Recently, I came across this article. It says that having a parent (but this
could apply to one spouse if a couple is childless) stay at home while one
works will either work really well or it will fail. He then goes on to say that the stay-at-home parent/spouse
must be doing money-saving activities during their time at home in order to
make it on one income. I would say
that these activities are simply part of a frugal, financially responsible
lifestyle, but maybe that’s just me.
At any rate, we have lived on one income for the majority of
our marriage. For the first three
and a half years, I worked while my husband attended (tuition-free) Seminary
and studied for hours after class.
After that we moved for his vicarage. During that time, our rent and utilities were covered by the
church, and our health insurance premiums were covered by the Seminary. I worked part-time at the church
preschool. After tithing and
taxes, all of my salary went into our adoption fund. Now, he is a pastor and I
work part-time (I worked full-time as school was in session for the past two
years). We have continued to live
on his salary while saving all of mine.
With this method, we have saved over $25,000 over the past
three years. Our adoption costs
are estimated to add up to about that much, so now we are saving all my salary
towards our next car (mine will need to be replaced in the next few years).
Here are “money-saving tips”, or simple frugal practices,
that have worked for us over the years:
-Budgeting. My
DH is SO GOOD at this. He sets a
budget and we both stick to it.
-Home haircuts for DH.
-Home haircuts for me, or very minimal salon cuts (by minimal
I mean like twice a year trims).
No extras like highlights (I did get them once as a birthday present) on
a regular basis.
-Making homemade laundry soap and other homemade cleaning
products.
-I make my own deodorant now.
-I use shampoo/conditioner every second or third day, and
alternate with baking soda/vinegar or a homemade dry shampoo mix.
-Asking for new clothes or gift cards to buy new clothes for
birthdays and Christmas.
-Minimal vacations, except to see family.
-Not getting alcohol on a regular basis, whether from the
store or when out to eat.
-Minimal eating out.
-Making meal plans and grocery lists.
-Buying simple food – we eat lots of chicken and eggs. I have never bought steak or anything
luxurious like that. I guess it
helps that we’re allergic to shellfish.
-Baking things from scratch.
-We generally use our credit card for everything. This is an easy way for my husband to
track our spending and making sure we are staying within our monthly budget. Plus, we get rewards points, which are
a nice bonus! I know there are
mixed opinions out there on credit cards and stewardship, but it works for us
because we have literally never had a balance or late payments. We have always been able to stay on
budget using plastic.
-Buying used vehicles (I admit, our parents helped out a bit
here) that we could pay cash for.
-Utilizing cheap entertainment – we like watching a movie,
going for walks or hikes, and reading books.
-Avoiding a gym membership by getting workout DVDs that can
be used over and over again.
-I’ve sewed or crafted lots of Christmas and birthday
presents.
-Only going to the doctor if we are seriously ill, i.e. a
sliced hand, strep throat, or when DH had a nasty -flu and ended up rather
dehydrated and needing IV fluids.
What We Haven’t Done
(Disclaimer: I include these methods, not to knock them or those who use them, but to help demonstrate that what works for one family doesn't work for everyone.)
-Coupons. For
quite awhile we couldn’t even afford a Sunday paper subscription to cut
coupons. When I was able to get
ahold of one, it seemed like I would just buy stuff that was a good deal, and
not because we needed it. I ended
up wasting money on things that weren’t good for us, that we didn’t use or
didn’t need. Our grocery bills
were lower when we didn’t coupon.
-“Get paid to shop” apps. I have a couple friends that do eBates or iBotta, etc, but I
just haven’t. Again, it feels like
I would spend money to get money back, which isn’t good stewardship.
-Cut certain extras.
We do have internet (which I consider a necessity as we live six hours
away from our closest family and don’t have friends in this area) and
cable. I would love to try
dropping the cable, but DH refuses.
As long as we can afford it....
-Government assistance.
We may have qualified at some point, but we sure don’t now. We would have to be pretty desperate to
go down this road.
What frugal tips do you have for saving money?
