How to Score Deals on Cloth Diapers

Find Sales and Discounts:

• Check out DiaperPin.com as lots of retailers advertise their sales there.
• Wait for holidays. Lots of retailers offer specials on holiday weekends. Black Friday, Mother's Day and Father's Day are big ones. Also keep an eye out on holidays you might not expect like Independence Day.
• Inquire about upcoming sales. One popular brand, BumGenius, tends to have a 'Buy 5 get 1 free' sale at least once a year. Retailers may also be planning their own sales. 
• "Like" cloth diaper retailers on Facebook and follow cloth diaper bloggers to hear about deals and coupons. I've read a few cloth diaper reviews and at the very end of the review found 5% off coupon codes for cloth diaper retailers.
• ALWAYS search online for a coupon code for your retailer before you submit your order! You may get lucky! (My hubby taught me this one!)
• Buy in bulk. Many retailers offer increasing discounts if you buy 3, 6, or 12 or more diapers. If your favorite retailer does not offer such a discount, try to find a place that does and request a price match. Also, if you place a large order, you may qualify to receive a free gift at certain retailers.
• If you are lucky enough to have a brick and mortar cloth diaper retailer in your area, join their mailing list and attend any special events they hold. I have received coupons and free merchandise this way. 

Buy Secondhand:

• Search your local Craigslist for the brand you are looking for or just do a search on "diaper" to see what comes up.
• Some cloth diaper retailers have Gently Used sections on their websites including Nicki's Diapers, Diaper Junction, and Jillian's Drawers. These diapers are often returns through the retailer's own short-term trial program, so the diapers are typically in Excellent Used Condition but are cheaper than buying new. If you have a brick and mortar store near you, ask if they have a gently-used section in-store. You may find some deals there that are not advertised on the website!
• Some websites are dedicated to cloth diaper resale including Cloth Diaper Trader, Re-Diaper.com, and Diaper Swappers. Diapers on these sites may vary from Excellent to Good Used Condition. Be sure to find out whether you will be responsible for shipping costs before purchasing on a resale site, as shipping costs can be significant.

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That is an initial brain dump on how to save money on the fluff you want. Will continue to add to this list as more ideas come to mind. If you have any tips, please comment below! Thanks!

Juicing, Diapers, and Jesus

Dark green lettuces – ¼ to ½ of a head
Escarole – 2 or 3 leaves
Beet tops (young inner leaves) – 2 to 3 leaves
Watercress – 5 or 6 leaves
Red cabbage – 2 or 3 leaves
Green bell pepper – ¼
Swiss chard – little
Green apple – 1

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I thought I'd probably hate juicing. Drinking green veggie juices. Yuck. Green juice even looks gross.

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I have a friend that literally cured herself from cancer through juicing and some additional holistic therapies (http://gerson.org/gerpress/the-gerson-therapy/). She blogs about her experiences. She posts on Facebook about her experiences, juices, why others should juice, the benefits of juicing, juicy-juice-juice. All. The. Time.

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I started juicing vegetables a few months ago, and I LOVE it. I now consume far more organic produce than I ever did before. I crave the juice. Every time I drink it I think, man, I wish it were less time-consuming to juice so I could juice with every meal. Yummmmm!

My friend asked today on Facebook what inspired others to start juicing. I honestly answered that her story and her many, many, many Facebook posts were the sole reason that I started juicing.

My friend's incessant posts popping up on my Facebook feed over about the course of a year slowly led me from considering purchasing a juicer ($300 on a machine to make juice that I didn't really think I'd like drink?!), to deciding to purchase a Vitamix (so I could prepare more healthy / raw foods... and maybe juice with it if I decided to), to finally attempting a juice with the Vitamix (I went for carrot-apple first, cause I figured if I couldn't down that combo there was no way I was going to like a green juice), to LOVING juicing, yes even green juices, and wanting to include more and more organic produce into my diet. My two year old son also loves his green juice, and that makes me feel great!

My friend effectively used social media advertising to lead me to change my lifestyle. And I don't think I'm the only one she has effected.
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While recognizing the power of one person's Facebook posts on my life, it's time to reflect on what messages I am putting out there. What are my posts, tweets, and blog entries promoting? What (if anything) do I want them to be promoting or discouraging?

I often want to blog about cloth diapers. And cloth diapering is something I'd like to promote. Though I fear blogging about products may promote materialism in me and others, the opportunity to help people save lots of money and to avoid putting thousands and THOUSANDS of disposable diapers in a landfill on God's good earth (~8k per child) tips the scales in my mind... though still with some reservation. And there are some potential health benefits to boot.

What my heart really, really wants to promote is Jesus. Grace. The pursuit of God. No reservations. But it feels kind of awkward to feel like I'm "advertising" Jesus.

I wish I could just be more natural and authentic about things. But the truth is I'm analytic and self conscious and I over-think things. If I'm going to post about Jesus or cloth diapers, I'm thinking about the people who might be reading my post and what they might be thinking about it. Except perhaps during those rare moment when I'm too tired to really notice or care what people are thinking.

But, Jesus is definitely worth sharing, even if it feels awkward. I once heard that on average a person needs to hear the good news seven times before they welcome it into their story.

It took way more than seven times hearing about juicing for me to change my lifestyle. It took way more than seven exposures to people who truly believe and live the good news for me to receive new life.

I am thankful for my friend's incessant posts about juicing, because it helped me make healthier life choices for me and my family.

I am SO, SO, SO thankful for the family, friends, and acquaintances* who were brave enough to share about Jesus and God's gift of grace with me, even when it probably felt really, really awkward for them to do so. And also for the love they showed to me. Because 'if they had spoken in the tongues of men or angels but did not have love, they would have only been a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.'

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In conclusion and in full disclosure, I may be doing some Facebook posting about cloth diapering and about Jesus in full knowledge that social media advertising can change lives. I will try to do so in love. And hey, at least I'm being frank about it!

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(*That means you, brother Heath, sis-in-law Jacque, Nathan G., and others.)