How does she do it? Inside scoop of the stay at home mom

People always ask me how we can afford to have me be a stay
at home mother, well here is my very looong answer to a sort of rude question,
I don’t mind answering.

If there is a will, there is a way!

I gradually cut down my hours at work, and really we didn’t
feel the decrease in income like you would have thought, it was just ok we have
this much money to spend and we worked with what we had.

You learn to live on less; you find creative ways to save
money, and more importantly creative ways to spend money. 

COUPONS COUPONS COUPONS, coupons are money!  Today I spent 76.00 on our groceries and theywere delivered to my door!  My year to

date savings from ShopRite alone is 1906.36 and that’s just shop rite!  There are coupons for almost anything, and

doing your research is important.  We get

discounts at the aquarium, theme parks, restaurants, stores, you name it

because I look for coupons, ya you could pay full price, buy why the heck would

you?  There are several websites that

match up the weekly coupons to the current sale fliers for you!  My favorite is coupondivas.com

Buy USED!  Your kids
are going to go through their clothes and toys like white lightening!  Gone are the days of trekking to Good Will
and rooting through racks of funk smelling 80s clothes, enter Face Book Resale
sites!  Holly’s jumparoo?  Would’ve been 125.00 new, and the best 35
bucks USED I have spent on her so far! I am amazed she has thunder thighs the
way she slams herself around in there! 
The only things I wouldn’t buy used are things you know you will be keeping forever, or things you question safety on, like car seats buy those new with the money you save buying other things used! 

DIY, that’s right DO IT YOURSELF!  The internet is your new bff because there
are literally instructions on how to do just about anything, like making your
own detergents, cleaners, fabric softeners and a million other money saving
things.  Would you rather be using Gain
in your laundry or make your own detergent and STAY HOME! 

Conserve!  Conserve
ENERGY!  Don’t use your dryer unless you
have to, what’s wrong with the AIR?  Get
a clothes line!  That right there saves
you about forty bucks a month!  Kids are
bored?  Go on pinterest and you’ll have
thousands of FREE things to do at their disposal, from fort making, to sand
castle building, to art projects, and treasure hunts!

Plan!  Plan meals in
advance so you know down to the penny how much they’ll cost.  It’s much cheaper to buy meats in 3lb packs
than by the lb, All You magazine is not only one of my favorites, its packed to
the gills with coupons, how to’s, DIY’s, recipes, meal plans, its great!

IF IT’S FREE, IT’S ME! 
If you’re offered something free, take it!!!! Figure out how to use it,
repurpose it, sell it, or pay it forward.

GIVE, give your time, give extra coupons, donate items out
of your stock pile to the less fortunate, what comes around goes around.

THE ODD JOB, dog sit, cat sit, baby sit, or create something
that you can sell!!!!  I have sold
everything from crafts I have made, to junk I have picked at yard sales,
there’s always something for someone especially on the internet ;)

RESELL, if you haven’t used it, worn it, played with it or
looked at it in a year, turn it into cash!

Those are basically my secrets, and most people who stay at
home will tell you the same things, we aren’t millionaires, being at home is
work and takes creativity but it is SOOOOOOOOOOOO WORTH IT!