A few years ago, my husband and I decided to homeschool our
son. We knew this meant I would need to stop working full time and there were a
few things we'd have to consider before losing that second income. It felt
like a lot of sacrificing went into this decision but we’ve actually been able
to save more these past 2+ years than we ever did when we had two incomes.
Sounds crazy, but it’s true.
Here are a few of the things we did BEFORE going down to one
income in order to see if our "minimalizing" would make this decision a realistic one on our bank account. If you want to save a bit of money or are considering
going down to a smaller income household, I hope some of these options will
help you as much as they’ve helped us.
Step One:
Review your bank account and see where your money is spent
the most. For us, this was Target and eating out. We knew we had a Target
spending problem but it was a big wake up call when we saw how much we were
eating outside of the home (on lunch hours and some evenings-especially when the grocery bill was still normal)
We scaled back our store spending and only went for things
that we needed verses things that we wanted. Eventually, we were able to still
treat ourselves to a Target run without breaking the bank, but it took practice
and patience. As for the eating out, we opted to go from several times a week
to one time on the weekend. This saved us hundreds of dollars. I also started
using coupons from Coupons.com, Target’s Cartwheel App, and County
Market
Step Two:
We discussed our methods of entertainment and decided to use
Netflix for tv (no cable) and watched our spending on video games, movies, and
books. It’s amazing how much one can save when we wait for things to go on sale
verses buying them as soon as they come out. (unless they are on sale during
that first week and will return to full price later)
Step Three:
Buy in advance (and sometimes in bulk) I know it sounds
funny, but when you purchase things like toiletries, birthday items, and pet
care items in advance, you end up saving in the long run. There have been so
many times I would purchase these items at full price or last minute and pay a
lot more than I would have, had I carefully planned what I needed. As for
birthday presents, I usually end up spending $15-20 less if I plan out the gift
instead of running to the store and grabbing a quick gift/card/bag/tissue
paper/etc. last minute.
Step Four:
Stop mindless driving. Even though gas has been pretty cheap
lately, I used to fill up once a week when I was working full time. Now, I
carefully plan when I am going to be out and about and on what side of town I
am on so that I can go on the same tank of gas for up to three weeks at a time.
I love challenging myself with this one because it often surprises me how much
mindless driving I would do if I didn’t plan my trips.
Step Five:
Revisit Bills. Call your local providers and see if you are
getting the best deals on insurance, electricity, cell service, etc. You would
be amazed how much you could save if you cut your data plan back a bit or if
you switched to another car insurance provider. This also goes for credit
cards. Most of the time, you’re paying for a high interest rate and some
companies are willing to help you get a lower rate if you’re good about paying
your bills on time. We only have one credit card and it’s for emergencies only,
but I know what this was like when we had several at one time and felt like we
were juggling multiple interest rates.
Step Six:
Round up. We started this trick several years ago and now we have an extra "invisible" savings because we round everything up to the next dollar before doing our online banking. It's amazing how much a bill for $202.02 every month is computed as $203 and that .98 cents is now $11.76. Picture doing this with every single purchase/bill/deposit and watch your bank account grow without even trying. We've never touched our "invisible" savings because we know that someday, this extra might really come in handy for an unplanned finance.
I have a few more ways to save money but I will share those another time. I really hope some of these suggestions might be of help to you. It isn't a complicated method; it simply takes a bit of patience and discipline at first. Trust me on this one, because I used to be the biggest spender and now I've switched to the saver side.
Happy Monday and Happy Spending (less) ~K
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