5 Ways to Save Money on Diapers

Having a baby can be expensive.  There are tons of articles showing the cost of raising a child with STAGGERING sums.  But I’m here today to tell you that it doesn’t have to be that way!   With some extra effort and careful planning, there are plenty of ways to save money.  Diapers, in particular, are one of the largest daily expenses outside of daycare.  We are two months into having a baby and now have some experience in the diaper purchasing game.  So today, I’ll show you 5 easy ways that my wife and I save money on diapers.

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A couple of quick disclaimers.  For the purposes of this article, I want to highlight the fact that my wife and I do not use cloth diapers.  That was a choice we made.  Thus, it will not be included on this listing.   Further, I also understand each baby is different!  The products we use may not work for all children.  However, the same saving methods still apply if choosing to use a more expensive diaper.

Method #1:  Use Store Brand diapers

We are lucky.  Our baby has not had any issues using store brand diapers.  We are a Target family.  Thus, our daughter has become accustomed to using Up & Up brand diapers.  Walmart and Costco also offer store brand diapers that allow for savings as well.  Using Target brand diapers has allowed us the opportunity to realize some significant savings compared to the leading name brands.   We have found the overall cost per diaper is pretty darn low.   Here is a chart I put together calculating the cost per diaper.  In the chart, I compared the price per diaper (in similar sized packages) for store brand diapers at Target, Walmart, and Costco to Huggies and Pampers.

As you can see, cost per diaper for each store brand is cheaper than the name brand diapers.  This chart assumes that stores are not running additional promotions, discounts, or the buyer is not using a store brand credit card (i.e. Target’s Red Card offers 5% off all purchases), or coupons to reduce the overall cost.   Once other factors enter the equation (see subsequent methods), you will see that you can save even more money!  That’s whether you select store brands or name brands.

For those of you wondering if we tried using Huggies or Pampers diapers, the answer is yes.  Our daughter was born three weeks early.  Weighing as little as 5 pounds 5 ounces after bringing her home from the hospital, we had to use premature-sized diapers.   Only Huggies and Pampers have premature-sized diapers.  Store brands start at newborn.  For almost a month, we used name brand diapers.   The transition from Pampers to Up & Up diapers was seamless.

method #2: Take advantage of sales and promotions

Here is a key point to remember.  Diapers do not expire (at least for a long time).  So when there is a special or a great deal, we jump on in.  Stores are constantly running specials on baby products.  Our favorite is Target.   Every few weeks, Target runs a promotion such as:  Spend $100 on diapers, receive a $15 gift card, or spend $100 on baby products, receive a $15 gift card.   That is the equivalent of a 20% discount on diapers.

To spend $75, we typically have to purchase 4-5 boxes of diapers.  We keep track of how many diapers we have, along with how many we will need at each size.  This allows us to make sure we aren’t over-buying just for the sake of earning a 20% discount.

Other stores outside of Target run specials constantly as well.  However, I have found the Target specials easiest to obtain and the most frequent.  Costco and Amazon will offer dollar discounts on products randomly, but it is hard to predict.

method #3:  USe Target or Amazon Store subscription services

Target and Amazon offer subscription services for baby products.  How does this work?  If you set up a subscription to purchase baby products, Target and Amazon will offer a 15% discount on the purchase.  You set the frequency you want the package delivered to your house in “weeks” intervals.  For example, I can select to have one box of diapers delivered to my house every two weeks.  It is easy, simple to use, and the diapers appear at your doorstep.  This is eligible for store brand and name brand diapers too.  What’s not to like?

One thought that ran through my mind when I first looked into this:  what if you don’t need the subscription or that size diaper?  Target and Amazon will email you prior to sending the package to confirm the order.  At this point, you can change the size diaper.  It is also easy to change the frequency packages are delivered.   Lastly, if you forget and accidently receive the wrong size, simple.  Just return the diapers!

Super-Savers Bonus Tip:  I only saw this offer once.  The facts were confirmed to me via Target Customer Service chat.  I would suggest trying it out for yourself before relying on it.  Target’s policy is that it will allow you to earn all discounts that are eligible for the product.  If diapers are running two promotions at the same time: $20 gift card for buying $100 AND earn 15% using subscribe and save, you can earn both discounts on the purchase!   Again, please confirm before buying.  But it happened to me one time and I did a few backflips with my savings.

method #4:  Join online Rewards Programs

Target offers Cartwheel.  Pampers has Pampers Rewards Programs.  Huggies has Huggies Rewards Program.  Make sure you sign-up for each reward program to receive special discounts, coupons, and savings.  Log and accumulate each and every point earned on the product.    It not only will help you save today, but it may earn you a free box of diapers tomorrow.   The apps are free and easy to use.

Super-Savers Bonus Tip for Swagbucks Users:  Are you a Swagbucks user like me?  On Swagbucks’ home page, there are various offers to join rewards networks.  Keep an eye-out for Huggies and Pampers.  Periodically, Swagbucks offers a 200 SB, 300 SB, etc. bonus to sign-up and join the network.  For those of you that don’t use Swagbucks, 100 Swagbucks equals $1.00.  That literally is free money for signing up for a rewards program.  If you want to try Swagbucks, here is our sign-up link (Note: Afilliate link)

Method #5: Coupons, Coupons, and More coupons

Last, but not least, “old reliable.” Coupons.  I have so many memories from growing up watching my mom cut coupons.  Luckily for us parents, Huggies and Pampers are constantly printing coupons.   My mom, mother-in-law, aunts, uncles, you name it, are constantly handing us the coupons they are cutting each week for baby products.  Using a coupon is an easy way to save $3 on a box of diapers.  This came in handy for us when our daughter was wearing premature sized diapers.  We weren’t sure how long she needed the small diapers and could only purchase Huggies or Pampers diapers in 30 counts.  So, we took an arsenal of coupons to the store and saved.

Luckily, it is 2019.  For those of you that don’t have access to coupons, there are plenty of ways to still receive coupons electronically and save money on diapers.

  • Print Coupons from Coupons.com or Swagbucks
  • Visit a website like The Krazy Coupon Lady to receive an electronic coupon
  • Target offers all manufacturers discounts in their app.  So you can scan the app when checking out and still receive the discount.
  • If you don’t like any of those options and prefer a clipped coupon, you can even purchase them on Ebay!  Yes, people do sell coupons online.  People will sell 5-6 $3 off coupons for several dollars + shipping.  It may cost a little, but the savings will still outweigh the costs.

Summary

Hopefully you have found this helpful and are ready to save money on diapers.  Remember, having a child may be expensive, but it doesn’t have to break the bank.  My wife and I practice each of the five methods above religiously and have realized the savings.  If you have had any positive, or negative experiences, using the five methods above, please let me know if the comment section.  Also, if you have others tips or resources, please share them as well!  I’ll try anything that will help us save money on diapers and childcare.

Bert

8 thoughts on “5 Ways to Save Money on Diapers

  1. Bert,
    Having gone through this recently, and starting off with regular diapers I can relate to this article. However, we went to step 6 – reusable diapers. Now there is a rabbit hole of information you can fall into, and it is a bit more gross / extra work, but they do save money. You will spend more on detergent and water plus the higher up front cost, but after a few months of using them the diaper costs have dropped off significantly. For us, we bought some reusable diapers and got a bunch for free. We still keep disposables on hand for travel, laundry day, and when the kid is sick…
    Disclaimer – only we do this, so when our son is with the in-laws they make sure avoid that.
    – Gremlin

    • Gremlin,

      Using reussable diapers is great if you have the right mindset into it. My wife and I do not fall into that camp haha I do like how you pt disclaimers and exceptions on it. Its smart to be flexible with it all. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this!

      Bert

    • Ha That will never compete with cloth diapers! I just asked my wife her thoughts on cloth diapers and she said absolutely not haha But the savings are obvious and if you are fully on board with it, its awesome. I like how you can resell them as well! Get your deposit back.

      Bert

  2. Yes! Up & Up Diapers from Target are what we use too. We started with Pampers but heard good things about Up & Up so gave them a try. Never had any problems with leaks either, there were a couple issues with Pampers however. Initially the plan was to use the Kirkland diapers because supposedly they are the best. However, since the Target diapers perform 100% for us AND are cheaper than Kirkland, we felt no need to switch brands!

  3. We did cloth diapering for a year before our kids started daycare and it was great! Once they started daycare and had to switch to disposables, we started using the Costco Kirkland brand. They’re identical to Huggies. I either buy Huggies when they’re on sale at Costco (a few times a year they have them around $10 off a box) or I buy the Kirkland ones.

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