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Any ideas for making their periods a less expensive proposition?

I have been able to get pantiliners for 50 cents or free a bag, using sales and coupons at drugstores, and real dollar stores often have tampon or maxipad boxes.

I have also been able to get many boxes of Midol for free and nearly free using coupons and sales at CVS and Walgreens. I'm pretty well stocked up on that for the year. So any cramps are covered for merely the cost of paying the tax on them.

One can buy reusable pads, but to buy a batch of them is an upfront expense. One that will save money in the long run, but still.

I am thinking of making my own reusable pads, however. Has anyone done that? Then they can essentially be FREE. I imagine I'd pick out something that has some dark prints already, so the staining won't matter.

I have a seamstress in town here...maybe I can show her a pattern and bring it in, and see how much that would cost.

Does anyone use reusable pads? They seem to much nicer and softer than the mass produced coarse things on the market. I have also heard some people use menstrual cups, which are reusable.

There are several places on the net to find out how to make reusable cloth pads - and also cloth tampons! - here is one. The circle and luna pads look nice and comfortable.

I just printed off the PDF for the pattern for one of those. I need to find the right fabrics next and then bring them to my local seamstress. She will be thrilled to do a fun little project like this.

Some more reusable ideas:

Clean little sea sponges you use like a tampon

Party in tmy pants reusable pads - wacky name, but they are pretty cute.

I have not asked my seamstress yet about making cloth pads, but I still have plenty of free commercial pads from my free/cheap coupon shopping explorations.

Do you guys find periods to be an annoying expense?

Jilly.....periods are an annoying expense, I agree, and it seems that the companies who make feminine items really take advantage of us with their pricing. But considering the mess and the bacteria....well, I am eternally grateful that we have disposable supplies for this purpose. I personally could not be dealing with reusable substitutes. I am all about not wasting, recycling, and reusing, but this is just one area where I can't be frugal. Just me.

Cassie, I can totally understand that. I feel a little squeamish about it in the sense that I don't want to be handling my own yucky messes. But i will go forth and try this out and duly report on it!

The things I do for others...

I got a message on facebook that my menstrual pads are ready! Time to go down and see how they turned out. I am excited. Or about as excited as one can be about feminine bleeding.

I got my pads! The seamstress decided to make them out of diaper fabric. She did not ask me and returned my fabric scraps. That's fine, really, but i thought it was odd to just decide on that for me without asking.

In any case the diaper fabric seems really soft and easy to clean.

She gave me about 20 pads from small to large for only $10. That's a great deal! If you go and buy Glad Rags they cost about that for just one. So using your local seamstress is probably a fantastic frugal option.

I will report on how they work and how the 'cleaning' of the pads go next time i cycle around.

Update: Still have not menstruated, even though the pads are sitting here waiting. Perimenopause makes the timing weird.

Congrats on taking this step! I used to use cloth pads, and I really liked them. I had a special old covered pottery jar that I soaked them in until I did my laundry ( I bought at a thrift store). I think it was supposed to be a stylish container for flour or sugar, until the styles changed.
Soaking did make a difference in how clean they came out. I have heard that the soaking water is awesome for plants, but I didn't want to use it on houseplants (potential odor) and wasps that go after meat/blood are one of the most common annoying summer insects where I live (so if you spill blood in your yard, you have a hundred angry wasps show up). I always dumped my water wayyyy out in the woods, or in a toilet when one was available. I didn't have running water at the time.

Now I use a Diva Cup. At about $30, I consider it a great investment. I have a few cloth pads in case I might be in a situation where i am worried about leaks, which are rare.