Have Enough Money to Be a Stay at Home Mom

Many moms work now days, but wish they could be home with their kids. Moms wish they could spend more quality time with their kids and family and feel they could accomplish more at home, by being a stay at home moms. There are ways to make money from home and possibly afford the stay at home mom lifestyle that you are wanting. Here are some tips to consider.

DAYCARE EXPENSES: The first thing to consider is daycare expenses. Take the amount that you make and subtract the daycare and gas money that you spend in a week and you will have the dollar amount that you need to earn from home. There are many ways to earn income from home now days. You can find avenues of income on the internet or even start your own home business.

BUDGET AND SPEND LESS: Think of ways to save money on clothes, groceries, and necessities. Could you buy your kids clothes at a second hand store or goodwill instead of buying brand name clothing at retail stores. Kids grow out of clothes so quickly that they do not need the top notch clothing. You could simply have 3 or 4 nice outfits on hand for them for going to nice places and keep play clothes for the rest of the time. Groceries are a big expenditure. If you can come up with thrifty ways to save on groceries, you will be able to stay home in no time. Think about going to the grocery in the middle of the week when sales are going on, coupons can be used, and there isn't very many people in the store to fight your way through. Remember to buy off brands and shop from the top and bottom shelves in the grocery store as much as possible. Retailers place the most expensive items at eye level, because that is where people usually look first. Also, think about the possibility of saving on necessities, such as water. Do you buy bottled water? What's wrong with your tap water? Most bottled waters aren't as good for us as the water from our own tap.

SAVE MORE: Consider the electricity that you use while being at home. Try to keep it at a minimum. If you are in your home office on the computer and the kids are napping or playing, turn off the television that no one is watching. Also, unplug appliances that are not being used, like the coffee pot, treadmill, or extra TV's that rarely get used. Consider installing motion sensors in the kids bedrooms and bathrooms, so that lights will automatically turn off after no one has been in them for a few minutes. If you do not want to spend the money on motion sensors, simply teach the kids turn off lights when they leave a room. You can teach kids to turn off lights and televisions when they leave a room by having them come back and turn it off every time they forget. Do not do it for them, make them come and do it, this way they will start to remember.