Tightwad living is not nearly as restrictive as it sounds. Learn how to stretch your dollar as a stay at home mom here, with tips on frugal living, and money saving frugal recipe step-by-step videos. Follow these steps and you too can claim to be an everyday cheapskate!
Step Two of Staying a Stay at Home Mom focuses on ways to Stretch Your Dollar. This is where we take the money allotted to us as disposable income and make it go as far as possible. This step and these tips on frugal living, are very important for a stay at home mom. As moms, it is our job to take care of the family finances.
We are the ones that need to carefully weigh each financial decision, and we get to see firsthand how those decisions will affect our family. The concept of Tightwad Living, being frugal with our money, does not have to alter the quality of the life we lead. It simply changes how we go about things.
If you are here in the Tightwad Living: Stretch Your Dollar section now, it probably means that you have already learned Step One: Reduce Expenses. If not, go back over that section with a fine-tooth comb. I’ll wait.
Done? Great! Now it’s time for the fine print. In order to be an everyday cheapskate, there is a trade for saving all this money. The trade for your money is your time. The tips on frugal coupon living and ways to save on groceries in the Stretch Your Dollar section are time consumers. But, they can also be a lot of fun too, and give us a chance to communicate with grown-ups!
And there is a benefit to trading your time for money. Isn’t that what most working people do? Most stay at home moms can look at their money saving activities as wages, in a way. Let’s think of it this way. If you spent 3 hours doing research on ways to save on groceries, and you went out and saved $60 on your first informed grocery shopping trip, then you just made $20 an hour! Knowledge is power, and it is certainly money!
Save Money on Household Cleaners
The first step in tightwad living is to see if you can save money by avoiding packaged items and making it yourself. Not only can you save significant amounts of money by following a frugal recipe, but you can also avoid putting as many toxic chemicals into your home.
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Save on House Cleaning
- Make Your Own Laundry Soap
- Make Your Own Household Cleaners
- Make General All-Purpose Cleaner
- Make Dish Soap
- Make Homemade Glass Cleaner
- Make Fake Febreeze
Save Money on Toiletries and Personal Care
Next, it’s time to lower your expenses on personal care products and services. Use a frugal recipe and make your own toothpaste, or go No Poo. Learn how to save money on personal care.
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Save Money on Toiletries
- Save Money on Personal Care
- Buy or Make Menstrual Pads
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Taking Care of You on a Dime!
- Make Your Own Shampoo
- Make Your Own Conditioner
- Make Homemade Deodorant
- Make Hair Spray and Hair Detangler
- Make Homemade Toothpaste
Save Money on Baby Expenses
Bringing a new baby into the world is a wonderful occurrence that often causes financial stress for an unprepared couple. It doesn’t have to be this way! Despite what you may believe, having a baby does not need to be a bank-breaking experience.
There are many tips for frugal living when it comes to new additions to the family. We often purchase too many unneeded items, and don’t know where to find inexpensive solutions.
There are tightwad living ways to get diapers and formula at a discount, which will help you retain your everyday cheapskate status while easing your financial stress.
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Save on Baby Expenses
- Free Pregnancy Stuff
- Save on Baby Items
- Save on Baby Formula
- Save on Baby Food
- Save on Baby Diapers
- Save Money on Baby Wipes: Make Your Own
Save Money on Household Expenses
Now it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty of tightwad living
These tips for frugal living will help you stick with your budget, and make it all work.
And remember, you can be an everyday cheapskate on any income level!
Also remember that tightwad living is not about sacrificing. It’s about doing things smarter, and with less expense. So clip a coupon for a $25 gift certificate when you fill a prescription and buy yourself some bubble bath. Take some personal time for you and feel good doing it.
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Trim Your Medical Expenses
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Organize Your Home
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Frugal Home Office
- Tips for Being Frugal
- Get Free Household Stuff
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Free Samples
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: 25 Ways to Frugalize Your Home
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Affording Big Ticket Items
- Save on Homeschooling Expenses
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Learn to Barter
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Save on Pet Expenses
Save Money on Celebrations
This section on tightwad living would not be complete without talking about ways to celebrate birthdays, holidays, and occassions without going broke. These tips will have you celebrating with style – on a dime!
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Cheap Birthday Ideas
- Frugal Birthday Cake Ideas
- Frugal Party Favors
- Frugal Kids Birthday Parties
- Frugal Birthday Party Crafts
- Frugal Party Games
- Free Stuff on Your Birthday – Kids and Adults
- Free Birthday Meals
- Throw an Inexpensive Homemade Baby Shower
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Frugal Halloween
Save Money on Gifts
True tightwad living can extend to what we spend on birthday parties, holidays and gifts. Celebrating does not have to cost you an arm and a leg! Follow these tips for frugal living and learn about creative, inexpensive ways to give gifts to everyone on your Christmas list this year. Be an everyday cheapskate when it comes to Christmas presents!
- Your Gift Closet
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Frugal Gifts for Kids & Hubby
- Inexpensive Gifts for Extended Family
- Gifts for Casual Friends and Neighbors
- Planning Christmas Gifts
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Frugal Christmas Celebrations
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: After Christmas Sales
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Get Extra Christmas Cash
Save Money on Entertainment
Now for some frugal living fun! I firmly believe that you can live the life of an everyday cheapskate without sacrifice, and the following tips for frugal living will show you how.
Learn how to save money on vacations, date nights, babysitting, and family entertainment. Like to read? Check out my everyday cheapskate tips for stay at home moms on how to trade books online.
- Moms Night Out
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Date Night for Mom and Dad
- Trade Babysitting
- Find a Babysitter
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Family Fun Night Ideas
- Frugal Family Fun
- Family Entertainment Savings
- Groupon Explained
- More Deal Sites Explained
- Get a Free Lunch (or Dinner)
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Affording the Little Treats in Life
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Get Low Cost or Free Books
- Trade Books Online
- Kids Eat Free A-H
- Kids Eat Free I-Z
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Hobbies that Make Money
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Save on Pet Expenses
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Frugal Dieting
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Save on Vacations
- $5,000 Money Saving Mama Challenge: Staycation Ideas
A Final Frugal Living Thought
As a stay at home mom trying to survive off of one income, it is very tempting to try to rush things and go straight into Supplementing Income, but hold off.
It is Far Easier to Spend Less Money Than it is to Earn More.
Take the time to go through these first two sections on spending less money before you try to add additional money to your income. Supplemental income is very important in a one- or no-income family, but unless you first figure out how to stretch your dollar, all the extra work you do will be for nothing, as the additional income will just flow through your fingers. Trust me on this.