Saturday, May 24, 2008

diaper mayhem III - going shopping

"diaper mayhem" is a series of posts where I describe my experience trying to get the best value for a new fixed cost in our budget....diapers. In diaper mayhem II - an act of treason
I described how I felt like a traitor seeking atonement, as I finally tried Kirkland Signature Diapers from my favourite retailer Costco Wholesale. This post followed up on the premier post of the diaper mayhem series, where I pledged my early allegiance to the Pampers brand.

The third episode of this series involves comparison shopping using prices from our favourite grocery store, Price Chopper, which is the value banner offered by Sobeys in Canada. Here are how the prices look at Price Chopper:

Huggies $35.00 for 144 = $0.243/ diaper
Pampers $35.00 for 144 = $0.243/diaper
Compliments little ones $24.00 for 120 = $0.20/diaper

Smaller Packages
Huggies $18.00 for 60 = $0.30/diaper
Pampers $18.00 for 60 = $0.30/diaper
Compliments little ones $13.00 for 60 = $0.217/diaper

*Kirkland Signature at Costco are $45.00 for 200 = $0.225/diaper ($657/year)

Assuming your baby goes through 8 diapers per day, purchasing Kirkland Signature diapers instead of Huggies or Pampers could save you about $53/year. Overall the most money can be spent by buying diapers in smaller packages. Buying Pampers or Huggies in the smaller packages of 60 will cost $876 per year, while the large packages will cost you only $710. Compliments little ones in larger boxes would only cost you $584 per year. I would be interested to hear from anyone who has tried these diapers, as the price is right.

We've actually been very pleased with Kirkland Signature Diapers, which are most likely made by Kimberly Clark (the maker of Huggies). I would rate them as good or better than Pampers Baby Dry, which we were previously using.

Next time I'll be looking at diaper prices from other retailers and hopefully we'll get some new brands into the fray as well.

10 comments:

Traciatim said...

Having two kids, 6 and 3, we've tried just about everything short of wrapping them up in grocery bags to save money on diapers.

For most of the diaper time we were in an apartment with shared laundry so we didn't feel comfortable with cloth.

The only thing we could use that just seemed to fit properly, and always seemed to perform consistently were Pampers.

We've tried huggies when on sale, whatever store brands we could fin cheap etc. After we went through the bag of 'whatever' the next bag was always Pampers.

Anonymous said...

what about using cloth diapers? you save money in the long term.

Four Pillars said...

Wait till you have a second kid - trust me, you won't care about diaper costs at all... :)

Mike

MG (moneygardener) said...

To be frank, we just don't want the added hassles that cloth diapers present. Ultimately my wife is the boss on that matter though.

Mike, Then I'll save twice the money!

Anonymous said...

you should check out the Proctor and Gamble Warehouse sale and Pampers (boxes) end up costing about $0.19 each...

MG (moneygardener) said...

anon, where/when does that take place?

TKO from Ontario said...

Greeting MG,

Cost per unit analysis is a great. Have you checked out P&G; promos at Walmart?

This one is my faveourite:

$15 Walmart Canada Gift Card with Pampers Purchase

http://smartcanucks.ca/canadian-coupons-discounts-canada/15-walmart-canada-gift-card-with-pampers-purchase-2/

Since diapers and wipes go together like peanut butter and jam.

Cheers to savings,

TKO

shaf said...

MG... the P&G; warehouse sale takes place twice a year. Check out this forum when it's usually posted..

http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=9

Also check www.save.ca for coupons...

Shaf.

MillionDollarJourney said...

We're using pampers swaddlers for the newborn. We tried the other kinds, even pampers baby dry, and they all didn't come close in absorption quality.

I think the biggest problem with buying pampers in bulk is the potential for wastage as the child grows out of them. Perhaps timing is everything?

David said...

Great posts. We came to the same conslusions after trying Pampers (worked just great), Teddy's (too much baby rash), and Huggies (leaked all over the place).

I actually thought the Kirkland diapers were more like pampers... who knows. At our Costco now, the price per diaper is actually 1 cent cheaper for Huggies so we switched to that, and they've been working fine.... and we're potty training early :)