Overwhelmed! Where to start?

[organic-momma]

I recently became a stay at home mom, and now have to come to grips with the reality of living off of one income with a child (and another on the way). I just drew up our budget and we're going to fall about $400 short each month on our expenses - so where do I start to trim the fat?

I feel so overwhelmed by all there is out there! So give me your tips on the best way to save $$$$

[feest]

cable, internet, smaller phone plan...stricly plan out meals and only buy what u will need, if u have a child in disposable diapers switch to cloth, hang cloths to save on enegry cost thats all i got for now...good luck

[PajamaMama]

If you have two cars, can you give one up now that you will be staying home? If you have two car payments or two cars and one has a payment, think about it.

[mtm]

If you post your budget it might be easier to help you find places to trim.

[sygo]

Freezer cooking, saves you at least $100 a month...at least, depending on how good you are with buying stuff on sale and meal planning around those. Why you ask? It's because you don't throw out rotten stuff nearly as often as if you cooked every meal, and you use up less energy in the end since you are bulk cooking. And as a few have already mentioned:switch to cheaper phone, cable, internet services, 2 cars? you might be able to live on one, and hanging clothes out to dry instead of using dryer, using cloth dipes instead of sposies, make your own wipes instead of buying then for $4 a pop, swithc to eco-friendlier ways of cleaning instead of buying all those poisonous things they advertise about....vinegar is very good. Also do you use fluorescent bulbs (the energy saving bulbs)? They really help with cutting electricity costs. One other thing I do around the house is unplug everything you don't use all the time (except fridge and phone and alarm clocks, you get the drift). Even if things are on the off position, there is always electricity leaking out. Oh and I coupon clip all the time. Tons more ways, just can't thnk of them at the moment.

[KariM]

When you say expenses, do you mean fixed expenses that cannot be lowered or do you mean expenses as in what you used to spend?

That would be the first thing I'd look at.

What is a fixed necessary item for your family? What could you possibly do without? Where can you lower expenses (groceries, clothing, gasoline, etc.)?

[organic-momma]

I already cloth diaper and make my own cleaners.... the biggest area where we overspend is groceries! I'm absolutely terrible because I love to coook and try new recipes so I'm constantly overbuying on food. I need to really try to cook from our pantry and freezer and get over the "I must cook a gourmet meal" compulsion!

[quirkylayne]

Have you checked out the frugal meal planning thread?

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Groceries.

I think of Groceries as being the place where I could cut the most when I first started staying home.

There is a book called "Miserly Moms: living on one income in a two-income economy" by Jonni McCoy that is fantastic for helping you cut your grocery bill (the entire book is practically about how to get the lowest possible price on food).

You could get it at your library -- if they don't have it, ask them to interlibrary loan it.

That book saved our budget.

[organic-momma]

Here's our budget:

Incoming: $3,965

Outgoing: $4298

Mortgage $1500
Mortgage insurance $25
Debt repayment (fixed, consolidation loan) $200
Groceries $400
Gas $400
Insurance (home & auto) $287
Home phone $45
Cell phone $60 (on a contract)
Cable & internet $87
Gas, water, electricity $250
Car payments $650 (we're thinking of refinancing this)
Spending money $400 (this is for everything from entertainment, meals out, to clothing, toys, etc)

... show me how to save!!!!

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

$650 in car payments!!!

Dave Ramsey would jump all over that. He would advise you to sell whichever car has the highest payment and buy an older car that you can pay cash for. That is a LOT to be putting out each month for a car or cars.

Could you get by with just one car?

If not, could you get by with a much older, less fancy car?

We sold one of our cars this past September and before we sold it I thought there was NO WAY we could live without two cars. But we have been just fine without it and I certainly don't miss the car payments, insurance payment, parking meters, tag renewal, extra gas, etc.

[organic-momma]

We literally cannot live without 2 cars - we just moved to a small town 20 minutes out of the city, we're not within walking distance of ANYTHING. I should clarify that the car payments are also looped into a payment with my husbands consolidation loan of his debt before we were married, only $340 of that is actual car payment, and we don't drive fancy vehicles (a 2001 Subaru Outback and a 2002 Pontiac Grand Am)

[grazy101]

I love going to the grocery and shop. Everytime we go in there, it will be at least 40-50 bucks if we don't have a real agenda. IF there is a list, it will be 100 for only DH and myself. Last month, I started to focus myself and go to Grocery and trader joe's every other week. I will spend more than 100 a trip, but in the long run, my credit card bill is lowered by at least $200!! Try and go only once a week or 1.5 weeks. That really helps and force you to be creative in your meal if an ingredient is missing.

[emilys_mom1]

I just started being a stay at home mom also this last year. Some of the things that I have done are these:

1. Find free entertainment (library, Parks, Farmer's Markets, etc.)
2. Keep a spending log in purse/diaper bag: write down what items cost at each store that you shop at to find the best price.
3. Shop garage sales
4. Shop at thrift stores
5. Plan out your week's travel to try to save on gas. Stay home as much as possible to save on gas
6. Coupons, coupons, and more coupons. There are lots to print of the internet and in newspaper.
7. Cut the children's hair ourselves
8. Do not buy convience food (make your own as much as possible:cookies, granola bars, bread, etc.)
9. Do not use the dryer, dishwasher dry cycle, and turn down the hotwater heater
10. No car washes, only wash and vaccum at home.
11. Ask friends to share cloths that their kids has outgrown
12. Sell items on Ebay or Craigslist that you are not using
13. Use house fans in summer and space heaters in winter to save electric bill.
14. Limit your hair coloring and cutting
15. Shop at farmer's Markets for fresh fruit and Veggies: cheaper than most grocery stores.
16. Rent books and movies from library
17. Limit eating out: Plan to only eat out on special occasions or date nights with DH

Hope some of these help. I also found that on paper, we could not afford for me to stay home. I have now been home for 15months and everything is paid each month with money to put in our savings account. Our 3 kiddo's do not go without either. DH and I are still able to have date nights and at least catch a movie together once a month.

[CeciMami]

All pp's said everything I would've said as far as suggestions. The only thing I have to add is this:

This is a process. Cut out what you can this month, look at where you are at the end of the month and cut some more. You'll be able to, trust me. I was laid off in January and have been slowly but surely tightening and tightening and tightening over the last months, implementing new ideas as I had them and slowly but surely we are getting there. I think, actually, that this month will be our first in the black!!!!!!! So don't get too discouraged if it seems overwhelming at first...it's alot to think about!! As Dave Ramsey (and most everybody really) says, you eat an elephant one bite at a time.

Oh, and since we're in the black now and really want out of debt, I've decided to start babysitting to begin work on our snowball. Is doing some sitting an option for you? Have you looked into GPT stuff? I know some ladies get decent scratch from doing that kind of thing.

Good Luck Mama!

[jackson'smama]

the first two i'd look at (b/c they'd be totally under your immediate control) would be groceries and spending money (especially since each individually are the exact amount you're coming up short on at the end of the month, right?). obviously, you can't cut them both to the bone, but you could whittle away at each one. consider all of your purchases in your spending money category. i too am a sahm living with my dh, 2.5 y.o ds, and have one on the way. we have $150 in our "entertainment" budget each month with $50 of that going straight to DH as he is a bigger spender than me. i will talk myself out of a pack of gum! i don't feel deprived - i just have different priorities and i enjoy seeing how far i can make $100 go for our family's entertainment in a month. for us, entertainment means date night once per week for me and dh (this may mean a restaurant dinner, takeout, or just eating a homemade pizza at home), entrance fees should we go someplace that requires one - basically any money we spend "out and about" that's not groceries or gas. clothing does not come out of this, nor do large toy purchases, but small ones do. i.e. son gets a matchbox car, it's gotta come out of entertainment. budgeting for a treehouse is a different story b/c we've managed to create large savings every month for that type of thing.
i just recommend reconsidering all of your purchases. i don't mean to say deprive yourself, but really think about whether or not you need a new top today or a new pair of shoes, for example.
groceries, i'll have a harder time with as I am NOT into trying new recipes and doing anything gourmet! good for you for being adventurous with food (i've never been that way and will cross off a recipe if it has one ingredient i don't like! ), but i think for me, meal planning is the ticket. deciding what we're going to have for the week or month and trying my best to stick to that has helped. i feed myself (pregnant and lactating), dh, ds, a large dog, and several cats PLUS run the household (greeting cards, lightbulbs, detergent, soap, etc...) on $350 per month, sometimes $400. i don't go off my meal plan much if at all.
good luck!

[meandk0610]

what's wrong with a little deprivation for a month or two? : you may decide you like the extra money so much that you no longer feel deprived.

sarah

[Leta]

For food, you've got to go see Miss Maggie over at www.hillbillyhousewife.com. Truly awesome. Not gourmet meals, but she'll show you how to feed your family on $180 per month or less.

My number one tip on how to save on groceries is not to buy liquids. Buy juice concentrate instead of juice, buy powdered milk and cream. Buy a bag of lemons (or limes, whatever) juice them, freeze the juice in ice cube trays (each one is 2 Tbs) then put your juice cubes in a ziploc and keep in the freezer. (Also, you can then zest the fruit, put in cheesecloth, and stick it in a mason jar full of white liquour to make your own extracts. Works with mint leaves and vanilla beans, too. You can use vodka or make your own liquour with SuperYeast, which is dirt cheap.) Brewing your own beer, pop, and wine is easy, get The Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazan.

If you live in the country, you can garden. With a garden, you can limit your grocery shopping to a once a month trip. (Remember- dry milk! And you can freeze meat. Virtually all cheese lasts a month or more.)

[Denvergirlie]

You're going to have to trim all over. Don't go looking for that $340 you are short. Look for places where you can just trim a bit. $20 here and $30 there will really add up once you total it all up.



Groceries $400
You should be able to get this down some. Start dropping it by $50 and see if you can do it. You love to cook... you need to take a full inventory of your pantry and determine what you have. Now look at your favorite receipes, what do you have, what do you need on a consistant basis? Limit yourself to one new receipe a week, one or two "fancy" meals and the rest go with some standard cheaper fare. Meal planning helps a ton!

Gas $400
Are you making unnesscary trips? Dould your DH get in the habit of calling you when he leaves work too see if you need anything picked up? Can you combine errands? No more just running to town for "XX"? Can you put the trip off to town for a day , what about 2 days?

Insurance (home & auto) $287
Can you lower yourself to a casual driver? I work from home and my insurance rates are cheaper for myself because I drive much less than the average driver. Last year I only put 5700 miles on my truck and we use it heavily on the weekends for errands, etc.

Home phone $45
Can you get rid of the home phone? Go all cell phones. My Bro and SIL do this and save $. Package rates can be cheaper in a family than two separte plans.

Cell phone $60 (on a contract)
See above about looking into a package.

Cable & internet $87
Can you downgrade the cable or get rid of it all together, It's summer, people traditionally watch less TV in the summer. Can you at least downgrade your channels if only for the summer? Try it for at least a month.

Gas, water, electricity $250
Conservation will help here. Powerstrips for turning off unused appliances. Window treatments, celining fans, line drying, don't dry the dishwasher. Catch water in shower to water plants. Less baths, more showers. Can you lower your heat by two degrees in the winter and increase by two degrees in the summer (if you have AC)?

Car payments $650 (we're thinking of refinancing this)
Refiance, or sell one of those cars and get something cheaper. You both have fairly newer cars.

Spending money $400
(this is for everything from entertainment, meals out, to clothing, toys, etc)
I would set these catergories into specific accounts. What do you really need for clothing? For toys? For eating out? What are these amounts really? Freedom accounts really help plan for these expenses.

You also didn't mention any savings. You need to save money for future emergencies so that when the bill comes it's not an emergency. What about car maintance? I didn't see that nor your property taxes accounted for. I hope you are tucking some away each month for stuff like this?

It certainly can be overwhleming. I have a lot of debt and with some careful planning amd climbing out of it fast by cutting corners all over the place.

Good luck!

[A&A]

Your mortgage is high for your income, but I don't know where you live. Could you live in a smaller/less expensive place?

Also $400 for gas is A LOT, as is $400 for "everything else."

You need a more fuel-efficient vehicle, apparently.