Check out your local library's website. Making full use of all your library's services can enrich your life. Your taxes pay for these, so make the most of them. Check out your library system's website and you'll find classes, activities, streaming services, etc. You may find free passes to state parks, hot spots, sewing machines, or specialty cakes pans that you can check out. Library maker spaces are fantastic. It goes on and on.

We moved from DC to the Midwest. However assuming that isn't possible:

Bulk meatless meals up with red lentils. They easily mix into chili, curry, stews, etc.

Join your local Buy Nothing group. People do pantry clean outs all the time. You can request anything, and pass along things you no longer need.

You can spend some time over the weekends at thrift shops, buying and reselling on eBay or Facebook. That takes a little start up $$ though and has a learning curve about which items are worth it. Also with the economy that can be hit or miss.

I have my house upstaged (with cheap stuff) and rent it out on airbnb or homeexchange when I travel for work. Made extra 30K this year. I have an electronic lock, the sites charge a security deposit and people in general don't steal (I have some artifacts and expensive paintings)

What I was surprised by - guests will ALWAYS drink all alcohol if left unlocked, even if you put a sign "owner use only!". Americans are quiet alcoholics;0)

Anonymous wrote:Someone I know rented out her bedroom on airbnb (she slept in the kids' room with the kids) and that helped her survive financially. She only rented to women and it was fine and some stayed friends. Unusual but it's a lot of potential income.

If someone feels they have to go this route, sleeping in the kids' room is smart. Someone else up thread claimed travel nurses are barely around. That wasn't my friend's experience when she was a travel nurse. She often worked nights and was home during the day. She worked full time, but 12 hour shifts so basically 3 days a week. TBH someone like my friend wouldn't want to rent a room from a family because they would want quiet to sleep when it suits them so it may be a non issue for OP. That said, I would NOT assume a travel nurse will barely be around at all. If you have stipulations about they can only be in your home at certain hours make that extraordinarily clear many times because that is absolutely NOT a normal rental/living arrangement.

Someone I know rented out her bedroom on airbnb (she slept in the kids' room with the kids) and that helped her survive financially. She only rented to women and it was fine and some stayed friends. Unusual but it's a lot of potential income.

Don't take in strangers. You are better off pet-sitting and babysitting.
You have to tailor everything to your situation. Go over the usual stuff and then find ways to make more money.
Know the minimum price of the things you buy anyway. Know how much you are short every month, if any. Youtube has lots of videos, but write down only the stuff that concerns you.
I got so tired of listening to turn down the heat and lights off when I had HOA fee to pay and the amount was always set.

No, I may be pregnant, which is probably the most expensive change I can make for the long-term.

However, my husband and I have BTDT with a decade of a very frugal life:
- buying food only when it's on sale, and buying as minimally packaged and processed as possible, since usually it's cheaper.
- cooking from scratch and using up all leftovers.
- wasting as little as possible generally.
- not heating as much in winter or cooling as much in summer (we still do that, actually: 64 in winter and 76 in summer, but it goes up to 80+ in the bedrooms).
- no immediately consumable entertainment like cinemas, restaurants, beauty appointments. We watch movies on our computer screen with Amazon Prime, since we are Amazon Prime customers. We haven't had cable ever.
- shopping for furniture at estate sales/IKEA, and for clothes in thrift shops like Value Village (although it takes time and effort).
- no expensive kid activities or stuff.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a single mom and I’m really struggling to make ends meet the last few months. I finally made a few big changes:

—I cut the cable, saving us around $150 a month

—I’ve made changes at the grocery store such as buying in bulk, making my own beans, packaging the kids Goldfish, etc, instead of buying single serving convenience bags, shopping the ad, “meatless” meals, etc.

But I’d love to find a way to save a couple hundred more. There is nothing else I can reasonably give up, but I’m open to ANY suggestions for living more frugally/cheaper.

Switch cell phone plans. Someone on here recommended this a few months back, and it was a game changer. I switched from T-Mobile family plan at $160 a month to Visible at $75 a month family plan. There is zero difference in service. I tried Mint mobile, which is even cheaper, but their customer service is garbage, and I had too many issues installing it on one of the lines.

Another suggestion is to shop around for gas. This may seem like a Captain Obvious suggestion, but I was notorious for going to Shell and using gas points. I now go to Liberty and come out cheaper there then I did with gas points at Shell.

We did this (switch to Visible) and I have to restart my phone 1-3 times a day to receive text messages. It's terrible.

Wow. The only weird but doable thing that happens with my service is a " no data" message that pops up randomly. It doesn't impact the service so I'm unclear what it means.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a single mom and I’m really struggling to make ends meet the last few months. I finally made a few big changes:

—I cut the cable, saving us around $150 a month

—I’ve made changes at the grocery store such as buying in bulk, making my own beans, packaging the kids Goldfish, etc, instead of buying single serving convenience bags, shopping the ad, “meatless” meals, etc.

But I’d love to find a way to save a couple hundred more. There is nothing else I can reasonably give up, but I’m open to ANY suggestions for living more frugally/cheaper.

Switch cell phone plans. Someone on here recommended this a few months back, and it was a game changer. I switched from T-Mobile family plan at $160 a month to Visible at $75 a month family plan. There is zero difference in service. I tried Mint mobile, which is even cheaper, but their customer service is garbage, and I had too many issues installing it on one of the lines.

Another suggestion is to shop around for gas. This may seem like a Captain Obvious suggestion, but I was notorious for going to Shell and using gas points. I now go to Liberty and come out cheaper there then I did with gas points at Shell.

We did this (switch to Visible) and I have to restart my phone 1-3 times a day to receive text messages. It's terrible.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, I'm not sure what your housing situation is, but if you have an extra bedroom/basement or if there is any way you can have your kids bunk up to free an extra room, consider doing furnished finder. Furnished finder pairs travel nurses with homeowners for 30-60-90 day stays.

My friend does it, and he brings in $1400 a month. He has had nothing but positive experiences. The advantage of the short term stay is, should your situation change, you can stop and start more easily than you can with a long-term lease.

Hell no

Why hell no?

NP but seriously? You're recommending someone bring strangers into their home when they have children? I don't care what profession. The stats on the number of children abused in this country are horrifying.

You screen the person and don't leave the children home alone with the person. My friend said the nurses were all working insanely long hours and were barely in the house except to sleep, shower and go back to the hospital.

It's a safer option than the single mom having a boyfriend around her kids. If you are suggesting "no" to a short-term, screened tenant, than you should also advise her not to date until the kids are grown.

Get over yourself. Clearly there is a difference between screened strangers (unclear what kind of screening you're talking about) living in your house and a person the mom is in a relationship with being around the kids when the mom is present and awake.

I have nothing to get over. Sorry that I struck a nerve. https://www.phillyvoice.com/child-abuse-single-parenting-divorce-marriage-new-partners-advice/

I'm simply pointing out there is a risk to children when there are strangers living in the home so that isn't a path to saving money that I'd recommend. Renting out your basement that is is completely separate from the rest of your house is a different situation, but the one time I looked at that kind of apartment and the landlord had kids living upstairs they ran a background check on me. I thought she was smart to do that. But again, NOT living in the same living space as her kids.

I said basement in my first post. Obviously separate living space is the preference. I only suggested furnished finder as an option because the op needs an additional stream of income (that does not take her away from the kids) vs. finding ways to save. Finding ways to save when you already stretched thin won't yield much of a return. Constant penny pinching is a frustrating way to live. She needs more money streams.

How likely is a struggling single mom to have a spare room though? We don't because housing is so expensive here. This is like "get an au pair to save on childcare" advice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, I'm not sure what your housing situation is, but if you have an extra bedroom/basement or if there is any way you can have your kids bunk up to free an extra room, consider doing furnished finder. Furnished finder pairs travel nurses with homeowners for 30-60-90 day stays.

My friend does it, and he brings in $1400 a month. He has had nothing but positive experiences. The advantage of the short term stay is, should your situation change, you can stop and start more easily than you can with a long-term lease.

Hell no

Why hell no?

NP but seriously? You're recommending someone bring strangers into their home when they have children? I don't care what profession. The stats on the number of children abused in this country are horrifying.

You screen the person and don't leave the children home alone with the person. My friend said the nurses were all working insanely long hours and were barely in the house except to sleep, shower and go back to the hospital.

It's a safer option than the single mom having a boyfriend around her kids. If you are suggesting "no" to a short-term, screened tenant, than you should also advise her not to date until the kids are grown.

Get over yourself. Clearly there is a difference between screened strangers (unclear what kind of screening you're talking about) living in your house and a person the mom is in a relationship with being around the kids when the mom is present and awake.

I have nothing to get over. Sorry that I struck a nerve. https://www.phillyvoice.com/child-abuse-single-parenting-divorce-marriage-new-partners-advice/

I'm simply pointing out there is a risk to children when there are strangers living in the home so that isn't a path to saving money that I'd recommend. Renting out your basement that is is completely separate from the rest of your house is a different situation, but the one time I looked at that kind of apartment and the landlord had kids living upstairs they ran a background check on me. I thought she was smart to do that. But again, NOT living in the same living space as her kids.

I said basement in my first post. Obviously separate living space is the preference. I only suggested furnished finder as an option because the op needs an additional stream of income (that does not take her away from the kids) vs. finding ways to save. Finding ways to save when you already stretched thin won't yield much of a return. Constant penny pinching is a frustrating way to live. She needs more money streams.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, I'm not sure what your housing situation is, but if you have an extra bedroom/basement or if there is any way you can have your kids bunk up to free an extra room, consider doing furnished finder. Furnished finder pairs travel nurses with homeowners for 30-60-90 day stays.

My friend does it, and he brings in $1400 a month. He has had nothing but positive experiences. The advantage of the short term stay is, should your situation change, you can stop and start more easily than you can with a long-term lease.

Hell no

Why hell no?

NP but seriously? You're recommending someone bring strangers into their home when they have children? I don't care what profession. The stats on the number of children abused in this country are horrifying.

You screen the person and don't leave the children home alone with the person. My friend said the nurses were all working insanely long hours and were barely in the house except to sleep, shower and go back to the hospital.

It's a safer option than the single mom having a boyfriend around her kids. If you are suggesting "no" to a short-term, screened tenant, than you should also advise her not to date until the kids are grown.

Get over yourself. Clearly there is a difference between screened strangers (unclear what kind of screening you're talking about) living in your house and a person the mom is in a relationship with being around the kids when the mom is present and awake.

I have nothing to get over. Sorry that I struck a nerve. https://www.phillyvoice.com/child-abuse-single-parenting-divorce-marriage-new-partners-advice/

I'm simply pointing out there is a risk to children when there are strangers living in the home so that isn't a path to saving money that I'd recommend. Renting out your basement that is is completely separate from the rest of your house is a different situation, but the one time I looked at that kind of apartment and the landlord had kids living upstairs they ran a background check on me. I thought she was smart to do that. But again, NOT living in the same living space as her kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, I'm not sure what your housing situation is, but if you have an extra bedroom/basement or if there is any way you can have your kids bunk up to free an extra room, consider doing furnished finder. Furnished finder pairs travel nurses with homeowners for 30-60-90 day stays.

My friend does it, and he brings in $1400 a month. He has had nothing but positive experiences. The advantage of the short term stay is, should your situation change, you can stop and start more easily than you can with a long-term lease.

Hell no

Why hell no?

NP but seriously? You're recommending someone bring strangers into their home when they have children? I don't care what profession. The stats on the number of children abused in this country are horrifying.

You screen the person and don't leave the children home alone with the person. My friend said the nurses were all working insanely long hours and were barely in the house except to sleep, shower and go back to the hospital.

It's a safer option than the single mom having a boyfriend around her kids. If you are suggesting "no" to a short-term, screened tenant, than you should also advise her not to date until the kids are grown.

Get over yourself. Clearly there is a difference between screened strangers (unclear what kind of screening you're talking about) living in your house and a person the mom is in a relationship with being around the kids when the mom is present and awake.

I have nothing to get over. Sorry that I struck a nerve. https://www.phillyvoice.com/child-abuse-single-parenting-divorce-marriage-new-partners-advice/

Open an Ally money market account. It's earning four percent right now. Auto transfer as much as you can from your main checking and interest will accrue.

Google Fi for your mobile phone plan could be a good switch if you have a non apple phone.

Meal plan and prep as much as you possibly can.

Join your local Buy Nothing Project for great ways to get food, clothes even gifts.

Think about getting a lucrative side hustle. There are a lot of them out there so find one that fits for you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, I'm not sure what your housing situation is, but if you have an extra bedroom/basement or if there is any way you can have your kids bunk up to free an extra room, consider doing furnished finder. Furnished finder pairs travel nurses with homeowners for 30-60-90 day stays.

My friend does it, and he brings in $1400 a month. He has had nothing but positive experiences. The advantage of the short term stay is, should your situation change, you can stop and start more easily than you can with a long-term lease.

Hell no

Why hell no?

NP but seriously? You're recommending someone bring strangers into their home when they have children? I don't care what profession. The stats on the number of children abused in this country are horrifying.

You screen the person and don't leave the children home alone with the person. My friend said the nurses were all working insanely long hours and were barely in the house except to sleep, shower and go back to the hospital.

It's a safer option than the single mom having a boyfriend around her kids. If you are suggesting "no" to a short-term, screened tenant, than you should also advise her not to date until the kids are grown.

Get over yourself. Clearly there is a difference between screened strangers (unclear what kind of screening you're talking about) living in your house and a person the mom is in a relationship with being around the kids when the mom is present and awake.