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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have a baby on the way and my husband would really like me to become a stay at home mom. I'm wondering what strategies other SAHMs use to make up for the loss in their income?[/quote]

First of all, kudos to you and your husband for choosing what's best for your baby, i.e. a stay-at-home parent, vs. a more showy lifestyle. Yes, I know this statement will get me flamed and I don't care.

My tips to you:

- You don't specify how far along in your pregnancy you are. Anyway, put aside as much as you can of your paycheck before you start SAHM-ing. Get used to living on your husband's paycheck.

- Your husband should have a meeting with his to-go person at work concerning financial matters and other benefits. He should find out *everything* about any possible perk, monetary or otherwise, that he's entitled to once he becomes a father. Even if you could manage without taking full advantage of these perks, don't pass them up. Don't be shy about it - they're a right and they're there to be used.

- Breastfeed for as long as you can, and then make your own baby food.

- Ditch any disposable item you can reasonably live without. Fabric handkerchief instead of tissues. Rags instead of kitchen paper towels. Family cloth instead of toilet paper for n. 1. Coloth pads for your period when it comes back after delivery instead of disposable feminine products. No paper napkins, plates, cups. Disposables are a giant money-sucking hole.

- Cloth diapers and wipes for the baby.

- If your husband shaves every day, sew him a few razor sharpeners out of old jeans so that disposable razors will last longer. It's worth buying a pair of jeans at a 2nd hand shop to make the razor sharpeners out of, if you don't have any old ones around. Better still, ask friends or relatives if they're going to throw out an old pair of jeans, and have them give to you.

- Don't be shy about finding out if people can hand down something to you or you can borrow something from them. Not only baby things, but also things thay you'd have to buy but use infrequently, e.g. tools.

- Speaking of tools, can you/your husband do basic repairs around the house? Anything that doesn't require a professional because of specialized skills or safety reasons should be handled by the two of you. If you don't know how, ask someone to teach you.

- Baking soda is your friend. You'd be amazed at how much you'll be able to save on detergents by replacing them with baking soda and water. Same applies to vinegar. With a baby around the house, you'll want to reduce the presence of hazardous chemicals anyway.

- If you/your husband/your baby need medication, buy generics. If you need only one or two dosis of a given medication, ask your doctor if he can give you some of the free samples he gets from representatives of pharmaceutical companies. Don't be shy!

- If you have an internet connection at home, discontinue any subscription to newspapers and magazines. You can read about everything under the sun on the net nowadays.

- Devote a weekend to sitting down with your husband and going over each and every utility plan/service you avail yourself of. Find out all the little costs that add up, cut any doo-daas that you can live without, and have them taken off your plan. For example, do you really need Caller ID and the like?

- Find out all about your library. USA libraries are *amazing*. I'm not from the USA and whenever my USA friends talk to me about their town libraries, it feels like wonderland to me. Avail yourself of any and all services that are interesting to you and come for free.

- Find out about free entertainment in your area, and take advantage of it.

- If your husband eats at work, have him brownbag his meal. IDK if it's legal in the USA, but in my country you can use the meal ticket that your employer supply you with to shop for groceries. Find out about this if your husband gets meal vouchers from his company.Do the same for yourself till you stay at home.

- Meal plan, find out about sales, coupon. Whenever you cook, make one or two extra servings to "feed the freezer". These are a lifesavers for the days you're wiped out and takeout looks oh-so-tempting.

- Clothes can be worn for more than one day, except for underwear. Seriously.

- Line dry clothes. Set up clothes racks in your home, and an outside drying line if your neighborhood associations won't give you grief about it. BTW, I'll never understand why some people get so upset about clothes hanging out to dry. It's clean clothes, for heaven's sake. But that's another topic altogether.

- Take shorter showers. Stop using hair dye if you use any, let your hair grow long so that you'll have a low-maintenance cut. If you want to have your hair done, look for a nearby hairdresser school and offer yourself as a guinea pig there.

- A friend of mine who lives in Canada saved *heaps* of money on dental work by having it done at a dentistry school in her town. She was treated for free by students who had to do practical training, under the supervision of a fully qualified professor, of course. Find out if that's an option where you live.

- 2nd hand shop for everything you can possibly 2nd hand shop for.

- Set up a cent jar, a coin-against-debt jar (if you have any debt). See the "Frugal Village" website for explanations on those if you don't know what they are.

- Shop around for insurance plan, utilities plans, services.

- Don't believe the whole hype about your baby needing a ton of things. Most of all, don't believe the hype about flashcards for babies and such nonsense. You're perfectly able to provide your child with the intellectual stimulation s/he needs. Plus, let him/her play to his heart's content and don't listen to those who tell you you need to put him in this or that "enrichment" program. You'll save a ton of money and your baby will be all the happier for that.

- Grow your own herbs if at all possible. If you enjoy gardening, learn about growing vegetables in pots. Find out about vegetables that will re-grow out of your scraps, such as celery, and grow them.

I'm sure there's more you could do but I can't think of anything else off the top of my head. 
[/quote]

I'm sorry, but this sounds awful. I'm a devoted SAHM, but I'd go back to work before I would live like this.[/quote]

i agree. wow. especially: Family cloth instead of toilet paper for n. 1.[/quote]

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