Following up on my post on making
the decision to become a stay at home mom I wanted to show you some ways that
you can save money on everyday things. As I mentioned in my previous post,
where there is a will there is a way and if you really want to stay home with
your kids you can find a way to cut costs and make it happen.
If you are contemplating becoming a
stay at home mom then there are certainly things that you should take care of
before taking the leap. If you have credit card debts then you need to think about coming up with a plan to pay off credit card bills before they accumulate more and more interest. When I was
still working my husband and I made it a priority to pay off all of our loans
and debts and we reached our goal before I stayed home with the kids. In order
to pay off debt
in the most timely manner you need to make the minimum payments on all of your
debts/loans and then choose the one with the highest interest and make an extra
payment on that one each month. Once you have paid that one off then you will
still be paying out the same amount each month but applying it to the next
highest interest rate debt you have. So now the next loan you have will still
be getting the minimum payment, plus an extra payment, plus the same amount you
were paying monthly on your last loan (the one you just paid off). You keep
this going until all of your loans are paid off. It is the best way to pay off
your loans in a timely manner.
Once you have your debt under
control then you can look at cutting costs around the house. The one thing we
started doing was looking at our monthly expenses and where our money was
going. If you don't know where your money is going then you don't know where to
make cuts. We kept track of our spending in a spreadsheet and got some eye
opening numbers.
We saw that we needed to reduce the
number of times we ate out every week. By meal planning I was able to cut down
on those last minute "oh no, what's for dinner?" moments and
eliminate the need to eat out or get take out.
I was hooked on hair salon, brand
name hair products. I have thin, lifeless hair and I was convinced that if I
didn't spend the big bucks then it just wouldn't look nice. I've since found
some great products at a fraction of the price. Rather than buying my favorite
Kenra hair spray at $20 a can I switched to Tresemme for $3.50 a can. It works
just as well and I can get almost 6 cans for the price of one can of Kenra.
I've also learned to watch for buy one get one free sales on those hair
products that I find I can't live without and I stock up on them when they are
cheap.
I also started couponing. I found
the site Hip2Save.com and learned SO much about couponing. Now don't tell me
you live in a small town and can't coupon. I live in a rural area with a Target
and Walgreens and that's pretty much it! I have learned how to coupon and save.
My grocery store doesn't double coupons but I can still match up store coupons
and sales with my manufacturer coupons and typically save 50% on our grocery
bill WITHOUT double coupons.
You can save money on everyday
household items by substituting favorite brand name products with make your own
alternatives. You can make everything from cleaning supplies to laundry soap
and diaper paste at a fraction of the cost of buying it.
These are just a few ways to cut
your costs and save money! What are your favorite ways to save on everyday
items?
1 comments:
Like you said, the stockpile of things that are on sale. That is something I began doing a couple months ago.
And I've turned the heat down, especially at night. I saved 20% on my latest bill!
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