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Frugal moms never pay money for these 8 things, especially if you want to dramatically cut your budget and afford the stay at home mom life! I know it can be hard to find ways to cut your budget, but there are quite a few things you can cancel, or quit buying in order to reduce your expenses.
If you are serious about saving extra money or needing to find ways to shrink your expenses, even as a stay-at-home-mom, living on one income – keep reading, because there are a lot of small ways, we as moms, can slash our monthly budgets!
Try the below steps and you will see your budget shrink quickly!
WISH PLANNING A PARTY WAS A PIECE OF CAKE?
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8 Things Frugal Moms Never Pay Money For
1. Cleaning Products:
Frugal moms never pay money for cleaning products – instead, they make their own cleaning products. Do you know how much money is wasted on chemical laden cleaning products that you purchase each year?
According to Statista – the average American spends roughly $92 a year on cleaning supplies and products. For a family of 5 we are spending roughly $500 a year on cleaning products in our household. That’s a lot of money!
Frugal moms never pay money for cleaning products – instead, make your own! Share on XYou can cut that in half by making your own cleaning products. Start by making Katrina’s Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner. You can use it for lot of surfaces around your house and it costs less than $1 a bottle to make.
Whereas a typical bottle of Lysol All-Purpose Cleaner starts at $2.49 a bottle. The best part about Kartrina’s Homemade Cleaner is that it’s chemical free and made with all-natural ingredients.
2. Subscriptions:
Frugal moms never pay money for subscriptions – if they can’t find them for free, they just don’t use them at all. I’m talking about magazines, newspapers, monthly clothing delivery services like Stitch Fix, monthly surprise box deliveries like Fab Fit Fun, monthly athletic wear delivery like Fabletics, etc.
Ouch. I’m serious.
You need to cancel them all. All of these things are great things, but unnecessary when you need to find extra money in your budget.
There are a lot of magazine subscriptions you can find online for free. True story, I manage to get my favorite magazine – Taste of Home – for free, year after year, by finding a coupon code from MoneySavingMom. I’ve also made the decision that I will NOT buy it. I wait patiently for a FREE coupon code, and you can too!
I don’t pay for the newspaper either – my local paper offers a smaller portion of the paper, which includes coupons, for free each week. Check into your local paper and see if they have free version of it. I only want the newspaper for the coupons anyways! If you can’t get your newspaper for free, then don’t get it at all – instead, just print coupons online – you start by using Coupons.com.
3. Fancy Coffee:
Frugal moms never pay money for Starbucks, instead they either curb the Starbucks addiction or they just make coffee at home. No….not the Starbucks! This one hurts. I love coffee. Love it.
There is nothing better than meeting a friend for coffee. If you are serious about finding things to cut from your budget, you need to stay away from Starbucks. Invite your friend over and brew your own coffee.
Did you know that it only costs you between 16-18 cents per cup to brew your coffee at home? The average price of a cup of coffee from Starbucks is between $1-$5? Some moms I know buy a fancy cup of coffee up to 5 days a week – spending $25 a week on coffee (and that doesn’t include buying a treat for the kiddos too).
Frugal moms never pay for fancy coffee – instead they brew at home! Share on XBy the end of the year that can add up to $1200 a year! Whereas, if you brew your coffee at home you can spend as little as $45/year. That’s a huge difference! Eye opening huh?!
4. Hair Cuts:
Frugal moms never pay money for hair cuts, instead they do it themselves. Ok, I realize this may be a little hard – to actually cut your own hair – but, you can give your kids a hair cut!
Don’t make it complicated. Watch a few YouTube video’s and then go for it! I do this. I know their hair could look a lot more perfect if I took them to a salon, but they are just kids and they don’t need a fancy hair cut.
I’ve learned over the years that it’s best to just keep it really simple. Thankfully, my daughter loves her super long hair and only needs a trim every 6 months. I can do that – I’m not great at it, but we make it work.
My boys both like the simple buzz cut with clippers. Invest in a set of hair clippers and you are set. I even cut my husband’s hair. His hair is easy – it’s mostly done all with clippers too!
You can save your family a lot of money by cutting their hair for them. Now, I know what you are thinking – Katrina, do you cut your own hair? Nope. I don’t. Not at all. And NO, my husband does not cut it for me.
WISH PLANNING A PARTY WAS A PIECE OF CAKE?
You guys, have you seen my hair? There is no way I’m letting my hubby attempt to cut a mohawk for me! NO chance. I realize I’m the pot calling the kettle black at the moment, but I will say that I don’t do much for myself at all – I don’t go to the spa, or get my nails done, I barely wear makeup – I’m a very frugal mom and don’t spend a lot of money on fluff – but my hair – that’s where I draw the line.
I get my hair cut professionally. But, I will let you in on a big secret. I get my hair cut by a good friend who cuts hair right in her kitchen. It’s nothing fancy, but she does a great job and she is very inexpensive! So, my hair cutting splurge is not much of a splurge at all!
If you don’t want to attempt giving your kids a hair cut, then try to find someone who can give you a better deal than your local quick-service salon. Maybe you have a friend who is comfortable cutting hair and can swap babysitting services with you? Just get creative and you can save money!
5. Gym Membership:
Frugal moms never pay money for a gym membership, instead, they work out in more creative ways at home or outside. I will admit, I love going to the gym to take group exercise classes – but when money is tight, I will just go for a run, with my pup, in my neighborhood instead. It’s much cheaper and the best part is that I get outdoors.
Frugal moms never pay money for a gym membership – instead they workout at home. Share on XYou can get plenty of free exercise at home, or right in your neighborhood. Consider riding your bike, walking, hiking, or even playing some basketball. Get outside and enjoy some fresh air, or jump on your treadmill and run!
If you really hate the idea of exercising, then call a friend! Walking or running with a friend makes it so much better – you might find that you don’t even realize you are exercising because you are having so much fun with your friend!
6. Restaurants:
Frugal moms never pay money for restaurants, instead they eat at home. I know it’s not always fun to cook. Trust me. I love nothing more than going out for dinner. The ease, the stress relief, the ability for our kids to order whatever they want without the whining about whatever meal mom just prepared.
Yes, I get it – 100% I do. But, so much money is being spent on eating out. Did you know the average household spends $3,008 per year eating out? $3008! That’s a lot of money. And that’s on the lower end – if you have a fancy food fetish, this could easily be doubled.
I’ll admit – I’m not fancy. I love to eat out, but my favorites are burgers, and pizza. Simple, cheap, terrible for you. But, eating at home is a great way to save money for your household and to eat healthier too!
7. Getting Your Nails Done:
Frugal moms never pay money to get their nails done, they paint their own nails. This one is easy for me, I can’t stand having someone touch my feet. Yep, I’m weird – I know.
I realize this may be harder for some of my other mom readers. Going to the spa and getting a pedicure is a special treat for sure. But, that’s just what it should be – a special treat once or twice a year – especially if you are serious about trying to find extra ways to save money.
If you have girls, get them involved and spend a morning having your own spa day at home and paint your own nails. With nail prices ranging from $30-$60 you can easily spend $360-720/year getting your nails done. That’s a lot of money and should be one of the first thing you cut from your budget.
8. New Clothes:
Frugal moms never pay money for new clothes, instead they proudly buy second hand, especially if you are looking for ways to cut the budget. There are so many great places to buy really nice second hand clothes for you and your family that there is no reason to pay full price.
Kids can be so rough on their clothes, especially the boys, that I prefer to buy second-hand clothes so I don’t get so frustrated when they put a hole in them right after they get them! Right?!
What’s more frustrating than buying your son a nice new pair of, what you thought were very sturdy jeans, and after only one use they come home from school with a hole in the knee!
Yep, I’ve been there, way too many times to count. I love to use VarageSale for most of the clothing our kids need, and I also turn around and sell our old clothes on there. It works out well. In fact I leave a jar on the counter full of money from things we have sold on VarageSale and we use that money for stuff we need to buy. Anytime I need to buy something for the kids I try to turn around and sell something to replenish the cash in the jar.
Frugal moms buy their clothing second-hand! Share on XYou Can Cut The Budget
Those are my top 8 tips on ways you can be a frugal mom and cut unnecessary things from your budget. I know it’s hard to cut stuff from the budget and honestly it’s frustrating, especially when it’s out of necessity.
WISH PLANNING A PARTY WAS A PIECE OF CAKE?
When money is tight, there are things you can do to help save money, and when you find that you have some extra money, you can add a few of these fun things back into the budget! No one wants to live on beans and rice forever! Trust me, I completely understand and can relate. I hope you have found some ways you can cut your budget and some creative ways to still get the things you need at a lower price.
Hugs momma! You are strong and amazing and I’m proud of you!
So, tell me, what is your best frugal tip to cut your budget?
Want to remember this post? Pin this post, 8 Things Frugal Moms Never Pay Money For, to your favorite Pinterest board right now!
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My husband is the family barber and stylist, my teen boys get their haircuts every three weeks and I take a seat every couple months and he trims my long hair. When he first started cutting my hair for me, my mother thought it was a horrible thing. She thought it was fantastic when he started giving my two boys their haircuts, she fawned over how handsome they looked and was afraid that I had spent a lot of money to get them nice haircuts, until I told her my guy did them. Then she told him that he did a great job, and he should continue to do them and went on about how much money I would be saving, but still thought he should not be cutting mine. My best friend stopped by to visit one afternoon while I was getting my haircut, she watched him trim my hair for me, asked him some questions about why he was doing the full sectioning and also mentioned she needed her hair trimmed. As he finished my hair, she said I’m next, took a seat and he gave her a trim on her midback length hair. She was happy and she stops by regularly to have him give her a trim. My mom got a bad haircut at her salon and lamented that my husband would have done a better job. I told her to ask him next time. Well she was visiting while my boys were getting their haircuts and she commented that he does a really nice job, but it looked like too much work, she would just buzz them all over. My older son said that is why she is not cutting his hair. She then mentioned that she needed her hair trimmed and I told her that she was next, take a seat. Well she did! He caped her and asked her how she wanted her hair cut. My son said shave bald, she said you are going to use the clippers on my hair. He held up his hand and asked her how many fingers worth and she said about the ring finger and pinky’s worth. So he trimmed her shoulder skimming bob as she asked, and she was happy with the results. After that she has been asking him to trim her hair and she talks about what a great money saver it is. He has also given haircuts to a couple other friends of mine that have asked him. So for me, home haircuts are definitely a great money saver, and not a compromise. I take an insulated mug with my home brewed coffee to work as well as pack my lunch of leftovers from dinner the night before. I do my own nails and pedicures, and I buy clothes for my boys at the Salvation Army store. I have bought clothes that were like new for only a couple dollars. We take hikes and have a set of kettlebell weights in the entry room that we use. No newspaper or magazine subscriptions, we read online plus we have an antenna on the side of the house to get 26 channels free over the air, no cable tv costs. I have mentioned that to friends and they didn’t know that you could still get tv channels that way. We also plant a garden every year.
That’s so great to hear! I’m so glad you have found many ways to save money for your family! Way to go! And way to go for your husband too!