I think you really have to make it your "job" to make the money you do have coming in to go as far as you possibly can. I think of it as money that has already been taxed, and stretching it is much better than earning a second salary ( that must be taxed as well ) and having to pay daycare, extra gas, etc. Some of my friends complain that they cannot stay at home, yet they drive current year leased cars, pay childcare costs, and have expensive manicures, etc. I have tried to show them on paper that they CAN do it, but then they just get mad at me, so I no longer talk about it.( I have been a stay at home mom for over 10 years, and we live in a very expensive town. My husband works for the gas company and we are by no means "well-off".) It really can be done!!

Thankfully, my wife and I have the opportunity to plan on her being a SAHM in about 18 months to 2 years when we have our first child. After making a budget what our one-income household would look like, taking into account our future lower tax bracket and all the other money saving attributes mentioned, she still made more than we would be saving on child care, taxes, work clothes, etc. One the other side, we were amazed by how close we got to making our proposed budget work. So, we made an interim budget, an 18 month budget that will allow us to add to our savings, pay off our 2 cars, pay down significantly our school loan debt. This interim period of paying down debt is what really made our SAHM budget work. We find now that we when decide not to go out and eat, but rather eat at home, we aren't depriving ourselves, we are doing something good for ourselves. When you have a goal in mind, it makes it so much easier.

All the tips listed here are good ones, but the one thing worth repeating is that you must have is a plan. As a husband, I am excited about the idea of my wife being a stay-at-home mom, but I never thought we could actually do it until I worked on our budget. When I showed my wife, she was excited, but didn't want to get her hopes up. It took multiple conversations until we were both comfortable with the budget cuts, and she new I truly wanted this for her and our future family. My buy-in to the idea was very important to her.

Another piece of advice I would give as a husband, if your husband isn't completely on board with the idea, then start showing him. Start cooking more and show him how the money starts saving up. Don't get mad at him if it takes him a while, my wife has talked about it for a long time before I took initiative and started working on the budget. For me, it was the benefits to our family that won me over. I know my wife will be very busy at home with a little one, but I feel it will take stress off of me worrying about our kids or trying to leave work early to pick them up, etc.

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Reid

(Husband to future stay-at-home mom.)

When we decided that I was going to stay home, I was making more money than my husband. We just took a leap of faith and said that was the most important thing for our family. I know it sounds simple, but it worked for us. We changed our entire life in weeks, we stopped doing things we didn't think we could live without and focused on what we had. My daughter is turning 10 next month and I don't remember a thing we went without, but I have a lot of great memories and she is a wonderful girl.
We have everything we ever wanted, a house full of kids in a great neighborhood, it didn't come fast, but it did come.
The hardest thing for me was to stay at home and not work, so watch out for depression or missing work. It is a BIG change!
Enjoy the ride!

I to have been pondering staying home me and DH have been going over and over this and we decided that as of June I will give noticed. I have already been planning and budgeting things out. As it stands now I make $13.00 per hr and my daycare is $400.00 per month and before/after school care is $65.00 per week so that is 660 a month for childcare services. Not including gas to and from work which my job is about 20miles from home. So basically after I pay daycare and gas I’m just about left with nothing. I already plan things out and budget as best as I can but I do know that I will no longer be able to go into a store and just buy stuff without really needing it and DH will no longer be able to eat out at lunch everyday or buy the girls McD’s 3 times a week. I really want this to work as my 3yr old hate daycare and my oldest despises going to after-school care and it just eats me up inside. I also want to prove to my family (all they do is say how dumb I am if I quit) that we can manage, and my girls will not suffer because of it

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Shatema
mom to Destiny and Daija divas in training

Hi all
I live with my parents and I want to be separate, that’s the reason am desperate to buy my own place. I cannot afford much but if the necessity arises I can go for finance. Do you people have any good ideas that can help me to get my dream house? Your help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your advice!

Nelson

edited out link.

These tips are really helpful for Stay at home moms.Its not necessary that you just stay at home and do nothing,You can work on net if you are capable of it.

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John Glenn

I became a sahm 8 years ago when my dd was 6mths old. We didn't really go with a plan (which we should have) except that we had decided I would start in home daycare to supplement our income. Today I two of my original families (the other 3 have moved on because of job changes, sahm, moving) and have added 3 new families through personal contacts. It has been very successful for me and has made a huge difference in supplementing my family. Money is still tight but my kids would never know it. The first thing I did when we decided I would be a sahm is I gave my job 4mths notice. They were a wonderful family oriented business who praised my decision and because of the long notice I know if I ever wanted to go back I would have that option. I immediately stopped all cc use and called a debt solutions company who set me up on a plan to pay off my debt. Because I was not behind or late in payments the plan was well accepted by my debtors and I paid them off. Even though I am home everyday, I still get up at 5am to prepare for my daycare kids and I get dressed, have a routine, I am able to get my own kids off to school with minimal rushing, decent breakfasts in their tummies and I even get to volunteer with my dd brownie troop!! Yes we go without ...my wardrobe is old jeans and comfy shirts...I seldom wear makeup...we eat meatless meals 3x a week....we limit eating out to once a week if that...I think the hardest part of being a sahm is understanding the pressure my husband is under to provide for all of us (even though I am supplementing our income he carries the insurance ect) and to remember that at the end of the day when I am so ready for him to come home and for us to get out and go to the park or something...he is ready to just sit and relax...and for my dh to realize that even though I am home all day long I still have work to do and do not just sit and play with my preschoolers all day...

Hello,

I am new to mommysavers. I am 8 weeks pregnant with our first and my husband and I would like for me to stay at home when the baby comes. We have decided to wait to make the final decision until I am actually home with the baby and know it will work for me (I have had friends that plan on going back to work stay home, and friends who have quit and then the baby came and they realised being a SAHM wasn't for them).

My question is...has anyone made it work with our financial situation. DH's income will pay all our bills, but only $450 left for food, clothes, etc and obviously none for savings. This is with a base cable ($20) and scaled back everything. We are saving as much of my income as we can right now. I also figured out that if I was to continue to work we would only have $800 after bills, daycare (here it is $250 per week for infants!!!), and gas (40 miles/day for me).

I know I will have to find something part time to bring in some income, but I was just wanting some feedback on how doable this might be.

Thanks!!

First of all, WELCOME!

It really does depend on what the cost of living is where you are. My family makes do with $125 every week after bills. That is for food, clothing, gas anything that isn't a monthly bill. To make ends meet we use coupons, buy as much generic/store brand, never eat out, make my own cleaners. I have learned so much about saving money from this site. Stick around and you will learn more, too!

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Wendy~Self-proclaimed hippie momma to Bob and Jamie

There has been alot of good advice listed on this thread. I think that the realization of the concept "less is more" is real to you. Staying at home was very difficult...almost painful for me and it has taken me 3 years to really settle into these "motherhood" shoes. I love it but I have had to learn to live on alot less. Don't ever let anyone tell you it isn't worth it, because they are wrong!

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In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.Mother Teresa