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I’m so incredibly thankful that I’ve gotten to be a Stay at Home Mom since my first baby was born 2 years ago. I would not trade being here and seeing both of my girls grow for anything in the world!
That being said, staying at home does come with the loss of half of the income that we could be making.
Living off of one income requires some financial creativity. But it’s absolutely worth it to get to be at home with my kids!
There are a ton of things that I’ve done since we cut out my income that have helped us stay in great shape financially.
You can stay at home, you just may have to be a little bit resourceful to make it happen!
Here are 20+ ways that you can save money and be able to stay at home with your kids in 2020!
- Budget
This one seems so easy, but it’s SO incredibly important and most often overlooked!
When your family is making one income, you know exactly how much money you’re bringing in. By writing down all of your expenses every single month, you are making your money work for you!
There are no surprise overdrafts or unexpected empty accounts at the end of the month.
You have a game plan, and your money does exactly what you tell it to.
2. Get a side gig.
This one is something that I have found it really helpful when paying for “extra” expenses that come up. My side hustles are what fund our date nights, gifts to each other and any other special thing.
There are a million ways to hustle a little bit and make some extra money while staying at home with your kids.
I used to be a photographer, and I have found that just doing very few bookings allows me to help out with the fun stuff, but doesn’t add any extra stress onto our family.
You can tutor, keep another child sometimes, blog, teach online, complete surveys online, anything!
You’re not looking for a job that is going to pay the bills, but something that will take the edge off if things are really tight!
3. Only shop on scheduled days.
I grocery shop 3 times a month. That’s it.
You know how easy it is to spend $50 in the grocery when you’ve just gone in for milk? By limiting myself to these shopping trips, we save SO much money at the grocery store.
That being said, this is only successful if you…
4. Meal plan
Plan out breakfast, lunch and dinner for your family. Make a grocery list from that list, and stick to it.
You will be amazed at home much money you save!
5. Use coupon apps.
I’m not all about sitting down at the kitchen table for hours on end and cutting out coupons that I ordered and matching them up to sale flyers.
If that’s your jam, good for you! I’d rather be playing with my kids.
I am, however all about using couponing apps.
The Dollar General app is one of my favorites. Every Saturday, they have a $5 off $25 coupon as well as hundreds of other useful coupons. I clip them before the weekend, make my list and then go to the store. I only go twice a month, but I ALWAYS save around $15 using this app.
Ibotta is another super easy way to use your phone to save a ton of money. You just scan your receipt after you buy eligible products and they give you cash (or gift cards!). It is great! If you are interested in downloading, you can use my referral code: RCSUFNJ
6. Get rid of payments.
Pay off debt and get rid of payments on anything. Dave Ramsey is a great resource for this, and I highly encourage you to follow his debt snowball principles if you find yourself in this situation.
7. Buy kids clothes on clearance.
Kids clothes get expensive quick! At the end of every summer and winter, I stock up on the girls clothes from Old Navy, H&M or Gap.
Usually, I pay around 2 or 3 dollars for tops and the same for bottoms!
I have saved literally hundreds of dollars by implementing this easy trick!
8. Buy some things in bulk.
I am not saying here to go run around Costco and stock up on every 10 pound tub of peanut butter you see!
Aside from diapers, I buy hardly anything in bulk. Assess what your family always uses a ton of, and then if there is anything, stock up!
Make sure that what you get in large quantities does not expire or go bad. Stick with non perishables that you consistently use a lot of!
9. Become a minimalist.
This mentality has really helped me to keep spending down and stay at home! Go through your entire house and Marie Kondo it like crazy! Figure out what you don’t use and donate or sell it.
Do not buy things just to buy things.
After you have cleaned out your house, you know exactly what you have and what you need. Any spending after that is extremely intentional.
10. Make your food at home.
This one is really difficult for us sometimes because we thoroughly enjoy eating out.
We still do eat out occasionally, but since we cook at home and save so much money doing it, we don’t feel guilty about eating out when we do.
Eating at home needs to be your go-to in order to save money and make this work!
11. Sell a car.
Cars are expensive. They are pricey to purchase, they are expensive to insure, and they cost a lot to fill with gas and maintain!
If you can, sell a car and be a one car family.
This is a super quick way to save a lot of money at once.
12. Downsize
This one won’t work for everyone, but if you can downsize, do it! You will save a ton of money on either a mortgage payment or rent.
You’ll save on utilities and it’s cheaper to furnish a smaller house.
Downsizing is a great way to save a huge chunk of money.
13. Use the library.
As much as I love the convenience of Amazon and being able to order things to my doorstep, the library is a free and amazing resource we all have!
Use the library to get books for your kids and yourself every week. Not only will you save money on books and activities, but it’s also a free outing for your kids!
We love the library, and have save hundreds of dollars by not ordering books all of the time.
14. Cut subscriptions.
Look at your credit card bill and see what has been billing you monthly. If you don’t use it every single day.
Cut. It. Out.
It may seem like just $12.95 a month, but really that’s hundreds (or maybe thousands) of dollars a month depending on how many subscriptions you have.
15. Downgrade your internet.
Take a look at your internet plan and see if you can downgrade. If you’re already on the lowest level, shop around and see if anyone else can give you a better deal.
Call your current provider and ask them if they can give you a better rate.
Even if they can cut your bill by $5/month, that is $60 a year!
16. Cut TV service.
We don’t have a TV and we haven’t ever paid for a TV subscription service. You can watch almost anything you want online for MUCH cheaper.
Cancelling your subscription can save you hundreds of dollars!
17. Cancel gym membership.
If you’re staying at home with your kids, you can start exercising with them! Schedule outside stroller walks or runs with the kids.
Do workout videos from YouTube during nap time.
You really don’t need to pay someone $60 a month in order to work out.
18. Call insurance companies and ask for lower rates.
The idea that it doesn’t hurt to ask definitely applies here. Sometimes all you have to do is ask insurance companies or shop around a little bit to get a better deal.
This applies to all of them, car insurance, life insurance, home insurance! Call and ask, the worst that can happen is they say no.
19. Switch to generic everything.
One way to waste a bunch of money really fast is to always buy name brands.
I got to tour the Domino sugar factory when I was in high school. Guess what. They package all of the sugar. The store brands, the name brands, the bulk brands. It’s all the same sugar.
The same is true in most cases when it comes to products from the grocery!
Buy generic and store brands. You’ll save a bundle!
20. Set your thermostat higher or lower.
Just 1 or 2 degree differences can make a huge difference on your electric or gas bill.
Try it out!
21. Sell clothes on Poshmark.
I sell anything that sets still long enough in my closet on Poshmark!
I have made hundreds of dollars on clothes that I would have donated anyways by selling on here! You can use the money you make to continue shopping on the app, or you can get cash!
Use my referral code: MEVGOODMAN and you can earn $10 just for joining!