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Stay at Home Moms
kristalovesjared
member
What financial sacrafices did you make to SAH?
kristalovesjared
member
Hi! My husband and I are pregnant with baby #1! I am planning to SAH... we both feel this is best for us, but I am a little worried about the money issues... just wondering what some of you cut back on or took out of your lives to be able to SAH? Thanks!
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Re: What financial sacrafices did you make to SAH?
we didn't need to cut back, but if we did I'd cut out
-cable tv
-eating out
-change cell phone plan
-start using coupons
-meal plan-- I think it helps streamline your grocery shopping and get the most out of your food.
-try to combine errands to save on gas
It depends on how things go for us, but we may become a one car family. I live in the city though, so it wouldn't be that big of a deal.
We also might cut cable and we could reduce our food and entertainment expenses.
We didn't have to cut back but we no longer go out all the time. So movies, dinners out and bar tabs were cut waaaay down.
Now that we have kids, dh and I have been trying to not be as frivolous with our money. I shop the sales at the grocery store and wait to buy a lot of our clothes and the kid's till I have a coupon. Also, trying not to run our heat or air as much. It is so stinking hot here right now but we've got a pool so we cool off in there and run the fans instead of the air.
You have to have a budget. HAVE to have! Pay yourself first. In our case, I get about $120/mo for whatever I want. Haircuts, underwear, t-shirt, etc. When it's gone, it's gone.
We've knocked down cable to just basic. I watch a lot of my shows on the internet or hulu.com. We've knocked down our cell phone plan since I SAH. We only eat out once a month or so...the rest of the time we get takeout and it's usually only $12 (buffalo wild wings is awesome!!)
Free events...library story time, window shopping, etc.
Never go to Target without a list.
If you want to buy something...think about it....come back the next day.
Sell some stuff on Ebay that you've not used.
Shop at Goodwill--REALLY! They have a lot of brand new stuff if you look around. Treasure hunting is fun. I sometimes buy stuff and resell it on Ebay and make 150% more.
Really, we didn't make many changes. When I worked, we put my entire check toward paying off DH's pre-marriage credit card debt. Once that was paid off, my check went toward making double payments on the cars and other big purchases. My car is almost paid off now, so we'll have no car payment.
Other expenses have naturally fallen away. We don't go out to the movies anymore (by choice), eat out less (it's hard with a toddler!), etc.
Nothing huge that I consider but we live more modestly probably than we would...
-Used cars
-no cellphones (I have a pre-paid for emergencies & DH has one from work)
-we had slow internet for the first 3yrs
-smaller modest house
-don't spend as much on clothing, eating at fancy places & stuff like that
-have a grocery budget that we stick to
We still do go out, go on vacation, etc...but probably don't spend as much as we would if we had more disposable income.
at first we didn't make many changes- but DH is a realtor and the market has gotten TOUGH. Luckily we were smart enough to stash a ton in savings, though that is getting down there now.
we rarely ever go out to eat (this is hard for us because we used to go 1-2 times per weekend!)
I do a lot of free activities with DD to save there
I don't color/highlight my hair anymore and my hair is long so can get away with not getting haircuts very often too and not looking like it
I always make a weekly meal plan to stick to which saves money on groceries. And have gotten really good at using things we have and creating a new recipe
no more shopping just to shop
no more eating out
and DH got a better paying job
Hi, congratulations on your baby-to-be and welcome to this board!!!
Lots of wonderful ladies here, I hope you get a ton of helpful replies but having said that, I'm afraid I'm not much help with your specific question as I quit working very early in my pregnancy and, fortunately, DH's salary was more than enough for us all to continue to live very comfortably even after we relocated to CA and had Emily.
I do however LOVE to save money and am always looking for ways to keep our hard-earned cash in our pockets, especially with our current recession.
I would start with evaluating how many miles you put on your vehicle's as most Insurance Company's offer a BIG discount for less than 7,500 miles per year... lots of ladies here took my tip, called their Agent and got discounts this past week!
Hope this helps!!!
eclaire 9.10.06 diggy 6.2.11
Pinterest
Start living on one income now! It will take some time to get used to. If you can, bank all of your income. That's what we did when we got married and we didn't have to cut back.
If we did though we would cut the cell phones and cable. We live pretty frugal right now anyways.
we stayed in our townhouse that we bought before we had kids & we paid off my SUV...so smaller home & no car payment AND totally worth it!!!
I love doing storytime at the library, park playdates, discovery museum and being there for my boys all the time. Of course a moms night out every now & then helps out too. I love being a stay at home mommy especially during nap time:)
Not too many.
Eating out less and cutting coupons more/watching the sales. It's kind of a hobby now LOL Otherwise not much so far.
We paid off ALOT of bills before DS was born. We also stashed away alot of my income while I was pregnant.
The trick for us was less debt---which enabled us to live off of DH's income. Sticking to a budget is SO important.
We've never been extravagant people. We have a modest sized home, slightly older cars that are paid for. We did turn off the DVR cable service and we may have to scale down to the very basic cable. DH will rent movies if he wants to watch one.
We also shop at the economical grocery stores first and then whatever we can't get from there, we'll get at a "fancier" grocery store.
As a pp mentioned, you can also find great deals at Thrift Stores (find a really nice one because some aren't that nice).
meal planning is a great idea! (kraft foods has some cheap but good recipes!)
no cable TV
cut down on cell phone plan or just have a home phone cause it is cheaper
avoid eating out
no internet (this i cant live without!)
avoid expensive clothes-go to the thrift store or hit only the sales rack
We hardly ever go out to eat anymore. We have a GC to Red Lobster for Chirstmas that we just haven't found the time for (or Dh isn't hungry enough when the kids are at our parents), and just got a Misty's GC for our anniversary. I'm so excited for both. Is that sad?
We use Walmart brand diapers (but I can't part with my huggies supreme wipes), Walmart brand formula when DD used it, some generic foods, but not all. We don't go to movies, and hardly ever spend $ on entertainment unless renting a movie on the DVR once a month counts.
We don't part with basic cable + DVR and internet because it keeps me sane. I "need" DVR so that I can look forward to my shows and get to watch them once the kids are in bed, pause them if they wake up, etc. I dont' have to ever feel frustrated if they wake up during my show. I pause, the kiddos are my priority, and I get to finish my show when they're settled. Also, I'm a photographer but stay home with the kids all week and do sessions on the weekends when they can go to the IL's or my mom watches them for a cuple hours... I edit during the week during nap or when they're in bed. So I need internet for that as well. (placing orders, emails, etc.)
We don't shop as much for ourselves, mainly for the kids ,and I buy a lot of clearence stuff for the kids for next year, etc. I get a Gap sweater dress for DD for $10 instead of $40. Works for me!