4 Ways to Simplify Your Life As A Stay-At-Home Mom is a guest post by Eleni.
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In today’s society there is a lot of pressure for women to be super moms. I have to say that no one is perfect, nor does life always go as planned. When the economy crashed my husband was told, “You won’t have a job in 6 months.” He found a new job, but we had to relocate and I had to leave my job.
Honestly, becoming a stay at home mom was one of the most difficult transitions I have made in life, but I’m stronger and my family is better for it. I was able to make this adjustment by simplifying life and developing creative ways to save money.
Develop a Daily Schedule. Thinking back to my first day on the job as a Stay at Home Mom, I was overwhelmed with the hours in the day. I developed a SAHM schedule, which working parents laughed about at the time. Then I joined the local chapter of a National MOMS Club and made an effort to get out of the house and socialize with other moms. This was my saving grace. I have made lifetime friendships with these women.
Reassess Priorities. When we moved to one salary, my husband and I spoke with close family, friends, and SAHM colleagues. These discussions are what helped our family reassess and create new values and priorities. Today I feel productive with two children, and I can say that my priorities are vastly different today than before I had kids.
Set Limits. All too often I hear friends complain about how much they have going on. I am guilty of that too, but who says we have to accept every birthday invitation, trip, or play date? I learned that in order for me to feel productive and keep my mind sharp, I had to use my old skill of setting boundaries, saying “NO” in order to make more quality time for myself, my husband, and my kids.
Simplify Needs. Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to get to a simplified way of life. We sold my husband’s car, so he wakes up early to take transit. Then we sold items on Craigs List (toys, bikes, bbq, bookcases, beds, couches). We downsized our monthly bills, switched to “dumb” phones, cut our cable and limited travel. We also sold our house in Florida, paid off debt, rented rather than purchased, couponed weekly, ate healthier, exercised, and shared our lessons learned with others.
Now, we have a monthly spending plan with twice a month sit-downs together to assess our short and long-term financial goals, and we live simply. Living on one income in a two income world, although it comes with challenges, was an awakening moment which enabled me to breathe and enjoy daily life with our family.
Do you live on one income? How have you simplified? Leave a comment. 🙂
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Eleni Alexiou is happily married, mother of two, and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. After becoming a SAHM she started Eleni Saves U to others learn to coupon and create healthy finances. She offers weekly financial coaching, classes, and personal finance resources toward simplifying life.
Wow this was such a great read. I am a stay at home mother of 2. We have done almost everything you all have and likewise it has saved us a ton. I believe making these sacrifices are well worth it and I will continue to do so for my family.
Thanks Sarah, it’s definitely worth the sacrifices!
We are a one income family. At the onset, we had $29,000 in CC debt, one child and another on the way. I lost my new full time job when my son was hospitalized for 3 days. (Bad timing: he got very sick 2 weeks after I started at a job that required you work 60 days before taking any days off, regardless of the reasons) So, we were thrust into a one income situation. Over time, I worked with the CC companies to get our interest down to 0% with an agreed upon monthly payment. At the same time we became a one income family, we also became a cash only family. This was not all immediate, but over time we:
-got rid of cable for netflix saving $53 a month
-moved saving $400 month in rent
-meal plan (spend $70 a week)
-reduced cell phone by $40 a month
-applied for a low income program with our land line company and reduced our bill by $25 a month
-when we moved last summer, we moved to a home with wood heat and cistern water. While we don’t have a gas bill, the electric in this area is much more expensive than where we came from so that evened out. However, we have no water bill. Saving about $40 a month.
-Switched car insurance companies and reduced our bill by $40 month.
-And the best, most recent thing I did to reduce our monthly outflow of cash was that we paid OFF the CC debt! 5 years later!! I’ve commented about that before but we are just so happy to be free of that CC debt!
So, compared to where we were 5 years ago, we have shaved off $1057 a month from our budget. (This number includes the monthly payments we used to be making on our CC’s)
While we are still living on $29,000, we have enough at the end of the month to save for a few different areas and no longer live from paycheck to paycheck. I CAN’T WAIT!!
Wow Julie! Good for you for paying off $29,000 in credit card debt with an income of $29,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is very impressive. It just goes to show that if you are committed to making the sacrifices necessary, you can live on far less than you think. Thanks so much for sharing your story!
It’s so hard nowadays to survive off of one income! After a very long, hard battle with infertility, once my miracle twin babies came along (almost 2 years ago) there was no where else in the world I would rather be than at home with them!
A few lifestyle changes that we made were to cut out cable (saving almost $100 a month), by me driving so minimally our insurance on our second car was lowered to a different bracket (saving a whopping $7 a month), and I adjusted our home phone and internet plans (saving $14 a month). Also, since I don’t have to commute to work, I’m saving around $120 a month on gas, never mind more frequent oil changes and vehicle maintenance. Just over $240 a month, or $2880 annually. =)
I am so happy for you that you were able to have those babies Amanda! I know that you will continue to be blessed by making the sacrifice to stay home with them.
We went from two incomes to one last summer when we moved for my husband’s job. I only worked part time before but was well paid and made almost as much as my husband’s full time job. In addition, my husband’s new job pays less than his old job. Needless to say, cutting our income by more than half, moving and staying home full time has been quite an adjustment. We paid off the last of our debt with proceeds from our home sale so we are debt free which is fabulous. We’ve done a budget for years and continue to do that but it is so tight that we do end up pulling from savings almost every month.
We chose not to buy a home when we moved and we only have one car right now (we will buy another one for cash in a few weeks). We changed our cell phone plans and started doing more meal planning. We rarely eat out and sometimes our meals are spanish rice and beans!
I’m still trying to learn and break some of my old habits.
We basically live on one income, I run a very part-time photography business where I might photograph one wedding per month, so it helps a little.
I think sitting down to together and going over your budget it key. It’s also important not to compare yourself to families with two full-time incomes. Yes they have a huge truck and new car, but we have each other and zero car loans.
We don’t have cellphones, we don’t have cable but treat ourselves to netflixs, we really enjoy having people over and we’re hoping to spend more money on items to keep our home fun and place we’d rather stay than leave… like a trampoline for the kids, playset, etc.
We also accept help when it’s offered. Our washer is on it’s last leg and my Dad offered his extra washer he doesn’t use… granted it’s yellow and from the 70’s but it works! We may take him up on it and save ourselves $400. (laughing) We also carpool a lot!