2nd Trimester

Saving Money

My DH and I are both fresh out of school (university) and we have to pay our debts back and money is going to be tight. We plan to have me stay at home as daycare where he will be getting his job at the end of practicum is like 1800 a month, it just makes sense.

So I was wondering how all you  FTM, STM etc have been saving money prior to baby's arrival and after. And if there are any part time or stay at home mom's or dads what are some of the ways you have found to pinch the penny's to make your other half's hard earned money go further.

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Re: Saving Money

  • Coupons!! i used to never touch many coupons, now i am starting to use them. You can get coupons online and print them out, get them from sunday papers and all that. You don't have to go all Extreme Couponing, but they can save you some money.
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  • Everytime I get a $5 bill I save it. Weird, but I have saved a few hundred dollars since I found out I was PG. My DH and I both graduate (University) in December, so I know how you feel! GL!!
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  • The great thing about student loans is the government works with you. You can get an income based payment plan which will help lower expenses while you are a SAHM.

    I'm simply trying to put in OT so I can only go back to work part time when the baby is here. But I'm lucky my guy works nights.
  • I'm going to take a guess that you're planning to breastfeed but if you find you can't, use store brand formula.  It is nutritionally identical to the brand names and is much much less expensive.
    Formerly known as elmoali :)

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  • Have you considered doing home daycare?  This is what I do and it's great because DD has a playmate and I bring in a little extra money.

    Don't buy new if you can avoid it (with the exception of few things like car seats, breast pumps, cribs, etc).

    Have you ever tried calling your internet provider or car insurance company and 'talking them down'.  I did that just recently and saved us $216 a year.  Not a huge savings, but seeing as how I didn't downgrade service or change anything, it's worth a 15 min phone call.  If you have credit card debt you can call and talk down your rates or try to find one that offers 0%.  Don't be afraid to make phone calls, the worst they can say is no!

    We cloth diaper and use cloth wipes.  Big up front investment, but it works out in your favor in the end.  Plus if you have more kids the savings is even bigger.

    Make your own baby food. 

  • There's a post on 3rd tri about this too with grerat suggestions!
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  • Ah! I wrote a good answer to this question and then it got DD'd

    Anyway:

    Cloth diapering may not be for everyone, but we do it and it has saved us a ton. Also you can and should make your own wipes if you want to save money. You can use cloth or disposable wipes, super cheap and very little effort. Google DIY baby wipes for instructions/recipes

    If you plan to breastfeed I highly recommend you attend a (free) la leche league or lactation meeting before birth. It comes easy for some people, but it wasn't for us, there was a huge unanticipated learning curve. Getting as much information as possible beforehand is my best piece of advice for ftm's who want to bf

    I started to make our own laundry detergent. Requires some time and effort, but the savings and final product has been totally worth  it. Google for instructions/recipes

     

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  • When we had DS, we cut cable TV and things like "fancy" phones.  We also called all our billing companies (like gas, electric, water, insurance, internet, etc.) and asked them find wasy to make our bills less.  You'd be surprised what they can find to cut.  We were apparently paying for an outdoor light that didn't even exist on our electric bill.  Not only did they cut it, but they paid us back for the past year!   We payed off our credit card, which will save you a ton of money in interest.  We go out a lot less now, so that worked itself out!  We also buy store brand of just about everything.  It's so much cheaper.  Walmart diapers are about the cheapest diapers and work just as well as the Huggies we used to buy (their overnight are actually better I think!) 

     

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  • imagesschwege:

    Have you considered doing home daycare?  This is what I do and it's great because DD has a playmate and I bring in a little extra money.

    Don't buy new if you can avoid it (with the exception of few things like car seats, breast pumps, cribs, etc).

    Have you ever tried calling your internet provider or car insurance company and 'talking them down'.  I did that just recently and saved us $216 a year.  Not a huge savings, but seeing as how I didn't downgrade service or change anything, it's worth a 15 min phone call.  If you have credit card debt you can call and talk down your rates or try to find one that offers 0%.  Don't be afraid to make phone calls, the worst they can say is no!

    We cloth diaper and use cloth wipes.  Big up front investment, but it works out in your favor in the end.  Plus if you have more kids the savings is even bigger.

    Make your own baby food. 

    I definitely second this. I saved over $100/mo just calling my cable/phone/internet provider and switching auto insurance. Granted, my auto ins expense was out of control before, but what a savings.

    I'm hoping to make my own baby food this time around too. I've never tried it, so we'll see.

    I also use coupons. Like PP said, you don't have to go all extreme, but stock up a little when you get a good price, so you don't have to pay full price for lots of non-perishables or long lasting foods like cereal. I also seriously shop the weekly sales ads. We tend to eat the produce and meats that are on sale this week. I don't like going to five different stores, so I do a lot of price matching.

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  • I literally save the spare change. I get around a grand per year.

    I stopped buying most cleaning products, ie dryer sheets, softener, kitchen cleaner, etc. I found you can use vinegar for most things. I do still buy essentials like laundry detergents though. Not going crazy here.

    Cloth diapers, used.

    Meal planning equals less wasted food. Check out Robin Whatsherface on foodnetwork.

    Got rid of our landline and tv. We do have online netflix and smartphones.

    Thriftstores for kids clothes and maternity.

    Sold one of my horses.

    Stopped impulse buying. Target is not my friend. I try to go less frequently and stock up more.

    BFP#1 "Watermelon" born 3/2011
    BFP#2 "Pumpkin" 7/14/12 ~ EDD 3/23/13 ~ Natural M/C 8/3/12 @ 7 weeks
    BFP#3 "Pineapple"  born 4/2013
    BFP#4 "Grapefruit" EDD 3/29/16
  • I really have no right posting here because the last month or two we've actually been spending MORE than we ever have, trying to purchase items that we know we won't be able to afford once baby is here!  But in anticipation of me being a SAHM for at least the first year of baby's life, we've:

    Signed-up at mint.com's budgeting website 

    Set-up a duplicate budget in a Word document, categorizing each expense, and for daily expenses and amounts that are likely to vary and carry-over from month to month, are going to pay for exclusively with cash (doesn't make sense for regular expenses like utilities and bills that can be paid online, but for categories like clothing and gifts it will work well)

    Shopped consignment stores for children's clothing (mostly onesies at this point)

    Convinced our in-laws to buy a house a few doors down (okay so they were looking anyway and the house itself was a great fit for them, but how AWESOME will it be to have them at the end of the street to babysit?!)

    Cut-back on our cell phones (I changed providers and cut my bill in half, yet I don't notice any difference ... and DH is cancelling his personal one altogether because he gets one through work)

    Changed home phone, internet, & TV providers and cut back on our channel line-up (which has saved us at LEAST $50/mo. because they threw in a free HD PVR too!)

    Started planning-out our meals for the week, and try and make extra portions to keep in the fridge or freezer.  We spend WAY less (savings of $100 - $200/mo. compared to when we would just 'wing it' each night) 

    Selling items we no longer use or need on Kijiji (which also helps to declutter, extra bonus!)

    Agreed among our family that for Christmas, we'll all draw names and each buy ONE present instead of several presents

    Consolidated all our debt (school, car) onto our mortgage at a much lower interest rate than any line of credit

     

    .. all in all, we've tried to streamline everything as much as possible, and "trimmed the fat" when we've noticed any.  There are lots of other good tips here too, you'll soon be well on your way to living a SAHM lifestyle!

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  • imagechgibeau:

    Figure out what you need vs want.  A lot of people think that what the want is a necessity but it really isn't. 

    This is a big part of what we do too, and I think it's an important mindset to adapt if you need to have a strict budget. Also we use this same principle when we make our monthly and yearly budgets. We plan for needs first, then with money "leftover" we plan for wants. This helps us make a budget that really works and that we can stick too. There is something reassuring about the fact no matter what--our NEEDS are met. We never have to worry about putting food on the table, or paying bills (including student loan debt).

     I also do a lot of "homemade" stuff to save money: we'll cloth diaper, but we also have entirely cloth kitchen--I haven't bought napkins on paper towels in over a year. I make my own cleaning supplies, too and we try to re-purpose a lot. I second the suggestion to meal plan. I've been meal planning for about 4 years now, and the more I do it the better I get at not wasting food, taking advantage of sales, eating seasonally, and eating well within our budget. I do use coupons for things like toothpaste, but mostly I just cook almost everything from scratch and get creative with leftovers--I can make a 5 pound organic chicken stretch for up to 5 meals plus a few quarts of chicken stock. Baking your own bread is cheaper than buying it, for example. We save a lot by eliminating most processed foods. However, I really like to cook, which is one reason cooking from scratch works for us and is a money saving technique.

    As for budgeting, at the beginning of each year we pretty much account for every.single.penny that comes into our house: we work out a workable monthly budget and plan for travel expenses, birthdays, special occasions (weddings), and Christmas. Some people think our budget is overly strict, but it works for us and (unlike most of the people who criticize us) we're never unable provide for what we need.

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  • Another way to say money is to make money from home.  You can do this as pp said watching additional children or if you have space you can do a small vegetable garden in the back yard. 

    I grow what is seasonal, keep what we need and can or freeze and then take the additional cans or fresh veggies to a local farmers market once per month.  I can generally make a few hundred here as well as save us a few hundred not having to buy veggies.  Also as LO get's older its a great project for them to help with.

    Another suggestions is if you are crafty, you can make and sell things on online or at the local farmers market.  I make wooden signs as they are quick, cheap and people love cheesy sayings.  I sell these when I take the veggies.  I also have a shop online with etsy.    I also sew so I can make a ton of things instead of buying them such as kitchen towels, napkins, the LO's bedding etc.

    Before I got serious about saving money, I didn't know how to sew, garden and paid for someone else to clean my house etc.  I have self taught myself with videos online and taken a couple of classes at my local craft store/hardware store.  

    Get rid of all credit cards and move to a cash only system.  We have a bank account to simply pay utilities but everything else is cash.  If we are going shopping anywhere we take only the cash budgeted and leave the debit card in the car.  This really helps us pick and choose when shopping.  This goes for groceries, clothing, household supplies etc.   We also have a cash setback amount that must be saved.  We do this by setting aside a certain amount from each check and that amount gets setback  before any other spending is done.  If we have over spent somewhere else, it doesn't come out of savings this way but comes out of our total spending.   I will say this sounds extreme and it is hard at first but you are creating a habit and pretty sure it will come second nature (ie: not eating out, cooking at home, not paying full price etc).  It actually becomes really easy. 

    Our biggest cost savings is in meal planning.  I do it every Friday and first go through what we have and plan around items already in the house.  Then I plan several things that can be crock pot quick meals so after a long day at work no one has to come home and cook.  I can easily do meals for 7 days a week in our house for $60 per week and that includes enough left overs for lunches and a snack day.  We don't cook fancy and I shop based on inventory in the kitchen as well as sales.

    I do coupon but more so watch sales and then see if I can find a matching coupon.  

    Best of luck!  You just have to find out what works best for you and stick to it.  I highly recommend budgeting and staying with it!

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  • I second using Mint.com to help visualize and track your budgets. It's been great for us.

    One thing that's been a godsend for us was our bank's Way2Save program. Every time you pay a bill online or use your debit card, $1 gets transferred to savings. We also have a recurring transfer of $50/month that goes over. In 3+ years, we've saved almost $4k without even having to think about it. If you're really tight on money it may not work for you, but the savings adding up without having to consciously pinch pennies has been great for us.

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  • We've been stashing money in savings. What really helped us save was taking out cash and putting it in a jar and hiding it in the house. That way we aren't able to simply transfer the money! We also have been putting what we can to paying off debts so when I quit work we won't have those payments anymore. Also downsizing to one car.
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  • We manage our money in Quicken and I highly recommend it....it will download all of our bank statements and activity and you can categorize it into things like groceries, dining out, clothes, etc....really helps you see where your money is going.

    Dave Ramsey also has good advice.

    Great ideas in all the PP above! 

    We are so thankful that our second daughter, Lillian Elizabeth "Lily", was born healthy and happy on February 11, 2013.  We love her to pieces.  

    We lost our first daughter, Hannah Grace on May 4, 2011.  She was buried on May 14 during a beautiful service at my home church. We are grateful that if she could not be here with us, that she is healed and whole with the Lord. We look forward to the day when we will get to meet her. We love her so much.


  • People may argue with me about this, but if you aren't working you don't need an expensive breast pump(assuming you are going to bf). I was not working when I had my son and we did not have a breast pump. I never needed one. My son actually never used a bottle, just went straight to sippy cups at 6 months. That'll save you 200 dollars at least.
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  • DH and I have done several of the recommends posted here and they all work for us.  We don't spend coin change - we get about $200 per month in the bank that way.  We use cupons with the stores customer care card for more savings.  He makes tips at his job so all of those go in the piggy bank.  We trade services with our landlord to reduce our rent each month which helps immensely.  We went from 2 cell phones to one since he didn't use his very much.  That is a savings of about $50 a month.  Where it is practical - like powdered milk, mac and cheese, cereal, soup mixes, canned/dried goods, etc. - we buy in bulk. 

    We have decided that I will only work part-time after baby is born.  We have given up our weekly dinners out and monthly trip to the movies and are putting that $ aside also.  We have had a blessing though.  At the end of December, he is getting a promotion that will cover the lost income as well as benefits.  We have planned on taking the additional income and putting that aside also.  That way when LO comes, we will have enough of a nest egg to keep the wolf from the door. 

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