As a stay-at-home mom, it is important for you to be financially stable. You have to be able to provide for your family without relying on your spouse’s income. This might require some sacrifices and careful budgeting, but it is possible. There are many ways that you can save money as a stay-at-home mom.
10 ways to save money as a stay-at-home mom
Budget
Failing to plan is planning to fall. Create a budget for your house and stick to it. Budgeting allows you to create a list of basic items you want, such as flour, milk, cooking oil, and sugar, reducing impulse purchases.
If you are not good at budget try Ramsey envelop system
Buy in-season product
When something is in season, it is available in plenty and sellers tend to sell it at a cheap price because it is in excess and available for everyone. Buying in season will help you spend less and eat healthily.
Take kids to the free park for outdoor activities
Most towns have a free park where you can take kids to play or do outdoor activities.
Some of these parks’ parents organize free fun activities for the kids to get involved in. At our nearest park, there is a football team that plays four times a week and more interesting kid games.
Buy an item at a discount price
Stop buying disposable products
Most disposable products are used once and thrown away. Most of these products are costly, but they only lie to us. We save money and time on cleaning them.
Stop buying disposable diapers and buy cloth or reusable diapers; buy kitchen towels instead of paper towels; buy a water filter instead of bottled water, replace plastic wrap with reusable storage containers; buy a reusable water bottle instead of bottled water.
Disposable products are not environmentally friendly and cost a lot.
Buy second hand
Children outgrow things fast, so there is no need to spend a lot of money on buying expensive new clothes.
Second-hand clothes and toys cost less, and therefore you save money.
Also, used books cost less than new books.
Carry packed lunch and water when going out
When visiting places like parks, zoos, and museums, or going for a family picnic, instead of buying food from cafeterias, bring your packed lunch and fill up reusable water bottles.
Share a meal in restaurants
This also applies when you go out to eat. Most restaurants pack a lot of food that is too much for the kids. Instead of having waste, split the food.
Sometimes it’s even happened to an adult if the restaurants serve too much you can order less and share.
Swap clothes with other mom
Instead of getting rid of clothes that no longer fit, you can decide to swap them with other mom stuff.
Resale of children’s outgrown clothes
You can decide to sell kids’ clothes that no longer fit them and use that money to buy other clothes or items you want for the house.
Exchange books in the nearest library
Instead of buying a book now and then, find the nearest library where you will be exchanging the book you want.
Use money-saving apps
They are apps like Ibotta that give you money back when you shop with them.
Find free kid activities
Instead of paying for fun kid activities, you can check out your nearest park or library to see if they have free craft activities, holiday programs, movies, educational activities, concerts, and more.
Buying clothes offseason
Buying Christmas clothes during the festive season is expensive. The same is true for summer clothes, Easter, Halloween, and Thanksgiving.
If you want to save money, purchase those clothes off-season.
Buy clearance items
Visit your favorite store and find out what is on clearance now. Last year after Christmas I visit my favorite store and found out they were these nice boots that were on sale. I bought the bought and it lasted up to next Christmas.
During this time you can buy the product at a discount price.
Don’t bring kids to the store
Every parent can relate to these, kids and babies ask for everything in the store. Others become fussy and you even end up buying what you had not budgeted for. If you want to save money and stick to your budget go alone in the store to shopping
Rent movies
Instead of taking your whole family for a night out, rent a movie and have a family movie night at home.
Make popcorn, pizza, or any snack at home and you will save money.
Recycle things at home
Recycling mostly applies to kids’ creative things to make. You can save things like boxes or containers for your kids to make things out of them. This helps improve your kid’s creativity and save money.
Not only for kids but there are also things that you can recycle in the house and become useful. For instance, I buy plastic container biscuits and use the container to store cereals.
Join mom clubs or groups
Joining a mom group is the best way to get out of the house without spending money.
Most mom groups meet in one place, like a park where you don’t pay anything and you get time to have an adult conversation. During this time, the kids play together as you learn something new from other moms.
Use dollar tree
At Dollar Tree, everything is one dollar. You can find a lot of deals, mostly on school supplies.
Cook at home
Cooking at home is less costly compared to going out to eat. Have a menu plan and make sure you include the kids’ favorite meals.
Use kitchen garden
If you have a kitchen garden, you can decide to grow your vegetables or use containers in the backyard.
Learn more
Being a full-time stay-at-home mom does not mean you don’t have time to learn a new culinary skill or improve on one.
In my case, I became a blogger after becoming a stay-at-home mother. I took advantage of free online courses to create three blogs that I now monetize.
You don’t have to pay for expensive courses. You can use free online tutorials or YouTube.
Turn off electricity and water
When you are not using electricity or water, learn to make the habit of switching off to save money on utility bills.
Take advantage of freebies, discounts, and coupons
One of the best ways to save money on your shopping is by taking advantage of freebies, discounts, and coupons. Retailers are always looking for new ways to get customers into their stores and they often offer coupons as a way to entice people in.
There are many websites that offer these discounts, freebies, and coupons, but be careful about which ones you choose. Some sites will ask for your email address or other personal information before you can access the discount codes.
Another way is to sign up for the store’s email list or online newsletters. This will give you access to special offers, such as a percentage off your next purchase or an extra 10% off your purchase when you spend over a certain amount in a single transaction.
Check out our articles on free mom and baby samples.
Start a side hustle
Relying on one income is not easy. Start a side hustle like a home-based business or learn a hobby or craft that you can turn to make money
Buy items in large quantities
Purchasing goods in bulk might help you save a lot of money if you have a large household. Things are purchased at a discount or wholesale price.
Start your own playgroup with other moms
Starting a playgroup helps reduce daycare costs. If you want to get things done or go for errands, you can take a turn watching each other’s kids.
Also, in the playgroups, kids play with each other.
How do you save money as a stay-at-home mom? Please share with us your money-saving tips below.
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