Turn that Venti Latte into university tuition!

It often amazes me when people talk about the 'cost' of cloth diapers. Yes, they have a larger upfront cost, but you simply cannot dispute the fact that cloth diapers will save you money in the longrun. If the upfront cost scares you, a smart way to build your stash would be to buy your diapers piece-by-piece; buying diapers one at a time will lessen the perceived financial blow of investing in cloth diapers.

I am ashamed to admit that I have an affinity for Starbucks coffee, and I know I'm not the only one, based on the fact there seems to be a Starbucks on every corner, in every major city. I used to be happy with my Timmy's, however when I was pregnant with #3, I developed an aversion to Tim Horton's that I've never quite gotten over (believe me, I've tried, I'd much rather pay $1.50 for a cuppa Joe than $5.00 for a fancy-schmancy Starbucks coffee!). I typically spend $12.00 a week on a grande something-or-other latte and a molassess cookie habit that I indulge in twice weekly (maybe I'm not so cheap after all!). I bet you're wondering where I'm going with this... how can you turn your Starbucks habit into tuition for your child's first year of university?


So, you just found out you're pregnant (congratulations!!!). Let's say you also have a $12/week Starbucks addiction habit -- you have 36 weeks to slowly build your diaper stash. For those 36 weeks, rather than blowing $12/week at Starbucks, what if you spent that money on diapers instead? Perhaps you could buy one bumGenius 3.0 one-size pocket diaper every other week, or maybe you'd purchase a half-dozen prefolds here, a cover there, whatever the case may be. If you gave up your Starbucks habit for the duration of your pregnancy, you could sink just over $400 into a decent diaper stash. OK, so we've got that part out of the way.

Eight months later, you have your baby (congratulations, she's beautiful!!!). You built your cloth diaper stash using your Starbucks funds (oh how I admire your self-control, what's your secret?). If you didn't have cloth diapers, you would have to purchase disposable diapers (the horror! the horror!). You could reasonably expect to spend at least $2000+ on junior's disposable diapers. Since you're so smart, you're going to put that $15/week you would otherwise be spending on good-for-nothing disposable diapers (and wipes, and rash cream) into junior's RESP fund -- let's say you do this for the first three year's of junior's life (the length of time she would have been wearing disposable diapers). The balance in junior's RESP account at the end of those three years (including contributions from the CESG, assuming an annual rate of return of 6%) would be $3148.69.

OK, so now you're just going to let that money sit there and accrue interest for the next 15 years, you can resume your Starbucks habit, you've earned it! By the time junior turns 18 and she's ready to spread her wings and fly the coop (sniff, sniff...), assuming an annual interest rate of 6%, that $3148.69 will turn into $7546.02, just enough to cover junior's first year of Architecture studies (congratulations, she's clearly a chip off the old block!).

So there you have it. Do you see how a simple change in your budget can ease the burden of buying cloth diapers? Do you see how the money you would otherwise spend on disposable diapers can be diverted into something more meaningful? And that, my friends, is how you can turn a Venti Latte into university tuition!