The hardest decision after having our baby boy was whether or not I would return to work. I couldn’t imagine missing out on all his firsts. First smile, laugh, crawl, walk, etc. The biggest deciding factor was financially what would make sense for our family. Originally we were going to see if my mom and MIL could watch him while I worked full time so we could save on childcare. But while we could count on them for help one or two days a week, it turned out that depending on them 5 days a week wouldn’t be possible. So after looking into daycares, we realized that it would take half my paycheck to have someone else watch him! I could be making that much money by substitute teaching and having our parents watch him those days that I did choose to work. We both felt much more comfortable with this decision, but we also knew it would mean we needed to make some budget cuts and find ways of saving money.
Here are some of the ways we found to save/make some extra money:
- Substitute Teaching: The amount you make is different for every school district, but the good thing if you don’t have to have a teaching degree/certificate to substitute. (But you do make a little more money if you do hold a teaching certificate.) This is a great way to make some extra cash, and you get to choose which days you want to work! (As a former teacher though, PLEASE follow all directions left by the teacher. Nothing was more annoying to me as a teacher then spending hours planning for a sub and then having the sub do nothing I asked.)
- Cutting out Cable: With so many options out there like Netflix, Sling, Amazon Firestick, Hulu, etc. there is no reason to spend $150+ a month on cable.
- Meal Planning: Before baby we would go to the grocery store every day. We loved browsing the aisles and even joked it was our date time. (The store manager even knew us by name.) But this also caused us to spend an outrageous amount on food each month. Now I meal plan and use coupons to try to spend less then $200 a month on groceries.
- Ibotta: This app is a must have. Free to download, and you get money back on items you were going to buy anyways! They have tons of stores, and all you do is look for the store you want, see if they have any rebates for items you have bought, and then take a picture of your receipt! After getting at least $20 in rebates, you can opt to either get cash on paypal or a gift card to the store of your choice. Click here to try it out and get $10 instantly when you verify your first rebate!
- Clean out your closets: My closet is full of clothes I don’t wear anymore. Maternity clothes and pre-baby clothes that will probably never fit me again. Same with the baby clothes that they seem to outgrow after just one use. Instead of having these sit in your closet, you can either sell them to places like Plato’s Closet, Once Upon a Child or Kid to Kid to make some extra cash. Gives you some extra spending money and makes room for new stuff!
- Amazon App: Amazon is my favorite. I don’t know how I lived without Amazon prime, and with a baby it’s been even more helpful. Great deals and also a great place to sell old books, clothes and jewlery. Click here to download the Amazon App and get $5!
These are just some of the ways we are able to survive off just one income. As I continue to find more ways, I’ll update this blog. Our ultimate goal is to save enough money for a family trip to Disney World so you can bet I’m constantly looking for more ways to save/make some extra money from home!