I was searching the blogosphere over the last few days for money saving tips to pass on, and one thing kept coming up… WIC changing their allowances on infant formula because they’re promoting more breastfeeding… Yes, breast milk is the best, we all know that. There is no questions about that… but what about other moms like me… I couldn’t breastfeed. There was no other option for me but formula feeding. I was formula fed and I think I turned out just fine

We chose to feed our girls the Parent’s Choice formula. We but store brand items for us, why couldn’t we do the same for the girls… Honestly, the store brand infant formula is nutritionally equal to the major name brands, so why waste the money? By using the Parent’s Choice formula, we saved around $1200… Amazing.

It’s been a few years since we’ve had to purchase formula, and I’m always talking about how much money you could save by switching to store brand… I’ve blogged about the Parent’s Choice Savings Calculator… Which puts cost savings there in black and white on your computer screen… and that is surprising itself.. but I wanted to see what it’s really like, right now at the stores.

We were at Sam’s Club the other day and while Daddy and the girls were enjoying a hot dog at the cafe… I wandered over to the baby section. I snapped a few photos with my handy dandy iPhone and just had to share what I found.

The Enfamil Gentlease Lipil is $34.28 for a 36 ounce can of powder. That’s about 95.2 cents per ounce. Imagine you need two cans per week, $68.56 per week or  $274.24 in a month (4 weeks) and lastly …. $3565.12 in a year… One year is typically how long a baby is on infant formula…

Next on the list is the Similac Advance formula. This is a 34 ounce canister priced at $28.98 per can. This is 85.2 cents per ounce. We’ll still say you need 2 cans per week, which is $57.96 per week. $231.84 in a month ( 4 weeks ) and $3013.92 in a year… That’s a little bit better than the Enfamil, provided your baby doesn’t need the Gentle formula.

Now, let’s compare the Sam’s Club Store Brand, Member’s Mark. This is their Lipids Infant Formula with DHA & ARA. A 51.4 ounce can is $19.38 (37.7 cents per ounce). That’s 15.4 more ounces than the Enfamil and 17.4 more ounces than the Similac. So let’s say you only need one and a half cans of formula per week. You can’t buy just a 1/2 can, but your formula will hold over so you don’t have to buy a can as often. For this article’s sake, we’ll just split the cost of a can in 1/2 for the costs. So we get $29.07 per week, $116.28 per month $1511.64 per year. That’s 1/2 the  cost of the name brands!

This formula is similar to the regular Enfamil, Similac, and other brands… Let’s take a look at the Gentle formula for a better comparison to the Gentlease from Enfamil..

The Member’s Mark Gentle Infant Formula is $24.28 for a 48 ounce can (50.5 cents per ounce). You’re already getting 12 ounces more than the Enfamil Gentlease… To make it a little bit easier, let’s just work this out with 2 can’s per week. $48.56 per week, $194.24 per month and $2525.12 per year. That’s a savings of $1040 per year. That’s a whole lot of diapers & wipes!  It really makes you think, doesn’t it!?!?!

“Is the Generic Formula as good as the more expensive name brands?”

First of all… I can’t tell you how much I dislike the word “generic”. Not just in the mention of infant formula, but all around. It’s a word that’s been around for ages. My mom used it… Heck she probably still does. I just think that you’re calling something *cheap* or *ordinary*, and I don’t think it’s a nice word. Sure if you’re talking little plastic toys that cost you a quarter or something.. That might work… but in the case of food, not so much.

A lot of the store brands now are using excellent ingredients, and some even have celebrity chefs backing their products. One that I know of for sure is Walmart’s Great Value line and their backing by Dave Leiberman from the Food Network. Stores are trying to help consumers eat well, and save money in the process, which is great considering the state of the economy right now.

The store brand infant formula is very much like that. The FDA has very strict regulations and requirements on products for infant nutrition, namely infant formula. Many people aren’t aware that all of the formula manufacturers have to include the same ingredients and nutritional values. Compare the product labels for yourself, and you’ll see what I mean. There is no such thing as generic formula!

So, how do they sell their products for nearly 1/2 the price? It’s simple. Marketing.

How many times have you seen a magazine, or television ad for the name brand formulas, or received a free sample at the hospital or in the mail. Some parents have even received cases of free samples delivered to their doors… Wish I was on that list … These companies have HUGE marketing budgets… and they pass many of those costs on to you.. the consumers. The store brands however, don’t have such a large budget. They rely mostly on word of mouth. You know, a friend telling a friend, blogging about their product, review websites and the like. They save their money and in turn, save you money. Every once in a while, when those store brand formulas go on sale, you save even more. You can’t go wrong!

Coupons on many of the name brand items only go so far. Save 25 cents here, 75 cents there, but if you’re willing to look just a little further to the store brand product, you just might save $1, $2 or more.. and that’s every day, no coupon needed. It’s a great way to save money for just about anything.. even a family vacation!

**Disclaimer: Although I work with PBM as a Social Media Consultant, this post is sponsored by PBM, this post was not solicited.

Ever notice how when shit hits the fan… it really hits where it hurts? Seriously…. Now I know my problems could be much worse.. but damn.

So Hubby has a 1998 Chevy S-10 pickup. Standard cab, no bells or whistles. He bought it fresh out of boot camp back in 1997. It was his first new car. Awesome. Well, his first duty station was in Twentynine Palms, CA… I was living in Sacramento, CA at the time, and he came up to visit every time they had an extended weekend. One year later. we married and I moved down to the desert. Over the next 2 years, we put some miles on that truck visiting family and enjoying the area. His next duty station was Okinawa, Japan, and we put the vehicle in storage… well sorta. It went to his parents’ house for the 3 years we were in Okinawa. Fast forward to 2004, we got back from Japan, had to take the truck for new tires, oil change, tune up, etc. It ran pretty well for the 5 years we were in CA.

(– i know get on with the story.. just giving you a little background on the truck)

Now, we’re in NC. We have a major loan payment since we had to pay for our move over here. We have our bills, etc… who doesn’t… but since moving here, we’ve had to fix so many things on this truck. Emergency brake, lights, etc. Well, the other night, hubby was driving home from work. We were talking like we normally do, and next thing I hear was

“Oh shit, my truck just died.”

“What do you mean it just died?”

“Um. It just died, and I’m in traffic”

He jumped out and pushed the truck to the median, and sat there trying to start it back up. No go. When he tried to push it over to the dealership, which was miraculously 2 lanes over from where his truck was sitting, a couple of guys stopped to help him push it across the road… Hubby later told me that the guys got the truck moving fast enough to coast in and took off without him even getting a chance to say “Thank you”… So guys, if you happen to see my blog, Thank you so much!

Of course, it was late, so service wasn’t going to be able to look at it that evening. No big deal. He called me to pick him up. While he was waiting, a vulture car salesman stops to talk to hubby. He explains how we would love to get even a used vehicle, but there’s no way at this point that we could afford the monthly payment… at least, not until we pay off that stupid loan we had to get. The guy tells hubby that it’s probably just the O2 sensor. It sounds like it, and it would make sense since we just moved from CA where fuel is different, etc. It was probably going to be $100… no big deal… We had to wait till the next morning to find out for sure though. I figure it could be that or the fuel pump. I’ve changed those before.. .so it probably wasn’t going to cost too much if it was that either. Boy was I wrong.

The next morning, hubby calls me and tells me that it is indeed the fuel pump. Oh, and it’s going to cost $1000. No, I didn’t add an extra “0″ there… They quoted him One Thousand Dollars. I thought he was joking. Then I realized he wasn’t and I just wanted to cry. I immediately got on the phone calling local shops, parts stores, and looking up in the repair manual to see if it was something we could do at home. When I saw it involved removing the entire fuel tank, etc, there was no way we could do that. We had to take it somewhere.

I found the part for just under $300, got a labor quote for $222, and arranged towing from the dealership to the new shop via our roadside assistance, and it was going to be covered. Phew. Saved some money… Now for coordinating the whole pickup and delivery of parts and vehicle, along with grabbing lunch for the girls. We were given 90 minutes.

We changed, drove to the parts store, picked up the massive fuel pump assembly, drove to Sonic (totally not healthy, but I was in a hurry) and got lunch, drove to the dealership to pay for the diagnostic tests ($88) and get the keys so I could give it to the Tow People.

I pay, then we wait. They couldn’t find the truck for about 30 mins. Seriously.. It doesn’t run. How far did you actually push it? Then the tow company was late. Later found out they had the wrong address to pick up the truck… oh well.. Someone was dropping off another vehicle, so he was able to pick our up when he was done. I helped him push the truck out of the parking spot… and then followed him over to the repair shop… I checked in the truck with the fuel pump was told it should be done by noon the next day and headed home.  PHEW! 4 hours out… and I didn’t even think about dinner. Oh well… The important stuff was done. Now we just sit and wait for the bill.

Today, around noon, the phone rang. I was super excited I was going to be able to call hubby and tell him to pick up his truck on the way home from work…. Nope… The fuel pump was in, and it was good, but it wasn’t pumping. Now there was an electrical problem, and he was calling to ask me if I’d authorize another 30 minutes of diagnostics. Sure. We have to get this truck fixed otherwise Hubby has no way to get to work… I waited. Nothing. Finally, at 3pm, I called. They still didn’t know what was wrong. I called again at 5pm. Still nothing. But the guy says they’re still running on that original request for 30 minutes. God if it gets any more expensive, I’m going to have to sell a kidney or something…

This piece of shit wonderful truck, that has lasted 11 years now, that’s really only worth $2500, if we’re lucky,and has decided to go kaput HAS to last us till spring! Hopefully we can have the loan paid off by then, and can them afford to get him a new/used vehicle. I’m mad because we totally missed out on Cash 4 Clunkers… only because we were trying to be responsible and not add on yet another bill on top of what we already have. Now I’m sorta wishing we would’ve just done it and figured out the bills later… GAAAH!

Anyway… Now we won’t know until tomorrow (hopefully) what it’s going to cost. Pray for us.. I just really needed to vent… It’s keeping me from crying.. Oh, did I mention MIL is coming for the holiday weekend? Who knows what we’ll be able to do with her now… SHIT!