Having a baby is one of the most amazing and awesome life-changing experiences you have in your life. My daughter was born in December 2015 and has changed my life forever in the most wonderful ways. You will bend over backward to provide for your children in any way that they need.
How to save money on diapers
$12,000 for Baby’s First Year
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, $12,980 was spent annually on a child in 2015! That is in a middle-income, married, 2-child household. Annual expenses were about $300 less for newborns – children 2 years of age. Oh, and get ready, because the average is $900 more for teenagers. Children are expensive!
One of the larger expenses you will have in their first couple of years of life is diapers. That is, of course, before they are potty trained. Diapers are something that you can’t live without. Whether you go the disposable route or you want to go the reusable route, either way, there is an expense.
The hospital where my daughter was born used Pampers Swaddlers. That is what we gravitated toward when we got home from the hospital. However, if you are flexible in your brand choice and know where to keep an eye out for deals, you can save significantly on diapers. Find below some cost-saving tips on how to save on diapers, specifically disposable.
How to save money on diapers at any store
#1 Always look at the cost per diaper
Boxes of diapers vary so widely in the number of diapers per box. If you only think about diapers in terms of cost per the box, you could be over-paying. For example, if you’re comparing the price of a box of 92 count diapers to the cost of a box of 132 count diapers, you’ll naturally think the 132 count is more expensive.
But when you divide the cost of the box by the number of diapers in the box, you arrive at a per diaper price. The cost per diaper is what will help you determine what the better deal is.
What I typically see as a good cost per diaper based on size:
- Newborn: $.12-$.17
- Size 1: $.11 – $.14
- Size 2: $.14-$.16
- Size 3: $.15 – $.19
- Size 4: $.17-$.22
- Size 5: $.18 – $.26
- Size 6: $.26-$.30
When you think that you have found an amazing price on diapers, make sure you divide the total cost of the box by the total number of diapers that are in the box to get a price per diaper. That way when you are comparing diapers you are doing an apples-to-apples comparison by the diaper and not by the box. That will help you find the best deal.
#2 Use coupons
Even if you’re not a couponer, I highly suggest you find a few places where you can get baby diaper coupons. My best recommendation would be the Sunday paper. You can have the paper delivered to your house, or you can go to your local dollar tree and purchase one.
Typically at least once a month Sunday papers will feature diaper coupons – and that is the time to load up on diaper coupons. The value of the coupons more than offsets the cost of the paper. If you find a high-value coupon or one that you know you can use multiple of before it expires, buy multiple copies of the paper!
Related: Free 5 day Couponing Email Course
#3 Look inside the diaper box for coupons
Very regularly you will find manufacturer coupons located inside a box of diapers. When you’re tearing open the sleeves of diapers and putting them into a drawer or up on a shelf, coupons generally fly out of the plastic wrapper. Make sure you grab them and use them on your next purchase.
#4 Subscribe to manufacturer emails
What brands of diapers do you like to use? Google them and find out where you can sign up to receive promotional messages from these companies. Many of the emails you will receive, for example from Pampers or Huggies, will contain offers or coupons for their products.
For example, I subscribe to emails from Pampers and use Pampers diapers regularly. Not only do I receive manufacturer coupons for Pampers products including the diapers that my daughter wears, but I also receive some other offers from manufacturers.
Save money on diapers with Pampers emails
For example, I randomly receive free offers from Shutterfly all the time by subscribing to Pampers emails. In many cases, I will receive a coupon for $20 or $25 off a Shutterfly purchase or free magnet or free calendar, etc.
I didn’t sign up for the Pampers emails to receive these extra offers but it’s a nice extra perk up for signing up for Pampers emails.
#5 Know your stock up price
A “stock up” price means the cost per diaper is a phenomenal deal you haven’t seen in a long time and likely won’t see again for a long time. It’s a deal where you should buy as many diapers as you possibly can at that price as it’s the “deal of deals.”
You are already in the habit of doing the math on price per diaper so if you find a crazy good price – stock up!
Again, what I typically see as a good cost per diaper based on size is below. Not a hard and fast rule but can be used as a guide as you are starting.
- Newborn: $.12-$.17
- Size 1: $.11 – $.14
- Size 2: $.14-$.16
- Size 3: $.15 – $.19
- Size 4: $.17-$.22
- Size 5: $.18 – $.26
- Size 6: $.26-$.30
Pro Tip: If you do end up with a diaper stockpile, add a post-it note to each box of diapers listing where you purchased it. Nearly all stores will allow you to exchange one box of diapers for a different size of the same brand.
For example, if you have a box of size 3 Pampers Swaddlers that you purchased from Walmart, and your child has outgrown Size 3 – take the box back to Walmart. They will allow you to exchange for a Size 4 Pampers Swaddlers. Size 4 will have fewer diapers per box, but the price is the same as the size 3 so it’s an even swap. Many stores will do this!
#6 Use your discretion when changing sizes
Do you know the child weight recommendation on the diaper box? The one where once your baby is getting close to the upper range of weight you size up. Take pause and notice if your child is having accidents or blowouts. If you aren’t having any leaks and the diaper seems to be fitting properly, continue using the current size – even if the baby has reached or exceeded the weight limits.
The weight recommendations are a guide, not a hard and fast rule. The larger the size of the diaper, the fewer diapers per box! So the longer you can stay in the current smaller size, the better for your wallet. It’s not worth it to sacrifice your baby’s comfort, however, so use your judgment. If the baby’s diaper is leaking or uncomfortably small, size up! If not, stay in the current size as long as you can.
#7 Change brands
If you want to make the most of diaper savings, evaluate multiple brands of diapers and choose a few you know will work. That way you have more than one brand to look for a deal on. We exclusively used Pampers when my daughter was in diapers. My colleague swears by the Target Up-and-Up brand. My sister insists on Honest Company. I have a friend who buys from Aldi often.
Because I exclusively used Pampers and didn’t evaluate any other diaper, I would overspend on diapers if I hadn’t stocked up on Pampers and she ran out. Nothing burns me more than having to pay near retail for something because I was unprepared and ran out.
If you know that your baby can comfortably use a few brands, that will help immensely in finding deals on diapers. It is also convenient to be able to pick up diapers where you are currently shopping and not have to hop around to different stores to track down the one specific diaper brand you use.
How to save money at specific stores
Now that you are in the mindset of how to save on diapers at any store, below are some ways to save on diapers at specific stores.
Related: Ibotta review – check out if there are any offers to save even on diapers with this app
Target
One of my favorite stores to save for diapers of any brand is Target. Target regularly offers deals and promotions on diapers/wipes or even just generically “baby stuff.”
For example, right now there is a promotion at Target where if you spend $75 in baby you will receive a $15 Target gift card in return for that purchase. You will receive the $15 gift card immediately, however, you are not able to use the gift card until a future visit.
A benefit to these buy/get promotions is that you will receive the gift card once you meet the minimum threshold before any manufacturer coupons.
Save on Diapers at Target
For example, let’s say you exclusively want to buy diapers for this deal, and the diapers that you’re interested in purchasing are $26 a box. When you buy three boxes of diapers it brings the total to $78 ($26 per box x3). That qualifies for spending $75 in baby and you will receive a $15 gift card.
Related: How to save more at Target
However, let’s say you have a few manufacturer coupons in your possession that you want to use. You have three manufacturer coupons, one for each box of diapers that you are purchasing, which are each valued at $3 each.
So when you go to check out your total will not be $78 but it will be $69 ($78 – $9 in coupons). Because you were able to reach the $75 minimum threshold before manufacturer coupons you will still qualify for the gift card. So it feels like you spent $54 on the three boxes of diapers instead of $78
Diaper Scenario Breakdown:
- Cost of diapers: 3 x $26 = $78
- Less Manufacturer Coupons -$9
- Total out of pocket: $69
- Less gift card -$15
- What you feel like you’re paying: $54 or $18 per box
Pro Tip: if you have a Target Red Card you will receive an additional 5% for your purchase. So, in this case, the $92 total would be reduced to $87.40. My Red Card is attached directly to my checking account, so if you’re worried about having to open yet another credit card, you don’t have to.
Amazon
Another store that I love using to save on diapers is Amazon.com, specifically leveraging their Subscribe & Save option. If you’re not familiar with Subscribe & Save it is a very flexible savings program. If you commit to having a specific item delivered to your door regularly, Amazon will give you a deeper discount.
How Amazon Subscribe & Save Works
For example, let’s say you found a phenomenal deal on a box of diapers. You know it’s phenomenal because you did the math to get the individual diaper price and know that is a good price for you.
You know you’re going to need these diapers regularly so when you check the little box at check-out you’ll receive an additional 5% discount on your order. To qualify, you must choose how frequently you want the diapers to arrive, typically in 30-day increments.
You sign up for diapers on Subscribe & Save and indicate you want a new box delivered to your door once per month or once every 30 days. So the box will automatically ship to you and you’ll receive 5% off the current price.
I love the flexibility of Amazon Subscribe & Save I’ve been able to save hundreds of dollars on diapers. Not only money savings but also just convenience and savings of time by not having to
How to save on diapers at any store
head to the store.
Amazon Subscribe & Save Caution
I would caution you, however, when using subscribe and save that you should check it and monitor it regularly. I say this because you are locking in to receive 5% off the CURRENT price however you are not locked into the original price of the diapers.
For example, let’s say you found a phenomenal deal on diapers. They are $20 a box and you are just like “oh my gosh this is an amazing deal I want to cash in on it.” So you do. You click the Subscribe & Save button and place your order, recurring every month.
Then next month when another box is set to arrive you see you will be charged a price of $30. You’re like wait… what the heck happened? I thought I was locking in the $20 price when I purchased last month.
You are not locking into the price of the diapers. What you are locking yourself into is the additional 5% discount and getting the diapers delivered regularly. The actual price of the diapers can fluctuate.
Because you can cancel the Amazon Subscribe & Save any time I feel like there is little risk. If you find a phenomenal deal on diapers and want to try it for just one month you could place your order, get the 5% off,
Amazon is hoping that you do forget about it and you just automatically get billed each month. You’re so happy that diapers arrive on your doorstep right at the time that you need them, that you don’t care as much about the price. Just know that the prices do fluctuate.
Pro Tip: Add a few boxes of diapers to your Amazon cart or a watch list, but don’t check out. Watch the prices for a few days if you have the flexibility to do so. Prices fluctuate so much higher and lower constantly. By watching you can better see, and be notified of, a good price for diapers.
CVS
Another store that you can find deals on diapers and pull-ups all the time is CVS drugstore. One of the benefits with CVS is they offer something called ExtraBucks. Similarly to Target if you buy a certain amount of baby stuff they will give you a gift card or store credit in return.
The ExtraBucks differ from actual store credit or a gift card in that they usually have a relatively short time in which you can use them. I usually see 2-4 weeks as the expiration after earning. So you need to keep track of expiration dates to ensure you use them before they expire!
CVS Diaper Scenario
Currently, diapers are on sale for 2/$20.
Save on Diapers at CVS
The ad shows how you can use a $4 manufacturer coupon off the purchase of 2 to bring the total down to 2/$16.
Plus you can get a $10 ExtraBucks Rewards if you spend $30.
The $30.00 is before any manufacturer coupons or other offers, so once you reach the $30 threshold you will qualify, and then manufacturer coupons bring the total down further.
4 pack of diapers scenario:
- Purchase 4 bags of diapers at 4/$20 for a total of $40.
- Use 2 – $4 manufacturer coupons bringing the total out of pocket to $32
- You qualify for the ExtraBucks rewards. While not an immediate discount, it makes you feel like you’re paying $22 or $5.50 per bag of diapers.
The size 1 diapers have 35 per pack, so the cost per diaper, in this case, is $.16 per diaper ($5.50/35 diapers). That is within the $.12 to $.17 range you’ll typically find deals for size 1.
Related: 15 money-saving apps you should be using right now
Walgreens
Walgreens also makes it easy to save on diapers. Each week in their new sales flyer they will usually offer at least one diaper sale.
They also have a savings program called Balance Rewards. With this program, you can clip coupons, and earn points to cash in for store credit. See the example in the ad below. You will receive 5000 Balance Rewards points, equal to $5 for spending $30 or more on the items in the ad, including the diapers.
Save on diapers at Walgreens
Walgreens Diaper Scenario
Currently, diapers are on sale for 2/$18.
The ad shows how you can use a $4 manufacturer coupon off the purchase of 2 to bring the total down to 2/$14.
Plus you can get a 5000 Bonus Rewards points (equivalent to $5) if you spend $20.
The $20.00 is before any manufacturer coupons or other offers, so once you reach the $20 threshold you will qualify, and then manufacturer coupons bring the total down further.
4 pack of diapers scenario:
- Purchase 4 bags of diapers at 2/$18 for a total of $36.
- Use 2 – $4 manufacturer coupons bringing the total out-of-pocket to $28
- You qualify for the Bonus Rewards points of $5. While not an immediate discount, it makes you feel like you’re paying $23 or $5.75 per bag of diapers.
The size 1 diapers have 35 per pack, so the cost per diaper, in this case, is $.16 (technically 16.4) per diaper ($5.50/35 diapers) which is within the $.12 to $.17 range you’ll typically find deals for size 1.
So not quite as good overall as the CVS deal, but less out-of-pocket. In this case, not including the rewards, you are paying 28 total out-of-pocket.
Conclusion
Planning ahead and paying attention to fluctuating diaper prices will help you big time in finding good deals on diapers. You need them, you know you’re going to need them. So when you find a stock up price or a relatively good deal on them, snag them while you can. You can always go back to the original store and likely exchange for a larger size as needed. Purchasing as you find good deals can not only help you save money but can save time as you’re not needing to make extra trips specifically for diapers if you run out.
What is your favorite way to save on diapers?
Steph
Related: Save money at Target
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