SAHM's

I just became a SAHM of my 18 mo. old DS and 3 mo. old DD's. I would like to make a little extra money but don't know where to begin. Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks!

 

I posted this very question on a local website and here are the responses I got: (wow I haven't looked at these in a while and need to try to get more strict with some of this stuff)......OH and sorry some of it is repeated, I just copied and pasted.....

One thing is for sure, impulse buying will really cause you to spend more than you think you are spending. So keep impulse buying to a minimum or eliminate it alltogether if you can. That's about all I could tell you, because everyone has touched on the things that I would have suggested and much more too.

I like the idea of making your own baby food and breastfeeing.

Plan your dinners two weeks at a time: use recipes with the same ingredients and only go shopping once every two weeks. (It stinks sometimes but you learn how non-essential what you're eating is when you simply just can't afford too.) Also, the little trips is what adds up to big money so other than emergency runs for milk and diapers.. make do.

Use the microwave, it saves on electric.

Cut your drive time down. I can ride my bike, and we bike/walk/run/skip/ hop/ stroller to the playground. It's kinda far, but it works and they're ready for a nap when they get home.

Honestly, you really don't need two cars. Many may say, "yea right, where's she from?" but my husband is a firefighter, meaning he works for 24 hours home for 48, (and has long worked 48 hours and only home for 24) and we made due just fine even before our move here.

There is a book called the "two income trap" I highly reccomend checking out from the library.

Also, use one debit card. If your husband has one cut up yours or vice versa. Don't write checks without his knowledge or vice versa.

Something that worked even better for us is setting aside half the rent/mortgage per paycheck into a seperate account, and then having second bills account, and a spending account. Sounds like a lot, but most banks allow you to link them and transfer funds if neccessary. Doing it that way keeps everyone in check. I got my husband an account and told him whatever was in it was all the money in the world he had for eating at work, gas, and anything fun he wanted to buy. When it's gone it's gone and that's a strict policy! No if ands or buts.

We plan all of our activities in advance and just recently realized that we don't even have enough money to eat out at the parks when we go (i.e. seaworld). So, we bring a loaf of bread and peanut butter and fill the sippy cups before we go.

Shop your meats in bulk at Sam's or costco, bj's and same with diapers. We buy 9 thick porkchops for $12 and cut them in half. That's 18 pork chops! Same with chicken. Don't buy from the grocery store. they're $1.67- $1.97 at sams. Freeze your meat. It tastes the same and won't go bad. I cut all the fats off chicken and any little pieces that got cut off with it I put in a bag labeled chopped chicken and use that for a seperate dinner.

Some quick advice. First thing is to elminate debit. Call your credit card companies, tell them you just had twins and are struggling. Ask them to lower your interest rates, or find a credit card that will allow transfers with a lower interest rate. Sometimes, the first six months is interest free! Log onto www.oprah.com and look at Jean Chatzsky (sp?) section. She has lots of great money tips and a great debit diet. Create a money club in your apt. complex. Women with kids whom you can trade clothes, sitting, services, etc.. And taking work in, like babysitting helps with $$.

A good way to lower costs. Use one car if you have two. Turn off the A/C and open the windows. Let the sun shine in and turn off the lights. If you are still warm, use the fan (fans cool people, not rooms-turn the fan off if you're not in that room). Turn off appliances that you are not really using (TV/Computer/lamps) when you're not in that particular part of the house. Just make sure to turn all lights off as you leave the rooms.

I cut my electric bill in half by doing all of this.

If you don't care to watch TV/as you may not have much time anyway. Let the cable go! if you still like your movies, use netflix 15.99/mo unlimited movie rentals-its great

do your laundry in the evenings-peek hours raise the energy levels and causes higher electric bills. dish washer is the same.

see about WIC to help with milk/juice/formula because that all does add up. you may or may not qualify depending on the total household income...just a suggestion
when we did qualify it was very helpful...now that we don't our formula is a fortune
With groceries, I do a lot of the Buy 1 Get 1 Free. I stock up and that saves a lot, especially with meat. I set a budget and I stick to it. We used to eat out a lot and we cut way back there. When we do eat out, we also look for special deals and places where kids eat free (you don't have to worry about that yet). I also figured out that I don't have to make big elaborate meals. My kids love hot dogs so we have turkey dogs on wheat buns and it's healthy. It's also cheap.

My husband loves having cable so we ended up switching to another company and it saved us about $30 a month.

Use fans to help with the air. Turn it up a few degrees. We always kept ours really cool. When we turned it up, it did seem hot but we get used to it. Like somebody else said, I keep the blinds closed when the sun is really hot.

If your electric bill seems high, have the electric company come out and see why. They do it for free and they'll run tests to see what is making it so high. A friend's went really high and they were able to tell her it was her old fridge. She replaced it and it went back down.

We are getting ready to trade in our vehicles for smaller payments and ones that use less gas. My Suburban sucks the gas down.

Also check out Dave Ramsey's program. I know there are a lot of financial programs out there, but his is the best. No matter where you are financially, he can teach you something. He teaches you how to get out of debt, stay out of debt, and to plan for the future. We used it and several friends used it and everybody was successful. I've talked to people online who have used it and said it changed their lives.

We cook a lot at home and use coupons and shop at different places for certain things. For example, Sam's Club for cereal, tp, papertowels, bottled drinks, etc. and then Walmart for dry goods and Publix for meats/fruits and buy lots of 2 for 1's (which a lot of times you only have to buy 1 and still get the sale price of that 1) or buy one get one free. I use coupons for everything I can and when we eat out, it's usually somewhere that I have a coupon for, etc. Eating out in my opinion is a HUGE expense that you don't get to keep - like if you buy something for your house, clothes, etc. So treat yourselves, but not a lot - like don't buy lunch every day, etc. Also, shop for household items at places like Big Lots or Walmart, etc. I even buy cheaper clothes for ourselves.

We rent DVD's from blockbuster.com (or netflix) and get the cheap deal - $4.99/mo. We also share with what my brother rents or if you have any family that has a DVD burner, they can share movies with you if you buy some blank DVD's at Sam's for example, as they're a good deal. We have no movie channels on our TV deal, as usually, you end up watching network TV shows anyway. Get an all-in-one package like Verizon Fios TV, internet, phone (or Brighthouse). We switched to Verizon and have all 3 for $99/mo. and then dropped our cell phone minutes to the minimum 700/mo., as we have unlimited long-distance on our home phone now. So we only use our cell for Verizon in-calling (free Verizon-Verizon minutes) and then the home phone for all other calls.

Try to cut down on utility bills - like I keep blinds shut where the sun is shining to keep out the heat and/or use fans and turn down the A/C. I got those new energy saving light bulbs (cheapest @ Home Depot in a 4 or 6 pack) that last for 9 years and use less wattage. Watch electric and water usage (and even car mileage/gasoline). Wash as much laundry as possible in cold water.

If you stay at home, call your car insurance co. and tell them you don't use your car for work anymore and you'll pay less for insurance. Transfer your credit cards to lower rate cards if you have any other offers or new intro. offers. Check into refinancing your car...check with capitaloneautofinance.com or a credit union if you can get into one - like if your family is a member, you can join too. Pay medical bills through the facility by making payment arrangements (without interest) rather than putting it on a credit card.

You'd be surprised how much $$ overall in a year you will realize you did without by just crunching numbers and using a budget. I write down every month the bills and pay what's due and then put aside $$ for what's next - like take the monthly budget and divide it by the weeks and then you know how much a week you need to put away or use.

Join you local freecycle.org to get free stuff from local folks.

 

I started a pampered Chef business. It's been very easy and fun getting out of the house a couple times a month.

 

You've probably already thought of these, but there are a LOT of different products to be a consultant for and do parties and such like Mary Kay, Stampin' Up, Jewelry, Handbags, Tupperware, etc... do you have a hobby or interests? Maybe see if you can find a product that you would like to use and see if there's something you can sell. It would be good for making adult friends too!

Good luck!!!

 

I really need this thread for myself. We just switch our internet provider and save $50 dollars more and then my husband has cut down take-out lunch with his co-workers and start bringing lunch bag to work and he saves $32 dollars a week! I'm saving our precious gas just locally playgroup and park outing which my twins are actively involved 3 times a week. I love doing invitation (photos) and arrange party themes for my friends. So, they asked for advice/opinion as they trust me!

D, w/Rianna and Justin

 

I'm a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. It doesn't really bring in extra income (b/c I don't work hard at it), but it funds my hobbies. I make all our cards. I haven't bought a card in 4 years!

 

This website has some resources for working at home:
betweenmoms.com

 

I recently became an Usborne Books Consultant. I do about 1 show a week on average (about 3 hours of work) and make about $100 at each show, so it becomes about $400 a month. I love it, my kids get free books, and I love getting out of the house!

 

Here are a few ideas (sorry if some are repeated):

- Pampered Chef
- Stampin' Up
- Tupperware
- Avon
- babysitting
- yard work
- tutoring
- lessons in something you know (music, another language etc)
- make a product/craft and sell them (i.e. a girl I know makes her own version of those grocery cart/public high chair protectors that babies sit in and sells them)

Here is another idea and I am always hesitant (which I shouldn't be) because I don't want to sound like I am selling a product:

- How about creating a website on a topic that you really enjoy (i.e. the town you live in, a craft, an author, breastfeeding etc)? I have absolutely no computer knowledge but I have had my own website for a few years now. It quickly became a hobby because I was having so much fun with it. I work on it as little or as much as I want. The more I work on it, the more money I can make. I don't know if I am allowed to share the link of my actual website here so please send me a private message and I can give you the link. I'll try this link below though - it is from the company that I bought the program from to build my website (the program is not expensive at all - if it was, I wouldn't have bought it myself). The great thing is, they have an entire section on WAHMs!...

WAHM with Site Sell


I hope this is allowed. If not, I am really sorry. Send me a message and I can share more info with you (including the link to my website on the city I live in)!