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Archives for June 2017

The SAHM Budget Test: How to Afford to Be a Stay-at-Home Mom

June 26, 2017 | Leave a Comment

how to afford to be a stay-at-home momCan moms really afford to live at home full-time with their children? So many families are trapped by student loan and credit card debt, requiring both parents to work full-time outside the home. I’ve been in those shoes. Today, through a myriad of challenges, and a few key triumphs, I discovered how to afford to be a stay-at-home mom.

We’ve covered a wide range of topics centered around finances and SAHMs (listed below). Be sure to check those out if you haven’t.

  • 10 Steps to a Successful Stay-at-Home Mom Budget
  • How to Afford Your Dream of Becoming a Stay-at-Home Mom
  • 14 Online Jobs for Stay-at-Home Moms (That Are Worth Your Time)
  • 13 Ways for Stay-at-Home Moms to Save Money
  • Loans for Stay-at-Home Moms – What Are YOUR Options?

Meanwhile, I put a unique spin on today’s article and have prepared a “SAHM Budget Test” for you.

Why?

Throughout the last six years, my husband and I experienced a complete turnaround of our money habits, our careers, and the trajectory of our future together. It started with asking questions.

“Is debt crippling our future?”

“Do we need an emergency fund?”

“How do we talk about all this?

As we answered every question, we discovered something. Every decision you make with your finances is interwoven with your life and that of your family’s.

So it was with my journey toward becoming a stay-at-home mom.

The SAHM Budget Test: How to Afford to Be a Stay-at-Home Mom

Rather than recount the details of how my husband and spent three years working our financial plan that enabled me to stay home full-time, I’m going to ask you some of the most important questions we asked ourselves. These questions helped us stay focused on what would work for our family rather than falling back on whatever society or our peers were doing with their money.

Dave Ramsey calls it “Living like no one else so that one day you can live, and give, like no one else.” I couldn’t agree more.

Do you know exactly what you need to live on each month?

One of the best ways to answer the question “Can I afford to be a SAHM?” is to calculate EXACTLY what your family must live on each month. For example, compile your list of utilities, bills, and essential expenses like food and gas. This list should include what you’ll realistically purchase even if it’s not a need (i.e. money for restaurants or Starbucks), but do your best to trim.

We’re just looking for an honest snapshot.

Can you practice living on your significant other’s income right now?

I don’t recommend anyone quit her job and stay home without practicing a single-income lifestyle for at least 90 days. The reason is my husband and I stunk at first! We needed MUCH more than three months to crack down on our excess spending and to adjust our lifestyle in order to function solely on his income. But the practice was like a life jacket when we swam to the deep end and officially let go of my income.

Will you need to bring in a supplemental income from home?

There is a TON of pressure on moms these days to make money from home. And it’s really a shame. Should they do so if they truly feel that calling? Absolutely! But not out of guilt or peer pressure. I work 15 hours a week as a freelance writer and am so passionate about what I do. However, I didn’t earn a dime until well over a year after I turned in my keys at the bank. It takes time to build a profitable business from home, so do NOT factor that as an income source unless you have an established business!

Instead, read the next question to consider other ways of utilizing more of your partner’s income.

What can you no longer afford on one income?

When you practice the single-income budget for a few months, it’ll become more clear what changes will need to happen in your current lifestyle. This dream of staying home may require drastic action.

For example, do you need to sell your newer vehicle and buy a 10-year-old Honda? What valuables can you sell for a profit? How about downsizing? Is the size of the mortgage payment preventing you from buying enough groceries on one income?

I’m not saying you can’t own a home. Just weigh the opportunity costs. For the first few years of staying home, you may need to make some sacrifices in your lifestyle to achieve your goal. But I can speak from experience when I say the time at home with your kids is a wonderful distraction from the things of which you let go.

Test Results

How’d your answers turn out? Do you have a better feeling about how ready you are to financially stay home? I hope, more than anything, this didn’t discourage you if the answers weren’t to your liking yet. Educating yourself about your own financial snapshot is the first (and bravest) step toward this goal.

Remember, it took me three years.

If you’re ready to take step two and really begin forming a plan of action toward becoming a stay-at-home parent, I’ve put together a resource just for you. “The Stay-at-Home Mom Blueprint” is the ebook I wish I had when my husband and I first got married. It includes our story of becoming debt-free and finding a way to live on less than $2,000 a month while I stayed home. It also includes 150 strategies to:

  • Chop debt
  • Save money
  • Sell household goods
  • Create healthy conversations about money  with your spouse
  • Make a budget that works for your family
  • Start an at-home business
  • Maintain a healthy, single-income lifestyle for years to come

SAHM Blueprint

If you’re ready to take your next step and access this digital resource, follow this link for more details.

Your Turn: Got a tip for how to afford to be a stay-at-home mom? We want to hear it!

This post may contain affiliate links.

Don’t forget to check out these additional tips for SAHMs!

  • 10 Steps to a Successful Stay-at-Home Mom Budget
  • How to Afford Your Dream of Becoming a Stay-at-Home Mom
  • 14 Online Jobs for Stay-at-Home Moms (That Are Worth Your Time)
  • 13 Ways for Stay-at-Home Moms to Save Money
  • Loans for Stay-at-Home Moms – What Are YOUR Options?

Filed Under: Money and Finances, Parenting Tagged With: at-home parent, become a sahm, how to afford to be a stay-at-home mom, stay-at-home mom budget, wahm

13 Ways for Stay-at-Home Moms to Save Money

June 12, 2017 | Leave a Comment

ways for stay-at-home moms to save moneyWhen I became a stay-at-home mom in 2014, I felt a pang of guilt for no longer contributing financially to the family. Then, as the weeks of staying home progressed, I discovered something incredible. I had a new superpower. I was so much better at saving money! Not to say I was perfect, but by simply spending the lion’s share of my days caring for little ones AT HOME, I saved loads. Let’s take a closer look at some of those practical ways for stay-at-home moms to save money.

13 Ways for Stay-at-Home Moms to Save Money

Since a mom is involved in so many transactions throughout the week, I thought it’d be best to look through these money-saving tips in categories.

Kids and Babies

Don’t buy all new. The minute you become pregnant, you are inundated with offers for bright and shiny things. Everyone will tell you how to keep your baby out of peril. Each piece of advice will be different. Your greatest weapons are:

  • Research
  • Common Sense

Research may show you that buying a car seat new is a wise investment. It may reveal used clothes make a lot of sense for growing babies. Common sense may show you that the French chandelier in your friend’s baby’s nursery doesn’t have to show up in yours, too.

Find out if you qualify for a free breast pump. The government may give you a free breast pump or provide you with a reimbursement. I highly recommend checking it out.

Be strategic about the professional photo sessions. Social media creates so much pressure for parents to create “perfect moments” during each chapter of their children’s lives. Don’t get swept away in expensive photo sessions unless you’ve planned for them and have the budget available.

Food

Load digital coupons. So many stores offer digital coupons. They’re handy and often apply to checkout automatically.

Make your own baby food. I am not a DIY maven. However, when I started researching the health benefits of making homemade baby food (and that getting started wasn’t that hard), I gave it a go.

Once your baby is ready for solids, try mashing a banana or pureeing some superfoods. Freeze them in an ice cube tray for long-term!

Consolidate your trips. Try as I might, I always end up overspending or impulsing buy at the grocery store. Limiting my trips is one way I combat that problem. Another is by ordering my groceries online via ClickList or Shipt. That way, I’m not tempted to overspend and save so much time, too.

House

Pay extra on your mortgage. It’s amazing how much money people can save on their mortgage by paying an extra $100 per month. For example, if you had a 30-year mortgage of $165,000 at 4.5 percent, you’d pay an estimated $135,971 in INTEREST. By paying $100 extra each month over those 30 years, you’d only pay $105,547 in interest. That’s over $30,000 in savings!

Try BankRate’s free amortization calculator here.

Unplug. You can save a lot of money over time on your utilities simply by unplugging your appliances and shutting off your lights. If the weather is nice, shut off the thermostat and throw open some windows.

Reduce extra payments like your phone bill, cable, entertainment subscriptions. What can you trim back in your budget? Can you drop cable? Can you renegotiate your phone bill?

Build an emergency fund. Having money set aside for the unexpected will save so much money on emergency swipes of the credit card.

Selling and Earning

Sell your used goods. Today it’s easier than ever to sell your household goods to others. Check out these seven apps that’ll help you turn your secondhand stuff into cash.

Earn gift cards to cover Christmas. Swagbucks is one of the most popular sites for earning gift cards. You can watch videos, conduct searches, shop online, or do surveys to earn gift cards for places like PayPal, Amazon, and Target. You won’t earn a living, but it’s a great way to cover birthday presents, weddings, or Christmas.

Start a side gig. If you’re a stay-at-home mom looking for a way to make serious money from home, please check out my recent post “14 Profitable Stay-at-Home Mom Jobs Online (That Are Worth Your Time).” It outlines several cash-generating ideas from remote jobs to becoming an entrepreneur.

Ways for Stay-at-Home Moms to Save Money – Part IISAHM Blueprint ebook cover - transparent

I’ve been piling up resources and tips like this for the last three years after my own debt-free journey with my husband. We went from broke and clueless to budgeting and conquering our financial goals – like me becoming a stay-at-home mom – with the steps you’ve read in this article.

If you dream of the day you can stay home with your kids but could use a roadmap like I did, check out “The Stay-at-Home Mom Blueprint.” This eBook tells my story of beating debt and beating the odds to stay home when we only had $2,000 to live on each month.

It also includes 150 strategies to chop your debt, save money, earn from home, and afford your dream of becoming a SAHM.

If you liked this list of ways for stay-at-home moms to save money, “The Stay-at-Home Mom Blueprint” is this plus steroids.

Click here to learn more!

Your Turn: Share with us a few ways for stay-at-home moms to save money in the comments below!

This post contains affiliate links.

Are you a stay-at-home mom? Check out these bonus resources created just for you!

Are you a stay-at-home mom? Make sure you bookmark or pin some of these resources for later!

  • 10 Steps to a Successful Stay-at-Home Mom Budget
  • How to Afford Your Dream of Becoming a Stay-at-Home Mom
  • 14 Online Jobs for Stay-at-Home Moms (That Are Worth Your Time)
  • Loans for Stay-at-Home Moms – What Are YOUR Options?
  • The SAHM Budget Test: How to Afford to Be a Stay-at-Home Mom
  • Walmart Savings Catcher
  • How Much Do Youtubers Make?

Filed Under: Books and Reading, Coupons, Family Time, Money and Finances, Parenting, Shopping Tagged With: how to save more money, SAHM, Saving Money, the stay-at-home mom blueprint, ways for stay-at-home moms to save money

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Basic Principles Of Good Parenting

Here some basic principles for good parenting:

  1. What You Do Matters: Your kids are watching you. So, be purposeful about what you want to accomplish.
  2. You Can’t be Too Loving: Don’t replace love with material possessions, lowered expectations or leniency.
  3. Be Involved Your Kids Life: Arrange your priorities to focus on what your kid’s needs. Be there mentally and physically.
  4. Adapt Your Parenting: Children grow quickly, so keep pace with your child’s development.
  5. Establish and Set Rules: The rules you set for children will establish the rules they set for themselves later.  Avoid harsh discipline and be consistent.
  6. Explain Your Decisions: What is obvious to you may not be evident to your child. They don’t have the experience you do.
  7. Be Respectful To Your Child: How you treat your child is how they will treat others.  Be polite, respectful and make an effort to pay attention.
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