10 ms·

I think you missed the part of the article where they talked about never having enough cash to buy in bulk, instead buying at 2 or 3x the unit cost in 5s and 10

I think you missed the part of the article where they talked about never having enough cash to buy in bulk, instead buying at 2 or 3x the unit cost in 5s and 10s from the corner shop.

tw04 9y ago
When bulk is $40, you're just making some really, really poor life decisions if you both have a kid, and can't find a way to save that much money in a 30 day window.
- egypturnash 9y ago
  Condoms break, and it’s pretty damn hard to have an abortion if the only place you can get it done is halfway across the state.
  - briandear 9y ago
    Adoption? And, there are abortion clinics in Tampa Bay, where this story took place.
    - ada1981 9y ago
      The article did mention she has a rare condition meaning she might never be able to get pregnant and so this was may have been her only opportunity, so she choose it. I don't think she was complaining here, rather sharing vulnerably the truth of what life is like for her.
- ansible 9y ago
  You are making other assumptions here too, like having a Costco or Sam's Club nearby to buy the giant packs of diapers. Low income people often don't have those nearby.
  - tw04 9y ago
    You can buy diapers in bulk from amazon, Target, Walmart, honest company (more expensive), etc. Costco and sams club have almost nothing to do with the conversation other than being one of many options.
- zbentley 9y ago
  "Then you shouldn't have had a kid" is among the most useless, vacuously/pointlessly true at best (and cruelly stupid at worst) statements you can give to any parent, no matter their circumstance.
  - tw04 9y ago
    I guess it's a good thing I didn't say that then.
adrr 9y ago
I think thats a poor excuse. Even taking a payday loan out to buy a bulk bag(200 diapers) for $30 is more economical than buying a 10 pack every other day for $5. Pay day loan will cost $10 in fees but its cheaper than paying $75/m for diapers. And you just need do it once and save the $5 that you're spending every other day.
- FuckOffNeemo 9y ago
  Using a legal loan shark to purchase nappies, we're now robbing Peter to pay Paul, the net gain once the legal loan sharks fees are rolled in would be pittance. How far did society have to fail for us to have to encourage the use of loan sharks so our children can take a shit, seriously? Edit: in an attempt to lighten the conversation which has suddenly became a class dividing conversation on economics and privilege. My most highly rated comment on Hacker News is now about shit. Brilliant. 2nd edit: Two people didn't approve and have either removed an upvote, or I've been downvoted. More drama than a soap box here today.
  - zeth___ 9y ago
    Have we thought about feeding the weaker children to the stronger ones and making diapers out of their skin? It's only a modest suggestion.
    - FuckOffNeemo 9y ago
      I think we've found the inspiration for Cloud Atlas' Xultation. 'Let Them Eat Xultation' - Marie Antoinette, probably.
    - KON_Air 9y ago
      Great idea, soft ideas like supplementing disposable diapers with washable kloth diapers wouldn't kreate the HARDKORE-ULTRA-VIOLENT generation we need anyhow.
      - dang 9y ago
        Would you please stop posting unsubstantive comments to Hacker News?
Robotbeat 9y ago
I do not blame stressed people (single mother most of all!) from making decisions based on lack of time. However, it really IS helpful to make a larger purchase. You can think of convenience-purchase-pricing of things you use regularly at home like loan-sharking at exorbitant rates. It hits those least capable of affording it. The flip side is you get a huge benefit from scrounging for the money/time to get the bulk package. It's like an small investment that returns 200%. My wife makes fun of me, but I often buy a large amount/quantity of a few items at the grocery store, i.e. ones that we already use regularly, that I know the usual price of, so I know when a "sale price" (or bulk price) is actually a good deal. This only really works well for things that are shelf-stable, of course. Diapers are definitely one of the things you should try to buy in large packages when the prices are low. It genuinely is hard for a single mother to do this, but there's a significant payback in both money AND time.
- NoGravitas 9y ago
  It's not just convenience. Because of cash flow (rent, groceries, etc), people on the poorer end of working class just never have enough money available at one time to do bulk buys, even with perfect money management.

I think you missed the part of the article where they talked about never having enough cash to buy in bulk, instead buying at 2 or 3x the unit cost in 5s and 10s from the corner shop.

tw04 9y ago

When bulk is $40, you're just making some really, really poor life decisions if you both have a kid, and can't find a way to save that much money in a 30 day window.

egypturnash 9y ago
Condoms break, and it’s pretty damn hard to have an abortion if the only place you can get it done is halfway across the state.
- briandear 9y ago
  Adoption? And, there are abortion clinics in Tampa Bay, where this story took place.
  - ada1981 9y ago
    The article did mention she has a rare condition meaning she might never be able to get pregnant and so this was may have been her only opportunity, so she choose it. I don't think she was complaining here, rather sharing vulnerably the truth of what life is like for her.
ansible 9y ago
You are making other assumptions here too, like having a Costco or Sam's Club nearby to buy the giant packs of diapers. Low income people often don't have those nearby.
- tw04 9y ago
  You can buy diapers in bulk from amazon, Target, Walmart, honest company (more expensive), etc. Costco and sams club have almost nothing to do with the conversation other than being one of many options.
zbentley 9y ago
"Then you shouldn't have had a kid" is among the most useless, vacuously/pointlessly true at best (and cruelly stupid at worst) statements you can give to any parent, no matter their circumstance.
- tw04 9y ago
  I guess it's a good thing I didn't say that then.

adrr 9y ago

I think thats a poor excuse. Even taking a payday loan out to buy a bulk bag(200 diapers) for $30 is more economical than buying a 10 pack every other day for $5. Pay day loan will cost $10 in fees but its cheaper than paying $75/m for diapers. And you just need do it once and save the $5 that you're spending every other day.

FuckOffNeemo 9y ago
Using a legal loan shark to purchase nappies, we're now robbing Peter to pay Paul, the net gain once the legal loan sharks fees are rolled in would be pittance. How far did society have to fail for us to have to encourage the use of loan sharks so our children can take a shit, seriously? Edit: in an attempt to lighten the conversation which has suddenly became a class dividing conversation on economics and privilege. My most highly rated comment on Hacker News is now about shit. Brilliant. 2nd edit: Two people didn't approve and have either removed an upvote, or I've been downvoted. More drama than a soap box here today.
- zeth___ 9y ago
  Have we thought about feeding the weaker children to the stronger ones and making diapers out of their skin? It's only a modest suggestion.
  - FuckOffNeemo 9y ago
    I think we've found the inspiration for Cloud Atlas' Xultation. 'Let Them Eat Xultation' - Marie Antoinette, probably.
  - KON_Air 9y ago
    Great idea, soft ideas like supplementing disposable diapers with washable kloth diapers wouldn't kreate the HARDKORE-ULTRA-VIOLENT generation we need anyhow.
    - dang 9y ago
      Would you please stop posting unsubstantive comments to Hacker News?

Robotbeat 9y ago

I do not blame stressed people (single mother most of all!) from making decisions based on lack of time. However, it really IS helpful to make a larger purchase. You can think of convenience-purchase-pricing of things you use regularly at home like loan-sharking at exorbitant rates. It hits those least capable of affording it. The flip side is you get a huge benefit from scrounging for the money/time to get the bulk package. It's like an small investment that returns 200%. My wife makes fun of me, but I often buy a large amount/quantity of a few items at the grocery store, i.e. ones that we already use regularly, that I know the usual price of, so I know when a "sale price" (or bulk price) is actually a good deal. This only really works well for things that are shelf-stable, of course. Diapers are definitely one of the things you should try to buy in large packages when the prices are low. It genuinely is hard for a single mother to do this, but there's a significant payback in both money AND time.

NoGravitas 9y ago
It's not just convenience. Because of cash flow (rent, groceries, etc), people on the poorer end of working class just never have enough money available at one time to do bulk buys, even with perfect money management.