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It’s hard to put a price on convenience, especially when it comes to 3 little ones.

One thing we do to make our lives a little bit easier is use paper plates and paper bowls. It creates less mess, less dishes, less stress. I can simply throw everything away when the girls are done eating rather than have to spend a lot of time cleaning up. At this point, I only run the dishwasher once every 3 or 4 days.

Of course, paper plates and bowls cost more than running the dishwasher a few times a day. It’s the price we are willing to pay though. It’s my daily convenience fee. Still, M and I are trying to cut back on expenses right now, so I’ve been feeling a little guilty about the cost.

A few weeks ago, I posted a picture on instagram of a paper plate alternative that we’re using in the house to reduce the amount we spend on paper plates (we go through a costco package once or twice a month it seems). This picture seemed to garner a lot of positive response and questions, so I thought I’d post about it here if it was something that was working for us…and it is.

We’re using the old school diner baskets and pre-cut wax paper sheets.

I simply throw the wax sheets with extra food or junk in the trash and put the basket back in the cabinet for the next meal or snack when they’re done with it. Easy as that.

I got the Kabnet Wax paper sheets (2 boxes of 500 sheets) and the baskets (set of 5) from Costco. Sam’s Club has them also, if you don’t have a Costco in your area.

Together it was around $30 for both the paper and the baskets. The paper plates were running us around $15 for 150 plates (also from Costco/Sams) so you can see that the price difference is pretty significant.

The girls are doing great with it. I don’t find that the paper sheets leak any more than the paper plate does and they haven’t made a comment about not liking it. So, for now, we’re sticking with it.