How we save money, part I

In the next day or two I'm going to write a post all about cloth diapers and how much money we've saved in doing cloth diapering. There's a purpose behind it; the desperate hope that I will win a give away that cottonbabies.com is doing. 12 free BumGenius 4.0's and 12 to give away to another mom. I know people who need cloth diapers so...

It got me thinking. There are many different ways in which we are able to make ends meet while having three small children who tend to go through clothes (and other items) like they are going out of style. So, here is just one way in which we save money when our children are small.

We make our own baby food (and I breast feed exclusively except for giving sippy cups with water for the first year).

Think about it. On average, one serving of Gerber baby food is about $0.75. That is $2.25 a day, 15.75 a week, and $819.00 a year. Just on pureed food (and that is baby food, not toddler food which is more expensive, for example one mac and cheese dinner will cost you $2.33).

On the other hand, we bought a variety of fruits and vegetables at Trader Joe's on Monday. The apples were $0.69 each, and I used two of them to make baby food. The two apples made about 10 servings. That is $0.13 per serving. I saved $0.62 on just one serving of applesauce. I bought frozen peas at $1.29 and used half of them to make baby food. It made 6 servings (I think). That figures out to $0.11 a serving. I could go on, but...well, I digress.

I've also thought about the savings in gas and time. Sure, it took me about 45 minutes to make about 40 servings of baby food yesterday morning. But, in that time I also did dishes, packed up stuff to go hang out with friends, and got my kids to go out and play. If I had gone to the store to buy 40 servings of baby food it would have taken me at least that long to get to the store and back. Not to mention wrangling three small children in and out of the car and in the grocery store.

Plus, there are huge benefits for Benjamin as well. Have you ever tasted store bought baby food? It's gross. It's also super bland. It's no wonder that so many kids only want plain white bread and macaroni and cheese to eat. I'm hoping that by giving Benjamin foods such as hummus and green and red peppers he will develop a taste for more interesting foods.

So, that's my thoughts on baby food. I will write about my cloth diaper research later on this week! :)