Tips for SAHM frugal living

[Espressoicecream]

After 18 months of paying most of my wages on childcare, having a stressy job and a messy house, DH and I made the decision that I'd stop working and look after DD til she goes to school.

We can manage on his salary but we will have to be a bit frugal. What are your top tips?

(I'm cooking and freezing all the fruit dont worry!)

Don’t go into shops and you can’t spend money.

When food shopping, have a strict list and stick to it (scan and shop helps you to monitor the final price).

Become a declutterer! When you start realising how much unnecessary stuff you have in the house, you soon want to stop buying!

My money saving tips all revolve around just not spending 😅

Depending on where you live & what time
you have, one of the best tips for keeping your food shopping bill down I’d say is shopping around. I have friends who go to 3 or 4 different places every week for their shop & save a fortune doing it that way BUT it does take up a lot of time which maybe isn’t ideal.

In terms of child friendly stuff, have a look at local museums/art galleries/church halls etc for free things that still feel like a day out (lots of the museums & galleries near us do free entry & have a little soft play area which is fab especially for nothing)! For Christmas/birthday gifts rather than asking for presents, ask for tickets/annual passes for things- someone got us annual passes to the local aquarium for our daughter last christmas and that’s been so useful so I’d defo recommend suggesting that if things are super tight!

I also have friends who literally account for every penny of their income in separate “pots” so they know exactly where their money goes and every £ has an allocated purpose e.g. fun money, food shop, fuel etc- helps them avoid spending and not realising. Would be worth looking at your last few months bank statements, see where your money goes currently and then you can look at where you could make savings. E.g. I know for us if we were in your position we could probably save easily £200-300 a month just by stopping the random midweek shopping trips and coffees!

There are quite a few good youtubers I follow, especially ameliasfrugallife. Also the whole home.
Having the time to prep food at home saves money and improves your families diet. I love making most of our bread products and sweet treats. I think it's mainly a mindset change, especially around budgeting.

Not exactly the question I know but make sure there is room in the family budget for contributions to your own private pension scheme and that you have full and equal access to all finances. And make a plan for exactly how you will get back into the workplace after a few years out - it’s very easy to find yourself stuck. What will you do when you have a gap in your CV and a husband who is used to you picking up all the domestic work and never having to think about factoring in children to his working arrangements? Not saying you shouldn’t stop work but do it with your eyes wide open to the potential pitfalls and make sure your budget is designed with those in mind.

Meal plan and get a savers home delivery slot each week so no impulse buys. Try not to do top up shops in between and if you need something essential take only that amount of cash so you can’t get carried away.

Buy and sell on Vinted.

Walk short journeys when time and weather allows to save on travel/fuel costs and perhaps parking costs too.

Get a travel flask for hot drinks on the go and take your own snacks.

I make peanut butter cookies for out and about to save on buying snacks, egg sugar and peanut butter so cheap, am always prepared to make a dog walk a bit more exciting things like bubble wands football etc then cookie and drink back at the car feels more eventful than a task that needs doing

Cook from scratch.

Don't buy snacks. As my teen DD calls it, be an ingredient family. Snacks are fruit, cheese, nuts, homemade baked stuff.

Meal plan for the week and supermarket shop once per week. Ideally at yellow sticker time (around 8pm for our local asda) and ideally when you've already eaten (makes it easier to not impulse buy). If you buy yellow sticker veg, use it to make soup before it goes off. If you buy yellow sticker meat or bread, freeze it.

Have family meals, your DD eats the same as you and dh

No takeaways. Buy decent pizzas when they're reduced to always have in the freezer for nights when you can't be bothered.

When you go out and about, take your own coffee in a travel mug, a water bottle for the kids and your own packed lunch

If you eat out don't buy a meal for DD, just ask for an empty plate and give her a little from yours and DHs meals

Don't pay for expensive days out she won't remember anyway. Lots of stuff is free, parks, the countryside, the seaside, museums. Have picnics. Go blackberry picking. Call a trip out an expedition and make it sound exciting.

Buy everything you need second hand. Vinted, ebay, charity shops for clothes, gifts and homewares. Sell unwanted stuff on.

Find low cost playgroups to go to. Churches are best for this. 50p for a few hours, juice, cuppa and biscuits. Avoid expensive toddler groups like tumble tots.

Aggree with family to do birthday/christmas gifts for only the children, or a secret santa, or homemade gifts only to keep costs down

Cancel subscriptions or threaten to cancel and see if they offer you a discount to stay

Always shop around for insurance and utilities

Drive less, walk more

Use olio and too good to go

Think about finding a very part time job. Maybe wfh agency work?

We have wall dispensers for our shower, commercial type like a gym, for shampoo, shower gel, conditioner. We save a fortune on this item alone as less waste / over dispensing. Freezing bread and taking out what you need, frozen vegetables. Always look for voucher codes, kids go free deals.

Meal plan and cook from scratch. Also, for when you have to spend, there’s a really good cashback app called Jam Doughnut. All the major supermarkets are on there

Cancel your Amazon prime account. I stopped ours and saved about £100 a month. Too easy to buy at the click of a button without thinking. If you need it go to the shop and buy it. By the time you get to the shops a few days or a week later more often than not you’ll realise you don’t need it and can do without it!

Im back working and DH has subscribed again and I’m getting him to delete it as it’s back to old habits

I joined a local babysitter agency to make a bit of extra cash around Christmas and birthdays. Was useful

a bread machine. So easy to make dough to make amazing bread and pizza bases, you can make the money back in no time

Some brilliant suggestions in this post. We do online food shopping because I live rurally and it’s just easier, but I find if you’re shopping irl you have to be strict with yourself and stick to the list. Scan and shop is good. It’s true that making your own snacks DOES work out cheaper and it’s healthier too.

have you heard of a page called “feed your family for about £20 a week”? There’s good ideas on there. I bulk a lot of mince meals with green lentils, chickpeas in curry, lots of beans in everything else. Tinned lentils/beans/ chickpeas are very nutritious and cheap it makes the food go further. I also have batch cooking Tupperware I juse Got from Asda and I will put leftovers in label it and freeze it.

i go to a lot of stay and play groups to get out the house, in my area they cost usually about a pound and you get a cup of tea and maybe some cake. The library is also an amazing resource I visit different ones in my area so we’re not always going to the same.

I’ve also found having a couple of memberships for places close by is good, this year we have a membership at a local estate house and a nature farm too, these sorts of places usually put things on for Easter/halloween/half term/Christmas like trails or craft activities. We don’t do big days out because we simply don’t have the money.

Holidays are now a Haven or a Butlins affair (although we would quite like to try camping) and my daughter absolutely loves them, so excited to take my baby as well. These are definitely holidays for kids but seeing their joy is just the best.

I do use Vinted a lot, but I’ve found the cost of bits on there has really gone up the last few years so it can take a lot of effort to find what you want. Ideally you want bundles.

I have sold lots on there too, £1/2/3 it all adds up quickly.

I came from a family where my mum was a single parent for a long time and worked long hours, she did well financially and we went on a lot of holidays all over the world. I still feel like I’m doing the right thing by being at home for now, I can make more money later

make sure the child benefit is in your name or switch it over so you get the national insurance contributions

House swap holidays. Changed our lives. Only works if your house is nice in an area visitors will want to visit

Stock take then meal plan before creating a shopping list and sticking to it.

Do a no spend 2 months but create a wish list that you can buy in the 3rd month I'd you still need/ want it. Chances are the moment has passed and you no longer desire it. I fill up online baskets then close the browser, its kinda like shopping but without the expense.

Don't shop on an empty stomach, take a bottle of water in the car. Don't browse the malls/ town as a leisure activity, go to the park/ woods instead.

Reframe your frugality to "building your liquid capital".

FB marketplace are great for kitchen appliances- if you need them. My morphy richards breadmaker was £10, as was my soup maker and lakeland ice cream maker (which I had to stop using as I piled on the weight, homemade ice cream is incredible). I should sell this via FB Marketplace.

Be prepared to have random, non typical meals. Massive money saver

I.e. chilli and roast potatoes, rather than chill and rice or whatever

Wow some amazing tips on here thank you so much!
One of my guilty spends in oat bar things, anyone got a recipe to make yourself?!

Stopping weekly "top up" shops is a must, I already batch cook so will continue. We have an enormous freezer!

I've booked into the church groups that i went to on maternity, and figured i can do my own "forest school" in the woods once a week!

Dh has a terrible beige food habit so I may try making him fish fingers, breaded chicken and pizza from scratch, see if that helps.

Me not buying train fare/daily chocolate/daily coffee will save a bit!

Xmas is a really good point and we will discuss that.

Thanks all!

Why were you spending most of your wages on childcare? Didn’t dh contribute?

are you still making pension contributions?

there’s frugal in the short term, and not taking care of the future.

I got so fed up with missing out I got a less stressful job. Childcare is only short term and once they go to school you’ll be much better off. I missed holidays.

Thanks. I mean with me working, my wages covered childcare, that broadly they were equivalent in value. We contribute to joint account and cover bills between us but my wages were circa £1200 and childcare £1000. The extra £200 went on commuting and a bit towards holiday etc.

We can afford to live on DH salary but it's going to be caravan holidays instead of trips abroad, iyswim. hence asking for frugality tips!

Today I'm roasting a chicken so we can make that last the week 😁

OP on the beige/freezer foods- you’d be best off I think looking at Iceland rather than making yourself for keeping the price down.

28 frozen fishfingers for £2.25, 50 breaded chicken goujons £3.50, I honestly don’t think you could make it yourself for cheaper!

Any basic flapjack recipe will work for oat bars - switch out some of the sugar for dessicated coconut and add in nuts seeds and dried fruit to make it healthier. Its a good activity to do with the little one as its just stirring stuff together and then spreading it out so the only bit she can't help with is the oven.

Have friends come round rather than go out. Get some of the small cheap pizzas and get the children to make their own with whatever toppings you have in - pineapple/ham/tomato/olives etc. Then eat on a blanket on the floor in front of the TV. Cheaper than soft play.

Shop around - remember a trip to the supermarket can be fun for DD - ask her to count out new potatoes to put in a bag, ask her if she can find the strawberries etc... She just wants to be with you and doing stuff. SImilarly a trip on the bus is a fun activity for a little one so a day out can be a bus trip and a picnic in the park at the end of it.

This.

Ignore these issues at your peril…

@Espressoicecream

"Today I'm roasting a chicken so we can make that last the week" 😁

Isn't MN wonderful 😉😁

sell unwanted stuff on vinted, clothes, toys, makeup, toiletries, jewellery, books, its amazing what goes on there. I sell cheap and cheerful and then use the money for DD's birthday/Christmas presents. I either buy on vinted or withdraw the cash.

I also use Top Cashback for all online spending, and save that money for Christmas presents for DD.

I get my hair done once a year, I don't get my nails or waxing done. I don't buy takeaways, I don't buy coffees.

We holiday once a year now, although when DD was little, I did manage 3-4 short breaks a year by using vouchers and Sun holidays etc. Caravan holidays were great when DD was little, we used to go to a small holiday park, stay in a chalet right next to the kids park, we would go swimming every day and she would go to all the kids clubs. It was all free back then. (Parkdean). I recently went on a Haven weekend with a friend, and it looked like all activities were charged, so research your parks and companies before you go, for the hidden charges.

If you don't need it don't buy it. If you want it save up for it, don't get into debt.

If you have tv packages, cancel all but one and then rotate them, so when you are sick of Netflix, cancel that and start Disney, or Apple, and just keep rotating them.