How does your family budget to live on one income?

Question

I am trying to figure out ways to cut our family budget to allow me to stay home and raise our son. I believe we live well within our current means, but there is always room for improvement. The cost of daycare is ridiculous it makes me want to stay home more and more everyday. How does your family save money? We are currently paying off 3 credit cards and 4 student loans, what situation are you in and how do you manage? I am willing to work out of the home if neccessary, that is no problem, finding a job to do so is. Serious answers only please. Thank You!

We do not use our credit cards anymore, we are just paying off the balances. We did call and transferred them to 0% APR cards to eliminate interest.

Answer 1

When we were one income, we got rid of cable (save $480 a year) , switched our cell phones to prepaid plans (saved $400 a year, had a lot less minutes), stopped going out to eat (saved $1000 a year), bought all clothes at good will, put all house repairs on hold if they were minor. Continually asked the question.. do we absolutely need this or do we want this? If we wanted it, then it got put on the want list in our kitchen to be purchased at a later date.. The want list got very big but we chipped away at it at birthdays and holidays. Thought about downsizing to a smaller house knowing that it wouldn't be the most absurd idea ever to have our kids bunk together.

Answer 2

Contact the state office of children and family services and find out what they require for you to start a home daycare service. Get referrals from the Department of Social Services for parents seeking child care, and from your local child care council. Child care council can help with some start up costs, some have toy libraries you can use. Contact your local food reimbursement program, CACFP here, Child and Adult Care Food Program for reimbursement for meals served. Make a space for your office for the business and take that deduction every year. I did daycare for 5 years. It can be a very good income. Don't forget to include cleaning the house every day into your hours, and the additional grocery shopping. Be aware that you will have to attend trainings once or twice a month in the evenings. I always had a second refrigerator because the kids went through so much milk. Plan out your time off, give parents a schedule for the year, and enjoy!!

Answer 3

First off clear your debut. Take what you have in savings and pay off your highest interest debut first. Keeping paying as much as you can for as long as you can.

Stop using the credit cards all together. Unless it is an emergency "if you can't pay for it now you can't buy it now."

Make sure you use your savings account to save your money. Are you getting the best rate on your savings with your current bank? Tell your bank you're looking elsewhere for better rates. They may bump yours up.

Shop at chain super markets. Never at mom and pop stores. I know that's not good for the local economy but the simple fact is the chain stores buy in bulk and pay less because of it. Make a list and stick to it always no matter what.

Do without. Do you really need cable? if so do you really need the "super ultra gold-platinum" package with 800 channels? Are you paying for high speed when Dial up is all you really need? Know that all sports are recapped on line, all movies can be rented when you want/ have time to see them.

Check your cell phone contract. Are they charging you for features you don't user like Internet, txtmsg, etc. is there a plan with few minutes?

Check your phone bill, are paying a flat rate for long distance when you never make long distance calls?

Answer 4

if you are low income you can apply for child care assistance through the FIA. They will either pay the day care or if you want your parents, basically who ever is watching the child. You may have to pay a small co-pay once a month, but it is really nothing. The most I have seen was like $20 a month. Another thing you could consider is downsizing your home. If you are a small family and you dont plan on getting bigger, there is no need for a 4 bed, 3 bath home for example.

Answer 5

I am a stay-at-home mom.

I would consolidate your loans and credit cards in order to get a cheaper interest rate so you won't pay so much interest monthly. List all of your expenses and keep only those that are necessary. Shop around for car insurance and make sure that you are getting the cheapest out there. you can cut down on your grocery bill if you buy the no name brands.

Answer 6

well if you are stuggling, then now is not the time to become a stay at home mom. your son will be fine without you being with him 24/7
if you get a job during the time your husband is home then you wont need a babysitter
i work graveshift and my daughter's father works in the morning
in the afternoon its family time. until i make enough to become a stay at home mom. but sometimes you have to do what you gota do until you cant do it no more

Answer 7

first you decide you are committed to providing your son what he needs, and it all just follows from there. once i realized that separation from me was stressing our precious son out, i left the paid work force. you might investigae financing your loans.

in addition to staying in a tiny house and keeping our paid off old cars and not buying him clothes (just hand me downs) and getting toys for gifts and nursing on demand so never using formula or baby food, we ran up lots of debt on our credit card just to pay the bills. those years and that debt are long gone and the benefit to our son of being raised by his mommy go on to this day.

the cost to the child of separating from mommy is so high, the financial cost should not be an issue. Good luck!

Answer 8

YOU NEED A TOTAL MONEY MAKEOVER!! Don't hesitate, go out and buy "The Total Money Makeover" and "Financial Peace University" from Dave Ramsey or visit his website. He is also on the radio. He is great. I am in the process of eliminating my debt. My brother used his program and has everything paid off and is now working on paying off his house. There is a guy on my job who teaches the Financial Peace class from Dave Ramsey. Dave is AWESOME!! I love one of his quotes..."In order to live like no one else, you must live like no one else" which means, in order to live (in the future) like a millionaire or no one else around you, NOW you must live and/or do things that no one else does as far as eliminating debt. He explains step by step what you should do. NO GET RICH SCHEME, just plain and easy ways of eliminating debt and setting aside money for emergencies! I challenge all to try. I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE DAY TO LIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE!!!

Answer 9

i too wanted to be a stay at home mom because this was my child and i wanted to be there for her.
We cut!!!!!!! bagged lunches(leftovers) instead of restaurant, buy cans of soft drink instead of buying in machine everyday,shopped around for insurance deals(if you put all at same institution you get better deal)no junk food policy in groceries,prepaid cell phone instead of fix per month(no chance of going over this way),regular Internet instead of high speed(if your are at home mom i think you can afford the extra min....)(in between loads of laundry of course),Consolidate your bills, do your own nails,put hair in pony tail no need for salon hair at home........
When you really want to there is always a way.And to the limit cut cell phone and internet all together......for a while anyways.....