How I Slashed Our Family Budget: 7 Must-Try Tips for New Moms!
In late February of this year, my son was born, completely changing my life in many ways. I’ve known for a while that once my husband and I had kids, I wanted to stop working and become a stay-at-home mom. This wasn’t always the future I envisioned, but I can talk about that transformation in a different post.
When I first took that pregnancy test in late June, I was shocked because I knew it would mean quitting my job nine months later, and I had initially planned to be a teacher for at least five years. Here I was, about to start year three. Man plans, God laughs. All that jazz. I know this isn’t every woman’s intention after having kids. Some ladies want to keep working. At the end of the day, it’s a decision you and your husband have to make for your family. Work is a beautiful thing, and some of us are called to do it in our careers, but for a while now, I have felt called to shift my work toward the home (and writing 😉).
So my husband and I started evaluating our financial situation. We are financially blessed in the sense that my husband works in a demanding but high-paying job. This meant a lot of responsibility would fall on my shoulders after the birth of our son, but it also meant less financial stress with me transitioning to be a stay-at-home mom. Despite the benefits of my husband’s job, we were still going to be taking a pay cut of my entire teacher’s salary, which led to a serious evaluation of our spending.
We wanted to continue saving money (though less aggressively now that I was no longer working), continue contributing to our retirement (again, less aggressively), set up a 529 plan for our son, and continue enjoying the little luxuries that add sparkle to our lives like coffeeshop visits and high-quality groceries. These are seven different suggestions I have for your own financial journey as a new mom.
1. Using a Budget
This is my number one tip for saving money as a stay-at-home mom. In high school, my Calculus teacher taught us how to budget using a sheet of paper divided into “Income” and “Expenses.” I’m sure this works for some people, but it didn’t work for me. Then I tried Mint (which I believe no longer exists), and this app also didn’t work for me because it was too passive. It showed me how much I spent in each category every month, and I was appalled, but didn’t really know how to fix my spending. Finally, I tried EveryDollar. This is my favorite because you have to budget every single one of your dollars and manually input expenses.
2. Auditing Expenses
Auditing expenses is extremely important for managing finances. I learned this phrase from the Financial Tortoise’s videos on YouTube. I love manually inputting expenses because it means I’m aware of where every single dollar I spend is going. Sometimes this is painful, but it’s important to be aware of where we overspend so we can fix it. My husband and I have had months where we go completely overboard on Amazon (hehe or I go overboard). Or we visit way too many coffee shops. Or we have too many fun restaurant dinners. And when I input every little expense, we can see that and set better financial goals for our family.
3. Tracking Amazon Spending
Amazon spending, online spending. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American spends almost $200 per day. Per day, y’all! And while this isn’t all the fault of online shopping, it’s a big culprit because it makes spending money so easy. Run out of mouthwash? Order it on Amazon. Need a new whisk? Amazon. Forget to buy a baby shower gift? Amazon. Don’t get me wrong. I love Amazon, and I think it offers a lot of great opportunities for saving money as well, but it’s important that every dollar we spend is conscious. I set a limit every month of how much my husband and I should spend on Amazon alone to make sure we aren’t going overboard.
4. Setting a “Fun Money” Budget
Fun money looks different to different people. For my husband and I, we usually spend this on clothes, but Fun Money could mean a trip to the movies or a new necklace or some other cool excursion. Some people might put coffee spending under Fun Money (we have a separate category). At the end of the day, it’s up to what works best for you and your situation. But in every budget, it’s important to remember that we are human beings and we can only be disciplined for so long. Set aside a little every month to enjoy. Even if it’s just $10.
5. Capping Coffee Spending
For us, it’s coffee. For some, it’s fast food. For others, it’s alcohol. Everybody has their thing that they can’t get enough of. My husband and I are coffee connoisseurs, and visiting coffeeshops is one of the things that adds sparkle to our lives. Even though we have a fantastic espresso machine that we love and use most of the time, we always look forward to a nice long sit at a beautiful coffeeshop. Whatever your thing is, make sure you set aside money for it. You can be aggressive in your goals, but be realistic as well.
6. Using Curbside Pickup
Grocery prices have been going up like crazy. Home-cooked food is often said to be cheaper than restaurants, but depending on what you’re buying and how often you’re shopping, that might not be the case. My husband and I try to prioritize healthy options when it comes to shopping (organic produce, grass-fed beef, canola-free products), but these items come at a premium. As our grocery bills began to climb, we realized that ordering on the app (we love HEB) kept us more accountable to our budget goals. I still pick up produce in person, but everything else I order through curbside and this has shaved $25 to $50 off each grocery run.
7. Optimizing Grocery Spending
Groceries are our biggest spend bucket after rent. I know some people are masters at getting good quality stuff for good prices, and I’m still growing in this area. Something I’ve been trying to do lately is pay attention to where I can get the best prices for different products. While we still get most of our stuff at HEB, certain bulk items are cheaper at Costco. Flowers are cheaper at Trader Joe’s. The milk and bread we like are cheaper at Whole Foods (believe it or not). It can be convenient to get everything at one place, but with prices where they are, I think it’s important to get the best deal we possibly can.
This is all an iterative process. So much in life is. My husband and I are not perfect and I will not pretend that we are experts at frugality. We are trying to learn and grow as much as the next person so that we can enjoy the little luxuries of life while saving responsibly and not breaking the bank. It’s tough. I know. And everyone’s situation is so different, so it’s not a one size fits all.
I hope these ideas are helpful on your own money-saving journey and would love to hear what works for you in the comments below!
Verily,
Kyrie
