Diapers - the bain of every budget. Before I started deal hunting, I thought I was doing a great job saving money if I bought the big "economy" size box. It started with the economy size of the Pampers Swaddlers, then we tried the slightly less expensive Huggies Supreme, then moved to Luvs. At this point I thought we were REALLY saving a lot of money. Our last stop was on Target brand diapers (we had tried quite a few store brand diapers that weren't great at all - we had great success with Target brand).
Yes, I did save money. The cost per diaper of the economy packs IS less than the cost per diaper of the smaller packs. But, now that I know better, I can do better with my deals on diapers. I now buy almost exclusively the Jumbo pack of diapers - generally the smallest pack.
How is it possible to save money by buying the smaller packs with higher per diaper cost? Easy answer - coupon pairing.
At the grocery store, I am able to pair an e-coupon on my Kroger card from either Cellfire or Shortcuts (usually can get one Huggies coupon from each monthly so I can do this deal twice a month) with a paper coupon either printed from the internet, from the newspaper, or from a company mailing. I like to wait for a sale on the diapers to lower the cost even more. When I am finished with the transaction, I can submit my receipt to Caregivers Marketplace for a $.75 rebate (on any Huggies jumbo packs or Balmex products).
My decent diaper deals look like this:
- Huggies Jumbo pack - $9.99 on sale for $8.99
- Use Shortcuts coupon on Kroger card for $1.50
- Use paper coupon from mailing for $1.50
- Submit receipt for rebate of $.75
- Jumbo pack is now $5.99 before the rebate and $5.24 after rebate making the diapers roughly $.16 per diaper depending on how many are in the pack.
A couple last ways to get diapers cheaply:
- sign up for free samples as often as you can - Walmart offers free samples through their website often. Click on In Stores Now to find the samples.
- email your favorite diaper company and compliment them - they will many times send out coupons. Huggies sent me $3 in coupons for complimenting the Overnights diapers.
- sign up online for rewards programs for diapers - you often get coupons mailed to you
- try to qualify for diaper studies through Arquest. Call 1-888-342-7372 and connect to Diaper Studies. Leave a message with your name, number, and baby's diaper size. If you fit a study they are doing, they will mail you free diapers to try and a check for $10 after completing the exit survey.
