Bye Bye Cable Bill!

In an effort to cut expenses, my husband and I decided to get rid of cable. We were inspired by a few of our friends who have also cut their cable plans. Our bill for cable alone was $60 per month, and was set to increase to $90 when our promotional period was up. The first thing I did was make a list of the shows on our DVR list. I realized quickly we could watch almost all of our favorite current shows either online for free, or with Hulu Plus. The only show we are unable to watch is The Walking Dead. Luckily, my mom lives close by and will be saving the episodes in her DVR for us to watch.

 Next, we signed up for a free week with Hulu Plus to make sure we liked it. So far, so good! I called our cable company today and cancelled our subscription. We lost our discount on our internet since we bundled, but our bill was lowered $45 per month after everything was all said and done. We had to pay a $135 cancellation fee since our contract was not up for another 9 months, but we still saved ourselves $270 in that time! Hulu Plus is only $7.99 per month and I can cancel at any time. 

Don't want to get rid of cable but hate paying the bill? Call your provider and tell them you can't afford the service anymore. Before the representative cancelled my subscription, she offered me a discount on my already discounted plan.  

My total savings? $37/month, and $67/month beginning in November.

What's The Best Diet?

Frankly speaking, the best diet is not a diet. It is a lifestyle change. Usually we gain weight because we are eating too much junk and not getting enough exercise. Ugh, the E word. We'll address that later.


When I was a young(er) adult, I could eat what I wanted with little to no repercussion. I didn't have to exercise (although I was active), count calories, watch portions, etc. Then I made a career change and took an office job. I went from being on my feet 40 hours per week to sitting at a desk most of the time. I gained about 5 pounds in the first few months and plateaued out. I didn’t try to lose weight as I still felt happy with my size. All that changed when I got married. 

Having a husband around who loved food led to eating more, eating out, and eating more often. I gained about 20-25 pounds in less than a year. Yikes! I had already made the switch to a vegetarian lifestyle, but was filling the void left by the absence of meat with carbohydrates. Not the good ones, either… Pasta, pizza, breads…. I decided I needed to lose weight and, like most, wanted to do it immediately. I tried only eating carbs in the morning, and filling the rest of the day with veggies. Fail. Lemonade diet? Fail. Atkins? Being a vegetarian already set me up for failure for this one. Counting calories? Fail. I tried almost everything short of prepackaged food programs.

One day I saw a Weight Watchers commercial and decided to give it a try. I signed up online because I could not picture myself going to meetings. If you are unfamiliar with this program, it is pretty simple. You can eat whatever you want. Each food is assigned a point value based on its protein, carbohydrate, fat, and fiber content. Each day you can eat X amount of points, with bonus weekly points to use on days you go over your allotment. The first few days were hard. I had to enter all my foods into my online tracker. Once I had my favorites programmed, it was very easy. The site keeps track of your daily and weekly points, as well as rewarding you with activity points for exercising. I lost 6 pounds the first week, and continued to lose weight at a healthy rate over the next few weeks. Soon, I got really good at knowing a food’s point value before even having to track it. I cancelled my online membership and now carry a small notepad so I can track my daily points.

I cannot stress enough how much I LOVE this program! It is designed to teach you HOW to eat. You quickly realize you can have pancakes for breakfast and pizza for lunch, but dinner is going to be lacking (fruits and most vegetables are 0 points and considered “free foods” so you’ll never starve yourself). I learned that my problem is portion control, and Weight Watchers really helped me learn how to properly portion my meals. I would strongly recommend this plan to anyone having trouble losing weight.

How Do I Wash Cloth Diapers?

If you have made it this far, you are thinking about or have made the decision to cloth diaper. Washing routines are pretty standard in the cloth diapering community.

For regular washing (every 2-3 days):

• Rinse in cold water first. This will help to remove stains.
• Wash in hot water with the normal of detergent you would use in any load.
• Rinse at least twice. You want to make sure you do not have soap left on your diapers.

If you have no problems with your diapers, continue with this routine. You may find that you need to adjust your detergent brand or amount, or number of rinses. If you need to rinse more than you would like, try cutting down your detergent amount. Just be aware that if you use too little, your diapers will not get clean.

For stripping diapers:

This is not so cut and dry as not many people agree on one way to strip their diapers. I found that I had to strip my diapers a lot when I was using All Free & Clear, as well as Rockin' Green detergent. Since switching to Tide, I have not had to strip them.

RLR Method (Sodium Carbonate/Washing Soda):

RLR is highly concentrated washing soda. Keep in mind if you use regular washing soda, you will have to use about a cup to equal the potency of one packet of RLR. 

• Rinse your diapers in cold water.
• Fill you washer with the hottest water possible and empty one packet of RLR into your machine.
• Let you machine run a bit to mix the RLR with the diapers and water.
• Turn off or pause your machine for a few hours. It is best to let them sit overnight.
• Turn your washer back on and let it resume the cycle.
• Rise, rinse, rinse! If you are able to, rinse on hot. I can't, so I usually do another hot wash cycle.

Dawn Method:

I do not recommend using this method if you have a front loader.

• Rinse your diapers in cold water.
• Add a small squirt of Dawn to the hot wash cycle. Do not add any other detergent.
• Rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse! It may take a few rinses to remove all of the dawn   

After stripping, make sure to dry your diapers in the sun. This should remove any stink and build-up issues. 

Detergents - Update

I have recently come to the conclusion that cloth diaper companies are trying to scam us into  buying their expensive cloth diaper detergents. Diapers can handle regular laundry detergent with no problem. After a year of trying hypoallergenic detergents and cloth diaper specific detergents, my diapers always stink! I have to strip them monthly, and I am convinced they are just not getting clean enough. I will be using the rest of my Rockin Green (since I still have more than one bag full), and then will be switching to Tide Original. I will update when that time comes!

Softeners

Never, ever, ever use fabric softeners or dryer sheets on your cloth diapers. This will cause them to repel liquid and lead to leaks.

 

Why Cloth Diaper?

I know cloth diapering is not for everyone. I have come across a few people who have honestly given it a try and it did not work out for them. Others are intimidated by the mere thought of washing something their child pees and poos in. I get it. It can be a little grosser than disposables. In my experience, the benefits far outweigh the inconveniences. 

I think about the planet we all live on. Many of us treat Earth like it has endless resources, and think nothing of the amount of trash we drag to the curb each week. Disposable diapers take 550 years to break down, as well as taking up a tremendous amount of space in our landfills. On the flip side, Britain's Environmental Agency discovered that cloth diapers actually have a slightly higher carbon footprint than disposables when not treated correctly. 

"Using reusables and washing them at 90 degrees Celsius [194 degrees Fahrenheit] with detergents in a half load with tumble drying can be overall more damaging in terms of the carbon footprint than using disposables," he explained.

 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,488705,00.html#ixzz2LNhuFSk0

I'm not sure who does their cloth diaper laundry that way. My hot water heater is set at 125 degrees Fahrenheit, I have an HE machine, and I line dry my cloth diapers. I believe most people line dry their diapers since it is much better for them. The sun also naturally removes stains and many stink issues. Even on cloudy days stains can disappear since it is the UV light that does the dirty work. This is why UV lights are often used in aquariums and air conditioning systems. 

More importantly to some people is the cost. If you don't become obsessed (good luck!), you can really spend very little on your stash of cloth diapers. There are many swap pages online where you can purchase and trade used cloth diapers from other moms. I have done this many times and never been disappointed. Of course, I always make sure to wash and inspect the diapers before putting them on my son. There are also many cheapie diapers that you can purchase from China. While I always try to buy items that are made in America, there are times when I can not afford to do so. It would be easy to complete a cloth diaper stash for under $500 to last your child from birth to potty training. You can also use cloth wipes. Cut up receiving blankets and even wash clothes and old towels work fine. If you go the disposable route, you will go through 6,500 - 10,000 diapers from birth to potty training. Add disposable wipes and you're looking at up to $4,000 in diapers and wipes. Even with the cost of washing diapers, it is still a savings. My water and electricity bills did not go up after my son was born and I added cloth diaper laundry.

My last reason for using cloth diapers is to avoid all the chemicals in disposable diapers. Many of today’s disposable diapers are bleached to make them pretty and white. This process results in a byproduct known as dioxin. The dioxin is released into the environment and into the diapers. Most people think nothing of this since they use bleach in their laundry and when cleaning. 
 

“People who have been exposed to high levels of dioxin have developed chloracne, a skin disease marked by severe acne-like pimples. Studies have also shown that chemical workers who are exposed to high levels of dioxins have an increased risk of cancer. Other studies of highly exposed populations show that dioxins can cause reproductive and developmental problems, and an increased risk of heart disease and diabetes. More research is needed to determine the long-term effects of low-level dioxin exposures on cancer risk, immune function, and reproduction and development.”  

http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/dioxins/index.cfm

Ever wonder what the absorbant part is in disposable diapers? It is sodium polycarbonate, made from the cellulose of trees mixed with crystals of polyacrylate. This sodium polyacrylate is the same chemical removed from tampons because of toxic shock syndrome concerns. In defense of the diaper industry, tampons go inside the body, and diapers do not. I have not found any research on the effects of sodium polyacrylate on babies.

Tributyl-tin is another chemical found in many disposable diapers. Here is a quote from the EPA:

“TBT is an organotin compound used primarily as a biocide in antifouling paints. It is extremely toxic to aquatic life and is an endocrine-disrupting chemical that causes severe reproductive effects in aquatic organisms. TBT is extremely stable and resistant to natural degradation in water. Because of its chemical properties and widespread use as an antifouling agent, concerns have been raised over the risks it poses to both freshwater and saltwater organisms. The final ambient water quality criteria document for TBT contains ambient water quality criteria designed to protect aquatic organisms and their uses. These criteria are guidance for states and tribes and, in themselves, have no binding legal effect. However, they may form the basis for state water quality standards and become enforceable through NPDES permits or other environmental programs. These TBT water quality criteria are published pursuant to Section 304(a) of the Clean Water Act (CWA).”

http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/standards/criteria/aqlife/tributyltin/fs-final.cfm

There are many other chemicals used in disposable diaper including VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), fragrances, dyes, and plastics. Many babies have sensitive skin and have reactions resulting in rashes and discomfort. Many times, parents treat with different diaper creams before realizing their child is allergic to the diaper itself. 

Of course, the trick is... not getting addicted to all the cute prints and styles...