Dave Ramsey Rocks....kind of

So Preston and I are in a financial class that we are taking through our church called Financial Peace University (FPU). It is taught by the famous Dave Ramsey. The class is REALLY good and we are learning a lot. (The reason I added the "kind of" in the title is b/c budgeting isn't really that fun and you end up doing less fun stuff...or at least that's the way it seems.) My big thing right now is trying to saving money via the grocery budget (which means anything that can be bought at Wal-Mart including other house hold things besides just food). I have done some research to find out where things are the cheapest between these stores: Wal-Mart, Target, Sams. I am committing to try store brand products at least once. How will I know if they are not as good if I don't try them? If I don't like the Target brand of something then I don't have to buy it again but at least I tried. If you want to see the results of my researsh (for things that we buy most often) click here. Most of the products are store brands, some are not.

Moms or Moms-to-be or Moms Someday, if you don't read anything else on this blog post read this:

I've found that the biggest place that I can save money is through diapers and formula. I've tried all the kinds of diapers except White Cloud (Wal-Mart) from both Target and Wal-Mart. I'm trying the White Cloud next time I buy so I'll let you know but I really do like the Target diapers. I get the same results from them as I do from the big brands. Now, they are not as cute but they are a heck of a lot cheaper. I also really like the Member's Mark (Sam's Club) infant formula. Chase really likes it and it has the same ingredients as the big brands. I did lots of research on formula and how good one is compared to another and I found that they are all good and meet the same FDA standards (but don't take my word for it, look it up yourself).

Here are some costs for diapers (I'm using Target as an example for costs):
Huggies - 19.99 for 104
Pampers Baby Dry - 19.89 for 104
Pampers Cruisers - 19.99 for 88
Target Brand - 13.79 for 104

Here are some costs for Formula (again using Target as the example for the name brands):
Enfamil - 22.79 for 25.7 oz
Similac - 21.39 for 25.7 oz
Target Brand - 11.00 for 25.7 oz
Member's Mark (Sams brand) - 19.38 for 51.4 oz

Here's the important Part:
Supposing that someone goes through a big box of diapers every 2 weeks or so (I'm going to use the prices above even though different sizes may be a little different). For the first year the Target Brand buyer will spend: 330.96 and the Huggies buyer will spend: 477.36. If that same person does like me and breast feeds for 5 months...does both for 3 months...and formula feeds for 4 months (a total of around 600 oz). The Sams buyer spends: 226.70 and the Similac buyer spends: 499.20. (I know you're thinking that to really save I should breast feed the whole first year...you're right...but that's not going to happen. :) Therefor the name brand person (as far as diapers and formula goes) spends $418.90 more than the off-brand person. Wow! That's a lot of dough. (That's a car payment for some people and two car payments for others...or a fun trip...or Mother's Day Out...or lots of clothes...etc.)

Hope this is helpful. I didn't intend on writing this much.