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Anyone surprised at how much $ they can save NOT working?

MNheidiMNheidi member
in Stay at Home Moms

...my dh just said to me, "do whatever you've been doing.  The finances aren't so bad."

I worked in dt Mpls and spent a lot everyday.  B/t shopping at lunch (mostly for professional wardrobe), paying for lunch and paying for parking - I think I must have spent a lot of money.  Add in that we no longer go out for expensive dinners or huge bar tabs AND it's hard to get out and shop/spend $ w/ 2 babies, I guess we're hanging in there...

...that said, I've still using coupons, shopping on bonus days and buying in bulk.

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Re: Anyone surprised at how much $ they can save NOT working?

  • goillini823goillini823 member
    I think what Ive saved on gas and lunch alone has helped us make ends meet. I agree. I never thought I'd have more money now that I dont make money than when I did.
    Andrea 7/9/08, Joaquin 4/18/11, boy coming 12/18/13 Forever missed: Gabriel 11/24/09 at 20 weeks
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  • RoxyLynnRoxyLynn member
    You do realize that, except for the parking, all of those expenses were optional and entirely preventable, right?  Restaurant lunches and bar tabs and tons of shopping are not a "cost" of working - they were simply opportunities to spend money that weren't entirely necessary.  I bring my lunch, get one glass of wine at work outings, and buy a lot of my professional wardrobe on e-bay and in consignment stores.
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  • teach2183teach2183 member
    The only savings we've realized is the gas to get to work.  I brought lunch anf had a work wardrobe that I didn't replace often.  I agree with pp that many of the expenses you listed you could have chosen to eliminate even while working.
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  • MNheidiMNheidi member
    Oh yeah, I realize they were all over-spends - and I guess that's my point.  Who knows how much $ we could have saved if I would have had more self control...
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  • dirtbikemomdirtbikemom
    I actually spent more money when I started SAH because I actually had time to shop. ?When I was working I didn't have that time. ?I've cut way back on my spending recently but when I 1st started staying at home I was bored so I would end up shopping.?
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  • mandymackmandymack member

    imagedirtbikemom:
    I actually spent more money when I started SAH because I actually had time to shop.  When I was working I didn't have that time.  I've cut way back on my spending recently but when I 1st started staying at home I was bored so I would end up shopping.

    Hi Janet, so glad you came over!!!  :)

    And I'm the same as you - I had so much "free" time, as compared to my job as an Auditor before that I ended up shopping a lot more.  Oops!  haha

     

    But I can totally see how NOT working has eliminated a lot of expenses and I think a lot of the SAHMs on this board will appreciate this post.  

    eclaire 9.10.06  diggy 6.2.11

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  • brightningbrightning member
    I also had more free time to shop when I first started SAH. However, I used to be a teacher and I spent A LOT of money on my classroom, books for preparation, supplies and food for parties, so I saved a ton by no longer working. Even still on my Amazon account, it always recommends books like "Fun Sixth Grade Science Projects," which cracks me up because I soooo don't buy stuff like that anymore!
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  • KL777KL777 member
    My dry cleaning expenses has definitely decreased.  Ofcourse, gas to work...if I'm running low on gas I can always just trim my weekly plans.

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  • daisyterpdaisyterp member

    Well, I walked to work in the past, so the gas savings doesn't apply, but the dry-cleaning bills do.  Also now we don't send out most of Dh's shirts (Brooks Brothers no-iron) so the dry-cleaning bill is like 25% of what it used to be.

    Also we had our car insurance rates changed to reflect that my car is only driven for leisure use, so that lowered our insurance bill a tad.

     

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  • d.fd.f member
    Unfortunately we're not saving much here. DH and I worked with in a block of each other in Downtown Denver and my company subsidized the parking so now DH has to pay for the bus or parking/gas. Although he is working from home more often(1-2 days a week) than when I 'made' him go in everyday so we could use the carpool lane. I rarely ate out and didn't spend a lot on clothes.

    DS 09/2008

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  • axr8111axr8111 member
    Ugh, I wish this was the case. We are definitely spending more. I had a company car and wore scrubs to work everyday in medical sales and so dry cleaning and gas was not an issue. Also I was limited by my vacation time and so our trips were short weekends away. Now I will be speding a whole week away over Thanksgiving and Christmas, plus we have already started planning a few trips in the spring. I never had enough vacation time and I guess now I have too much. I'm hoping we get a hold of this so that we don't over spend but for now I'm enjoying it. I guess we do eat out less and we did get rid of the maid so those are definite cost savings.
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  • futureFrenchfutureFrench
    One thing that i never saw anyone post was grocery bills!  I was a WAHM for the first 15 mo. after DD was born and am teaching again so I'm off summers and the bills are easily 30% less, and I could lower them to probably 50%.  We aren't extravagant, but I've done lots of research recently on making my own seasoning mixes, gathering recipes for homemade bread, etc. and am eager to try them when I've got more time...(aka-home with a new baby and my toddler ;)  Plus, grabbing something quick like a pizza or take out because I got home late or am simply too exhausted to think about cooking dinner and then clean up a big mess always seems to be a better idea.  I also am buying more clothes for me and DD since I have less time to do laundry each week, and have to keep DD's school/sitter bag with two extra outfits.  Having another baby would just add so much more:  formula (I'm planning on BF again as long as possible), disposable diapers (I'm hoping to convince DH to CD), and daycare for 2 would more than cost my salary.  All those things would be more if I had to work with a second baby, than SAH with him. Not to mention the extra expenses for my classroom stuff, and professional clothes as I try and get back into my pre-pg size.  I also know I'd have more time to shop around for better sales when we did need to buy stuff and trying to get better deals on utility companies, insurance rates, etc.  We've seen these things go up as I went back to work, down during the summer, and back up when school started again!
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