One thing I would suggest is while you are still working- save the income you are receiving and start a savings account- since eventually you won't be working this will give you a "trial run" without that extra income (and also give you a bit of an emergency fund). Cutting out a lot of unneccesary expenses (coffee from 7-11 and so on, pack of gum at checkout) will help stretch out your money the most. Maybe also track all your spending for 1 month and you will get a better idea where you can cut a lot of your expenses.

try and get that electric bill down too... I know it is work but it pays off to be hardcore with electricity!

I'll echo the advice to start living on one income NOW. Use your income to get any baby things you still need and then save the rest for an emergency fund.
It sounds as though you've looked into lowering your existing bills. About cable and ondemand -- you might drop the on demand part and stock up on a couple videos from yard sales, etc.
The area of your budget where you have the most amount of control is your grocery money. These boards have great advice. I find coupons to be a great help; other people don't. You might also consider the CVS, Walgreens, Rit-Aid programs. I was surprised at how much I got for so little money.
Good luck.

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~Jeweled

One thing that many utilities will do is average your bills. It doesn't change how much you pay, but it makes budgeting much simpler, IMO. You don't have those shockingly huge bills at the same time holiday shopping hits. Just be sure to keep a little aside - once a year you pay the difference if you've gone over the estimate.

Also, don't forget Craigslist and Freecycle for all kinds of things you'd never expect.

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Hi! New and wanted to comment on the thread.

Here is my one piece of great advice: drop the cable bill. It is the most useless monthly bill that most people carry. I assume from the size of your phone bill that you have high speed internet?

Here is what we do: we subscribe to Netflix for $8.99/mo. In addition to the one movie per month that they send you in the mail, you also get unlimited internet streaming. There are a lot of kids shows and movies that your baby can watch on rainy days, not to mention a lot of stuff for you and your hubby as well. In addition, most networks and a large percentage of their primetime shows online. We made the switch when we moved to Columbus in February and frankly, I don't miss cable. The only show we weren't able to watch was American Idol and somehow I survived.

In addition, Netflix now has a little box that you can buy to attach to your TV and watch their unlimited internet movies through your television. It is a one time $99 purchase, which seems like a lot, but it works out to less than two cable bills when you think about it. We don't use that because we have a computer attached to our main TV but it is still a nice idea and I am thinking about getting one for other tvs in the house.

Other ways we save money are by couponing, hubby takes the bus (saves us a ton on gas and city parking), walking to the store when possible.. there are also a lot of at home jobs you can get.. real, legit ones, that would easily bring in as much as your part-time brick and mortar job without leaving the house. All things to think about!

Congrats on the baby and good luck! You can make it work!

You could get rid of cable if you wanted to to help you. There is PBS and it is great. We don't have cable and never have. My kids are 10, 7, and 5 and they love PBS. They do like to watch Hannah Montana and you can watch her on the internet for "free".

Also have you used the library for free movies? Redbox is also an option since you can rent movies for $1 a night. Redboxes are found in Wal-Marts, McDonalds, and some grocery stores. Go to their website for locations.

HTH

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Want to save some green? Join a coupon train.

Our situation was a little different than yours, but we lived on one income while I was on maternity leave for four months to make sure that we would be able to do that. I went back to work because I carried our benefits, which were FAR superior to what we have now. But our DD was sick from daycare all the time and ended up spending 5 days in the pediatric ICU. We decided that we knew we could do it financially, so we just took the plunge as far as benefits go. We've always, always, always found a way to manage. We cut out every extra expense we could and continually look for ways to lower our expenses. Good luck with your decision!!!!

I'd just do a follow up call to all your utilities to see if there are any cheaper plans. I called my phone company a while back for a different reason all together and while I was on the phone with them, I asked if there was a cheaper plan. Apparently I was on the OLD basic plan and was able to change to the new cheaper plan with more features! Saved like $10 a month or so!

As for the cable. My DH would probably NEVER agree to it, but getting rid of it, or at least cutting back would probably help quite a bit. As for kids shows you can rent them from the library or buy them cheap at garage sales. My kids will gladly watch the same shows multiple times!

As for baby things, babies need A LOT less than everyone seems to buy them. You already have a toddler so you'll have most of what you need already. Diapers and wipes!

As for the grocery budget. Have you heard of Angel Food Ministries. Go to Welcome*- Angel Food Ministries and click on "find a local site" to see if there are any near you. You basically pay $30-35 (don't remember anymore) during their payment days and then go back on a pickup day to pick up your laundry basket full of food! Check it out if you haven't already!

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Stay at home mom to my 3 boys... ages 5, 3 & 1!

I can do all things through CHRIST who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

I agree with the advice about trying to stockpile as much of your income as possible now for when you will need it later.

I also looked at the numbers you put up and you are leaving yourself $500 per month for food, gas, and extras. Only you will know if that is a realistic number. How much are you paying right now for auto fuel? What about groceries? Is there room to cut back there?

You will be surprised how much heat you will be able to take even while pregnant if it means you get to spend a little more time with your wee one after he or she gets here. Then, assuming your DH watches your child now, he will just have to watch two if you find you need to go back to work.

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Grace

Wife to Stoney

Mommy of Sarah (8.5), Hannah (7), and John(4.5)