We can’t all be June Cleaver.
Being a SAHM is not as easy as it used to be. 62% of American homes consist of parents that are both employed! That’s more than half of our families! It’s getting more and more difficult to live off one income. If you’re either on the fence about quitting your job or are a SAHM trying to save money, this post will help you.
These tips will take a little bit of work and self-discipline, but the reward is worth it! You will feel more financially secure, less consumerist, and more family focused.
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1. Set up a budget and stick to it!
If your household does not have a family budget, I don’t know how you are surviving. Honestly, I want to know how. Hit me up girl.
When you set up a budget, you list out all of your bills, payments, subscriptions, costs, and plan all of your saving and spending. If you get paid twice a month, you can divide your bills in half according to your net pay for that time period.
You and your spouse will estimate how much you will spend eating out, on entertainment, put in savings, and each receive in personal spending. It’s a good idea to use cash for these transactions so you don’t go over your budget. I will talk about this more in the next topic.
It’s vital you use self-control and stick to your budget. It’s great to have a budget and a plan for your finances, but if you do not stick to it, you will not see the fruits of your labor and you wasted your time planning. #brutalhonesty
By creating a budget, you save money. You are setting financial boundaries for you and your family. You know what purchases you can or cannot make. You don’t buy things just to buy and you are more careful with the purchases you do make. You spend less because you have a plan.
I have created a template of a monthly household budget. I estimated numbers and what your monthly bills might be. You can add, change, or edit anything you’d like. It is yours to keep. Don’t forget you can also divide your bills in half if you get paid twice a month.
Click below to download the monthly budget template.
2. Use the envelope system
The envelope system is taking out cash to make purchases instead of a debit card. For example, you can take out all your grocery money for the month into 4 envelopes. Label groceries week 1, week 2, and so on. Each week use the appropriate envelope when you get groceries. What cash is left over you can roll over to the next week or keep in the envelope for next month.
Our family uses the envelopes for spending, car maintenance fund, medical fund, eating out, family night, personal spending, and savings for a specific item. We leave gas and groceries in the account because I don’t want to get out of the car with a toddler when I get gas and I use online grocery shopping (Kroger Clicklist). All of our other bills are drafted out of our account automatically.
You will decide what works best for your family. It’s okay to tweak things as you perfect your financial system.
When you use the envelope system, you save money by limiting unnecessary spending. You purchase things you absolutely need or want. You become less consumerist and more appreciative for the things you do purchase. The envelope system helps you to maintain those boundaries you set in your budget.
3. Cut out unnecessary expenses
Now that you have a budget and an envelope system, you now have a plan for your finances. Let’s grab your bank statements and sift through purchases or subscriptions you pay for that you don’t use. For example, we cut out Hulu and saved about $10 bucks a month. Yes, it’s just $10 bucks, but that’s two cups of coffee, $10 more in groceries, a pass to the local science museum, lowers that water bill $10, or can be an extra $10 for eating out! The list goes on! More than likely you will find more than a few things you can cut out.
Go back and look at your bank statements and notice any bad habits or overspending in certain areas. Evaluate your living habits and expenses and cut back a little. Unless you are rolling in the dough, being a SAHM means you have to make sacrifices to stay home with your babies. What helps me is this: it’s temporary. You’ll be able to grab that cup of daily Starbucks again one day. But for now, you get to watch your babies grow and be with them for ALL of their moments! Not a lot of women can say that. See? Skipping that cup of coffee doesn’t seem so bad now does it?
When you are trying to lower your monthly expenses, ask yourself, “What could I do with this money?” If it’s something you and your family really need or enjoy, keep it. You will know if you can get rid of it. Simplify girl, it’s amazing!
4. Less consumerism; More minimalism
We are bombarded with a million different ads a day. Well not really. Thousands. 5,000 to be exact according to Oksana Tunikova from the StopAdBlog. That is a lot that is being thrown at us and all of them speak to this lie. _______ will make you happy. Yea, xyz might make you happy for a little, but then you’re left wanting more which leads to buying more and then bam! You have filled up a house of crap and you only use 10% of it (I know this too well).
We must be aware that there are really only a few things we need and a few things that make us happy. When we feel the urge to buy something ask yourself, “What will I be doing with this is 6 months?” Don’t believe the lie that more is better or that xyz will fulfill you. Save that money and use it wisely.
I truly believe the reason why more women can’t afford to stay home is because of what we think we need to buy in life to make us happy (let me insert here that I know that there are women who want to stay home with their babies, but are serving their family with an amazing job + benefits, also lot of moms love to work and that’s perfectly coolio). We are buying things we can’t afford and don’t need.
5. Meal plan and cook!
Oh man. If you know me, you know I hate cooking. I want it now! I hate the process and I am not even that great at it. However, when I do meal plan and cook, we end up saving money.
Meal planning is something I am great at! I am a planner, that’s why I became a teacher (then I had my own kid and couldn’t deal with other ones so shout out to all the teacher moms out there, YOU GO GIRL). When I meal plan, I write out how many days I am cooking for and the meals I am going to prepare (all three meals). Then, I order all my groceries online and pick them up. That way, when I pick up my groceries I have everything I need. Woot woot!
Now, like I was preaching earlier, if you are going to make a plan you need to stick to it. You’re doing all the hard work upfront so when that day comes all you have to do is make sure your meat is thawed (I usually stick mine in the freezer when I get home and then remember it is frozen 5 minutes before I begin cooking).
By meal planning and cooking, you are eliminating eating out. A meal for my family is about $30. If we eat out 3 times a week that is $90. If I eliminate those and actually cook, we end up saving that money. It all adds up!
6. Pack lunches
One way to save money is to pack lunches for you family and eat at home. How often do you, your husband, or your children eat lunch out? Including fast food or in the cafeteria at school. Like we talked about earlier, if you are spending $10 dollars a week day on lunches (which I’m might spending more), you are spending $50 a week, and $200 a month! $200! You’ll prob have to add $50 of that to your grocery budget, but you will still save $150!
Because you are cooking, you can pack your hubs leftovers. Help your husband out and pack his lunch or prepare leftovers in a container he can take to work (I’m terrible at this, oopsie poopsie). That way, he doesn’t have to eat out! If there are times that are necessary for him to eat out, then add that to the budget and create an envelope for it.
Uber Eats is my friend and worst enemy. It’s so easy to just purchase a yummy meal you don’t have to cook (if you have budgeted for it). You don’t even have to put a bra on (oversized sweat shirts are my bestie)! That’s hard to say no to! However, you waste money by doing this unless you add this to your budget.
If you have kiddos that are in school, pack their lunches. You’ll spend less money packing their lunches than if you prepare a sandwich or snacks from them. Your grocery budget should be enough money to support 3 meals a day for your family.
7. Re-examine your health care options
Have you shopped around for different healthcare options? There might be something out there that is more affordable than what your workplace is providing you.
There are several great non-profit health options to choose from. We currently have Samaritan Ministries. You pay a certain amount a month to a specific person in the ministry. When you have a medical need (that is more than $300 and fits certain guidelines), your community shares their monthly cost with you. This is not health insurance. You are still self pay, but you just have a community helping you pay for it.
You might also want to look into different insurance companies to see what kind of packages they offer. They might give you a discount if they know you are leaving your health care provided by your work place.
8. Find free activities/entertainment
Find free activities and entertainment for you and your family. This doesn’t mean you can never do anything that’s not free, it just means you need to budget or wait a few weeks (or months) to do those activities. I’ve listed below some free activities.
- Picnic at the park: bring a blanket and a packed lunch on pretty day and have a picnic!
- Visit the library: Most libraries have free classes and story time. Make it a weekly thing to visit the library
- Story time at Barnes & Noble: Most Barnes & Noble stores have a story time and a kid’s section with a train station.
- Take a hike: Find your nearest hiking trail (that’s kid friendly) and spend a few hours outside! Your entire family will benefit!
- Walk the mall: This may seem hard because you aren’t spending money, but if you are bringing your kids, you’re not going to get any shopping done anyway (ha)! Most malls have a kid’s place to play. You can take a load off and let your kids play (bring sanitizer)!
- Plan a play date: Moms, we need each other. Plan it out 7 weeks in advance and have a play date! Let your kids play and you enjoy some adult time.
- Find a playground: Go to the school or playground near you and let your kid RUN!
You might also want to ask family members for memberships to your local zoo or museum for your kid’s birthday gifts. My mother-in-law and my parents purchased memberships for Everett and it has been the best gift ever. Literally, a gift that keeps on giving!
9. Buy and sell used items
Buying and selling used clothes is a great way to save money. You can earn credit for the clothes you sell at a store or sell on Facebook or Instagram. You can even purchase more expensive baby items like strollers and swings. I purchased a baby swing at a secondhand store for $40. It was like new! I looked up the price at Target and it was selling for $90!
10. Quit using credit cards
I understand we need some type of credit card to build credit. However, if you’re using a credit card to buy things now that you don’t have the money for, you need to pay that thing off and burn it! I’m not even going to talk about the interest when using credit cards. The idea of wanting something without having the means to buy it can be dangerous.
Using a credit card (inappropriately) is like digging a hole while wearing a ball gown. You are beautifully dressed and decked out in expensive diamonds. Your hair and makeup are done like all your boards on Pinterest, but you aren’t going anywhere but down. Nobody is going to see how cute you look! You are missing the ball because you keep digging and digging and eventually can’t get out without the help of another. Yea, credit cards can get you nice things, but they aren’t actually yours. You look amazing, but you ain’t going to the ball!
Okay rant done. Get rid of those cards (unless you have self-control and are building credit).
How to save
Okay, so we have talked about 10 ways to help you budget and save money as a SAHM.
- Set up a budget and stick to it!
- Use the envelope system
- Cut out unnecessary expenses
- Less consumerism; More minimalism
- Meal plan and cook
- Pack lunches
- Re-examine health care options
- Find free activities or entertainment
- Buy and sell used items
- Quit using credit cards
It might not be easy, but it will be so worth it! Remember: this is temporary. When I was about to quit my job, I was a little unsure if I was making the right choice. I was talking to a wise, older woman at church who also quit her job to stay home. She told me, “You won’t regret it. It’s the best decision I ever made.” You get to be apart of your kid’s daily jam. I know so many moms (because I was one) who wanted to stay home with their babies so bad. You can do this Mama!
I’m for you and praying for you!
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