If you're like most people, you're probably trying to save some money this year. To make saving money easier for you, I thought I'd make a list of some items in life that you really don't have to pay money for. How does that sound?
Check out these 10 items you should stop paying for. It’s always nice to get free stuff from time to time, am I right? 🙂
eBooks
Believe it or not but there are TONS of eBooks you can get for free every day. You just have to be smart about when you get these eBooks. Amazon is my go-to place for getting free ebooks. Check out this postfor tons of other ideas on where to get free ebooks.
A Meal/Treat on your Birthday
Always be sure to sign up for the Birthday Club at all your favorite jaunts. So many places offer great birthday freebies. Ranging from free dessert, to cosmetics to meals. You should be able to find something that strikes your fancy for free! (Check out this list of Canadian Birthday freebies to sign up for.)
Water
Stop buying bottled water and use your tap water! You can buy a cheap filter if you’re worried about contamination or taste.
Gym Memberships
Stop forking over dozens of dollars each month for a gym membership, you can exercise right at home for free. Or if you need the accountability, find a group of friends you can exercise with or an online accountability group.
You probably get a ton of plastic bags when you go to the grocery store, instead of throwing these away re-use them around your home! I like to put them in the garbage cans in our bathrooms.
Books
Your local library has so many books that you really never need to pay books again! While you won’t be able to keep them forever, you can still enjoy them while you have them.
Movies
Speaking of the library, you can get free movies there as well. Again, you can’t keep them, but you also don’t have to pay to see them. 🙂
Car wash
Stop paying $8 for a car wash when you can simply do it yourself. You may even be able to pay your kids in cookies to wash the car for you. 😉 And the same goes for vacuuming your vehicles, you can also do this at home.
Clothing
Set up a clothing swap and stop paying high prices for items your family uses every day! This could especially work well for kids clothing.
Keep in mind that when you don’t pay for an item, you are able to put that money somewhere else. Whether that's for something else you want to purchase or into your savings account. It’s always nice to be able to save a few bucks when you can!
What items do you try to get for free? Let me know in the comments!
Being a stay-at-home mom is such a rewarding job! Unfortunately, while it pays in many immaterial ways, being a stay-at-home mom doesn't come with an actual salary. If you want to be a stay-at-home mom, you need to prepare for the financial changes that come with quitting your job and taking care of your kids all day instead. These tips will help you discover ways to Financially Prepare for Becoming a Stay-at-Home Mom!
How to Financially Prepare for Becoming a Stay-at-Home Mom
1. Lower Your Expenses
The number one thing you need to do to financially prepare for becoming a stay-at-home mom is to lower your expenses. Right now you're used to being a dual-income family, and your current budget may be working well. But, will it still work once you remove your income from the equation? Run the numbers, and then see what expenses you can lower or cut out completely to make everything balanced again. If you haven't been practicing frugal living before, this would be a great reason to start!
2. Save More
Less income means less money instantly available for emergency expenses and less money going toward long-term savings goals. If you want your family to be financially sound while you're a stay-at-home mom, then you need to make sure plenty of money is set aside in savings. Ideally, you'd have enough money saved that if all your current sources of income disappeared, your family would be financially fine for at least 6 months.
When you financially prepare for becoming a stay-at-home mom, don't forget your family's debt. When you're a stay-at-home mom, debts will have to be paid without any help from your income. Make things easier for yourself later down the road and pay off as much debt as you can now while your income can still contribute. That way, when your family is working off a single income, your monthly payments toward debts can be much smaller.
4. Practice
Practice makes perfect! To financially prepare for becoming a stay-at-home mom, make a practice budget excluding your income. Then try to live through a week or month with that budget. This will let you see first-hand what lifestyle changes you may need to make, and expenses you may have to cut. When the practice period is over, you'll be able to make a much more informed budget that will actually work when you make the switch for real!
5. Find Ways to Make Money at Home
Just because you're a stay-at-home mom doesn't mean you have to feel left out from bringing in some supplemental income! Depending on how much time you expect to have each day, consider starting a freelance career, or selling on eBay, or just doing some surveys for money each day. There are lots of ways to make money from home, regardless of how busy you may be! (Check out this post for more ideas on ways to make money from home.)
Have you ever been a stay-at-home mom? How did you make it work financially?
I’ve got a great question for you today from Cindy! She’s wondering:
I’m wondering if the new online shopping and picking your groceries up at the store is a good money saver? (Click & Collect.) I might be able to save money on groceries by only picking out online what I need for the week without the in-store distractions of other items I don’t necessarily need being on sale. Has anyone given it a try at Superstore?
Have you got something you’ve been wondering about that I could feature in a future I’m Wondering post? Submit your question to me here!
I thought I’d rekindle something here at Simply Frugal. 🙂 I love hearing from you guys and enjoy the conversation that can be had with the “I’m wondering” questions I’ve asked in the past. So, I thought I’d get those “I’m Wondering” questions going again!
Let’s get started shall we?
I’m Wondering: What is your #1 Grocery Saving Tip?
Have you got something you’ve been wondering about that I could feature in a future I’m Wondering post? Submit your question to us here!
Many Canadians go into debt each year to give gifts to those they love for the holidays. Now that the damage is all done, and if you're one of those people, it’s time to take a serious look at what needs to be payed off. You will need a plan and I’m here to help you with that!
Check out these tips for getting out of debt after the holidays:
Get a Total
Before you can tackle the debt you created, you will need a total. Gather up all of your credit card statements or loan amounts to see what the grand total is. Try not to beat yourself up when you see the total. 🙂 So you got a little caught up in the season... now is the time to get back on track financially.
Create Goals
After you know how much money you’re owing from the holidays, it’s time to create goals to get the debt paid off. For example: "By May, we want to have $300 of our debt paid off." Your goals should adequately reflect how much debt you are in. Of course, you’ll want to be out of debt way before next Christmas, so this doesn’t happen again!
Make Extra Money
If your current budget is being taken care of by your income and there’s nothing leftover, making extra money might be your next step. There is so much extra work you can pick up even after the holiday season is over. Consider shoveling snow or even working part time at the mall. Or perhaps you could try selling some of your unwanted/unneeded stuff!
Create a Christmas Goal
As I mentioned earlier, without a goal in mind for next year, you will be in the same place each time with debt. It’s important to create a goal for Christmas earlier in the season. Set an amount of what you want to save and go from there. If you can swing it, start saving weekly or each time you get paid. It makes a lot more sense to save cash now rather than use credit later. (In other words, credit is for cash you may not have!)
Use Cash From Here on Out
It’s one thing to use credit cards and to get into debt over the holiday season, but it can be detrimental to your family’s income if you continue on this path. Your best bet is to use cash from here on out. You can even put cash in envelopes to keep yourself from spending above and beyond what you budgeted for. Cash is always your friend when budgeting and spending.
Do you have any tips for getting out of debt after the holidays? I’d love to hear them!
Our modern society puts a lot of pressure on us to spend money at Christmas time. This can be stressful and upsetting if you really don't have the money for Christmas this year! But don't worry, you can still have a lovely Christmas no matter how tight your budget is! Take a look at these tips on How to Have a Merry Christmas without Spending a Dime!
How to Have a Merry Christmas without Spending a Dime
1. Make DIY Christmas Gifts
Just because you don't have money to spend on Christmas doesn't mean you can't still give gifts! You could sew, sculpt, crochet, paint, or bake a lovely gift using materials/ingredients that you already own! (Check out my Homemade Christmas Gift ideas.)
2. Give Experiences as Gifts
Gifts don't have to be material! How about giving experiences instead? For kids, you could give coupons for a late bedtime. For your spouse, you could give a coupon for breakfast in bed, or a day where you do all their chores. With thoughtful gifts like these, you can easily have a great Christmas without spending a dime!
3. Stay In
Instead of going out for entertainment, how about staying in? You likely already own a couple of great Christmas movies, and you probably haven't seen them in a whole year. Your family could also play board games or card games. You can have a lovely evening without spending any money.
4. Find Fun in Nature
Nature is, for the most part, a free playground. If you've got snow, go outside and have fun. The family can make snow angels and snowmen and have snowball fights. And if you're lucky enough to be by a frozen lake, you could go ice skating! Even if you don't have snow, that doesn't mean you can't have fun playing catch, hide-and-seek, or other fun outside activities.
5. Make Decorations
You can decorate your home for Christmas without spending a dime. All you need is a little time and creativity. Consider making old-fashioned decorations like popcorn on a string. Or use materials you have to make simple ornaments like popsicle stick stars!
6. Make a Christmas Tree
There are plenty of ways to make your own big Christmas tree. For example, you could make one out of a ladder, or cut planks of wood and put them on a wall to create a Christmas tree shape. Then string your lights, hang your ornaments, and enjoy!
7. Use the Book Store or Library
Want to enjoy Christmas without spending a dime? Then skip buying the over-priced Christmas books for kids and read them in the book store, or borrow them from the library.
8. Visit Friends and Family
Want some free Christmastime fun? How about visiting your friends or family who live close? There's nothing more fun than spending a nice afternoon with loved ones! You don't even have to get together to do anything that costs money. The adults can have fun chatting, while the kids play with toys and make up games!
9. Visit Free Performances
At Christmas time, there are usually dozens of free plays and musicals to attend. See if your city is hosting any free events, or if there's anything fun going on at the local schools or churches!
10. Volunteer
One of the best ways to have a merry Christmas without spending a dime is to spend your time helping the less fortunate. Whether the less fortunate are people or animals, your family will have fun working with others for a worthwhile cause. You might even make some new friends!
What free things do you like to do at Christmas time? Let me know in the comments below!
