Stay at Home Mommy in the making

Well in a few months we will add our new little man to our family. Having the big #3 child has really caused Derek and I to look at what needs to be done for our family since he is still in school and not finishing his college education is just simply not an option.

It can be done with kids...does it make it a lot harder I would probably for sure have to say yes, but I finished school with kids and so can Derek. Anyways- I have been the sugar mama while he's been in school, however we are re-thinking some things. Three kids in daycare is highway robbery just in case anyone wanted to know...it averages about $800-$1000 a month...sooo not cool.

Derek and I have come to the conclusion that we need to cut, cut, cut in anyway that we can. He says he truly wants to find a full time job that could support us. So we talked with Weber State about the hours that the MET program usually has. They said most classes are each day from about 8-12 in the morning. So we figure that's do-able with a job. The exciting, scary news for me is...if he can find a high enough paying job...I probably could come home about 90% of the time. I may have to make up the difference a little bit, but we're working on that part...I've been wondering if I should maybe babysit a few kids or try and work PRN (on call) at a hospital or something one day a week since I get paid a higher rate for PRN.

Well, I say this is scary because honestly I have never been a full time stay at home mom...ever. I've either been in school or working. Thank heaven this last year has only been part - time but I have done full - time and it's totally not super enjoyable.

So I've been trying to see what I can do...we do have bills...some are annoying we wish we didn't have debt bills but what can you do so I can't just cut that out of our budget. I've started simple right now like going homemade on some things to save. So I decided boxed snacks are processed and not super great for you anyways right...but they are also soo expensive so I've begun to make all our snack food homemade. I think I've mastered several different granola's and granola bars- homemade bars are sooooo much cheaper than store bought stuff and personally I think it tastes better.

I've learned my kids love muffins...and I am really utilizing my freezer. My kids eat a lot of apples and fruits for snacks with peanut butter or something like that. Linnea loves carrot sticks so she just munches on those all she wants...I make homemade fruit snacks instead of buying the ones from the store and I think they are great.

I've also started to make my own bread. I'm so not a pro yet, but I've actually mastered it enough to make good sized sandwich bread. I get four loaves out of one batch and we freeze it and it lasts for us.

I get two newspapers for coupons, and honestly lately they haven't been much help unless I want oreo's (not saying I don't, just saying why waste the money) I am really trying to be a hardcore meal planner, I only do week by week because it's not quite as overwhelming to me. After reviewing our budget the money that disappeared the most was on food...you know those nights where you don't have anything planned and you really don't want to cook...yep those nights-- so turning into hard core meal planning has helped cut the out to eat runs quite a bit...we still do it occasionally but we've really cut back.

I'm doing bountiful baskets co-op again to get more fruits and veggies for a good price so hopefully that will start to add up!

I can't tell you how bad I want this. We finally kicked ourselves in the butt and said instead of just complaining and waiting for a solution to fall into our laps if this is what we want for our family then we need to make some changes. We don't live in luxury homes, my kids very well may be bunk bedding it with the baby in the room too to save on living expenses, we don't have TV, we don't even have netflix...just movies and online shows....(to be honest that's what I miss the most is our Dish Network...ahhh someday)

So my reason for this post is for all you money savvy people...what other ideas can you throw at me? I'm so ready to pinch and save for 2 1/2 years until Derek is done if it means I get to spend almost everyday with my pumpkins...I am realistic I probably will have to do something to help bring in money (stupid debt) but if I get the majority of the week at home I'll take it... I'm excited to see how our journey plays out in the next few months. Derek does have some prospective jobs, we are actually waiting back on an awesome internship that we really hope he gets...if not we're still looking! So keep the ideas coming....what do you do to save and cut costs in your house?

 

(oldie but a cutie)