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Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
SAHMs - how do you save $$ at home?
I'm thinking of being a SAHM for the next year or two.
What kinds of things do you do to save money? Where did you decide to make certain cuts in your budget?
Can you share any specific sites that can help me with budgeting/couponing/saving, etc.?
I'm looking for any/all ideas. We can definitely pay our bills on one salary, but I want to help out as much as I can with saving money, too.
Thanks!
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Re: SAHMs - how do you save $$ at home?
my husband makes an assload, but other than that we have cut down our media costs like combining cable, internet and phone. i got rid of my cell phone because i didn't need it, use coupons if i can, changed out all of our lightbulbs to led lightbulbs (which brough our bill down $100/month). it all adds up to putting extra into our retirement and savings.
We went down to one cell phone because DH gets one through his company. We are now going to cut our cable because it's just another chunk of $$ that we can put toward DD's college fund. I'd rather save $$ than pay for cable.
I get X amount of dollars in cash every two weeks and that is what I have for groceries, toilitries, odds and ends around the house, and going out to eat. When it's gone, it's gone. If we need milk, bread or something when I run out of money, we are flexible and I just use an additional $20 or whatever. However, using the all cash system allows me to know exactly what I have to work with. I also really think twice when I pick something up off the shelf at Target. I only buy something if I really need it, and if the item I am replacing is about to run out. That way I don't have bunch of extra stuff around the house.
In addition, I try to be really smart with meal planning. I try to make meals with like ingredients in the same week so that I am buying only what I need and combining ingredients. HTH!
You sound like an ***. And the fact that you say this, combined with needing to get rid of your cellphone, makes it sound like you're lying.
Oh, and I cut down on driving. I combine trips and don't just go out without a purpose. It has helped me be ok with just being at home and finding ways to entertain myself and DD here at home without having to go out and spend money on gas, wherever we are going, etc. And, I rarely go out for lunch. DH goes out to lunch quite a bit for work, but since DD and I are home, I just make sure we are almost always home at lunch time. So, we save money in that way too.
Um, totally. Most people, even if they do make a lot of money, are not going to disclose it at all, let alone that way.
There are so many way to scale back. We try our hardest to save a few bucks on whatever we can so that we have more expendable money for things we really want and we are also able to put money into savings every month.
- where we live cable, internet and phone are offered s a bundle package. We got rid of all of our movie channels and just pay for the basic package. For movies we have a $7 a month subscription to Netflix (we will only be getting the streaming now that they are going to charge seperately for DVDs) DH also calls the cable company every year and haggles a lower rate and makes them lock it in for 12 months. Right now we are only paying $79 a month for cable/internet/phone!
- DH's cel phone is paid for by his company, but we are responsible for mine. We used to have the smallest Verizon plan, which cost us $130 a month ($1560 a year). We dumped it when our contract expired and I bought a MetroPCS phone for $50 and year's worth of prepaid minutes for $240. So total cel phone cost for the year now is $290 this year!
- We use coupons! I got a Target Red debit card which automatically takes 5% off of my bill + I print Target coupons from the Target website + I combine them with manufacturer coupons+ I combine them with store sales. We also have a membership to BJ's which sends out a coupon booklet every month of their instore coupons. Those can be combined with manufacturers coupons + you are already saving money because you are buying in bulk. In the regular supermarket we wait for sales and use manufacturer coupons. We also look out for triple coupon days and then we go crazy. Two months ago, DH came home with 25 boxes of cereal for under $10 and loads of stuff for free.
- We eliminated one of our car payments five years ago. When the lease was up, we were able to buy out the remaining balance on the car in full. It took a few years to replace the money in the bank, but once we did, we saw a $300 savings every month. Our second car will have only have $6000 left in payments come the end of this year. We plan to pay it outright and once we put that money back in the bank, we will see an additional $400 a month in savings.
- We have no credit card debt. DH gets paid once a month and sets aside an allowance in cash and we budget it to last all month. If we have a big purchase one month and do put it on a credit card, we pay it in full when the bill comes.
I'm not a SAHM, but I will be in about a year. I have already called most of the companies that send us bills to see what we could do to reduce costs. I was pleasantly surprised that most were willing to cut us a deal (phone, cable, security system, etc.) Also, making a menu and sticking to it for the week has really cut down on overspending at the grocery store and going out to eat since I already had meals planned with ingredients on hand.
I don't really use coupons, but that helps a lot of people too. When I shop for DD's clothing, I try to hit the sales!
That one is pretty obvious.
Good luck! Nobody can care for your child better than you!
MC #1- Jamie George 6/7/08, MC #2- Christian Aaron 1/15/09
BFP! 3/25/09 BETA 1 (4/7/09) -# 9659 BETA 2 (4/10/09) - # 19171 Born 12/6/09 - Our precious girl.
MC #3- Ashley Grace 2/15/11, MC #4- Amelia Noel 12/30/11
MC #5- Antonio 9/8/12
BFP! 10/6/12
We have a smaller cable/phone/internet bill at the moment because of where DH works. That runs us an average of $40 a month, so we already save money there.
We paid off my car about 2 years ago. We're just paying on his. We do have 2 cell phones, but our bill is about $80 total. Not too bad for two.
I haven't been that many clipping coupons, so that's something I can definitely do. And of course not buying extra things I don't need.
Making a menu for the week sounds like a good idea.
I'm don't really drive that much as it is - other than work and errands, but I can definitely combine trips.
Keep the ideas coming -- I love hearing how everyone is able to make it work.
ESD...thanks for saying that.
I was a stay at home mom for a year when dd was born. We managed, but it was really tough. I went back to work this year and missed being home with DD so much. I just found out I'm being involuntarily tranferred to a job that I truly do not want to do. I really loved the job I was doing (teaching elementary art) and they are moving me into a position that I don't want. I have no other options in my current district. My DH knows how much I missed that time with DD and he's willing to help me make it work. I'm just trying to figure out what else I can do/we can do to make it easier, you know?
was there anywhere where i said we NEED to get rid of my cellphone? no! get with the program, i said it was because of being able to put more money into retirement and savings. it's worth it for us when we paid upwards of 300+ a month to verizon for family plans with a bunch of data package charges plus all the other stuff i mentioned. time to take a reading comprehension course!
yes, and i like to congratulate you on being the worlds biggest terd muffin (and that's saying a lot more because it's the world rather than tb). everyone knows it. your breath probably smells like hot catass. now go touchshit, ghm!
Hahahahahaha. Cram it.
(couldn't resist).
Before DD and before staying home, H and I would eat out all the time! The biggest money saver for me has been not giving in to temptations and eating 95 % of all my meals at home. When I'm home with DD we eat all of our meals at home and save going out for weekend nights when DH is around.
I also carefully plan my trips out and run the errands that are all close to each other and only take the car out once for the day.
And I make sure I have a few days each week that we just stay home and don't spend any money at all. The days we stay in we do arts & crafts projects and play outside. These days actually go by pretty quickly for me.
GL!
get your own damn lines and quit stealing mine or shut up and cram it!
We do a lot of what everyone else does. We change phone/internet and power providers as we find cheaper plans or else we haggle.
We are careful with our grocery shop. Coupons aren't big here in New Zealand like they are in the US so we don't have that bonus. But I go to the supermarket without a meal plan, I buy whatever meat is cheap, then I buy veggies based on what meat I've bought. (I know most of my recipes off by heart at this stage and I'm totally confident with improvising so it's no biggie). I don't buy DS baby food. He eats what we eat.
We cloth diaper and I BF DS till recently. We also use cloth wipes sometimes, unless it's a nasty #2!!! I also practice EC with DS so that saves on nappy washing.
We don't own a tumble dryer and when we bought our washing machine we bought the best energy rating we could .
DH goes out each autumn with friends and chops down some trees (with permission of course). Then they spend a few weekends chainsawing and splitting. We have a wood burning fire as our heating so that keeps us in wood for winter. We usually order maybe 2 cubes of really dry wood to use in conjunction with the green stuff.
We swap babysitting with friends. I'll go maybe once a month to our friend's house and babysit their DS so they can go out for a meal and a movie or to a party. They then do the same for us another night. We all save $$ on babysitting.
One of the best thigns we invested in when we got married was a big stand up freezer...so when things go on special at the grocery store (or buy things in bulk at costco) we can freeze them.
This might sound a bit random, but my husband is in the restaurant industry and he was appalled at how much I was spending on meat at the grocery store. We bought a leg of veal from a vendor, and had a butcher cut up the meat into cutlets and vacuum packed them. I used the bones to make broth, and the scrap meat I ground up to make meat balls. So buying a biga$$ piece of meat might be expensive up front, but if you can find a chef or a butcher who can cut it down for you, you can save A LOT of money.
As for hobbies...I am a book junkie. I got myself a library card. Then I got a kobo for Christmas. I have been selling some of the books in my library and using that money to buy e-books (which are cheaper than the hard copies).
I've stopped using my dryer. I line dry my clothes only now.
Also I use cloth diapers and wipes (bought 80% of my diaper stash used from e-bay....saved big bucks there).
When I go back to work, I'll be making my coffee at home instead of using teh drive through. Plus I'll be brown bagging it.
If you know anyone who works at a clothing store you like and you're not shy to ask, see if they can pick up your purchases using their discount and offer them something they might like in exchange (bake cupcakes, make dinner, offer to babysit). Ok, try not to get the person fired, but it doesn't hurt to try!
We bought a smaller home.
We track our spending on a spreadsheet so we know where every dollar goes.
Some of our meals are really cheap: breakfast for dinner (scrambled eggs with vegetables, bacon, toast or hashbrowns, etc.), cheese and black bean quesadillas, loaded baked potatoes, etc.
He can't be making that much if you can't afford to keep your cell phone and fully fund your retirement.
Now I'm curious as to what you consider an assload. Tell me, do you have Roth's or traditional IRA's?
Also, FYI, it's turd, not terd.
I just thought of a couple more items:
We have a babysitting co-op with other couples, so we watch their kids and we watch theirs. We all save $$ on babysitting.
I wash and iron all DH's work clothes rather than taking them to the cleaners.
Thank you for all of the ideas. We really need to keep track of our spending. I think we would reconsider buying certain things - even if they are small - if we had to write it down.
I think looking for other free things to do is a great idea, too. Thanks. I've been trying to do that this summer, too.
Things we do to save money:
We are selling DH's 4runner, and paying cash for another vehicle. This will save us around $350 a month in car payments. Plus insurance will not be so expensive.
We make our own laundry detergent, cleaning products, deoderants. This saves us about $80 a year or more. You can find the recipes for these products by doing a google search.
We invested in an Energy star rated water heater, washer, dryer, light bulbs, and faucets. This saves us about $300 a year, and we also get discounts on our utility bills because of this. You can also claim them on your taxes.
When we do things as a family we either use a coupon, or do free outdoor stuff. We love to hike so we do that alot in the summer.
Most of my clothes are from consignment stores. I also consign my kids clothes, get money for them, and then by them new ones.
Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter
"><a href="http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker"><img border="0" src="http://tickers.myfitnesspal.com/ticker/show/825/1820/8251820.png" /></a><p style="text-align:center;width:420px;"><small>Created by MyFitnessPal - Free <a href="http://www.myfitnesspal.com">Calorie Counter</a></small></p>Our cable bill is high and I would love to disconect, but DH loves sports and won't agree to it. I'm also lucky that I have a DH that never, ever spends money. I'm like his personal shopper, when he needs clothes I buy them and he tries them on at home. It's a little more work for me, but it does save us money (he hates shopping so he would never look for sales). He doesn't buy video games, doesn't go out to bars with friends for drinks and brings lunch from home. The only time he spends money is when I need him to pick up groceries or he puts gas in the car. We do take his dress shirts to the cleaners, but it's $1.25 a shirt that would take me 30 minutes to iron - it's worth it to me.
I meal plan and I make simple meals. We eat mostly organic and all whole foods, so there aren't many coupons that we could use. I always cook enough to have leftovers the next night. This cuts down on the time I spend cooking and cleaning plus it saves energy costs (less dishes and use of the stove/oven). Meals are also cheaper to make when you aren't just cooking for 2 (or 3 with DS). I also don't buy baby food. I also limit how much meat we eat, since it tends to be the most expensive part of the meal. If you make a dish with the meat mixed in you can make it stretch even more. We also eat a lot of beans. It's rare for me to spend over $10 on a meal that serves the 3 of us for 2 nights, plus a lunch for DH and myself. We also eat a lot of salad, it's $3.98 for 1 pound of organic spinach at Sam's Club and we use tomato and cucumber for our garden. The spinach lasts us a week. I also make myself simple turkey (deli, nitrate free) and cheese on wheat sandwiches with a pickle for lunch 4 days a week.
I don't leave the house as much as I would like to. We live at least 15 miles from anything other than Walmart or the grocery store and with gas prices the way they are we stay home as much as possible. This has been difficult with the heat because DS gets bored, but I try my hardest to find special/fun things for us to do at home. I have a kiddie pool on our back porch that he plays in for about an hour every afternoon. We have a zoo ($12 per person to get in or $69 for a 12 month family membership) and museum ($35 on Groupon) membership. We also hang out in the play area at the mall or the train table at Barnes and Noble. I only do that when we are going to be on that side of town though. I usually resist buying Starbucks while at Barnes and Noble.
We try to only buy Groupon/Living Social deals for things that we would already do. I get my eyebrows and lip waxed once a month and every few months they have a deal for a local beauty school, I'm able to get both waxed for $7 with that Groupon (you can buy 3 at a time).
We have only had 4 dates since DS was born (tonight will be #5) but we plan on going out together a lot more. My Mom watches DS for free and we use a coupon to go out to eat. I'm a huge foodie, but we stopped going to expensive restaurants. We like to go to Chuck E. Cheese on our dates and play skiball, it's only $.25 a game and a lot of fun. We never spend over $5. We also don't drink so we save a lot of money that way. If we go out to eat with DS, we go somewhere like McAlister's Deli on kids night. It's $12 for all 3 of us to eat (and DS and I have leftovers for lunch the next day).
As far as clothes, we always buy clearance, ebay, or consignment. DS wears almost all designer or boutique clothes but I pay less than I would if his wardrobe came exclusively from Walmart. Again, it takes time but it's something I enjoy doing.
We do not watch tv. Here in the UK, you have to pay a tv license, as well as your cable/dish package. Unless you watch freeview (free tv), but you still need the license every year. We watch the same movies repeatedly for entertainment. DH plays video games more than once now instead of buying a new one every other week.
We keep our thermostat set quite low, and pile quilts on our bed when it's cold, and put DS in fleece pajamas.
Going to a restaurant is limited to when we're invited out with the rest of the family. We do a lot of date nights in after DS has gone to bed.
Because of the price of gas, road tax, car payment and insurance, we don't own a car. Our town is so small that it's easy to walk everywhere. It may take a bit longer to get somewhere, but I'm also exercising at the same time. It saves me money rather than having a gym membership.
TMobile has a deal here with their pay as you go plans. Top up ?10 per month and get unlimited texts and web browsing. I don't actually call people very often (and incoming calls are free in the UK), so it saves us quite a bit.
I cook in batches, and stock up my freezer. If I find a sale on a really good cut of meat, I'll buy it and make it stretch for 4 or 5 meals. Like today, I bought two medium chickens for ?8 (very cheap!), and made 8 meals for 2 adults and 1 (very hungry) toddler.
I make my own bread instead of buying it at the store. Bulk buying items that you will use a lot is a lifesaver. We buy 50 pound bags of rice from our chinese supermarket, and it lasts us six months. Rice is a staple in our diet because it's so cheap. Sales are your best friend, and don't be afraid to buy store brand items. Most of the time they're just as good as name brand, but they're a lot cheaper.
I do all of my own waxing/hair dyeing/hair cuts, as well as DH and DS'. We never use a dry cleaner or laundromat because the closest one is 50 miles away. A couple months ago DH and I switched to an A+ rated energy efficient washing machine, and use drying racks for our clothes.
We also use the cheapest 3 ply toilet tissue we can find, which averages around ?2.70 per 9pk.
DS and I do get out of the house. We have playdates with a friend twice a week for picnics in the park, or we just let the boys roam around the flat while we sit and have coffee. I do take DS to his swimming class on Thursdays. It's ?3.30, which isn't too bad.
For groceries, bills and entertainment, DH and I spend around ?400 per month.
** Scotland pricing with COL adjustments works out roughly to the same price as things in the US.