I am going to be a SAHM, but how will we pay the bills??

Now that my mom is no longer here to take care of Aly for me while I am at work, DH and I have decided that I will stay home with her. I am so nervous. How do all of you that are SAHM's make ends meet? We were comfortable on 2 salaries, I just hope the bills can still be paid. We will give it 6 mths and see how things are going. If its not working out finanacially, we'll have to explore another option...

Re: I am going to be a SAHM, but how will we pay the bills??

I definitely know what you mean.
I am a SAHM, and we just bought a house.
I am not going to lie - it is hard.
Especially that things have changed lately with DH job - he lost many accounts - and he works on commission.

You will learn things that you need and things that you don't
Places that you can cut and others that you can't.

I know for me - with Ali going to regular food and being on milk - we save alot of money that way.

Re: I am going to be a SAHM, but how will we pay the bills??

It just works out somehow. DH and I really don't buy much for ourselves any more. It will be a lot easier when we aren't buying diapers anymore.

THe hardest part for us is that there is so much we want to do to the house and when we were both working we could get stuff done faster. Now we have to wait a year or two between projects, which gets frustrating.

Re: I am going to be a SAHM, but how will we pay the bills??

even though we are not in NY, surviving on 1 salary is tough. We own a home, we have a car payment that is over $500 a month.

Being out of NY helps, but it's not the answer to everything.

We did budget billing on our electric bill.....it evens the payments out throughout the year which is alot easier than $75 one month when we don't use any heat or A/C (we have electric for everything) and then $210 for a summer month.

The water is pretty cheap. WE don't water our lawn often which we should, BUT. We did splurge on lawn care because DH is in retail and it takes him an entire day just to mow it, so for us it was worth it so he has time with us.

We have 2 credit cards with low limits which we hardly use. So no major debt here.....I have a student loan that my dad has been paying since I graduated college.

I cook cheap and big for leftovers
we eat at home ALL The time....eating out is getting a pizza with a coupon from the box!

We don't go out for recreation anymore which was easy for us because we really do enjoy just being home together and watching tv or a DVD and playing with DD.

I check the thrift and 2nd hand stores for clothes for us and the baby. I look for name brand stuff and sell it on Ebay...you'd be amazed at what people donate to Goodwill. I love hitting up garage sales or craigslist.org for stuff that I need or can re-sell. Some people know what they are selling and some don't so you get a great bargain.

I shop sales WITH coupons. Many times I get things for $1 or less. CVS Rewards gives me money back (I have $12 in REwards Bucks sitting in my wallet....you bet that I'm headed up there for a package of diapers or 2!! They'll be FREE!). I also swap coupons with some friends and when it's on sale PLUS my coupons (which sometimes I have 3 or more of) I stock up BIG TIME. I think I have 4 tubes of toothpaste upstairs.

I buy new baby stuff off-season when it's on clearance and if I'm buying online, I search for coupon codes.

Re: I am going to be a SAHM, but how will we pay the bills??

I use the BBC bargain board to find amazing deals and freebies.... I just started doing the mystery shop... does not pay alot but it helps... the bargain board is my savior right now...

Re: I am going to be a SAHM, but how will we pay the bills??

We cut cut cut expenses.

We started with making a budget spreadsheet, so we can see in b&W where our money goes. And within the categories we set our budget for things during the month.
Dawn-I can email to you if you want

After that, we stick to our budget.

I shop sales, use coupons, we have basic cable, we got rid of our 2nd car so we can actually put money in the bank every month. We hardly go out to eat, DH takes leftovers to work. It's so much cheaper to make dinner at home than to go out or get takeout. I don't impulse shop and i only buy things for DD that she really needs, not that I want to buy for her.

We make lots of sacrifices, but in the end we know it will worth it and we certainly don't live paycheck to paycheck. We consider it smart financial living. We make it work-it's tough sometimes, especially with the one car. But since I have been home, we actually plumped our savings account and we are saving for a bigger house.

Re: I am going to be a SAHM, but how will we pay the bills??

I know this doesnt sound ideal but if worst comes to absolute worst you can refi you mortgage and use your equity. its not an ideal situation but it is an option.

Re: I am going to be a SAHM, but how will we pay the bills??

No advice I am just sorry you're going thru this

Re: I am going to be a SAHM, but how will we pay the bills??

I am a SAHM and we are "just" making it.
I became a coupon queen! Everywhere we go, everything we buy I make sure I have my ziploc bag of coupons in my bag. We don't even go to the movies..We joined Netflix..awesome deal! We don't go out, we have friends over and we play games, watch movies, etc.
We kind of lucked out because JUST as I started my maternity leave, my DH got a promotion along with a bonus and a nice raise. It definitley helped out a lot! It's still hard though.
I was going to work PT and depend on my mom to watch DS...Mom got sick and has been in and out of the hospital, so, Im a SAHM.
I just yesterday went onto the career board and am in the process of getting info on one of the jobs posted.
It's PT and I make my own schedule, so, I'm hoping to depend on my mom just 1 or 2 days a week, if I get this job.
I've been home since Jan.
It will work out.
I'm very sorry about your loss. Take it one day at a time!!!

Re: I am going to be a SAHM, but how will we pay the bills??

As the above posters have said, it's tough but you can do it. Somehow it all just works out. Yes, you will have to give up some things that you were use to but try to find ways to make up for them. Meaning, if you had dinner out a lot...cook daily. Movies...instead rent or netflix. Use coupons at the market. Get the sunday paper and stock up on coupons and use them. You will see how much you save.
It will be tough, but it can be done.
Good luck to you and I am so sorry for your loss

Re: I am going to be a SAHM, but how will we pay the bills??

Just wanted to send Take a look at everything as you go along, and you can make cuts where you don't need things and you'll do fine.