Can I Afford to Be a Stay-at-Home Mom?

There’s nothing more important to a lot of women than being able to stay home and take care of their own kiddos. After all, daycare costs are ridiculously high and leaving your baby with a stranger just doesn’t appeal to many new mamas. But without bringing in a second income, how can you even afford to be a stay-at-home mom?

The answer is simple: Lots of effort. It is possible, but you might have to work hard to get to a place that allows you to stay home. You’ll have to watch your pennies closely and sacrifice things that aren’t necessary. It’s hard but it’s worth every bit of effort!

6 Ways You Can Afford to Be a Stay-At-Home Mom

Get Rid of Luxuries:

The easiest way to slash your spending is to go through your spending and see what luxuries you can get rid of. There’s no reason to pay hundreds of dollars for satellite TV when you can get Netflix for about $10 a month! Between Hulu, Prime, Curiosity Stream and Disney+, there’s no shortage of options. Not to mention, you can get Hulu Live for around $50 a month and it includes nearly every TV channel you could ask for, even sports!

Budget Like a Boss:

The biggest advantage of writing a budget is that you will know exactly where your money is going. Instead of squandering a few bucks here and there, you’ll know exactly where you spend each and every dollar. In turn, you’ll save some money because if it’s not in the budget, you don’t get to spend it! Pigly offers a simple and easy-to-use budgeting tool that has changed the way I spend money! (Why does public school not teach their 50/30/20 plan?!? It’s amazing!)

Track Your Spending:

It’s easy to blow your money before you even realize it but once you start tracking your spending, you’ll soon stop the frivoulous spending. You can track your spending by simply writing down each and every dollar you spend or you can use a helpful app, like EveryDollar.

Get Out of Debt:

Let’s be real, debt is nothing more than a pain in the butt. It leaves you awake at night, worrying about how you’ll ever repay it. Debt causes fights with your spouse and unnecessary anxiety. The best thing you can do is get rid of that debt, as soon as possible! There are a few easy ways to do that, as a stay-at-home mom.

Sell your junk:

Turn your unused junk into money by getting rid of it! I have a simple theory: If you don’t use it, love it or it doesn’t make you money, get rid of it! The infamous Dave Ramsey says you should sell anything that’s not nailed down to pay off your debts! Kids’ old clothes, unused exercise equipment, outdoor furniture, old toys, homeschool books…the list of things to sell is never-ending!

Use your talents:

How lucky are we to live in a time where you can use your talents as a way to afford to be a stay-at-home mom? You don’t have to go to a business to make money! You can do it from you kitchen table, your basement, the park, wherever! If you know how to sew, you can make money on Etsy. Maybe if you love to find good deals at garage sales, you can turn around and sell them on Ebay! If you love to teach, you can sign up with VIPKids to become a teacher, right from your home!
Think about the things you enjoy doing and are good at. These are the ways you’ll be able to swing being able to afford to be a stay-at-home mom!

Barter for anything and everything possible:

Do you suck at cutting your kids’ hair? Offer to clean the beauty shop in exchange for monthly haircuts for the family! Trade your chicken’s eggs with a friend who is willing to babysit for you. Swap your garden goods to a neighbor who can help fix your car! There’s no reason money is the only tool we use to pay for things! Use your talents and your wares to save you money!

Meal Plan:

We used to waste so much money by tossing out our leftovers. One day, I decided that enough is enough! I kept any and all leftovers and insisted we eat them before fixing anything else. Leftovers make the perfect lunch for stay-at-home moms! Not to mention you can transform them into a completely new dish!
When I started meal planning, I decided that one day a week would be “leftover night.” Now I only needed to find 6 meals each week to cook for dinner! I used a handy-dandy meal planning printable to plan out our meals and I love that we’re not ordering pizzas because I forgot to plan something! (Pair meal planning with Wal*Mart’s grocery delivery and it couldn’t be easier to save money and create delicious meals!)

Start a Side Hustle:

Over the years, I’ve done a LOT of things so I could afford to be a stay-at-home mom. I’ve had a flea market booth, sewn handmade clothes to sell on Etsy, sold junk on Ebay, babysat for friends and family, cleaned houses and most recently started a blog. There are a million opportunities to make money from home. Just figure out which one works for you and run with it!