1. Get your coupons!
There’s never a shortage of diaper coupons. We always see a ton of coupons for the most popular brands, especially Pampers and Huggies. Those two brands in particular are going to be your best bet when it comes to consistently finding good deals because Proctor & Gamble (Pampers) and Kimberly Clark (Huggies) Put out more coupons and promotions than any other diaper brand. Manufacturer Coupons can be found in newspaper inserts and online.
Money Saving Tip: The majority of the time, you are going to be buying the smallest packs of diapers with your coupons. It’s typically a better deal to buy multiple small packs and use a coupon on each pack purchased rather than buying a big pack or box that would be the equivalent of multiple small packs and only using one coupon. If you aren’t sure if it’s a good deal or not, the easiest way to tell is by breaking it down to the price per diaper. You can use this formula:
Final Price ÷ the number of diapers in the pack = the price per diaper
The smaller size diapers have more in the pack than the bigger ones, so obviously those are going to have a lower stock up price than the larger sizes. The jumbo packs are pretty easy to know when you are getting a great deal but when you get into the larger pack sizes it can start to get trickier to know immediately. That formula can help you determine if it is. I wouldn’t waste my time unless it was 15¢ per diaper or less. Anything under 10¢ is a definite stock up deal.
2. Coupons alone aren’t going to cut it.
You might be able to get a good price on diapers by using a coupon on diapers when they are on sale, but to really maximize your savings, look for deals that also include some type of additional reward or gift card. I’ve had great success couponing for diapers at drug stores like CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid. All of these stores frequently run promotions to earn back an additional reward for spending a certain amount on diapers and or wipes. Make sure you sign up for the Store Cards for these stores in order to access the sales prices and store rewards offers. It doesn’t cost you anything except the few minutes it takes to sign up. (You can also get good deals at Target for diapers, but in my experiences, the promotions they offer to get the best deals require you to buy the bigger boxes which typically requires a higher out of pocket cost that may not always be convenient when you are working on a limited budget.
Here’s a made up scenario similar to deals we frequently see at drug stores:
Spend $30 on Diapers and earn back $10 in store rewards (At CVS it’s Extra Bucks, At Walgreens it would be a Register Reward and at Rite Aid it would be Plenti Points.) The amount you need to spend to get that store reward is always BEFORE any coupons are applied! Let’s just say that diapers are on sale for $10 per pack and you have coupons to save $2.00 on each pack purchased. You would be able to do something like this:
Buy 3 Diapers $10 each = $30
– (3) $2.00/1 Diaper Manufacturer Coupons
Pay OOP: $24 and get back $10 in store rewards to use on a future purchase
Final Price: $14 for all 3 packs or $4.67 per pack
That’s a pretty good price and you can make it even better if you happen to have a store coupon to use in addition to your manufacturer coupons.
For CVS– Make sure you sign up for e-mails (Create or log into your Extra Care account online and make sure you opt-in for e-mails.) CVS frequently sends out e-mail coupons for dollars of your purchase (this coupon is also applied before any manufacturer coupons) that could be used to increase your savings. Common coupons are for $4 off $20, $5 off $25 or even $6 off $30. You may also receive baby coupons that could be used at the Red Magic Coupon Machine or they may print on the bottom of your receipt ( a.k.a. CRT’s) if you have purchased baby care items there before.
For Walgreens – Check the Monthly Savings booklets (usually found near the entrance or on the ends of the aisles.) The coupons in these booklets are called IVC’s (Instant Value Coupons.) These are Walgreens Store Coupons that can be stacked with manufacturer coupons. These are cool because you can scan the coupon once and it will apply to each qualifying item purchased. If it was for $1.00 off one pack of diapers. In the example we used above, it would take of $3.00 ($1 for each pack purchased.)
3. Don’t let the savings stop there!
Be sure to check for additional cash back options for diapers that may be available. Mobile Apps like Ibotta, Checkout 51 and Mobisave frequently have cash back rebates available to help you save even more money! They are all FREE to download and use! When it comes to saving money, every little bit helps and you might be surprised how fast you can rack up some extra savings!
A little advice…
If your baby is not born yet, you don’t want to go too crazy buying ahead because there can be a lot of unforeseen issues. A particular brand may not work for your baby as planned. It’s a lot easier to stockpile diapers once you can actually have some general ideas as to which brands work best for you, how many diapers you are going through on a weekly basis, how quickly your baby is growing, etc. I took a huge risk stockpiling all these Huggies (above) for baby #3, but it was an exceptional deal. They were from a local grocery store and I ended up getting all of these for about $26. Luckily my gamble paid off and I was able to use them all, but it was definitely a calculated risk! Deals like that don’t happen often, but I can say that personally had the greatest amount of success couponing for diapers consistently at CVS. Diaper deals happen there just about every other week and I always got the best deals by using my manufacturer coupons, store coupons and rolling my ECBs from week to week. Saving on diapers isn’t complicated, it just requires a little diligence and consistency. I would say, until there’s a potty training colored light at the end of the tunnel, keep picking up a few packs every time you see a fantastic deal on your brand(s) and you will never be forced to pay full price for diapers (A sure fire way to turn any couponer into a BIG BABY!)
Follow us here at Yes We Coupon – we always post the HOTTEST diaper deals for national stores!
Good Luck & Happy Stockpiling!