I know not every mother wants to stay home with her child. But many do and feel like they can’t, or are and constantly feeling the financial pinch.
When my husband and I decided I wanted to stay home with our first child, we looked over our budget numbers. We literally wouldn’t be able to pay the bills at the end of the month if we didn’t find ways to cut expenses and increase income. My husband was able to negotiate a small raise at work but we were still going to be short every month. I spent a large portion of my pregnancy doing research on how to cut costs. This became a hobby of sorts and continued for the next six to seven years.
Erin Odom understands the struggle. She wanted desperately to stay home with her kids but couldn’t figure out how to make it work on their limited income. This book is a lovely treasure trove of tips and tricks, many of which Erin used for years (and some she still does) and others she’s learned along the way. This is the the book I wish existed when I was trying desperately to make our budget come out even.
Erin’s book contains 100 tips to help make staying home with your kids more affordable. Here are just a few that I’ve been doing for years that work well for our family. Some we only did for a time, some have become a permanent part of our lifestyle.
Cloth Diapers and Wipes
I know that these are not for everyone, but they made a big difference for us as a family. Three kids later my last one is nearly potty training and we are finishing up. We’ve made changes and adjustments over the years. Both our boys are in disposable night time diapers/pull ups right now, and given what those cost, I’m extremely grateful for the daily savings of using cloth diapers.
Erin wrote a book on this and I’ve done a few series of blog posts over the years if you want more information.
Cloth Napkins and Towels
While we use a few more disposable items now for convenience, for a long time we got by on just a few rolls of paper towels a year and only using paper napkins when we had guests. Using wash cloths to clean up the toddlers after meals was much easier and more efficient anyway. I’ve actually grown to enjoy using cloth napkins and now prefer them. My kids are messy, so using towels to wipe up the daily spills has been much more cost effective and environmentally friendly. I do an extra load or two of laundry a week where I wash all of these things on hot with oxyclean to make sure they come clean, but I still think it’s completely worth it.
Making My Own Bread and Yogurt
These are things I don’t often do anymore. Partly because my daughter is super picky and yogurt is one of the few things she’ll eat. (Specifically full fat, vanilla). But for years I was able to make yogurt by the crock pot full and serve it with fruit or apple sauce. I used to make soy yogurt in the crock pot as well. (It required some beef gelatin for thickening but still turned out well). It is a little time consuming but it was a huge savings, especially on the soy yogurt.
Homemade bread was also a big savings when I was able to buy yeast and bread flour in bulk from Sam’s Club. Now when I make bread, it’s usually homemade sour dough to go with dinner or something special for a holiday meal and soon I’ll be trying my hand at gluten free baking. Making sure I made enough bread each week for my husband’s sandwiches was a big job when I had a toddler and I never quite got the texture I wanted. It would probably be much easier now with my stand mixer. But if money is tight and you have the time, making your own bread can be a savings, if you can find good prices on bulk ingredients. You could try Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a day as well.
Staying home with our children is a dream for many women (and some men too). I’ve seen so many statistics about how much it supposedly costs to raise a child to age 18. This leaves families feeling as though they have no choice but to be a traditional two income family. But there are so many ways of having a parent stay at home if that is what the family wants.
We are now a homeschool family, primarily because this is what is best for my particular kids. Because of the skills I learned during those early lean times (and in fairness a lot of hard work from my husband who has slowly increased his income over the years), I am able to continue to stay home when many of my peers have returned to the workforce. While I recognize that for many this looks like a luxury or a privilege is has also been a big sacrifice and the tools like Erin shares in her book, are many of the reasons why we have been able to make it work.
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