Bargain Shopper

I am a huge fan of coupons. After watching a few GMA shows on budgeting, I've also learned to forgo brand loyalty on most things in order to get the best bang for my buck.

The few items that I always always always shop the same brands for are things for Lucy. I always buy Enfamil. Huggies. Pampers. Johnson & Johnson. Gerber.

Being a huge fan of Target, I tend to get loads of coupons from them. (Apparently they like me too.) Last week I got a handful of coupons for their baby line. They're trying out a new look and offered me some nice incentives to try it out too. $1 off wipes, sunscreen, diapers. $2 off formula.

Nice coupons, but that would mean leaving the security of the brand names I feel comfortable with.

Who abandons the name brands that 'good' parents use? Who knowingly opts for store brands when the brands you 'trust', the brands you 'know', the brands that are 'best' for your baby are every bit as affordable to you as they always were?

Well, turns out I do. I got the coupons and tried them out.

The wipes worked as well as wipes do.

The diapers surprised me. I thought they were far better than luvs, comparable to pampers & huggies.

I was skeptical of only the formula, I really don't want to mess with my baby's developing brains. I want those to be good for a long time. Great even, if they can be. So the formula I researched. Googled it a million and a half times. And found one thing constantly...

The FDA regulates what is in the can so they must contain the same key ingredients. Name brands may be finer and dissolve better, but they do not contain any more for your baby that the store brands. Of the store brands, Target has the most variety available. (Check out this blog for great info and lots of other great money saving tips: Baby Cheapskate)

I gave it a shot. It's not as fine, but per the labeling, they have the exact same things inside. More importantly, Lucy didn't seem to care about the switch. (If any of you remember when I did that last time, it took 7 days for her to get back to 'normal' afterward.)

So here is what it all comes down to...

In a 2 week period I buy the following things: 3 cans of formula. 5 'jumbo' packs of diapers, 1 'refill' pack of 200+ wipes.

This is how much I spend on name brands (not including the coupons I get here and there for $1-3 off a package): $26 for 1 Enfamil formula. $10 for 1 pack of diapers. $6 for 1 pack of wipes.

Do the math: $78 for formula. $50 for diapers. $6 for wipes. = $134 in 2 weeks/$268 a month

This is how much the Target brands cost: $12 for a can of formula. $6 for diapers. $4 for wipes.

Math again:$36. $30. $4. = $64 in 2 weeks/$128 a month.

Holy Cow. $140 savings just for switching these 3 items that I buy every month. In one year this switch will save me over $1600. That's a small vacation or a crap load of fabric.

Needless to say, we've certainly switched.