Save Money on Formula and Diapers - 3 Tips That Work

Posted by John on August 20, 2008 | Filed Under Tips

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As soon as my son was born, I was instantly hit with the extra cost of buying diapers and formula. During his first year, I spent about $40 on diapers and $120 on formula monthly. Over the course of the year, this added up to almost $2,000! I am always on the look out for ways to save money on formula and diapers and I found a few money saving tips that I am willing to share with you!

Tip #1: Sign up for coupons from the manufacturer

The first technique I will mention is the most obvious - sign up for coupons direct from the manufacturer. Almost all formula and diaper companies have clubs you can sign up for in exchange for coupons. Most of these coupons come through the mail. I am a member of the Similac and Pamper’s clubs and I usually get coupons every month from them. The savings are a few dollars off diapers and up to $10 dollars off formula. Just yesterday I received four coupons for Similac formula totaling $20 dollars. Not bad for doing nothing!

In addition to signing up at manufacturer sites, I also leave my phone number at Babies “R” Us whenever I shop. Just by doing this, I am always assured the latest coupons in my mailbox. I noticed BRU sends out coupons monthly and usually its $5 off diapers and $3 off a box of baby wipes. There are never coupons for baby formula, but the cases usually go on sale for a few dollars off.

For your convenience, here are links to sign up for all the major manufacturer savings clubs:

Similac Formula (we use this brand)
Nestle Good Start Infant Formula
Enfamil Formula

Pampers Diapers (we use this brand)
Huggies Diapers
Luvs Diapers

Tip #2: Shop at membership clubs

Since signing up at the BJ’s Wholesale Club, I save approximately $40 - $50 a month on baby products. Every wholesale club charges a yearly membership fee (BJ’s is $48), but the cost of the fee is recouped in about a month from the money you will save.

Here are some of the savings:

Case of Similac RTF Formula: $29 at BJ’s ($38 at supermarket)
Box of Pamper’s Baby Dry diapers: $36 at BJ’s ($40 at supermarket). BJ’s box has 20 extra diapers as well.
Six containers of Gerber Puffs Snacks: $9 at BJ’s ($16 at supermarket).

You can also buy Gerber fruit juice, Gerber baby food (1st and 2nd), diaper rash ointment, and a host of other baby products at wholesale prices.

Besides the wholesale prices, I can also save extra money by using coupons. BJ’s accepts manufacturer coupons and vendor checks (Costco does not). BJ’s also sends out coupons every so often. Just recently I received a baby coupon book in the mail with a ton of coupons on virtually all of their baby products.

I still buy baby food at my local grocery store because they have a program called “Baby Bucks”. For every $75 you spend on baby products, you get a $10 off your next grocery order coupon. As far as I know, only ShopRite and A&P stores have this program.

Tip #3: Save by using eBay!

Coupons are in constant supply on eBay. Doing a quick search, I found over 600 auctions for Similac coupons and 900 auctions for Enfamil coupons. With a little patience, you can find great deals for formula. For example, I spotted one auction offering $25 worth of Similac coupons and the final bid was only $10. Another auction was for $30 worth of coupons with a final price of $9. That’s an average savings of $15!

You can also find diaper coupons on eBay, but the savings are substantially less than you would get with formula coupons, so it is not really worth the time. With a little patience and common sense, you can save tons of money by purchasing coupons off of eBay.

I have been an eBay seller for over ten years and I want to offer some advice when shopping for coupons (or anything) on eBay:

Make sure the value of the coupons is more than the auction price. To make it worthwhile, I would look for a savings of $10 to $20. It is easy to find with a little browsing.
Make sure the coupons have not expired! Some sellers list the date in the listing. I would rather see a clear picture of the coupons so I can read the date myself. Be careful, some sellers purposely take the pictures at an angle to skew the date.
Some coupons are only for specific formula. Some of the coupons Similac issues are only for the powdered formula or a specific type of formula. Make sure the coupons are for the formula you buy.
Only deal with sellers with a positive feedback rating. Personally, I would only deal with a seller with a feedback rating 99% or higher and more than 20 feedback comments.
Make the most of your bid. When I browse the listings I look for multiple coupons in an auction to get the most savings. An auction with at least four coupons is ideal.
Pay attention to the shipping price! Some sellers like to list the auctions for a very low price, but on closer inspection the shipping is more than $10! Shipping for coupons should only be the price of a postage stamp. Most sellers offer free shipping as well.

Side Note: You can also find online coupons for various baby products at “print your own coupon” sites. I stay away from these sites in general. In order to print the coupons on most of these sites, you have to download software and it may or may not be filled with advertising. I also find I get more “spam” or junk e-mail after signing up for some of these sites.

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Comments

8 Responses to “Save Money on Formula and Diapers - 3 Tips That Work”

DaddyO on August 20th, 2008 12:00 pm

$40 on diapers, that nearly beats cloth diapers!
Omie on August 21st, 2008 9:29 pm

Good tips. You may also want to consider switching your baby to a store brand formula. I was reluctant to do this initially but at 6 months, I switched my baby to Sam’s club formula from Enfamil without any problems. The Sam’s club formula costs almost $10 less. That’s translated into a lot of savings.
John on August 21st, 2008 10:59 pm

Thanks for the tip, Omie. That is another money saving idea I should have mentioned. I have heard buying store brand formula is OK, but the store brand diapers leave a little to be desired. It seems that some brands have a tendency to leak.
Marcia on August 26th, 2008 1:19 pm

Good tips on shopping around. I breastfed, so didn’t need formula, but boy it’s expensive!! We switched to buying diapers at Costco…we could occasionally find them cheaper on sale with a coupon, but one big box per month is just easier than the constant scouting for the best deal.

I also tried store brand diapers…they were awful - they leaked and gave my son diaper rash.

On being “brand loyal”, it’s always good to try other brands now and then - the fit is different. As a newborn, anything other than Pampers leaked. As my son got older (8 mos), Huggies fit him better.
Frugal Babe on August 26th, 2008 2:20 pm

I know it’s been said a million times, but I have to add my thoughts here… Cloth diapers (if you make your own or buy plain prefolds) are very inexpensive, although they do require a bit more work than disposables.
But for feeing babies, no formula is as good for the baby as breastmilk. Formula doesn’t have antibodies to all the bugs that mothers have been exposed to - no matter how hard the manufacturers try, it doesn’t measure up. And breastmilk is free. And easy. Nursing a baby in the middle of the night can be done with the lights off, and without getting out of bed at all if you have the baby sleeping near you. And if you have to be away from the baby at feeding time, Craigs List has tons of breast pumps, ranging from simple manual models to fancy electric pumps. All a lot less expensive than a year of formula.
John on August 27th, 2008 9:32 am

I agree that breast milk is the best and my wife did try to nurse, but sometimes it just didn’t work out in the end for various reasons.

It is easy to tell others to breast feed, but sometimes it doesn’t work out for everyone!
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