Stretch Your Dollar
Moms! Learn How to Spend Less
Money
Step Two of Staying a Stay at
Home Mom will show you how to
Stretch Your Dollar.
This is
where we take our
disposable income and make it go
as far as possible.
This is a very
important step as a Stay Home Mom.
As
SAHM, it is our job to take care of the family finances.
We are the ones
that need to weigh
each financial decision carefully, and see how the decisions we make
with our money will affect our families.
You already learned all about
Reducing
Expenses,
now its time to take it all to the next level. I will warn you that
there is a trade to saving money, or stretching your dollar.
The trade for
your money is your time.
Let’s
think of it this way: If
you spent 3 hours doing research on saving money at the grocery store,
and you went out and saved $60 on your first trip, then you just
made $20 an hour!Knowledge is power, and
it is certainly money!
Saving
Money with Coupons
Since we are already talking about groceries, let’s start by learning
to stretch your dollar with food.
This is often the largest expense,
outside of
housing,
Have you heard that you can get a
cart full of
groceries for free?
Or that you
don’t ever have to pay for things like toothpaste and shampoo?
Well,
its true.
You can get
thousands of
dollars worth of free consumable items every year, simply by the
effective use of coupons and refunds.
There is an entire section on the
effective use of coupons and how to stretch your dollar on groceries the most in the
Deals
and Steals
section, but here are a few links to get you started.
More
Info:
Save
Money on Food
Coupons and Refunds are not the only
way to save significant money on
food.
There are many resources the average family can utilize to save
money in this high expense category.
There are organizations across the
country designed to help the
average family, not
the low-income family, stretch their dollar in the food category.
Plus,
there are
money saving recipes that will really
make your budget go much further. Eat only
health foods?
There are options for you too.
More
Info:
Save
Money on Baby Expenses
Bringing a new baby into the
world is a wonderful occurrence that often
causes
financial stresses.
It doesn’t have to be
this way! Despite what you may believe, having a baby does
not
need to be a bank-breaking experience.
We often purchase too
many
unneeded items, and don't know where to find
inexpensive solutions.
There are ways to get diapers and
formula at a discount, which will stretch your dollar while easing your
financial stress.
More
Info:
Save Money on Household Expenses
Now its time to get down to the Nitty Gritty of
Tightwad
Tips.
Here
are some excellent ideas and resources designed to help you stick with
your budget, and make it all work.
Remember, my goal is to help you
find room for all the important things in your life.
So, if clipping a
coupon for a $25 gift certificate when you fill a prescription will
allow you to buy yourself some
bubble bath to enjoy
in your own personal quiet time, then I've done my job!
More
Info:
Save
Money on Entertainment
Now
for some fun!
Everyone needs a good
night out once
in a while.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if that night out was
nearly free? Learn
how to plan a date night with your husband, eat at a nice restaurant
for a fraction of the cost, all while your children are being
watched…for free!
Or maybe you are going to be going on
vacation
soon. You can have the getaway of your dreams
without going
broke. More Info:
- Save
Money on Birthday Parties
Now
I know that you want to jump ahead of me and go straight onto
Supplementing
Income,
but hold off.
It is Far Easier
to Spend Less Money Than it is to Earn More.
Take the time to go through these first two sections on spending less
money
before you try to add additional money to
your income.
Supplemental income is
very important
in a one- or no-income family, but unless you
first figure
out how to stretch your dollar, all the extra work you do will be for
nothing.
Trust me on this.
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