One of the biggest misconceptions of being a stay at home mom and one income family is..."Your husband must make a lot of money for you to stay home!"
Umm No. Wrong. False.
Actually, for most families, it is a HUGE sacrifice. You do without a lot of luxuries, frivolous spending, and mindless shopping. That means we'll have less expensive cars, a smaller house, and buy a lot of things second hand. But, nothing compares to seeing that little precious baby day in and day out!!! :)
I've learned a lot in the last few years of marriage. Mainly, money doesn't grow on trees and we have to be wise with the money God has given us. Spending money wisely shows God we are thankful for what we've been given.
One of the biggest areas for me that I try to work on is food budgeting. I'm the shopper. The cook. The mom. :)
Here are some tips I've found helpful for our family to stick to a food budget of $300 a month:
Buy store brands
Did you know store brands are 20-50% less than name brands? I read in an article not that long ago that store brands were taste tested against name brands and they found that they tasted almost always identical.
***BUT, always look at the price because when the name brand items go on sale they sometimes end up being less than the store brands.
Stock up when things go on sale
If I notice an item I use weekly going on sale I'll buy a few more that week (don't go crazy stockpiling). I also like to keep an eye out for meat sales because you can really save green in this area (if its less than $2 a pound I'm going to stock up).
Don't buy snack foods
Talk about eating up your food budget. Snack foods are just crazy expensive. Plus your waistline will thank you. ;)
Have a price list
This might sound extreme but keep track of items in a spreadsheet. I like to make my grocery list and then check to see which stores have it cheaper and shop accordingly. Saving .50 cents for an item might not be worth going to another store for you but I promise you that when you're saving .50 cents or more on every product by doing this it REALLY can add up.
Check out clearance aisles
This past week I went to Walmart and found organic baby food and oatmeal marked 50% off or more. You just never know what you might find.
Coupons
I don't cut coupons. I would like to get better at this. However, really expensive items like baby yogurt and things I'll go online and get $1 off coupons. Most of our food is fresh and not packaged so you can't really use coupons for those items.
Stick to a grocery list
I would never go to the grocery store without a list in hand. I would put a lot more in the shopping cart than we actually needed that week.
Make a weekly/monthly meal plan
By planning out every meal you and not buying more than you need it can really help cut down your budget.
Don't spend money on drinks
Don't drink your calories. Soda is crazy expensive. Juice is just ridiculous. Those things are full of calories, artificial sweeteners, and tons of sugar.
Eat before you shop
Sounds silly BUT the grocery store is full of temptations.
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