Pampers vs. Luvs. Sometimes a bargain isn't what you bargained for.

My husband recently stopped at a local grocery store to pick up some diapers, and noticed that Luvs diapers were quite a bit cheaper than Pampers, which is what we had been using.  Pampers was about $10 while Luvs was between $6 and $7.  So, being on a tight budget, he was excited to buy Luvs and save quite a bit of money.  

So I opened this package of Luvs, and to my surprise, found rough, flat, papery diapers.  Nothing like the thicker, softer Pampers diapers.  But I used them anyway.  Just to give you a little background information, my son is breastfed, which means that his stools are very loose and often liquidy.  What I found with the Luvs was that when my son had a bowel movement the liquid was not absorbed into the diaper at all.  It just sat there.  At first I tried to convince myself that this would be ok since we change his diapers immediately after bowel movements.  It wasn't like he was going to be sitting in a dirty diaper very long.  So I continued using Luvs.  As a result, within just a few days my son's little bottom was scalding bright red, despite using popular and effective ointments as well as petroleum jelly.  This was another one of my low points.  I sobbed when I changed his diapers and felt incredibly guilty as a mother.  It felt horrible to think that this was all I could afford for my baby.  

I called my husband, still sobbing, and told him about how red our son's bottom was, and how bad I felt because I couldn't make it better.  My husband, the sweet man that he is, assured me that everything would be ok.  He explained that he had rearranged some of his financial obligations so that he could pay all the bills that I normally pay and that we could afford Pampers.  He said he would buy a box of Pampers on his way home from work.

So we started using the Pampers immediately.  Within a few hours we could see a difference in how my son's bottom looked.  Within 24 hours, his bottom was no longer red at all.  Now we have a big stack of Luvs that I feel compelled to use and not waste, but I just can't make myself put them on my son! 

Successes and Setbacks

Today was a good day in the world of financial survival for a few reasons.  Today was my daughter's prom, and thanks to a local resale shop she was able to look beautiful on a budget.  I was so proud of her for being not only ok with getting a prom dress second hand, but being enthusiastic about it.  She looked beautiful and so happy tonight.  She and her friends had a great time.

More good news of financial survival has to do with the homestead.  One of my chickens has become broody recently and is sitting on a nest of eggs.  With any luck we will have a few new chicks before long.  We are hoping for females.  We could use more eggs.  Also, I tilled my garden today, so hopefully we will have some free food come fall.  

Having chickens has been one of the most pleasurable hobbies I've found.  They are very easy to care for, fun to watch and produce delicious eggs.  My chickens are free range.  We live on about an acre and a half of land, and the chickens go wherever they want on our land.  Our property is fenced in, so the chickens are not at risk of being hit by passing cars.  However, we did have a problem at first with cats, when all of our chickens were young.  But since we have a batch of grown chickens, our chicks aren't bothered by the cats anymore.  However, a word of caution to those of you with big dogs.  We have a Great Pyrenees, and when she was younger, she killed a few of our chickens using them as a chew toy.  She didn't eat them.  She just wanted to play.