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Stay at Home Moms
jeffnstef
member
Looking for practical ideas to stretch one income....
jeffnstef
member
Hi Ladies,
I am looking forward to becoming a SAHM when the baby comes along in June. With this change comes losing one income, which is nerve-wracking.
My question is, if you are living off one income, is what creative things have you found work to stretch it? Do you clip coupons, shop online, shop at discount stores, etc?
For instance, I found that each time we go to Target and get essentials like shampoo, laundry detergent, trash bags, etc, it costs around $40. If we went to a discount store, I'm sure it would be around $25-$30 for basically the same items.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Looking for practical ideas to stretch one income....
Not necessarily creative, but we made sure to pay off our car loan before I became a SAHM. The extra wiggle room in the budget really helped. If you have any debt I would pay it off first.
Also, instead of getting a big tax refund in April we used the witholding calculator on IRS.gov and changed DH's witholdings for the new baby and without my income. Since we weren't subjected to as many phaseouts anymore we saved a ton in taxes.
I try to meal plan and use coupons, but I'm not super great about it. We reduced cable and went through all our insurance policies to make sure we were getting the best deal.
We buy some items in bulk: meats, toiletries, dog food, etc.
We clip coupons for items we don't buy in bulk.
I make foods that I can stretch to multiple meals. For example, I'll roast a whole chicken with simple spices, have it for dinner one night. Cut off some left over chicken for chicken quesadilla's and boil the bones and skin and make chicken stock to make a chicken soup that I can freeze or use right away.
The way I see it, the more we save on these things, the more we get to spend on fun things, which is generally a bit of motivation
We cut cable, don't have a car payment, paid off all CC debt, cancelled our landline, since we never used it anyway. I do most cooking from scratch. I don't clip coupons, but I'm always willing to try the store brand at least once, if it's comprable, I use it, if it isn't, I wait for what I like to go on sale.
I work with a weekly cash budget and once it's gone, it's gone. No dipping into savings except for a true emergency. Everything else is planned for. I make our lifestyle fit the budget, not the other way around.
Check out the Dave Ramsey website. He's got some great free budgeting tools on there.
We don't have smart phones *GASP* I'm home all day and DH can't take his phone to work anyway.
Also, cut cable to the minimum package. Paid off all dept except the house. DD and I try to do mainly free activities and not just shop when we get bored. Limit the eating out and alcohol in the budget.
And you're still alive?! LOL j/k I plan to dump mine very soon since I will be home with internet access most of the time and it seems like a very easy way to save $30 each month.
I use coupons, we reduced our cable bill (I would reduce it even more but DH won't let me). I always buy value packs of meat, esp when they are on sale. I always check the weekly flyers in the Sunday paper and my favorite store will do the big packs of boneless chicken for like 1.99 a pound so that I can get around 4lbs for 8-9 dollars, so I stock up then and freeze a lot.
I also got rid of my cell phone altogether, I hardly used it to begin with and being home so much I used it even less. I am thinking about getting a prepaid phone just to have tho. One big thing tho is that prior to my baby we used to shop a lot more, bought a lot more clothes, movies, eating out, etc and we have cut that way down.
I still work 1-4 days a week right now as a substitute teacher but everything I make goes to pay for medical things. That way less to pay once the baby is here. So we are basically one income and have been before.
I do use coupons. I follow a bunch of money saving blogs.
I almost never pay for shampoo, etc. And if I do, it's Suave.
A big thing is to not be brand loyal. I buy Crest, Pepsi, and Cheerios. Everything else is whatever is cheapest, either regular price or sale/coupon. Even my 3 name brand items I try to buy with a combo of coupons and sales and stock up.
I only buy meat and produce by what's on sale/in season like was already mentioned. Sales go Sunday-Saturday so I will often go Sunday morning and all the previous week's sale meat have been marked down to make space for the new sale stuff.
I make most everything from scratch. I buy butter between Thanksgiving and Christmas when it is cheap and freeze it. Same with flour. Then I make all our cookies/treats, bagels, muffins, sometimes bread, sometimes crackers.
I don't buy cleaners most the time but make my own with vinegar, baking soda, etc. I do buy a big thing of Mr. Clean and mix it with water in a spray bottle for all-purpose cleaner. A bottle lasts me almost 18 months and I only paid about $2.50 for it. The only cleaners other than that I buy are dish soap and carpet cleaner (had an older cat that threw up a lot).
I'm sure I have more but I've already been long-winded enough. lol
Married: 1/2008 ~ DD#1: 3/2012
TTC #2: Started 4/2014 BFP 7/30/15 MC 8/3/15 BFP 9/4/2015 EDD 5/16/2016
1. We refinanced our house. The rates are awesome right now if you can do this.
2. DH got a better job which allowed us not to have to do a whole lot of pinching pennies.
3. REALLY think twice about it if we're going to eat out. Is it because it's a special night/ we're feeling lazy/ we're tired?? We have to truly have it justified. Lazy is not a good excuse.
Neither of us are big spenders. I'm not downplaying the whole coupon thing / stretching meals (b/c I do it too) but this doesn't really affect the budget enough for me to notice.
We only get paid once a year with what we do and have to plan for the next year's expenses so we gotta make sure we have money to cover our bills and run our business, plus live on, so I do a lot of cheap things. A lot of what PP's have said. We don't have cable, our internet is only 30.00 a month and we've only had it for a few months, no landline, only one CC that DH uses for gas ONLY and it's paid off every month, we raise our own beef so that saves us A LOT on meat (I know this isn't an option for everyone), I go to Sam's Club and buy a lot in bulk a few times a year if it comes out cheaper per item, oz, etc. I do like a PP and make a bunch of soup to freeze. We like beans so a couple of times a month we eat just beans with some potatoes and homemade bread. I make a lot of homemade pizza in various ways, its just SOOO cheap. We almost never eat out, we only go to town once every week to 2 weeks.
FYI, samsclub.com will ship and some stuff is free shipping; like diapers and wipes. The diapers are MUCH cheaper there. I pay 20.00 for a 76 count box of Huggies at Wal-Mart, I pay 23.00 for a box 108 count box of Huggies at Sam's in store or on-line.
April '14 Siggy Challenge:
First you need to create a budget. The best way to do this is start a spending journal. Since today is Feb. 1st this is a great day to start. You and DH need to write down every single penny you spend in the next month. Leave nothing out. Then take that spending and put it into categories for your budget. Every budget has 2 parts (1st part is fixed costs things you can't change such as mortage/rent, student loan payments, utility bills. 2nd part is variable expenses such as food, clothing, household items/toiletries). Once you know how much you need for your fixed costs you can trim your variable expenses. You can try to change some of your fixed costs if you can such as reducing cable/internet or sell a car so you only have 1 car payment. Most people make cuts out of variable expenses. I think you will be surprised once you look at your spending journal at the end of the month. DH and I did this one month before we were married. I had no idea that we spent almost $600 a month on eating out and I was buying $400 in groceries. Seriously 2 people eating $1000 worth of food a month. You have to know where you are spending before you can make changes.
Second I would suggest you try living off your DH's paycheck until the baby is born, that way you know what it is like to live on 1 income and you bank all that extra money now. Put half in your savings account and use the other half to pay off an debt you have out there such as credit cards if you have any. That way you are down to only fixed payment debt after you have the baby and you don't feel as pressured.
The thing that keeps me on budget every month is I pay cash for my variable spending, except gas (I don't like to drag my kids into the gas station and out again to put them back in carseats just to pay for the gas), I just keep my budgeted amount for gas in my checking account and use my debit card to buy gas. Paying for everything in cash is a constant reminder or how much money I have left for the month, as I see the money dwindling down I adjust my thinking, do I really need this item I am about to buy? Credit card debt adds up fast when you spend your money on wants throughout the month then when you need things like food, diapers and gas you put it on credit, this puts you in a bad cycle.
Once the baby is born you will be tempted to buy all sort of things that are cute or you think you have to have. If you really need to buy a toy or baby gear item or clothing try a consignment shop first. You will find some great deals on gently use baby items. Also check craigs list for good deals in your area. If you have friends or family with kids as them if you can borrow things. Hand me down clothes, baby blankets and things are huge money savers and they don't know what is on them in regards to clothing, they are a baby. They also don't stay in clothing that long so they won't be wearing these things forever it doesn't matter that it has some small stains on them, it fits, it is warm and it is free, take it!
Stay out of the stores. If you are not there all the time you don't buy. Don't use shopping as entertainment because you are bored. If you do go to a store take a list and stick to the list. If it is not on the list you don't buy. Try to match coupons with sales when you can and stock up with a couple items when you can do it. I know some people that stock pile and they will take like $1k of their tax refund and buy supplies to stock up (if you have the pantry or storage space), like buying TP, papertowels, cleaning supplies, flour, pasta, canned goods. Then if they have a tight month because of an unexpected car repair or something they live off their stock pile.
Lastly, use less. This is probably the most overlooked money saving idea. I know some people that do like 4 loads of laundry every single day. Thats 28 loads of laundry a week, do you have a house of 10 people or something? I wait until I have a full load before I run my washer or dishwasher. I had newborn twins and I still only did laundry 1 x a week. I made sure I stocked up on bibs, burp cloths and stuff from TJ Maxx and so I didn't have to do laundry everyday. I could wait and do a full load of clothing, bibs and burp cloths. Of course if we had illness we had to do laundry more often, but that only happened a few times the first year. Most washing machines really only need 2 tablespoons of laundry detergent for a full load, we as consumers use entirely too much soap and cleaning products than needed. You clothes don't need to smell like detergent, they should not smell at all. If you smell detergent than you used too much and it is left over detergent in your clothing and they get a lot less where out of them. I have a bottle of detergent that is good for 56 loads (according to bottle), this will last me about 9 months. These companies want you to use more so you buy more but you don't need that much. Same as dishwashing detergent. Use enough for your dishes to come out clean not the recommended amount or what the cup will hold on the dishwasher. I also use vinegar in my laundry and cleaning because it is cheap and helps remove dirt and odors.
Also along the lines of using less, challenge yourself to improve on your utility bills if they are not a set amount every month. This may seem hard since you live in NH and it cold in the winter, but I live in FL and have to deal with the extreme heat from April to November so it is the same for me. Being home all day long I can't set my thermostat to a higher number and then lower it when I get home like others I know. I had to figure out how to use less A/C and water. I set my A/C at 83 during the day and 79 at night. Again only full loads of laundry and dishwasher and I reduced the amount of shower time for me. I used to take long hot showers every morning. Now I take 10 minute showers. My DH and I have a challege going on. We have a budgeted amount for utilities each month, any time I keep under budget the money is taken out in cash and I put in an envelope, if I go over I have to take money from the envelope to pay for the overage. If I stay under budget every six month I get to spend that money any way I want. Dayspa or babysitter so I can have some me time, it is my money to keep because I saved it by keeping costs down and in budget.
Good luck.
awesome ideas! we did draw up a budget and found even without my income, as long as nothing super crazy comes up, we should end up with a couple hundred dollars left over.
Thank you all so much for all your input. I know it'll all be worth it in the end to be able to be with our little girl during those first couple years full time.
We lived on just DHs income prior to me becoming a SAHM (I only worked part time before), so it wasn't a big adjustment, but we still try to save so we can keep fixing up our house and doing fun things.
We cloth diaper, and breastfed LO, both which save a lot. When we started solids, we did Baby Led Weaning instead of jarred purees. We also quit using paper towels and napkins in the kitchen, and switched to cloth towels. We buy a lot of clothes and miscellaneous stuff second hand. We make homemade cleaners 75% of the time, as well as toothpaste, and we have both used baking soda to clean our hair (no-pooing). We recycle and compost, which cuts down on the amount of trash bags we need to buy. We shopped around for things like garbage/recycling service, internet, etc to get the best rate. We cancelled cable and got netflix instead. We are vegetarians, so we save a ton of money not buying meat. Even cutting meat from a few of your meals each week could help save though. We meal plan, we don't eat processed foods (almost everything is homemade/made from scratch), and we use coupons and sales when we can find them. Buying bulk can be a good money saver as well.
I make a lot of food from scratch. I make yogurt, soft pretzels, bread, cookies, and other things.
We have a large garden that produces a lot. After this summer the only vegetables that we hope we are going to buy are potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn. We hope to grow the rest. We also growing several ground berries this year. We do a CSA for our fruit, milk, and eggs. It helps out local farmers and the produce is much higher quality than we can get in our limited grocery stores or our really expensive health food store.
For spices, I go to the Asian market. I can get a whole bag of cinnamon for $0.99. Our Asian market also carries some Mediterranian stuff so I can seasame seed paste and couscous much cheaper there than the grocery store.
I buy kids clothes used at Goodwill or garage sales. I have had people comment often that my kids wardrobe must have cost a ton, but in reality I buy pants and shirts for $0.90 and dresses for $1.80 for the kids.
We buy cheese once a year from an Amish family that gets it from her extended family in Wisconsin. The cheese is much higher quality than I can get in the store, and it is much cheaper. I freeze the cheese and use it all year long.
Like others we have no debt or car payment.
We don't have cable. Instead we have a gym membership with an indoor pool that we use as our family enertainment.
-We cut cable.
-We clip coupons
-We make meals go longer (eat it for dinner, then for lunch)
-We eat out when we have a B1G1
-We signed up for different store rewards cards. We earn free items that we usually would purchase anyway.