Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Routines.

I've settled into a diaperwashing routine, after some trial and error.

I drypail, meaning the dirty diapers go into a nylon stuff sack until said sack is full, then the whole lot of it goes into the washer. I tried a couple of methods before finding the washing routine that worked for me: no rinse, Bio-Kleen Bac-Out on everything, soak in hot for at least one hour before running the actual wash cycle; no rinse, run a cold wash first with just baking soda, followed by a second cold wash with Country Save detergent; insert random washing experiments here.

What I've settled on is this:
  • Wet diapers go directly into the pail, no pretreating.
  • Dirty diapers get rinsed in the shower with the shower massage head, then liberally soaked with Bac-Out
  • All diapers go through a short first wash on cold with about a half-cup of baking soda and a smallish amount of detergent. Dirty diapers may or may not get pretreated with detergent, depending on how bad they look.
  • This is followed by a longer hot wash with Country Save and whatever oxygen bleach powder is handy.
  • If sunny, hang to dry. If not, stick diapers in dryer on hot for 100 minutes with a dry towel.
It works well.

Sunday, September 25, 2005

Wanted: Reset button

Well, the Nikki wrap was my very first consignment failure: it tore in my hands this morning.

I'll have to try figuring out something to do with the non-torn parts, because the notion of wasting that much money (all $4.99 + tax of it) makes me cringe.

I'm so tired today, physically and mentally. It's been one of those days where all you want to do is curl up into a ball and wait for it to pass.

On the plus side, while cleaning out some of the basement boxes last night, we found my leftover sock wool. There may be enough for me to make a soaker, if I can find my knitting needles and remember how to knit.

Consignment scores

So, when I said I couldn't find any used Robeez, it appears I meant I literally couldn't find the basket where they hide the things. See, I'd foolishly assumed that they kept them in the same place as the shoes.

Nope. They're in small baskets tucked next to the huge shelf of new ones.

While I was going off budget for the purchase, I still was cheap and went for the very scuffed and plain white ones instead of the (half again as expensive) ones with trains on them.

But that was mainly because I didn't like the ones with trains on them. Not much of a selection in used 6-12 month shoes, I fear.

I also found things for the shower I'm attending on Saturday, and a wool Nikky wrap in large, and all of it for under the price of a single new pair of Robeez.

We survived Budget Week One.

Tomorrow starts Budget Week Two.

Cat supplies (food and litter) and another $20's worth of gas are going to be the big items.

Monday, September 19, 2005

Cover to cover

I'm not going to do an inventory count for diaper covers, because I honestly have no idea what all I have. I am, however, going to do some quick reviews.

Diaper covers I have known
  • LiteWraps: your basic PUL cover. It has gussets, which are nice, and snaps as well as velcro. Runs large, so you'll get a lot of use out of the cover.
  • Cot'nWraps: style is almost identical to their sister wrap, the LiteWrap, but doesn't run as large. A good choice for hot summer days, but the cotton inside gets damp easily, so I hate using it more than once. Too delicate for regular use.
  • Bummis Super Snap: I adore these covers. They run a touch big, adjust well, and hold everything in. Plus they feel nice to the touch, and don't leave marks on the girl.
  • Diaperaps: functional, but not my favorites.
  • Kushies wraps: see above. These are good for hard-to-fit diapers, however.
  • Polar Babies original wrap: this is a nice cover, but it runs really, really, really small. Small like, I started my girl on size C (18-22lbs) when she was 13lbs and it was a little snug even then small.
  • Nikki wool wraps: I think fleece and wool covers just run tiny. I have two of these in medium. They're a wonderful cover, but not at all true to size.
  • Biobottoms wool wraps: similar to the Nikki, but truer to size. I think I prefer the softer wool and nicer leg design of the Nikki, but the Biobottoms fit better.

Having a day.

Or a series of them.

Between the engine light going on Friday, the boy working all day Saturday, and the new and improved super tight budget kicking in today (well, yesterday), it has not been my weekend.

It was not made better by our first diaper blowout in ages.

By the standards of blowouts, it was pretty impressive. I had to change the girl, the bed, the changing table cover... pretty much everything but my own clothing. Good thing it was bath day.

A quick check with the tape measure reveals that yes, baby does in fact need a new pair of shoes. Her Robeez are almost too small. A new pair would be a large percentage of the weekly household budget. I haven't had any luck finding them at consignment, so I hope she can hold off on outgrowing them completely for a few more weeks.

Right now, I'm trying to decide what's bothering me the most about the money situation: the lack of money for baby shoes or the fact that we've decided we can't afford to replace the deck, so there's going to be a sliding glass door leading to nowhere in the back of my house for the foreseeable future.

Can I just skip ahead to the part where I look back at this and laugh?

Friday, September 16, 2005

They say that animals can smell fear...

...what they fail to mention is that cars, like houses and major appliances, can smell a soon-to-be reduced income.

That's the only explanation.

Four years ago, the night of my final day at my last permanent position, the bathroom started to fall apart. (Literally. The pink plastic tiles fell off the wall, revealing a very mushy layer of sheetrock beneath and resulting in a to-the-studs redo that would take over three years to complete. I spent my lay-off payoff on tiles and toilets.)

Last year, as my then-job was coming to an end, our ancient stove gave up the ghost.

This year, in the final weeks of my now-job, the microwave went poof.

Today, as I was driving to pick up the boy so that we could hit Value Village, the check engine light came on. We don't know this car well enough to know if it's a sign of something bad, or just a reminder (as it was in our last car) to take it into the shop.

Ugh.

On the plus side for the day, I found two nursing shirts, some next-size-up clothes for the girl, and a pair of winter shoes for me at VV.

Confessional

You know, I'm not very good with money.

I never have been.

My parents are, which is how we managed to survive some exceedingly lean financial years when I was growing up. We dressed in hand-me-downs and secondhand clothing, ate many meals that were based on such cheap and healthy fillers as lentils, and learned to do without wherever possible. This did not, however, translate into an amazing set of financial skills.

I don't know. Maybe it was the lack of an allowance. Maybe it was growing up poor in a well-to-do neighborhood. Whatever the root cause or causes the reality remains the same: I'm horrible at budgeting.

With money, I'm like the child who isn't allowed sugar at home, and so gorges on it at birthday parties and sleepovers. There are all these foods and clothes and books and toys and things to be tried, you see. The appeal of the new and the shiny to one who grew up with the old and the dull should not be underestimated. And, to be blunt, one thing I learned during my DINK days was that all too frequently, the more expensive option really does taste-look-wear-work better. Usually a lot better.

There's a back and forth going on in my brain, with one voice telling me, "This should be easy. After all, you grew up without." and the other chiming in with, "Yes, but you didn't actually like growing up without, now did you?"

My goal with this whole frugality venture, aside from the obvious one of surviving on a vastly reduced income, is to somehow find a balance between the voices, one I can live with, and one that won't leave my daughter with the same money issues I struggle with daily.

But damn, it's not going to be easy.

Monday, September 12, 2005

Looking forward, looking back

The girl is five months old tomorrow.

I keep catching myself thinking, "Oh, this is what they mean when they say they grow up so fast."

Last night I looked through pictures from her first two months while she slept beside me. I kept stealing glimpses of her face, trying to see my skinny little newborn in her plump cheeks and ruffled hair. That hair, now a light brown that glints copper, silver, or gold depending on the light, was so dark those first days it looked black. Months on her back hadn't yet worn down the length on the back and sides of her head, leaving her with just a wild mop on the top and a silly little fringe on the nape like a New Wave pop star.

In the months to come, she'll learn to sit (she's already about half the way to it), to stand, to run. Her hair will grow back, her limbs will thin out, and I'll catch myself looking at pictures of her now, trying to puzzle out where my chubby baby girl is hiding underneath her toddler shell.

I've seen so many variations on this sort of post from other people that I almost hesitate to write it down myself. After all, it's not like I'm saying anything that hasn't been said before. It's funny, but I never realized how something that sounds so trite could feel so very profound.

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Disposable day

Today, as I was going to be selling a lot of my old clothing at a multi-household yard sale with few chances to set the girl down for a change, I put her in Huggies for the first time in weeks.

Wow. Suddenly, her pants fit. Her swing fit. Her carseat straps had to be tightened. It really is a world adapted to the throwaways, isn't it?

I felt mildly guilty about using the things. I guess I've converted completely to the ways of cloth.

I earned about $35, got a couple of free items I could use, and managed to socialize, so despite the guilt, it was a good day. Almost everything sold, and the things that didn't can go to charity in the morning, freeing up some much-needed space.

The boy, finishing up a project started last night, spent the day baking bread. It's quite tasty, but I'll have to run the numbers to see if there's a savings. Probably, as the bread in question is plain sandwich loaf bread, and not something requiring fancy ingredients. He's trying the two-hour loaf found in the CI cookbook we have from the library, and if it's deemed acceptable (the other recipe won't do for regular use, as two days is far too long to wait for two loaves of sandwich bread, in my opinion), we may have to make this a weekly occurrence.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Inventory: Liners, doublers, and stuff like that.

To get my mind off the microwave, and pass the time while the girl eats.
  • Polar Babies polar fleece and hemp terry doublers - 4. Purchased at consignment. Liked them so much we went out and bought...
  • Polar Babies polar fleece and hemp fleece doublers - 6. Purchased new, I'm told that these are even better than the old fleece-and-terry kind. I haven't noticed a huge difference, but I already thought the old kind were the bee's knees.
  • Growing Greens hemp doublers - 3. Purchased along with the matching diapers on eBay. Similar to the Polar Babies ones, but narrower and thicker.
  • Kushies washable liners - 25. My parents brought me two ten packs from Toronto, and I got five as a bonus with my last AIO purchase. These are pretty basic flannel liners. They came in handy this morning when the girl had the mother of all dirty diapers.
  • Unknown brand quilted cotton doubler - 10 or 11. I got a big bag of these at consignment, and used them with the gauze diapers until I got the Polar Babies doublers. In a pinch, I find I can use two of these instead of a diaper. This was good to know back when we were first building our diaper supply.
  • Polar fleece liners - 6 or 7. My first DIY diaper project. I can't really sew, but I'm a whiz with scissors! We repurposed a fleece blanket that the boy got from his old job. What would we do without swag? These work fairly well to wick the moisture away from the girl's rear and into the diaper. Not as well as the Polar Babies do, but you can't beat the price.

This would be so much easier if things didn't break.

Pop goes the microwave.

Perhaps I was spoiled by the Amana I grew up with, which lasted from 1979 until a year or two ago, but I wasn't expecting our microwave to die quite yet. It was only a 1998 model, after all.

We'd talked about replacing it, as the door was a little sticky, but had decided that a minor issue like that wasn't worth spending the money on a new one. However, a loud popping sound followed by complete nonfunctionality would seem to indicate that we'll be spending that money after all. And there are so many other repairs and replacements it should have gone towards, too.

Things that we'll need to replace or repair before the girl is walking
  • The back deck (Replace, as the rotten deck was torn down last weekend, revealing itself to be more powder than wood.)
  • The water heater (Replace, as we've attempted repairs, all of which have failed--it's a danger to the girl once she can get into things, because it honestly cannot be set to the recommended temp. Or, rather, it can be set, but it doesn't pay attention to the settings.)
  • The front bedroom floor (Repair to be attempted. Right now, it splinters underfoot in places.)
  • Walls in hallway. (Replace on the bathroom side. These are still open from when the bathroom was redone.)
The microwave was not supposed to be on that list, damn it.

Inventory: Diapers

Our diaper stash
  • Chinese Prefolds (CPF) - 19. 18 purchased new, one from a consignment shop. One of the cheaper diapering options, I'm much fonder of these than I thought I'd be, especially now that I broke down and got a couple of Snappis. Not really worth purchasing used, as the cost per diaper is almost the same as when purchased new.
  • Kushies Ultra All-in-Ones (AIOs) - 11. 6 used, 5 new, all purchased on eBay. Not as fancy or nice as some of the high-end handmade AIOs, but great for on the go despite their bulk. Not the best nighttime diaper. I probably could have got away with just the 6 I started with.
  • Kushies Classics - 2. Purchased new. Supposedly, you can use these without the wrap, but I don't recommend it. See above, but subtract some from the on-the-go points.
  • Kushies Cuddlers - 2. Found in a box of baby and toddler clothes sent down by one of my cousins. I just found these two days ago. So far, they're merely okay, but hey! Free diapers.
  • Polar Babies hemp super prefold - 1. Purchased at consignment, used exclusively for nighttime diapering. Absorbs like whoa, very bulky. This is your average prefold on 'roids.
  • Kissaluvs fitted - 1. Purchased at consignment. Low rise, but feels wet fast. Wouldn't repurchase.
  • Gauze flats - 7. Purchased at consignment. I really like these with a hemp doubler for when I need a smaller diaper profile.
  • Growing Greens hemp fitted diaper - 5. Purchased on eBay. This is a very nice diaper. A fleece liner or doubler makes it nearly perfect, and if I can find a wool cover that will fit over it, I'm thinking of dubbing it the best diaper ever.
  • Random handmade looking paisley contour thing - 1. Found in the same box as the Kushies Cuddlers. Seems to function fairly well.
  • Flannel thing my mother swears is a diaper, but I think is a blanket - 1. See name for description. However, it works, so I'll buy into her reality for the time.
At the moment, I'm doing diapers every other day. I could reduce this to every three days, but I'd be using the diapers I like least all the time towards the end.

In other news, the girl is teething again, which means we had a hard time getting her to sleep. All she's wanted to do for the last few days is nurse and chew, though thankfully, not at the same time.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Frugality 1, Fashion 0

In my head, my house is furnished with fine, handcrafted hardwoods just begging to be touched. The oak floor of the living room (in my head, sanded and refinished) is gently covered in antique rugs of silk and wool (which mysteriously manage to avoid picking up a delicate coating of cat hair). A restored Hoosier cabinet adds a touch of vintage class to my funky-yet-functional kitchen (because if I'm going to refinish the living room floor in my head, I might as well redo the kitchen while I'm at it).

Reality, of course, is different. It's not bad, mind you. Reality is a generally tasteful mix of run-down antiques and Craig's List bargains, a worn floor that's occasionally accented with an Ikea Fauxriental rug or two, and a wire baker's rack from Target in a decidedly frustrating kitchen.

So it's not like I'm not willing to compromise my vision or anything silly like that. Usually, I'm able to balance beauty and budget, and all's well that ends well.

This was not the case today.

About a month ago, we looked hard at our budget, and decided it was time (a few months ahead of schedule) to switch to cloth diapering. The girl, sadly, inherited my rear proportions, and has been in size 2 diapers since she was about two months old, with no real end to their reign in sight at four months. Size 2 diapers, I should mention, cannot be had in bulk.

Making the switch from disposable diapers to cloth has been, in many ways, fantastic. I'm more in tune with my daughter's needs than ever, I'm feeling exceedingly virtuous in that smug sort of middle class liberal way, and, most importantly I'm no longer having to spend an insane amount of money on throwaway poop holders every month.

There are, of course, drawbacks. It takes longer to change her, as I find myself folding and refolding the diapers until they're just right. I spend what feels like 90% of my waking hours in the basement doing laundry.

The other big drawback is that those suckers take up a lot of space, both on her bottom and off. Her butt is comically large, and we've had diapers spilling from every nook, cranny, and space available.

Today, after trying and failing to come up with a storage solution using our existing furniture, a potato, and the clip from a ballpoint pen (sorry, MacGyver, I tried), the decision was made to purchase additional storage facilities. In my head, a beautiful lingerie chest would serve as Diaper Storage Station #1, until she was potty trained, when it would graduate to holding frilly little girl garments. My more practical side figured that hey, I could find one of those wire drawer cabinets like they sell for closets.

Unfortunately, the practical option was about $170 at the local Storables. Only mildly daunted, we headed to Lowes, where the bare-bones version was... only $70.

As my head whimpered and twitched, practical me gritted her teeth and picked up the $12 option: a plastic four-drawer storage chest. It's sitting on top of the file cabinet, sans casters, stuffed with diapers and diaper covers.

Ah well, at least it's functional.