You don’t have to be a financial wiz to apply some simple methods to stretch your family’s work within your family’s household budget and not stress over money. Here are a few strategies that we employ in our home:
FOOD for 8: I never go to the grocery story without a list of 4-5 days of meals planned out and precise the ingredients for each meal precisely listed to prepare enough to feed eight. I do this whether everyone will be home for meals that particular day or not because left-overs make quick next-day lunches or another dinner easily. Food never is wasted around here! Having and sticking to my grocery list prevents me from combing the store aisles grabbing items and spending more money than I should. Although I’m not the biggest coupon user, I do use store brand items and take advantage of sales on the items I need. All of us are cost-conscious, so bringing a homemade lunch to school or work instead of buying and eating out is the norm around here.
CLOTHING: Hand-me-downs are a must. Our younger children used every item used by their older siblings until those items were worn out! Today, our girls all wear each-other’s clothes as they’re now all the same size and have similar fashion taste.
ENERGY: And as for saving energy, water, and laundry detergent, we reuse our bath towels for a minimum of 4 days (hey, you’re clean after your shower, so let the towel dry and reuse it!). As for heating and cooling our home, our thermostats are coded with a password that only my husband and I know because once we realized our teenagers were adjusting them without permission, we nipped that in the bud quickly! On good weather days, turn the thermostats off and open the windows!
TRANSPORATION: Lastly, we share vehicles which saves on gas by requiring lots of carpooling to schools and jobs. We have six drivers and four vehicles so we all learned to be creative, flexible and considerate of each other’s schedules and needs.
The above article was submitted to Women’s Day Online on 1/28/19 for story contributions of “As a mom, what are some easy and creative ways you save money?”