Becoming a Sahm? - Tulsa,OK

It will be tough but it can be done. Our income is not much more than yours is and we have two children, 3 yrs. and 18 months. I had to quit my job when my daughter was born because of health issues she had due to prematurity and then had just gone back to work when we found out we were pregnant again. Big Surprise!! I had to quit again when my son was born because he was born premature as well and had health issues. I am now just focusing on school and my kids. We have a budget that we follow and I pay the bills as soon as my husband gets paid and then when the money is gone for the week that is it. I do a lot of my shopping at places like Dollar Tree and Big Lots but you have to be careful because they don't always have better deals on things. Be aware of what you pay for things at different places and the quantity you get that way you don't end up paying more just because it seems like a good deal. I have found that many times the cheaper food items at discount places have less in them. There is also a program called Angel Food Ministries and you can purchase a box of food for $25.00. They do this once a month and there is a different menu each month too. The website is www.angelfoodministries.com so go there for all the info. For entertainment we go to parks and the zoo mostly. You can buy a zoofriends pass for $60 for two adults and up to five kids and it is good for a year. It is nice to have because whenever we want to get out of the house we can go there and not feel like we have to spend all day because it cost so much to get in. It is also great exercise for all of us. Our zoo also has plastic cups you can purchase and then refils are only 50 cents so we just take those every time we go and then we don't spend a lot on drinks. The zoo pass also gets you a 10% discount on most stuff the zoo sells so if you do have to eat out there it is a little cheaper but we usually just take a cooler with sandwiches and then some snack food. I hope these things help you out. Good Luck!!!

all the tips given are good. don't be too proud to get gov't assistance - food stamps can be a great help with the grocery bill. don't use credit cards - the debt will increase fast! use coupons - and shop at places that offer double coupons (homeland is one). Watch for sales, shop discount stores (dollar tree, etc), shop the thrift store. if you are going to eat out, watch for coupons, and watch for specials (like mcdonalds hambuger happy meals are $1.50 on thursdays and they have a big $1 menu). It will also help if you have other friends that are trying to be "thrifty" too - you can help each other. hope that helps

Hey L., first of all congrats on becoming a stay at home mom!! I would love to be able to do that. I have a full time job and my own business that I am trying to get off the ground. It is with Arbonne International. Have you heard of it? Their products are outstanding as is the business opportunity but I am having a hard time trying to find people I don't know interested in it. Anyway, that is my sad story ha ha!! The only thing that I can say about living on one income is BUDGET BUDGET BUDGET!!!! Every penny goes towards something, at least that is how our budget is with two incomes. Make out a list of all your priorities and your MUST, ie.house payment, car payment, utilites, food, diapers, wipes, formula...you get the picture. Make sure those get paid first because you would rather have to stay at home one the weekends instead of going out than not have a roof over your heads. Anyway, what I have found that works for us in regards to grocery shopping, is get the basics that you guys eat all of the time and then when you want to make sometime special, make sure there is money for it and go get it then. That way your are not spending all of our money at once on stuff that you don't need right now. That can be applied to anything. Anyway, hope this helps and if you decide that you need something for yourself and some extra money coming into the house, please give Arbonne a thought. They have a great website, www.arbonne.com, check it out, it is lots of fun!! Good luck and god bless.

Definitely set a budget for your definite needs. Plan your meals every week/month and only buy exactly what is on your list. Clip coupons. You can look up some name brands online and print coupons from their website. Go on walks. Take picnics. Check out your communities activities. They are usually pretty inexpensive. (The parks and rec department should have a list) Shop at thrift stores and garage sales. If you are faithful about it, you can find some great stuff. If you go to church, all of those activities are free to very inexpensive, even might have a mom's group to join, fun for you and the kiddo. Always accept hand me downs. Those are some things that I do. I don't get to stay at home, but I do get to take my daughter to work with me. (I'm a nanny) So, I feel blessed about that! It would be a dream to stay home, so I hope some of this helps! Good luck and congrats.

Well...I'll be honest with you...it's going to be tough. First things to think about are debt and a budget. If you owe anyone anything--credit cards, car payments, mortgage, etc.--wait until you have those things paid off. You don't need to be making payments on anything while you are adjusting to the lower income.

Secondly, budget, budget, budget!! You can try printable coupons from www.coolsavings.com or get some ideas from "the coupon mom", I think you can buy a book about her tips (I'd try a bookstore like half.com for the best price.) Signing up for the coupon mom's website will also get you some other sites with downloadable coupons...(I don't generally find too much stuff we eat, so I'm not a huge user of this service, but you should sign up to see if you are interested you can always opt out later.)

Plan your meals for the month, write everything out, and take advantage of free services that will help you build a grocery list (www.allrecipes.com has a decent one, you just plug in the various recipes that you find and it will add the stuff you need in the amounts you need into a grocery list which you can edit later if you need to add more stuff.) Avoid shopping at Sam's (bulk stores), if you check the prices, you see that you are really not getting as good of a deal as you thought--you'll be on a tight enough budget you won't have room for error!! Aldi's has decent food for the most part, and if you sign up for a Dillon's Plus card they have decent prices and some pretty darn good sales.

Buy a deep freezer (or two) you can freeze just about anything, and never buy fresh fruit/veggies/etc!! Always buy frozen, it's cheaper, and you can thaw as needed for you and your little one to avoid waste. I love to freeze leftovers, that way I only have to cook about half of the days in the month, and then reheat the leftovers later on. I don't know if you still feed baby food, but if you do, start transitioning your baby to your foods and puree them in a food processor (I bought one at Lowe's for like $7 and it makes enough for about 3 days worth of baby food).

Drop cable television, high speed internet services (downgrade to dial-up if possible), etc., they are not necessary items, and you'll just get into trouble keeping them after the income is lowered. I'd keep the phone line, however if you are worrying about the bills, there is some sort of free emergency number thing to look into...don't know who has it or how it works though, sorry! Start subscribing to the local newspaper, that way you'll get all the coupons on Sunday to take advantage of when you go shopping...But you have to be careful, don't be sucked into shopping just so that you can get something before a coupon expires...

Fun & entertainment...well, you'll need to be VERY on top of your budget before you even think about going anywhere. If you do decide to go somewhere, eat the $ menu at a restaurant...you don't want to spend all your money on food and then not be able to do anything without going over-budget, or eat at home before you go out. Carry your money for the entire evening in cash...when you run out, you go home. We rent movies once in a while, or go bowling. We have a local dance hall that has dances once in a while that is a lot of fun...I don't recommend going to an actual "Dance club" because the drinks are overpriced, and you'll spend your whole budget on them (or at least we always did...=) ). Going to the zoo can be fun for your whole family, and it's kind of expensive, but that could be your special splurge for the month if you have the money.

Well, I hope you get something out of this novel that is useful!! Good luck to you on this!!

I am a SAHM to two beautiful boys, and grocery wise I recommend Angel Food! It's an amazing program and it helps us out so much!! We signed up for Blockbuster Total Access, and mostly just rent movies and get popcorn for entertainment! We don't really like to send the boys anywhere, so it's great once they go to bed! Plus, in Norman there's the splash pad that's free, I don't know where you're located, but maybe there's something like that in your area!

Here are a few of my tricks: Shop at ebay for some of the stuff you like to use. I get a lot of my mid to higher end beauty supplies from there at low end prices.

During the summer months you can save a lot of money buying from a local farmer's market. Better, healthier food that's cheaper. You just can't go wrong there. Check with your Chamber of Commerce to see if there's one in your area. You can also check localharvest.org to see if they have one listed for your area.

Invest in your own small vegetable garden at home too. It's fun, it's relaxing and it's a great learning experience for kids too. Also, learn how to can and likewise invest in some canning supplies. You can often find used canning supplies at flea markets or antique shops. Also invest in a juicer. Juicing my own fruits and vegetables helped me to make sure that I was buying only what I needed and not what merely looked yummy on the shelf. I save money too.

Stop buying so many different kinds of cleaners. I'm not really sure how much money I save by using old fashioned - and environmentally friendly - ingredients. Because I've been doing it for years. Vinegar is your new best friend. Baking Soda is a close second. 20 Mule Team Borax is another favorite of mine. For reference and full on tips check out the book "Organic Housekeeping" by Ellen Sandbeck.

Before getting involved in ANY network marketing, direct sales, multi level marketing, whatever else they call themselves, do extensive internet research. Most of them don't work unless you already have plenty of money to spend, and no one trying to sponsor you will want to even hear about "market saturation" much less give you a straight answer about it.

I do work out of my home, and I've found a way to make some money at it. If you want to know how, just message me back. And no, it's not selling drugs.

Angel Food Ministries is great. I use them pretty frequently. If you have a Homeland, shop there, get their Homeland One Card and use coupons. Also, if you have Aldis they are great for canned goods, meat, boxed foods and all sorts of things. The only catch there is that you pay cash - something I rarely carry. But Aldis may be best for you because of that: You have to keep within your pre-set limit.

Goodwill, other thrift stores and consignment shops are great. My faves for that are consignment shops though. I happen to be petite and so I also shop from Delias.com quite a lot. Their clothes are inexpensive to begin with and their sale prices are great. Same with LaRedoute.com. Again, check out Ebay for clothes too. You'd be surprised what you can find. You might also invest in a sewing machine but only if you're inclined to sit and sew. I can't do it. Just can't, but I admire people who do! But growing up, my Mom made a lot of our clothes as a way to save money. If you go this route, don't be afraid to be creative and jazz up old clothes or recycle them into something else.

I didn't like coolsavings.com myself. I found that I had to give too much of my private information out, too often in order to save on stuff I don't buy anyway.

Get on WIC. Generally, unless you're loaded, you qualify for WIC. If either you or your hubby are Indian and can get an Indian card, do it. My hubby and daughter are card carrying Osage and there are some great benefits in that. First Nation Tribes are generally pretty good about supporting each other. It's some of their fundamental beliefs.

For fun and entertainment: invest in a deck of playing cards (and if necessary a book of card games). You, your husband and friends can have lots of fun actually getting to know each other better while you chat over cards. Likewise for some other board games and the like. Have small gatherings with different people regularly and make it potluck - another good way to save on food. For your whole family, be on the look out for community sponsored events - summer is a great time for that. Also, if you check out localharvest.org you'll find that some of your area farms offer tours and activities geared for little ones. Browse around.

Now, this might be hard but find a way to save money. Check with your local bank to see if they have an investment counselor that can help you establish an IRA. See what the minimum opening amount is (plus fees) and save for it. If you're interested in Socially Responsible Investment check out paxworld.com or domini.com. Being low income I am very interested in Socially Responsible Investment because I figure I might not be so low-income if more people believed in being Socially Responsible. Also check out your states college savings plan. If you live here in Oklahoma the website is ok4saving.org. It's important.

It's easier with one child rather than 2, believe me. We're below the poverty level raising 2 kids therefore we have assistance with health insurance and other public programs.

You need to make sure you have enough money to cover all of your bills. As for going out~~~we don't. We did try often when we had free sitting by family but now that no one will stay with our kids due to health, well, if they can't come we don't go.

It helps to have friends and playgroups.

I buy most of our food at the first of the month, scheduling meals for that month on a set menu. There's no money for eating out. When you do, you sometimes realize that for the price of that meal you could have cooked for a week or more. I picked recipes from our favorite restaurants and pretty much have it down.

You can make it if you live like us. We have a house payment of about $900. We don't pay for insurance on anything. We do have cable and high speed internet but it's not really a necessity, I also get a break on our phone service. We don't have a car payment nor credit card payments. We pay 9 bucks a month to a debit card from western union to have a Master Card though.

Check out Dave Ramesey's book Financial Makeover or something like that and see if you fit into his check list before you make the decision to quit your job.

Budget your money! NO CREDIT CARDS...CASH ONLY!!! Consignment is a great way to save (buy and sell). Coupon Clip, and buy in bulk. Also, there are many free and cheap activities for you and your daughter to do. Libraries offer play, craft and story time for free. Let her check out books and go to the park.

Find a stay at home mommies group or play group in your area. They usually do fun and affordable get togethers.

Make your husband take his lunch to work if he doesn't already (you can slip cute notes in there to show you appreciate him helping the family out and how much it means to you).

For adult entertainment have a family member watch the baby while you go to a dollar movie. Take a walk in the park or have a picnic.

Where there's a will...there's a way!

God Bless