Living on one income

It has been almost three years since Christ spoke to my husband and I regarding my transition from the workplace to a stay-at-home mom. I will admit that I had several apprehensions at first. One of the largest concerns I had was how were we going to maintain our lifestyle on just one income. Just the thought of how we were going to handle our finances would cause me to begin stressing and I was still working. Even then, Christ reminded me to trust Him. With each passing day, Christ has continued to be our provider. As for me, In addition to allowing my faith in Christ to grow, I have learned to be more frugal with how I shop.

Now, I have never been the big spender type. I have always thought multiple times before I would spend my money, but that does not mean I was still spending wisely. Being on one income, I wanted to move more wisely with what God had given us. That led me in several directions.

There are several techniques that I have been using that have been wonderful not only for our family, but has allowed us to be a bigger blessing to the lives of others. Over the last year, I save more than 50% or more with each shopping trip. This includes food, baby products, clothing, and more. For example, in one trip to CVS I purchased 1 pack of Huggie diapers, 1 pack of Huggie Pull-Ups, 2 Fuze drinks, 1 Avenno lotion, and 1 ROC facial cleanser for only $2.98 after coupons.

Strategies that currently work for me are:

Plan:

Each week, I try to plan out what shopping I plan to do for this week. My shopping usually is revolved around my weekly lunch and dinner meal plan for my family and whatever great deals I may see in the Sunday sales papers. I have a list for each store that plan to visit along with whatever coupons may match the deals.

If you have children, plan to take your snacks with you so that you are less likely to spend money on food based upon their hunger. Plus, it is hard to shop when you have one or more little ones complaining about being hungry.

Coupon:

Before becoming a stay-at-home mom, I used coupons here and there. If I had one great, if not oh well. Now, I don't go anywhere without my coupon bag. (Yes, I did say bag). Each Sunday, I purchase at least two newspapers so that I am able to get the weekly coupons. In addition, I visit the printable coupon sites such Coupon.com to see what other great coupons I can find. At first, I thought that couponing could not make that much of a difference until I started seeing the difference at check out.

Organize

My system has been revamped multiple times as I am learning what works best for me. As a mom of four boys, it is a rare treat if I am able to go shopping alone; therefore, I have learned how to organize my space and time so that I am able to shop and keep the little ones happy. I have created an organize system for my coupons, for my reusable bags, and how I take care of my stockpile of items. In addition, I have a corkboard that I use to help me keep up with the rebates that I have sent in.

Subscribe

There are so many wonderful blogs and websites that are designed to help you save your money while being able to enjoy the items you love to have. Instead of spending my time going to each site, I have subscribed to their site and get their updates in my email. This is great and simple for me. So when I have time, I am able to sit and go through what I need while not taking up too much of my time.

Rebates

If a product offers a rebate mail it off. Just this past week I received a $15 rebate from Olay for purchasing three of their products. I only spent $3.52 out of pocket to purchase the items that I already use but was able to get a $15 rebate making my purchase not only free but a profit of $11.48. Be sure to read the requirements carefully and mail it off as soon as possible.