Yes! You Can Live on a Single Income.

Help For The Stay-At-Home Mom

Even as a young girl, I already knew that I wanted to be home for my children when the time comes. When I had my first child, though, I was working in my parent’s business and I was the only one helping them manage it. Leaving the business was almost out of the question. I struggled through our daughter’s first year, thinking that I’m missing out on so much. I would always call the nanny at home to find out what she’s doing, what words she can say, if she’s already crawling, walking or running. At night, my daughter preferred to sleep with her nanny over me.

Before the decision to stay at home to care for our child came about, my husband and I had to seriously consider how we would fare just living on his income alone. Considering that our lifestyle called for us to live on two incomes. we had to think of ways that we can pare down our expenses in order for me to stay at home. Staying at home meant living a simpler life for us. Though it overwhelmed me, the changes we had to implement in our lives were:

1. Limit our eating out. When the hubby and I were dating, and even till now, we loved to dine out. We especially loved to try out new restaurants and would consider a fine meal worth the high cost of it. Knowing that we are now living on a single income, we’ve had to limit the eating out only on special occasions, and even then, with a budget. One of the ways that we would save on our bill is to never order drinks like soda, juices, coffee, etc. We would ask for just a serving of water and this brought our bill down considerably.

2. Watch our use of electricity. In the past, I have to confess, we were quite wasteful. We would leave the light and fan on in a vacant room. The TV would be on when no one was watching. Since staying at home, we implemented an important rule with our children that lights will only be turned on if necessary. If daylight is still coming in, we don’t turn on the lights. We always, always turn the light off when we leave a room. Did you know that even the simple act of leaving the microwave plugged in will still add up your electricity? As long as the LED is lighted, electricity is still coming in. We were able to lower our electric bill this way.

3. Plan the Menu. I must admit that menu-planning is a challenge to me and it continues to be until now. I like things to be spontaneous. However, without a menu plan for the week, we’ve always had to go to the corner store and buy what we don’t have. Of course, this adds up to more expenses because corner stores are more expensive than buying it all in bulk in the grocery.

4. Make a Grocery List. One of the surefire ways to save your hard-earned money is to avoid going around in the grocery without a plan or a list on hand. Without a list, you can just wander around and pick up anything that catches your eye. But if you shop with your list, you’ll know what to go for and you can avoid all those fancy ads in the grocery. Of course, before you can make up a grocery list, you’ll need to plan your menu. Plus, with a grocery list, you can avoid the constant need to go to the grocery store for what you don’t have, thus saving you the gas money.

5. Do as many errands as you can in one day. Avoid going out often. This saves you on the cost of gasoline. Organize all your bills together and see what you can do in one day. Can you pay your utility bills at one time after doing your groceries? Achieving multiple errands in one day not only saves the gas, it saves you the cost of hiring a babysitter for several days if you did your errands on different days.

These are just a few of the ideas that we have implemented in our home in order for me to stay home with the children. Was it worth doing it? I’ll have to answer that with a resounding “YES!” In the years I have been home, I’ve seen my children grow. I’ve wiped most of their tears, answered thousands of questions, washed their scraped knees, picked them up when they fall and put them all to sleep. I’ve had dozens of hugs from big arms to small arms, lots of kisses mixed with sweat, mucus and saliva and sang so many lullabies until I’m numb in the head.

Staying at home to be with your children is indeed daunting and overwhelming if you’re not prepared for the changes. With an open mind, an open heart and a lot of creativity sprinkled in, staying home and living on one income is possible.