Tips on Being a Stay At Home Mom

[Openwindow]

Hi everyone!

 

DH and I have 2 young sons, ages 2/12 and 15 months. My 2 1/2 year old has special needs- he has autism and other developmental delays. He will be going to an integrated preschool in October when he turns 3 and the amount of therapy he will be getting will drop significanty (from 20 hours a week to 3 hours a week) I will most likely have to pick up the slack myself. Also, I found out in March that I am pregnant, and this week we found it it is twins!!!! We are soon going to have 4 children ages 3 and under EEK!

 

Needless to say we are going to have our hands full in the near future. I have decided to leave my job in September (I'll be about 30 weeks pregnant) and not return after the twins are born. DH is a teacher and will be picking up additional tutoring hours to offset the drop in income (which will be significant). We still feel this is the best decision for our family.

 

Is there anyone out there who has any money saving / time saving tips for a "new" stay at home mom? Ways to reduce expenses- resources to help families with young children / special needs children- cheap recipes or DIY ideas- anything? I am committed to making this work for us, but am new to all this and would appreciate any advice / insight you may have to offer!!!!

[allielynn]

Get AS MUCH therapy help as you can now. Sit in on EVERY session. Ask TONS of questions.

 

Have your entire routine set up BEFORE he loses the extra therapy

 

I plan our meals way in advance. I have an entire routine all set up. I set up a 30 day meal plan. I only buy meat when it is on sale. I grow our own veggies and fruit Buy at farmers markets, not grocery stores. I know what I need in advance, which helps if I have coupons/store flyers to go through.

[MikNomis]

Hello, here's some stuff I could think of:

 

Don't get cable TV and just watch everything through the internet.

 

Get clothes at places like Ross, Marshalls, Goodwill, etc. And/or always check out the sale and clearance rack first at other places.

 

Anything you need to buy like electronics or kitchen tools or whatever, search online first because there's often a lot of great deals that save a bundle of money. Check out sites like 1saleaday, ebay, amazon and craigslist. Craigslist also has a free section where people just give away free stuff that they don't need. That's how I got my couch and desk for my college apartment and I'm so happy I did.

 

If you don't need it, don't get a landline home phone.

 

Save a lot on energy bills by switching from all your classic lightbulbs to LED lightbulbs, which last waaaaaay longer while using less electricity for the same output of light. It's really remarkable how much they save you over time.

 

Oh also, when I was really tight for money last time, I bought instant noodles at the market, brand name Maruchan. They are 10 for $1.00. Ten for one dollar! Wow. I could technically go one whole week without even spending $2.00 on food. They even taste good.

 

Your husband can probably save much on gas if he can bicycle or take the transit to work.

[charity]

1. discuss with your husband both his and your expectations of what being a stay at home mom means. are all chores 100% your job? will you get time off? this is important. being a stay at home mom is a wonderful thing.... but after being a working independent person it can start to leave you quite isolated sometimes and with 4 kids under three i can imagine you may feel a bit overwhelmed at times. so its good to chat about expectations here.

 

2. say goodbye to a super tidy house.... and be happy about that. its ok.

 

3. get to know all mother toddler places close by and go to them, make friends who are stay at home moms. basically GET OUT OF THE HOUSE a lot.

[Firiel]

My sister coupons pretty seriously and is able to feed her family of three very satisfactorily on $100/month. That may be something to look into to offset grocery costs.

[Batya33]

I would look around for websites catering to moms who live in your local community. I use the library quite a bit for storytime, a place to go to play with different puzzles, to take out books (sure saves money on buying books!).

 

4 children -wow! I wish you all the best. One of my best friends had 4 children close in age with little money and no TV in the house (for religious reasons). She managed, somehow and did a great job. One of her kids was on the autistic spectrum and another had special needs. She is so resilient and strong and you seem so too (they are all grown except for the youngest who is around 16). Again all the best for a healthy pregnancy and all else.

[Openwindow]

Thank you all so much for the advice and tips! It really really helps. We are still trying to wrap our mind around the fact that we have twins coming. We are very excited about this new part of our lives, but scared too. Just don't know what to expect!