SAHM?

Is anyone planning on being a SAHM after your twins come home? I have a great job with the local school district where I work from home and hire the Substitutes for the 6 schools. I also work at an office during the day. I can not possibly work 2 jobs and juggle 2 babies so I am trying to figure out how to only work at the school district which is not much, and live on my DH salary which is pretty good. We need a good budget plan and we need to quickly pay off some of out debts now. I am hoping to breastfeed so that will save us a lot of money. Any other suggestions of a way to stay home and have some extra income??

 

I already am a SAHM. I was planning to get a job. I am a paralegal. But then I found out it was twins. I didnt want to put a job out like that so i turned down a really good Job Offer. Kinda made me sad. But i dont think i would be working for very much longer anyhow.

The only suggestions that i can give on saving money is No more name brand foods, paper towels, and toilet paper.. Ect. It adds up!!

 

I am a stay at home mom to my 2 year old and will continue with these little ones. Money is ok but always a little tight.

We don't do a lot of extras. We may get pizza once every couple of weeks but even then we know the cheapest place to order from and that is what we get. We don't get to go out alot alone because of money to pay a babysitter so we spend a lot of time together as a family. WHich is not a bad thing! When we do go out we get special cheap tickets or hit the dollar theatre. We also trade with other parent friends of ours to go out, we watch their kid, then they watch ours. We budget very carefully and I have only so much to spend on groceries. I make that stretch. I plan a weeky menu and that is how I decide on groceries. Definitely mostly off brands and again not a lot of extras. I hope this does not make it sound awful. I love staying at home with my DD and cannot wait to have these babies in our home too. I think that this is the most important job I have ever had!

I plan on trying to nurse too, that will save but I had a hard time with dd so we will see. We are planning on doing cloth diapers too. The up front expense is large but will save money in the long run. I think it just takes an attitude adjustment. We were living pretty easy before I started being a SAHM and we just had to get used to not being able to "just spend" whenever and however we wanted. The sacrifice is worth it if you ask me.

Oh and second hand clothes for DD. They grow out of them so fast you can find plenty of cute gently used stuff. Great way to save money.

 

I have been a SAHM for 7 years now and I love it! I can't imagine leaving my kids with anyone else everyday. I think it's the most important job you can ever do. It's not easy but it's very rewarding, you will be there for all the little "firsts" instead of hearing about them from a daycare worker.

I save money by always having a list and sticking to it when I go shopping. I also always compare the price per oz. or lb. for things (I love how most stores put it under the price for you) so if the bigger box of cereal is less money I get that instead of the smaller. They always try to trick you on that, they put the small boxes on sale so you think your getting a better deal, but most of the time the bigger box is still less.

When my babies started solid foods I made my own for alot of it, it's much less than buying the bottled food. I would steam the veggies and then throw them in the food processor with a little water if they were thick. Then you put them in ice cube trays and freeze them. The next day put the cubes in zip-loc freezer bags and you can start a whole new batch of something else. I did this with squash, yams/sweet potatoes, pears, apples, etc... The things that didn't work well were peas and corn so I bought those. There is a great book called "Super Baby Food" that tells all the things you can do and how to cook each thing if you don't know how.

Good luck, I hope you are able to make it work out.

 

I started being a SAHM when I found out I was pregnant w/ twins. I had a wonderful job making lots of good money but I realized that I did not want to have to put my two babies in daycare after they were born, so I just went ahead and quit. Plus I thought I would ot make it far in the pregnancy and still be able to work so I quit. The money is tight but just being home with my kids is awesome and I would not trade it for anything now. I love it. There are ways to save money. We just cut out most of our "wants" and now just buy what we need. We do go out every other week and do something fun but for the most part we just spend time around the house. Going to the park or the library are also ways to have a good time that are free.

 

I am also planning on being a SAHM. I am at home now on bedrest. My suggestions, since you asked :
Make a budget now, while you have the second income. Every paycheck, at the top put what is coming in, and then list below everything that needs to be paid with that check. Go out a few months with it. Then, you can see where you have any extra money to allocate to the bills/cards you want to pay off. I started with the lower balances first. (You might choose higher interest rate.) Then, when the first is done, move up to the next one with the new amount of extra. Even if you start out with only having an extra $50 to give over the minimum, it adds up!
I also started, as soon as I found out I was pregnant, taking $50 from each check out of the bank and hiding it away for baby items. I know with my DH, if it is visible, he will find a bill to put it on to get it paid off. He knows the $ is there, but out of sight....
I too will BF and am looking into cloth diapers. (not really sure WHAT I am looking for...) I already have some disposables, so I will use those until I find my groove as a new mom.
The movies...if you have a Kerasotes in your area, Midwest mostly, they have a Five Buck Club for movies that have been out for more than 2 weeks. That comes in handy. It's free and you sign up online. Of course, we have no family around, so I doubt we will be seeing any movies.
Oh, and see if you have a consignment shop in your area. Those are great!!
Wow, Okay, I'm done brainstorming for now. LOL

 

Thank you all so much for your responses . We started figuring out the bills a bit and We cut back a lot this last grocery trip and saved a ton. I agree if we get in the habit now we will be doing out selves a favor. I have been throwing extra money to the credit cards also so I want to continue to do that. I am just a little scared. I have been sick a lot and my job has been great about me not being there so it's been a little tight with money and nothing is late or missed so we are still on track. As long as we can build a little nest egg just for the babies we will be ok.

 

Well, if you have to...pay the minimum on credit cards. They'll always be credit card bills.

I am a SAHM but not a SAHM...I am a WAHM (work at home mom). I work one day a week in the office and 16 hours from home. Then, I work 2 nights a week from 4-8 when DH is home from work. I have to bring the kids to DH's work at 3:30pm on W & TH in order to make it to work at 4pm but it works and it's what I plan ot do until they start school.

You could also factor in how much you'd make at the other job, how much daycare would cost, gas, lunches,. clothing etc. I can probably guarantee that you'll find that you'll bring home nothing from that "other" job if you have to pay daycare.

Also, you could think about being some type of consultant for Avon, Tupperware, Scrapbooking etc...

 

i have pretty much been a SAHM since my daughter was born due to a car accident while i was 8 months pregnant with her. i have my own business that i work from home but since i have been pregnant with twins i haven't been able to do the home parties like i want to. you don't want to forget that when tax season comes around that you will get a little money back for your children. here in mississippi we get back about $1,500 per child, so next year aught to be pretty good for us and that will help pay off extra debts or daycare costs or whatever we need at the time.

hope that helps some!
Lots of love!
Meshell

 

I don't know if this is your "cup of tea" but it has saved my family a TON of money on groceries:

http://www.thegrocerygame.com/

Basically, it's a system that helps you combine coupons with sale/clearance items for MAJOR savings on your grocery bills. It takes a little while to get the hang of, but you can get a 4-week trial for just $1.

I usually spend $150-200 per trip (without coupons), but with The Grocery Game, I can get tons of stuff for $50 or less! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about it... and they do have a referral program, so if you do join and could include my email ([email protected]), it would be much appreciated.

Even if you don't join, their message boards are free and have a lot of good tips.

 

I quit my job 2 weeks before we found out I was pregnant. It was excellent timing because my first trimester was horrid and I wouldn't have been able to hold down any job, let alone the high stress one I left behind. I am not planning on returning to the workforce after the kids are born.
DH and I both want me to be a SAHM; it's something I've always seen myself doing actually. I had always planned on leaving whatever carrer I had started to raise a family; actually, I guess you could say being a SAHM is my ultimate carrer choice!
I was going to go to Culinary school but we were unable to make the move/transition required, so I ended up not going. But it worked out well in the end because my husband came across the opportunity to open a restaurant up here, which has always been his dream.
So, I will be staying home to raise the kiddies, and helping to stretch DH's money as far as it will go.

 

I became a SAHM when I was 30 wks pregnant with my girls - it was a very hard decision at the time. My husband is very cheap and I knew that I would never have any spending money. I have been so busy for the past 4 months that I have barely noticed. I am way busier as a SAHM than I ever was working. If I am out and about I stop by my job =
I loved the people I worked with and they love to see the girls -and I miss it but I cannot imagine putting these babies in daycare and missing all of the firsts. so for now I will just cut way back and enjoy my kids!

 

I was a PE teacher and coach before I became a SAHM! I wouldn't change it for the world. I LOVE staying home and working here. It is MUCH more difficult than any teaching duty I have ever had...it has got to be the toughest job on Earth. But, to me, my greatest. It is a personal choice for some and some women do not have a choice. If you do have a choice to be able to stay home, you are very lucky. Personally, I love being here with them...But, the circles under my eyes are getting bigger! ha

jen