Stay at Home Mom: How We Make It Work!

This was my first week of staying at home with Elijah; I was completely exhausted by last night (Thursday)!  He's such an easy baby, but it can be really exhausting to change diapers, feed a baby, put them down for naps and carry them from place to place, all while trying to accomplish other things!  But, I'm not complaining, just stating the facts.  I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Sometimes I look back and wonder, how did we go from this:

June 26. 2009

 To this:

Painting our new house!  June 2010

To this:

June 2012

 

All in 3.5 years!  And now, here I am, doing what I've always dreamed of doing, being a stay at home Mom.  Ok, so I do know how this all worked out.  A lot of smart decisions on our part. 

Some people can accomplish all these things quickly because they make a lot of money, that is not the case for us.  For the first 6 months of our marriage, I didn't have a job.  We had no tv or internet at our house.  We lived off of Dustin's paycheck (which was less than he is making now), any money he had in savings (which he had been saving for a motorcycle), and instead of fixing our cars from previous accidents/incidents, we used car claim checks to live.

And yet, 6 months later, we were able to purchase a house.  It was the perfect time to purchase, we only needed a small down payment, and our mortgage ended up being about the same as we were paying for rent at our previous house.  We have never lived beyond our means.  So, here is how we make it work:

1. We use a zero-based budgeting approach: This just means that every single dollar that comes into this house is accounted for.  We budget out our money on a spreadsheet and every penny goes somewhere.  If we need to purchase something, we know exactly where that money is coming from.  Do we slip sometimes and spend when we're not supposed to?  Of course!  But, we fix it by spending less in other categories.
2. We only buy things that we have money for: Would I like to replace the $50 kitchen table that I bought right out of college?  YES!  Do we have the cash for it right now?  No.  It's not a necessity, so we will wait until we have the money.  I also like to hold out on purchasing things that I REALLY want.  So instead of buying a "cheap", but better kitchen table; I'm holding out and waiting until we save money for that one at World Market that I would really like.  There are a lot of things that we don't have, but it is far better to save for them than to put them on a credit card.
3. We have an emergency fund: We have an emergency fund that we don't touch unless there is an emergency.  What is an emergency?  Large car repairs, expensive dental costs, a fridge going out, etc.  It always makes me sad when we have to spend that money (most has been on car repairs), but I must remind myself that that's what it's there for.  I can also breathe a huge sigh of relief when something comes up and we don't have to worry where the money is going to come from.
4. We don't have credit card debt: Ok, I lie.  We were thisclose to paying it all off, until we had a little baby in the nicu.  In that instance, we chose not to empty our emergency fund.  But, come back to me in a few months, and this statement will be true.  Guess what we're using our tax refund for?  Yep, paying off credit card debt.  We're fun people, aren't we?
5. We price match, cut coupons and take a calculator grocery shopping: Every week, I look through all the grocery ads and write down the best prices on groceries that we would like to purchase.  This sounds like a lot of work, but it only takes about 15-20 minutes.  It's amazing how much money you can save on produce and meats when you do this!  We also take a calculator grocery shopping.  As we put things in the cart, we put them into the calculator.  It takes the guess work out of meeting your "grocery budget".  Then, when you go to check out, you can be assured that you're not going to go over budget!
6. I've started an etsy account: Our budget is based off of my husband's income, which means anything I make on the side can go towards all those fun things like vacations, new furniture, house renovations...whatever we choose!  Find something you enjoy doing and go for it!

I'm sure we do more than those six items because it's a lifestyle that we live.  I'm happy to say that Dustin and I are both on the same page when it comes to money.  We just have different strengths.  He is GREAT at writing out a budget, I am great at sticking to it.  We occasionally sit down together and rewrite our budget; it's something we enjoy doing.

As I sit here on a Friday morning, writing this blog and listening to Elijah play in his jumper, I'm SO happy that I'm able to do just this.  We are capable of all of this because of choices that we make, not because we make a ton of money!