Being a stay-at-home mom is one of the most rewarding decisions I’ve ever made. But I’ll admit—it also came with its fair share of financial adjustments. As a work-at-home mom managing two blogs, a household, and growing kids, I’ve had to learn how to stretch every shilling and find creative ways to live well on one income.
If you’re wondering how to save money while staying at home with your kids, let me share some tried-and-true tips that have worked for me and many other moms in the same boat.
10 ways to save money as a stay-at-home mom
1. Create a Realistic Budget and Stick to It
The first step to saving money is knowing where it’s going. As a family, we sat down and wrote out our monthly income and expenses. We used a simple notebook at first, and later switched to a spreadsheet. This gave us a clear picture of where we could cut back—and where we were overspending without realizing it.
👉 Tip: Use free budgeting apps or printable templates to make it easier to track your spending.
If you are not good at budget try Ramsey envelop system
2. Cook at Home More Often
As a stay-at-home mom, one of my biggest money-savers has been preparing homemade meals. Not only is it healthier, but it’s far cheaper than ordering in or eating out.
To make this easier:
- Plan weekly meals
- Shop with a grocery list
- Cook in batches and freeze leftovers
You’ll be surprised how much you save even in just one month!
3. Buy in Bulk and Shop Smart
I’ve learned to take advantage of bulk shopping for non-perishables like rice, flour, and cleaning supplies. Shopping at wholesale markets or supermarkets with loyalty rewards also helps.
Don’t forget to:
- Compare prices before buying
- Use discount cards and apps
- Watch out for sales and clearance deals
4. Embrace DIY Whenever Possible
From cleaning products to kids’ activities, embracing DIY has helped us save thousands. I make homemade detergents, prepare snacks from scratch, and even do basic home repairs instead of calling a professional right away.
If you’re creative, you can also DIY gifts, decorations, and beauty products.
5. Limit Impulse Buys and Online Shopping
It’s tempting to browse and buy things you don’t really need—especially during nap time. I learned to delay purchases by 24 hours. If I still felt it was necessary the next day, I’d consider it. Often, the urge passed!
Unsubscribing from marketing emails also helped me avoid temptation.
6. Make Use of Free Entertainment
With kids, the cost of entertainment can add up quickly. But staying at home doesn’t have to be boring. We take regular walks, visit free parks, borrow books from the library, and host playdates at home.
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.
Plus, we limit screen time by scheduling creative activities like:
- Storytime
- DIY crafts
- Backyard scavenger hunts
7. Thrift, Swap, and Reuse
Thrift stores and second-hand markets are a treasure chest for moms! We buy gently used clothes, toys, and even furniture. I also swap items with other moms in our neighborhood or church group.
Reusing containers, jars, and bags also helps cut costs.
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.
8. Earn Money from Home
Though I’m a stay-at-home mom, I started working from home through blogging—and it’s now contributing to our income. You can also explore:
- Freelancing
- Selling homemade products
- Virtual assisting
- Teaching online
Even small earnings add up and ease financial pressure. Read online jobs for stay-at-home mom
Start a side hustle like a home-based business or learn a hobby or craft that you can turn to make money
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. Use money-saving apps
They are apps like Ibotta that give you money back when you shop with them.
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. 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
20. 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.
21. 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.
22. 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.
23. Use dollar tree
At Dollar Tree, everything is one dollar. You can find a lot of deals, mostly on school supplies.
24. Use kitchen garden
If you have a kitchen garden, you can decide to grow your vegetables or use containers in the backyard.
25. 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 two blogs that I now monetize.
You don’t have to pay for expensive courses. You can use free online tutorials or YouTube.
26. 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.
27. 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.
28. 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.
29. Practice Contentment and Gratitude
Lastly, saving money as a stay-at-home mom is easier when you embrace a lifestyle of contentment. I remind myself daily that happiness isn’t found in things—it’s found in peace, presence, and purpose.
How do you save money as a stay-at-home mom? Please share with us your money-saving tips below.
To help you get started, download our free Budgeting Tracker and Printable Meal Planner designed especially for stay-at-home moms to simplify money management and meal planning.
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