SAHMS, how do you help save?

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This is the very first year I will be attempting to have a garden to provide us with a good ammount of our own fresh fruit and veggies.
we built several raised beds and I plan to buy or make a rainwater harvesting system to collect the free rain. Hopefully we will have lots of frest food to eat and then we can freeze or can the rest! I bought heirloom seeds so I can save them year after year.

Now I married very young and so this has all been a learn on the job kinda thing for me 😉 So I am hoping I can do this. I used to be very wasteful with our money but I got serious when my DH told me he isnt sure how much longer he will be employed because of the economy! Luckily my DH has a business on the side that is providing a pretty good income so we are using that money to pay off all of our debt and then we will start SAVING for the worst case scenario.

Now that I think about it there is probably alot more I could be doing such as getting rid of cable.
 
I get wireless internet free because I pick it up from a couple of networks in my neighborhood. I’m lucky because I live near a city hall with wireless internet, so I get a very strong connection. Slow, but strong. So, my advice is see if you can pick up wireless internet from your neighborhood.

I agree with the poster who likes to shop at CVS. In fact, I avoid Wal-Mart. I can get better deals at CVS by stopping by there regularly, checking their ads, and scanning my Extra Care card on each visit. Whenever I go to Wal-Mart, I tend to spend more than I want. I also prefer the shopping experience in CVS, but that might be because the one I visit has friendly and nice employees.
 
Hi! I am also quitting work in February when baby #1 arrives. I have been working on different ways to help us save.

First, we are doing cloth diapers. I know they will be a pain to wash (I’m not too huge on doing laundry), but I bought all of my diapers yesterday for under $150. Even with untilities it will be signficantly cheaper than other diapers. Plus, they should last through 3 kids. Figure that it is worth my time to help save.

Second: Grocery shopping. I look at ads and I buy everything on sale. I also buy things on “Manager’s Special” as often as possible. I was so proud of myself the day that I got paid to buy yogurt. It was marked down to 10 cents a cup and I had coupons for a $1 off 5. If I shop around, I can get meat for significantly cheaper as well. I have got boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.18 a lb. and hamburger for 83 cents.

Third: When I do buy hamburger or chicken, most of the time, I take it home and cook it immediately. Then I freeze it in quart sized bags. This way, I can pull out hamburger and stick it in tomato sauce for spaghetti etc. Saves time and effort in the long run.

Fourth: I try to cook a lot of casseroles since they use less meat than a straight up meat/potato meal and pasta is a lot cheaper than meat. I go to www.allrecipes.com and type in the ingredients that I need to use up. It helps me to not waste food and also to stay original.
 
Almost forgot another way I save quite a bit of money. My husband and I have a certain amount budgeted per month for food. I pull out a quarter of that each week in cash and I allow myself to spend that amount and just that amount in groceries per week. That way, when I underspend that week, I set it aside and, if at the end of the month I haven’t spent it (some weeks are less expensive than others, because I don’t buy meat every week), then I add it to the savings account. When I make that deposit at the end of the month, I feel like I have made a million dollars!!! 😃 Plus, that way, I make sure that I don’t overspend on the budget.
 
I started making my own laundry detergent a few months back! I found several “recipes” online, so I tried it and it not only works great, I dont have to run to the store (other than my monthly grocery trip) just for detergent! It is not that detergent is a really extreme cost, it is that to take the time and burn gas to go to a store where you will always purchase more than what you went for…I have spent about 8-10 dollars on the borax, washing soda and soap and I still have tons of borax and soda left. This was about 5-6 months ago, so I have spent only max 10 bucks on detergent, normally for 6 months I probably would have spent many times that. My bff seems interested as she said she spends that every week or so for detergent! Also, the clothes come out so soft that you dont need softner~more $$$ to save!!😃
 
jazzbaby1 said:
CVS and Walgreens (not sure of other programs) offer money back on what you spend on certain items in their stores, normally on staple products. This week, for example, Colgate toothpaste is on sale for 2/$5. Not really a deal till you factor in that I have two $.75 off coupons, so now they’re $1.75 each. I also get $2 in extra bucks that I can spend on other items in the store. There are entire websites devoted to couponing and using the CVS/Walgreens systems.
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Oooooh please do tell…what websites might these be???
 
Awesome advice here. 😃

I’ve started practicing a lot of it, too. We will be doing CDing,which will be wonderful.

I also found that I tend to buy brand names at the grocery store. I’ve kicked that habit unless it’s something like a canned veggie - then I buy the brand name because DH notices it tastes a lot better.

And I totally agree with an earlier poster who said we SAHMs have to not skimp on ourselves. Take care of ourselves for our hubbies, without going overboard. I’ve been staying at home a lot more now, working less, and on days I’m home I usually stay in my comfy lounge stuff till about 3pm (unless I’m going out earlier for something) and then I get decent clothes on, hair nice, some makeup, for when DH comes home.
 
Here are some penny-pinchers from my poverty days - that I still do:

Dilute shampoo. I use a “special” bottle for the shampoo, and dilute it about 1 to 4or 5. It lasts much longer and still gets my hair clean. Plus you just squirt it on, and can get it where you need it most. With my long hair, I wasted a lot of shampoo before I came up with this.

Dilute hand dish soap. I use an empty dish soap bottle for this, and dilute it much more - about half an inch in the bottom of the bottle, then fill with water. (It won’t foam up if you use a cup to pour the water in.) I add about a tsp of bleach, and use it to clean all the kitchen surfaces - just squirt it on a dishrag - and for washing just a couple of things.

And I use ammonia for general cleaning - no expensive name brands. (Don’t add bleach to it! VERY dangerous!) A little ammonia in a spray bottle, fill it with water, voila: glass cleaner!

Or if you hate the smell of ammonia, use a name brand like Mr. Clean, and dilute it in a spray bottle for surface cleaner, instead of buying spray cleaners.

Old diapers, towels, and t-shirts make great cleaning rags. The janitorial company I worked for bought old diapers from the diaper companies - do they still exist? Old socks are great for dusting - though I much prefer my wonderful feather dusters I got from Flylady.

One more that I don’t do any more: Use heavy-duty tinfoil, and wash it and re-use it.

Now I’m gonna check into those detergent recipes… see ya later!

God bless us all,

Ruthie
 
I’ve been a SAHM for 17 years (the last 11 have been as a homeschooling mom).

Here’s a resource that I have found extremely helpful:

“The Complete Tightwad Gazette” by Amy Dacyzyn (sp?)

And here are a few things that has really helped my family save money:

~I learned how to cut hair; doing dh’s hair as well as my 4 dc, I believe I save approx. $450/yr.
~accept all hand-me-downs (clothes, furniture, computers, etc.); keep what you need and give away the rest
~shop grocery stores that offer double coupons
~shop the clearance aisles for discontinued health/beauty items, w/coupons (Walgreens & Target have the best deals)
~shop the seasonal clearances for clothes & other items (Kohls, Target, and Walgreens are my favorites); for example, I just bought a few dressy skirts at Kohls for 90% off the regular price 👍 and last year I bought a new Leather jacket for $40 👍 👍 … those are better than rummage sale prices
~follow the “Pantry Principle” (see the Tightwad Gazette); buy food items that are on sale to restock your pantry and then create your menus around what you have (instead of planning your meals first and then buying the ingredients).
~search for all the free stuff you can do in your community (free days at zoos, museums, free concerts, etc.)
~the library has some wonderful resources too: books, DVDs, audiobooks, inter-library loan. Ours also has free programs such as reading programs for preschoolers, book clubs, etc.
~garage sales, thrift stores, etc. (while these are not my first stop for items, I still think they’re great for buying toys, kids stuff, etc.)
~used book stores (Half Price Books, etc.)
~used CD, DVD, video game stores
~online video game exchange (Goosex)
~online stores such as Amazon.com, Half.com, Ebay (many of our homeschooling books come from these types of stores)

MB
 
I didn’t notice when I contributed to this thread that it is for stay at home moms. But I am a stay at home daughter to my 86 year old mother, so reading this helps.

I agree, diluting liquid products is a great way to save money and make them last longer! I love Cheer detergent, but not only do I dilute it (which I do after it gets down to 3/4 full) but I make an effort to just barely tip the bottle instead of pouring. Most liquid detergents are now concentrated and all you really need is a couple of drops. The companies are betting on you to think you still need to pour.

I dilute my Listerine and it really helps to take away the sting too. My sister got the idea from her hygenist, who told her if she couldn’t take the strength of the Listerine to put some water in the cap with it. Also, my hygenist said you only need a little bit to swish in your mouth anyway. Since Listerine is so much more expensive than regular mouthwash, yet prefered by dental hygenists for its bacteria fighting capabilities, any way to save money on it works for me. After doing the cap method for a while, I actually put water into the bottle because it’s easier that way. Now, if I can only figure out a way to reuse dental floss!

I was watching a comedian on TV last night who said he is so cheap that he never buys shampoo, he just uses the ones that come in the mail as free samples. That doesn’t happen much anymore, but anyway… He said he had a small bottle of Prell and after using most of it, he turned it upside down and left it on the edge of his tub. Well, the bottle tilted and the Prell spilled out onto the bottom of his tub. He has a big green stain on the tub that couldn’t get out. So, he says, now he’s going to have to pay a lot of money to have the tub resurfaced. I thought it was so funny. So true too, how something so insignificant can cost you a lot of money. Well, he should have just poured it into a bigger bottle and diluted it!
 
Oh, and here’s another tip that I was thinking of. This won’t work for everyone. This is for ladies who have had haircuts that require styling and either can’t afford to visit the hairdresser that often anymore or want to let your hair grow. If you purchase a good hairpiece - not real hair, synthetic - it will cost the same as one haircut (from a good stylist), around 35 to 40 dollars. You can use it for months, even up to a year. Of course, it is best to get a bottle of conditioner to go with that. But you won’t have to spend that same amount of money every 6 to 8 weeks. I have been doing this since I have been unemployed for so long. I really only helps in tough times, or if you are going to let your hair grow, since every woman needs a good haircut now and then.
 
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