Many people have asked me how our family manages to “make it” on my husband’s salary. It’s not that his salary is low, but more that we have a somewhat large family and survive on only one income.

Here are a few of my tips, for anyone who thinks they might be helpful.

Shop Around

Don’t just comparison shop for groceries. Comparison shop for telephone service, cable or satellite TV, all your insurance, or any major purchase. My husband calls around for car parts and tires. I search online for the best deals for things such as beauty products, clothing, books, and even lighting fixtures. You would be amazed at how much money you can save simply by shopping on eBay.

Shop Around For Insurance

Perhaps one of the biggest areas of cost savings is in insurance. I am of the opinion that everyone needs to have some life insurance. Those who have children need to be insured for an amount equal to eight to ten times their annual income, until the children are out of the home. Term insurance is the very best way to go. Shop around online, but do your homework first. A good place to start would be with Dave Ramsey’s information, The Truth About Life Insurance.

Do the same process for all your insurance needs, including health, auto, and home insurance. It is worth the time and hassle. Keep your information in a notebook for easy reference, with the insurance company name, phone number, and other pertinent policy information. Look for insurance brokers in your area.

Loyalty is for real-life friends, not insurance companies. Be wise with your family’s money, and shop around.

Shop Around for Cell Phone Service

Take a close look at what you’re paying monthly for your cell phone, if you have one. Do you use it a lot for important things, or is it more of a convenience thing? Consider getting pre-paid cell service. I’ve been using a Tracfone for about 6 years, and have been very happy with the value. I will say, though, that the only time my cell phone is even on is when I am not at home. Thirty minutes will last me two months… I am not a cell phone yakky person at all.

If you feel you must have a cell phone, then the next time your current plan is up for expiration, check around at what other cell plans are available to you. You will be surprised at how much money you can shave off your monthly cell bill by shopping around.

Shop Around For Beauty Products Online

Are you a Mary Kay girl? Do you like Estee Lauder or Clinique? Have you shopped on QVC or HSN for Bare Escentuals or other makeup and skincare lines? Next time you run out of product, check eBay for what you need. You will most likely be able to purchase your favorite products for about half of what you had been paying.

Shop Around For TV Service

We had Dishnetwork for many years and were very pleased with the service. Once we moved to our current location, we found that we could get local digital cable for less than Dish, and our monthly payments were put into the cooperative for future capital credits, which will be reimbursed in future years.

Compare Dishnetwork to DirecTV and your local cable. Consider how much you really watch TV, and if it is something very important to your family. Also, consider getting TiVo service. We have loved this, because we can record things then fast forward past commercials, which are often times the worst part of any given show. Don’t buy a TiVo box – go directly to the TiVo website and see what they offer. Most likely you will receive the box with no up-front costs, and pay the monthly service fee.

Certain Bargains At Certain Times Of The Year

Most of you know that after Christmas many places offer their Christmas decorations, etc., for half to 75% off regular price. Now is the time to shop for next year’s Christmas gifts for some of the people on your gift list. Check out this website for Christmas clearance shopping tips.

January is typically “white sale” time. Now is the time to buy your sheets, towels, and soforth. Before you buy local, check eBay for what you want.

The end of February is the time when our local department stores such as Kohl’s and JC Penney have amazing clearance prices. This is the time to buy jeans and coats for next year for the kids.

The end of July is the time to pick up summer clearance clothing and goods. I wait until Kohl’s and JC Penney start running their “75% off clearance prices” sales. I love to buy jewelry at this time, to save for Christmas gifts of girlfriends.

Mx5 writes at Mx5’s Tumbling Monkey Cafe, which is named after her kids.  She shares random ramblings as she chases after her 5 kids and loves on her husband. 

Thanks so much for today’s guest post!

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

This summer we are avoiding day care costs while the kids are out of school by doing some co-op babysitting with a friend in the neighborhood. Between our three kids and their two it can be quite a zoo. Here are some tips for getting the most out of co-op babystting.

Be Flexible

Co-op babysitting is particularly difficult if the parents work part or full time. Work schedules will add to the amount of babysitting schedule changes. But even if neither parent works out of the house, doctor appointments, vacations and more are going to come up. Tell the other parent as soon as you know so you have the best option of figuring out how to rework the babysitting schedules. Don’t forget that sometimes having a babysitter on a night or weekend is worth way more than on a weekday.

Also, the other parent is going to have rules that are different than yours. Remind your kids that the other parent is in charge and you fully expect them to follow their rules during their babysitting days. Make sure the other parent does the same with their kids. Don’t be afraid to use the naughty chairs and don’t be offended if it is your kid who gets sent there.

Let Them Roam

With four mobile kids and a baby, it is very important to be able to let them have some space. There is no way that many kids will survive 8 hours cramped up near each other all day without frequent bickering. We have a pretty open policy about roaming the main level and the basement. When they start getting annoyed with each other, they will naturally wander to different rooms or floors which helps bring a certain amount of peace.

Have A Plan

With all that free movement it is good to round them all up for a head count every hour or so. Morning snack, afternoon snack, and lunch provide three opportunities for everybody to be together. An art project, game, pretend school session, storytime in both the morning and afternoon provide two more easy gathering sessions. Something as simple as building block towers or painting an oversized piece of paper can entertain kids for a surprisingly long period of time. Reading stories is a great way to get a rowdy group of kids to sit still for a few minutes. I would recommend keeping the stories around 15 minutes unless you have a group of pretty calm kids, though.

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

Kids are going to yell and pout. Try to let them sort it out on their own whenever possible. It will be good for the social skills development. Try not to get involved unless they are being particularly nasty, it lasts for more than a few minutes or if one kid is always the one instigating the arguments. Also, kids are going to get paint on their clothes and lose toys at each other’s houses. Don’t hound the other parent about normal property damage. Just remember the cost of buying a new t-shirt or Thomas train is much less than the cost of paying for full time babysitting over the summer.

Get outside

If you have a fence in the backyard, put on the sunscreen when they first start to wander off. Encourage time in the backyard when the mood strikes them. Also, a picnic, trip through the sprinkler or game of soccer also make a great group activities that also get the kids outside for a while.

With a little bit of careful planning, a lot of understanding, and a lot of energy, you can avoid the high costs of day care and provide your kids with plenty of playdates that will help build friendships that will last for years to come.

Thanks so much to Mike for today’s guest post.  He is the father of 5 year old twins and a new baby.  You can find him writing about IVF, raising children, raising a child with autism, and fatherhood.  I hope you’ll visit him at Be A Good Dad!

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

I read in the paper today how some families are cutting down on their expenses by staying home more with their families and buying no name brands, in a sense living simpler. I won’t say that we’ve changed our life completely but we too have stopped eating out as much, but not completely. 

What are some ways you try to save money? Do you buy no name brands? If you do what are they? 

For years we’ve been buying no name or store name cereals, but from time to time we’ve been known to grab the occasional Trix, Lucky Charms or Raisin Bran. But we try to stock up on these no name cereals as they are always cheap. This also gives us the means to be able to go out and treat the family whenever we feel like doing it.

By buying cheap, as some would call it, we are preparing and saving up for the: milk, bread, eggs, corn, meat and of course gas prices that just keep rising.

Have you changed your eating lifestyle with the rise of prices or have you kept to a normal routine?

Eliza is a wife and stay-at-home mother to four children that range from 11 years to 1. When she isn’t busy playing video games with them or changing diapers, she enjoys blogging and reading books.  For a more personal view of her life, you can find her blogging about motherhood at Babylune or The Life of a Home Mom.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Here are some of the biggest and easiest ways to save on groceries:

1)  Look through your cabinet and see what you already have.

2)  Sit down and plan your meals using the sales flyer and considering what you already have in your pantry.

3)  Stock up on items that are at rock bottom prices.  This past week, Lowe’s Foods had ground turkey for .99/lb.  I haven’t seen the price that low in a long, long time.  I bought 5 packages and put them in the freezer.

Thrifty Mommy is full of articles on how to save money.  Here are a few of my favorites that are full tips that anyone can use.

How to Play The Grocery Game

Top 10 Ways I Have Cut My Expenses

50 Ways to Save Money on Your Grocery Bill

Time is Money and Money is Time

10 Ways to Save Gas

75 Ways to Save Money

How are you doing at saving money?

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

1)  Cut back on the grocery bill.  This is one of the easiest ways that I have cut back on our spending.  I began with my normal tactics of stocking up on great sales and buy 1 get 1 free offers.  Then, I began using The Grocery Game and this has really paid off.

2)  Shop for clearance items.  I know all of the hot spots in Target for clearance items.  You may think I’m a bit nuts, but I have a route of the store that I follow so that I can walk beside all of those clearance sections.

3)  Purchase used clothing.  I check out consignment stores for gently used clothing.  I really like it when the consignment stores have end of the season sales.  Last year, my local consignment store was having 75% off their winter clothing.  I got 2 huge bags of clothes for around $50.  It’s nice to see my daughter wearing the coat that I paid $2 for. 

4)  Limit errands and driving.  When I was working, it was convenient to stop here and there on my way home.  Now that I’m at home, I try to limit my errands to one or two days a week. Errands eat up time and gas.

5)  Stay out of stores.  If I go into a store “just to look around” then it is very tempting to make impulse purchases.  When making my list of errands, I include all those stores that I need to go to for that day.  This limited amount of time also cuts back on the amount of time I can spend in the stores.

6)  Graciously accept used clothing from friends.  A large portion of my daughter’s clothing has been passed down to me from my best friend.  Her daughter is 9 months older than mine and her daughter’s clothes have been such a blessing to us.

7)  Avoid catalogs.  When I was teaching, I would receive catalogs from Current, Christian Book Distributors, ABC Distributing, Oriental Trading . . . I could go on and on.  I would pass the catalogs around my work and we would all place orders together to save on shipping.  Saving on shipping sounds good, right?  Well, actually all those catalogs caused me to buy things I didn’t really need.

8)  Avoid going out to eat.  When you’re working out of the house, there is less time to plan and prepare meals, and less energy to follow through.  Since I became a work-from-home-mom, I have made a bigger effort to avoid restaurants.  Now when I do the checkbook each month, I see where we have gone out to eat 3-4 times.  When I was working, it was more like 6-9 times a month.

9) Quit buying things just because they are on clearance.  This is a weak spot that I used to have.  I would get stuff for 75-90% off and put it away for this and that, thinking that I would use the stuff.  I was left with a lot of clutter.  Thankfully, I got the stuff so cheap that I was able to put it in my yard sale and get my money back. 

10)  Haggle whenever possible.  Negotiate on credit card interest rates, cell phone plans, cable television packages, and more.  You can save your family a pretty good amount of money if you’re willing to get on the phone and start talking.

These are the best ways that I have found to save money.  Do you have any other ways to add?  We can all learn from one another.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

RealSimple.com offers a Free Downloadable Wedding Budget Worksheet and some gives some help with Splitting the Wedding Tab.

CostOfWedding.com – Type in your zip code and find out how much couples spend in your area.

WeddingChannel.com – Sign up for free and use their budget calculator to help you track your costs, deposits, and balances based on your overall budget and guests.

Brides.com – Use their budget advisor tool for a breakdown of expenses, compile your guest list, and manage your planning tasks.  It will also give you a recommended percentage of the total budget for each category.  Sign up for their free e-newsletters.

TheKnot.com – Check out all the categories on this site.  I was impressed.  Wedding vows, budget, flowers, cakes, invitations, etiquette, the list goes on.  Check out their great budget tool. 

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

13 Steps to Profitable Auctions from Get Rich Slowly

A Simple Way to Cut Your Monthly Expenses from Christian Business Daily

Shower Monitor Cuts Water Bills.  I wonder if they have these monitors in the United States.  Does anyone know?

The Do-It-Yourself Home Spa Party written by Shelly Ballestero, a licensed esthetician, make-up artist, beauty editor of Lifestyle Magazine, and author.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy