But How to Afford Being a Stay-at-Home Mom? this question that so many working moms ask. Being a stay-at-home mom is neither easy nor cheap. Many people do not think about the lost income and steady costs that remain when they consider having a parent stay home.
For example, the mortgage and electric bills are not going to decrease just because the mom stays home. However, her income will not be available to supplement the bills. Here are a few things you can do to make the transition to stay-at-home mom easier.
Here How to Afford Being a Stay-at-Home Mom:
Pretend
No, I do not mean pretending to be a stay-at-home mom, but I do mean set up a budget that does not include your income. Do this for a few months before you stop working. Calculate what it would cost to pay all of the bills and maintain savings without you working.
Now, you may know that some bills will be reduced, such as gas, car maintenance, or lunches out, but do not cut them while you are practicing for the reduced income. Put your paychecks into savings to increase the cushion once you stay home.
Trim Your Budget
While you are practicing your budgeting, you will likely begin to notice frivolous spending. You should begin to trim some of those things from the budget. Go out to eat one less time a month, cook extra food at dinner to take for lunches instead of lunch out, or cancel the landline phone if you do not use it.
Trim any excess from the budget to make room for savings or other things you want to do. Stay-at-home moms still want to go on vacation once in a while. Get rid of excess spending to make room for other wants.
Coupon
No one is saying that you need to be an extreme couponer, but using a 50︢¢ coupon on a few things adds up over time. It may only save you a dollar or two per weekly shopping trip, but that is at least $100 a year. No, that is not massive amounts of money, but it can certainly add up over time. Pay attention to double coupon days and stock up on necessities and things you regularly use when you can.
Money-Saving Apps and Opportunities
Like coupons, apps like Ibotta ( my favorite saving app, give it tray!
download the app from here: IBOTTA APP ), Fetch Rewards, and Checkout 51 can save shoppers money. You can often use the savings for gift-cards and additional savings at stores you frequent.
Saving your Ibotta money can give you a gift card to use at Christmas to save you dollars.
Gas apps have also popped up that allow you to save money. My nearest gas station is available on one of the apps. It is incidentally one of the cheaper ones in the area. I use my gas app when I get gas.
Then I can use it for dinner out or get the money sent to my Paypal Account. These apps will not help you save enough money to be a stay-at-home mom, but they can ease the lost income somewhat.
One tip that is not quite a coupon, nor is it a money-saving app, is taking advantage of store perks. For example, I pay at Target using my RedCard debit. I save 5% off each purchase. When my youngest child needs diapers, I often go to Target because their prices are competitive with other stores.
The five percent savings is fantastic alone, but many times they are running a special where spending a certain amount on diapers earns a gift card. The amounts range from $5 to $20 depending on the promotion. One year I had over $100 in gift cards at Christmas
. Again, these things will not make or break a stay-at-home mom, but if you have $100 Fetch Rewards, $100 Get Upside, and $100 in Target gift cards, that’s an extra $300 on Christmas gifts you do not have to pay out!
Back-up Plan
Sometimes life happens, and you can coupon, use apps, earn gift cards, and budget to your heart’s content and still come up short. When this happens, have a contingency plan for working from home or working opposite shifts. Growing up, my dad worked third shift, and my mom worked first.
They did not have to pay for daycare from the time I was five. This is a significant reason that moms want to stay home. Try to plan for working from home or taking a part-time evening job if possible. Of course, you will want to check out any work from home agency before beginning.
Remove Disposable Items
Stop using disposable diapers, napkins, and baggies. While the initial cost of reusables is higher, you will stop having to budget for them. They will not increase your water usage that much each month, and you can help the environment.
Not everyone wants to deal with cloth diapers, and we understand that. If you cannot fathom not using disposables, consider less expensive brands, warehouse stores, or online shopping to find the least expensive deal on diapers. Use reusable plastic and glass more than disposable.
Final Thoughts
Being a stay-at-home mom means considering all of your budgeting concerns. While many of these things will not save you thousands of dollars a year, they do make an impact over time. You need to make sure that you can afford to be a stay-at-home mom before walking away from your job.
If you can feasibly downsize your home or buy a cheaper one, you could decrease your bills this way as well. If you are making two car payments, consider selling one car and purchasing a less expensive car with cash.
The benefits far outweigh the costs for many families, and if this is true for your family, you should find every way that you can save money or decrease your bills. Consider a new “smart” thermostat, higher efficiency bulbs, and turning off appliances when not in use.
Install light switch timers and motion sensors to keep from using lights when no one is in the room. There are many ways to save money as a stay at home mom. What are your favorites? How to Afford Being a Stay-at-Home Mom
hope you enjoyed How to Afford Being a Stay-at-Home Mom article !
Read more :
The Challenges Of Being A Stay At Home Mom And How To Make The Best Of Them