ain’t going so bad either.  I’m actually having fun trying to come up with ways to cut back and save money.  Cancelling cable today and switching providers (mainly because I hate our current service with Cox Cable and we don’t watch cable like…ever).  Switching to AT&T internet and saving us about $120 a month.  Not too shabby.

Naturally Natures Cloth Diaper Inserts 5 Layer Charcoal Bamboo Reusable Liners – insert – for Cloth Diapers (Pack of 12) (Grey) liner

Mama Koala One Size Baby Washable Reusable Pocket Cloth Diapers, 6 Pack with 6 One Size Microfiber Inserts (Aloha)

Flip Hybrid Reusable Cloth Diaper Cover with Adjustable Snaps and Stretchy Tabs – Fits Babies from 8 to 35+ Pounds (Stellar)

But, what about the POOP?!

So I made the decision about a week ago to try…CLOTH DIAPERING!  I gotta be honest.  Spending $50+ a month on diapers that were just being thrown away always bugged me. Like for real.  Throwing away money (and POOP-which is the ONLY reason I liked disposables).  I had tried convincing my husband several times since our son was born to try cloth, but he always acted disgusted and hated the idea.  So finally I just bought them and haven’t bought anymore disposables so he will just learn how to deal.  Since I’m the one home with him most of the day, I’ll have to deal with it most of the time so I just finally decided to experiment. I say experiment because I’m only on day two of cloth diapering.  So far, I’ve only had one mishap with leaking because I didn’t snap the diaper closed right.  Gotta learn somehow I suppose.  So far it’s definitely not as gross as I thought it’d be.  Either way you’re dealing with poop.  I’d much rather deal with it and do something better for the environment and my wallet.  Just sayinnnn’.  I’m not a save the planet nerd.  I honestly am mostly doing it because I’m becoming a cheap ass and don’t want to pay for diapers.  Plus I feel better about putting my son in cloth so maybe he won’t break out from the chemicals in the diapers anymore.  And can I just say, the cloth diapers are so friggin CUTE!! I never realized how cute the prints were.  I don’t even want to put pants on our son anymore because they’re so cute.  I do, because it’s like only 60 degrees outside still, but come Summer this guy is going to be only wearing his cute dipes.  So far, I’ve gotten 12 diapers and only paid $50.  I figure 12 diapers gives me enough time to decide if I like cloth diapering and $50 doesn’t make me feel bad if it doesn’t work out.  Little dude still has to wear disposables at night because he pees like crazy while he sleeps and I am NOT taking the chance at being woken up at 3 am for a wet diaper.  Nope.  Not happening.  I’ll check back in to let ya’ll know how the experiment is going.  So far, not bad.  Poop isn’t that scary.

Job Change?

So my husband recently interviewed for a new position at his job, which sounds great, right?  Like usually when you move up in a company your pay goes up too.  Except not this one.  He makes commission right now and makes most of his money that way.  The new position wouldn’t have as great of a commission opportunity, as it’s more of a salary based position.  So here we are, waiting to hear back on whether he’s gotten the job and while I know he really wants it, the only thing I can think about is if we can AFFORD a pay cut.  I’m so behind him pursuing what he wants in his career, but I have to be realistic about bills and everything else.  If real estate was consistent or I knew I was for sure going to make a certain amount of money every year, it’d be no issue.  But so far (I know it’s only March), I haven’t made anything with real estate this year.  Granted our busiest time as realtors isn’t until it gets warmer in the Spring/Summer/Fall, the fact that I could literally make NO money scares the hell out of me.  I like to think of us as a one income family, and any other money we make is a bonus.  It’s really hard to budget uncertain incomes, so I just haven’t.  Still.  We finally sat down this morning and went over a budget and calculated what our budget would look like if he took the pay cut we think he may have to take in order to move up in the company (so he can move up from that position to make 3x what he’s making now in the future) and it was…tight.  Like, no extra money tight.  I know we can scale back on some things, but holy moly.  It was a wake up call for sure.  So I’ve been considering joining a local real estate team in hopes that will boost my real estate income.  I also do health and wellness coaching on the side and have been making extra money with that as well.  I know I have to step it up on all fronts if we are going to live comfortably when he gets this job.  I have to say though, it’s all worth it to be able to stay at home with my son and not have to put him in daycare.  Some sacrifices will be made so I can continue to do that, and I’m okay with that.

Ugh, cable.

So I called our cable company today because we were having issues with reception, yet again. Then I decided while I was on the line that I’d just cancel it because we mostly stream everything anyways. We are NOT in a contract with them, but we are in a bundled thing with our home security that is under contract so it would actually RAISE our bill by canceling our cable. How crazy is THAT?!? After being on the phone for 45 minutes, I only saved $16 for this month because of our service issues. Not sure it was worth my time, but now I have to wait another 4 hours to have my internet and cable back on because they have an outage. Ugh. I tried. So I’m trying to channel my inner Buddha and chill out.