A Heart More Focused

Crunchy, But On A Budget

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I am a big supporter of small businesses.  I have always wanted to own my own small business, whether a bike shop or a cloth diapering boutique.  Ultimately, that is still my goal.  My parents always used to talk about starting a family business out of our home and, though things did not end up going in that direction, that idea stuck with me.

The first thing I did when we moved back east, was look for small businesses that I could frequent for the items I needed as a cloth diapering, breastfeeding, organic foods mom.  I successfully found co-ops and farmers markets, but had more trouble with the breastfeeding supplies and cloth diapering.  I am aware that small businesses have a presence online, but on a tight budget, I could not always afford the higher prices and cost of shipping on individual websites.

When it came down to sticking with a budget on the items I needed that I could not find locally, I found Amazon Mom.  I now order Peter Rabbit Organics, Pea, Spinach and Apple Puree, 4.4-Ounce Pouches (Pack of 10) for snacktime with subscribe & save at a 15% (or up to 30%) discount depending on frequency, Seventh Generation Free and Clear Baby Diapers, Stage 4, 30 Count (Pack of 4) for when we travel at a once-every-six-months frequency, cloth diapering supplies (such as Bummis Bio-Soft Liner, Small).  Not to mention, I have been able to maintain an Amazon Prime Membership for free (usually $79/year).

In addition, I do not have to feel bad about going to there with the knowledge that their are many small businesses who are able to sell their products through them.  I mean, according to this article, “(Amazon) has cultivated a virtual computing ecosystem that has fundamentally changed American business, particularly small business… All a founder needs to get a business up and running on Amazon is a credit card and a dream”.

If you do not have a local boutique for the supplies you need and you have not yet checked out Amazon Mom, it is worth, at the very least, further investigation, in my opinion.

Do you feel guilty about using bigger sites like Amazon?  Do you have any resellers online or locally that you prefer to use?  I am always looking for budget friendly options and would love any suggestions!

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  1. I find a lot of groups through meetup.com for local stuff. Not all of the meetup groups are exactly what they present themselves as, but they are usually great for finding out info about local companies, etc. My sister organizes cloth diaper swaps/resales through an online meetup group about every 3 months.

    • Thanks Tracey, that’s a good idea! I love meetup.com. I’ve had trouble finding any natural parenting oriented groups in this area for some reason, but I should keep looking. I have found that I need to be creative with the search terms I use on Meetup; I should try searching specifically for diaper swaps. It seems to me like the midwest and west are ahead in that area (and some other areas too).

  2. I’ve tried so hard to be a good customer to small businesses, especially since our small family-owned business keeps a roof over our head. But I often find that the organic/natural/crunchy options are just not available at the Mom & Pop stores I frequent, and Amazon is SUCH a great option. Why not save some money AND support smaller greener companies (like Peter Rabbit or Revolution Foods or Seventh Gen). I also use a couple of WAHM cloth diaper sites like JilliansDrawers.com that offer working moms a living wage and support all manners of natural parenting.