Frugal Hacks » from the mailbag

Cloth diaper questions from the mailbag

kimc — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 08:46:18 +0000

I received this question from Shannon,

Hi KimC,
I've scrolled through some of your older posts about cloth diapering. We are expecting our first baby at the end of January and I know I want to do cloth now. The thing is though, looking online there are too many options! Brands, prefold, inserts, all-in-one, and on and on. Would you have any suggestions on what we need to get started for the first 6 months? How many, brand, type, etc...? I would appreciate any help! Thanks!

Shannon,

Cloth diapers need to be changed a bit more often than disposables, so you'll want a generous stash. It also depends on how often you will wash them, of course. You don't want to be in a constant state of last-diaper-in-the-house crisis.

Most people find that 2-3 dozen is a good starting point, though you may want a few more for a newborn and to give yourself some breathing space on the laundry.

Many people like to start with a little bit of everything so they can figure out what they really like before making a big investment. I have a rather wide selection of diapers and covers and they all have their strong points, but my priorities are price and ease of use. I will readily admit to a favorite: Coolababy One-Size All-in-one pocket diapers.

I'll be honest. They have their downside.

They are made in China. I know, I know. No flames, please.
The opening for the inserts is a tad narrow, so can be awkward to stuff, especially at first. You'll get the hang of it quickly enough.
Probably not the most absorbent diaper around, though we find it sufficient for our needs. I add a second insert for nighttime.

The upside?

Unbeatable price!
One size, so you don't need to buy a whole new stash every few months. One shared stash will work for a baby and a toddler if you have two in diapers.
Cute colors can be coordinated with baby's outfits.
Fast-drying since the pad comes out for laundering.
Snaps. Some people prefer velcro because it's more adjustable, but I can't seem to keep my velcro from catching every stray bit of fuzz in the house. Snaps just work better for us.
Easy to use. This makes them good for babysitters and others who may be a little unsure about cloth diapers. If you stuff the pocket when they come out of the dryer, everything will be in one piece and will look and work very much like a disposable diaper.

Things to know:

Pay close attention to laundering instructions, no matter what type of diaper and/or cover you use. Nothing is more heartbreaking than to waste money by ruining your brand new cloth diapers that were supposed to last through 3 children.
There's no need to rinse dirty diapers from an exclusively breastfed baby. The solids are water soluble and will entirely disappear in the washer.
Wash regularly, at least every 2 or 3 days. If you try to go too long before washing, you may end up with some hard-to-beat stink problems.
If you're intimidated by the thought of getting your hands dirty rinsing dirty diapers in the toilet, consider a diaper sprayer. You can do-it-yourself or buy one that's ready to install.
If you're not squeamish about buying used, check out the forum at Diaper Swappers. It's a great way to get started without breaking your budget.

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You CAN save more on your power bill; are you willing?

kimc — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:48:01 +0000

A reader over at my personal blog Life in a Shoe left me a fascinating link from Generation Cedar. It seems that the author's neighbors have gone to extremes to cut the power bill for their large house and very large family to just $65/month.

Some of their changes were over-the-top for our family. Others were changes we've already made. A few are on my list of Crazy New Ideas to Casually Mention to My Husband. Yes, I have a list. Don't we all?

Are you ready for the link? Family of 15 and $65 power bill: How do they do it?

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How to request a product for review

kimc — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:07:38 +0000

I mentioned requesting items for review in my list of 21 ways to get free stuff, and some readers asked how to do it. Here's an outline of the procedure I use.

HOW TO REQUEST A PRODUCT FOR REVIEW

Be yourself. You don’t need to sound like a business manager. Blogging is generally a very informal platform, and it makes sense to approach manufacturers with a tone that is not too formal. This doesn’t mean that your letter should be disrespectful or full of misspellings and slang. It simply means that your letter should, to a certain extent, reflect the tone of your site. Consider it an audition for the part of Blogging Reviewer.
Keep it brief. You want to provide enough info to convince them that your review would be beneficial, but not so much that they simply skim to the bottom and hit the delete button.
Introduce yourself. Keep it relevant. They don't need to know where you grew up or your maiden name, but if you are requesting a cookbook you might want to mention the fact that you love to cook and have a cooking blog.
Be enthusiastic. If you are initiating this contact, chances are you already know a bit about their product and are enthusiastic about it. Be sure to communicate this and explain why.
Explain how you can benefit them. You stand to gain a free product. What's in it for them? Make sure they understand what you can do for them. Do you have enough traffic to generate sales? Is your blog relevant to products likes theirs? Is your audience likely to be interested in the item? Are they likely to trust your recommendation? Sell yourself and your site!
Include a link to your site. This may seem obvious, but if you're using a contact form it's easy to forget to include the web address for your site. Many companies seem to receive their email in plain text, so even if you include linked text the hyperlink may be stripped out of the email when they receive it. Make sure the raw address is included somewhere in your message like this: http://inashoe.com instead of only this: Life in a Shoe.
Give your traffic stats. If your traffic is very low, you might want to wait for them to ask. Be aware that if you don’t have much traffic, manufacturers have less to gain from you. They might say no – but they might not! It never hurts to ask, and even a review on a low-traffic site can provide desirable search engine results for a manufacturer.
Offer the right to decline. This might be a bit controversial, but I like to offer to let manufacturers preview my reviews before publication. If I can't give a highly positive review, I let them decide whether they prefer my honest opinion or none at all. I don't think it's fair to expect manufacturers to pay for negative reviews by providing free product for me to complain about publicly. This also gives them a chance to correct mistakes on my part, which may affect my final opinion.
Include your shipping address. Why make them ask for it? Do whatever you can to streamline the process for them so they are more inclined to say yes.

Here's a sample request for you, but remember to make it your own. Don't just fill in the blanks!

Hi,

My name is ___________, and I blog at ______________. [add some relevant details about yourself and/or your blog here.]

I have heard about your ____________ and am very interested in trying it because ______________________. [Show enthusiasm here. How bad do you want it? Why?]

My readers are __________________ [include some info about the type of people who read your blog] and I think they would love it too because _________________. If you can provide a __________, I would be delighted to review it for you on my blog!

I get _____ pageviews/day and have ______ feed subscribers, so I think my review would be very beneficial to your company. If you want, I can let you preview the review before it is published.

Thank you for your time. I hope we can work together!

My Name

My Blog Title: http//myblog.com

street address

city, state zip

MORE TIPS:

Consider posting several reviews of items you already own and love if you have never done a review. This will provide practice for you and examples for manufacturers to look at when you contact them. Don't do them all back to back. Be sure they are sprinkled in amongst your regular posts, and be sure you choose items of interest to your readers.
Create a category for product reviews to make it easy for manufacturers to find examples of your reviews.
Follow up is crucial. Remember, the deal isn't done as soon as they say yes. It's easy to forget or procrastinate, but that is dishonest and counterproductive. Make sure you follow up on reviews you have agreed to, and do put a fair amount of effort into them. When you make a request the manufacturer is likely to check your site for past reviews. If they see good examples of past reviews, they are more likely to agree. If they see nothing, they may wonder if you're actually going to post the review.

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Frugal resources: what’s your favorite?

kimc — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:24:43 +0000

I'm looking for recommendations, and I'm sure others are too.

What book, video or other resource taught you the most about living frugally?
What opened your eyes to new possibilities in frugal living?
What taught you an important new money-saving skill in an engaging or entertaining way?

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kimc — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:22:07 +0000

We all know the saying that "every cloud has a silver lining," and I love to see it applied to the current economics situation.

I'm not a Seth Godin reader, but a reader emailed this morning to tip me off to Seth's cheery outlook in his post, Winning on the uphills. It's short, sweet and encouraging.

Interesting business lesson learned on a bicycle: it's very difficult to improve your performance on the downhills. (read the rest)

HT to the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

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A reader’s response on lasting effects of the Great Depression

kimc — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 01:30:10 +0000

Frugal Hacks

From Jaime's post on Thursday:

As the economy continues to slide and prospects for many look bleak, there has been a surge in frugal practices. Spending less and saving more has become the latest fashion, and everywhere you look, there are articles about it or people trying to be more frugal.

Is this a lasting trend towards doing more with less? Or is it just the latest fad and when things improve economically, it will completely go out the window?

What's your take?

One email subscriber had this to say:

I think for many people this will be life changing. Just like it was for those worst hit durring the depression. For other's it is just a blip in anotherwise blissful life, one that doesn't touch most of the world.

I think back to my parents, aunts and uncles and grand parents. They all came through tough times, and I never knew any of them to be less than prepared to take care of themselves and their families. They all lived on less than they made, stored what they could of extra supplies ( not just groceries), re-used, re-purposed, used it up, wore it out, invented new things they needed, repaired their own vehicles, grew their own vegetables, canned, then when freezers came in they froze some things as well. Some of my Aunts and Uncles, had chickens, and a cow, or goat, for eggs, milk cheese, and butter,cream. They needed very little. These were not farmers , just small 3 to 5 acres. They didn't have fancy houses ( if fact most young people today wouldn't even look at their houses to buy, they'd be " too small"). Their homes were smaller, only 1 bathroom, and relatively inexpensive to heat ( some even used wood from thier own place). They worked where they could, at what ever they could. Their income was usually low. But they did so much for them selves, and helped each other that in the end they lived well above many people who made much more than they did. I don't remember them mentioning thrift shops, so perhaps there weren't so many. IThey did mentioned church rummage sales a couple of times a year that they got most of their clothing from, and they passed things around to friends and families. They also had a lot fewer clothes, my Dad had 4 sets of work clothes, and 1 set of "Church, wedding, and Funeral" clothes Which much , much later then became work clothes. In later life we got him "leisure" wear, he didn't need them when he was younger. ( Do you think our Young people would like this? or put up with it? with thrift shops like we have now they probably will never have to worry about it) My Mother had 3 housedressess and 5 aprons! She later got a better dress for Church, but for a long time she wore a white blouse and dark brown skirt to church with her brown coat. Although later they did have more luxuries, they never had or expected what younger people ( 50 and younger) expect. My Children in their 40's wouldn't live like they did, they all work hard true enough, but they still have much, much higher expectations of what they should have. They also have much bigger homes. I have a small by todays standards home. and dare I say it??? 1, yes, that's right, 1 bathroom. Yet, even my home is larger than my parents when they were raising me.

Also we have many more saftey nets in place than they did durring the depression. Some people will fall through those nets, but many , many more will survive well because of them. We have become very spoilt, when in fact we are still living in a wonderful land, with many, many oportunities, they are just not sugar coated and served on a platter right now. We may have to get dirty, do meanial jobs, and help each other to get by. Sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and get on with it till times get better, then don't make the same mistakes, and prepare for your self. The old addage " don't put all your eggs in one basket" still holds true. Make sure you are diversified, not only in you money, but your whole life, your skills, your attitude, your friends, everything. Another addage they used to use was "moderation in all things". Seems these 2 could have helped the world situation a lot.

Well, you asked for it, but I will step down from my soapbox for now.

enjoy reading your posts.

Pat in Kitchener

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From the mailbag: Coupon Sources

kimc — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:26:22 +0000

Marlene is looking for coupons for household goods, groceries, superstores, etc. Anyone can do a google search, but which one is the best?

What is your favorite source for coupons?

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From the mailbag: PayPerPost

kimc — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:04:17 +0000

I received this question from a reader:

Have you heard of PayPerPost.com? It' seems like a great way make some money blogging, but it does ask for a social security number for tax purposes. I am trying to find out about this site. I know they have to ask for the SS# for tax purposes, it just always makes me edgy to give it out. Thanks.

Felicia

Have you used PayPerPost? Do you still use them? What was your experience? Pros and cons?

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From the Mailbag: dealing with an unfrugal spouse

kimc — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 17:42:40 +0000

Hi, I love your blog and I wanted to ask a question. I'm having a hard time getting my husband to get on my level of frugality.

He's very into materials and I'm more into simple living. I've tried handing over the bills, I've tried saying No to him, it seems I've tried everything and I'm just worried because we have $0 in our savings account and it seems that if there's any money left from a check, he's needing to spend it, even if it's not on himself. We tithe, we try to pay all of our bills, but sometimes we stiff Peter to pay Paul, you know?

What can I do? He was this way when I married him, so it's not like I didn't know what I was getting into.

But I've changed and I want a more simple, secure, savings in life. Any ideas would be helpful.

What would you do? What advice can you offer?

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