Cloth diapering...a green choice, but is it really frugal?

One frugal choice that we've been unsure about making is whether we want to use cloth diapers.  We know they are a greener choice, and they reduce waste in landfills, and that we can re-use them over and over.  But, quite frankly, the better-known cloth diaper brands are between $15 and $20 for a single diaper, and when I can get a pack of Luvs at Walmart for about $4.47 ($6.97 - 2.50q), paying 4 times that for a cloth diaper makes me hesitate.  This is especially true because Pooh is already 22 months old, so paying that much for what may only be a few months use was really making me think about whether this was a good decision for us.

But a couple different things happened this week to convince me to try it out.  First, I found a local cloth-diapering mom who was clearing her stash and had about 40 pre-folds for sale.  Of the 40, about half are in Excellent Used Condition (EUC - an initialism you will get to know very quickly if you cloth diaper!).  About 5-10 have some staining, which I'm going to try to sun out of them, and about 10-15 have no stains but are obviously well-used.  Plus, she had a couple doublers and 4 pairs of plastic pants, so I grabbed the lot and started washing.

Second, my fostercare agency gave me permission to use Pooh's mandatory $40 a month clothing allowance for cloth diapers - he's got PLENTY of clothes, and he'll be able to use the same set of cloth diapers until he's potty-trained.  So, I trolled the internet looking for good deals and seconds; I wanted to try several different economical covers and then be able to make a decision between them and order more of the ones I like best.  I ended up ordering the following:

This tinytush cover (size large in rose) for $5
This LiteWrap cover (size large in barnyard) for $7.95
This Econobum One-size cover (white) for $8.95
This Wonder Wrap One Size Cover (in blackberry) for $11.16
I also got a toddler pack of 2 snappis for $7.55

Altogether, the 4 covers and the snappis came to $40.61, and shipping was free on all but the tiny tush cover, but that was only $0.44 anyway.  In addition to these 4 covers, I've got the 4 pairs of pants that I got with the prefolds, which I've been told are Bummis.  That gives me 8 covers, so I'll probably need more, but for now, it's a good start!