Protecting "Me" Time

It is vitally important for stay at home moms to have a little me time. I try to make sure my SAHM has some me time every day. There are times when I come home and she almost immediately heads out to return some videos, pick up that one last ingredient for dinner or return something to Target. I (almost) always offer to do these things for her, but she insists.

It took me a while to realize that she needs this time out of the house. Even if she gets out of the house with the kids during the day, she just needs a little time by herself. And it's not like she has been dying to return the movies to Blockbuster. The task itself is really immaterial. She just needs to be alone for a little bit.

After the baby comes, her me time will almost certainly be centered around trips to the gym. She really wants to get back into yoga, so it will be one of my priorities to let her get to a couple of classes every week.

After all, it's in my best interests for her to have that time to herself. If momma ain't happy, no one's happy!

Eating For $1 A Day

Has anyone seen or heard about this blog Less Is Enough? It's a blog by a 41 year old woman in Durham, NC that challenged herself to eat a diet of fresh food for only $1 a day for 30 days. A pretty impressive feat. She actually did accomplish her task and even had about $1.40 to spare.

While there are some concerns about this project (she lost about 10 pounds during the month, prompting people to say she wasn't eating enough), it still points to the fact that eating fresh foods can be done inexpensively. And that was the whole goal here. She didn't set out to change how the world eats. She just wanted to prove that you could eat a healthy, fresh diet without breaking the bank.

Take a look at her blog. It raises some interesting points and provides some good ideas for families that are concerned with offering fresh foods without spending an arm and a leg.

Work At Home Scams

A lot of stay at home moms look for ways to earn a little extra money working from home. And the internet is filled with ideas. If you search "work at home idea" on Google, you get 94 million hits. 94 million! So, is it possible to earn significant money working from home?

Of course it is, but you have to be careful. There are a lot of quick money schemes out there looking to pray on people that want to make a few dollars working at home. Like the sites that talk about making thousands of dollars a month with just a few hours of work a week. Remember what your mom always told you, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." That saying certainly holds true in the work at home world.

Fortunately there are plenty of resources out there that help you spot and avoid work at home scams. My personal favorite is Work At Home No Scams.com. The website is updated about once a week with different scam news. They also have a search function that allows you to search for specific scams.

I also liked this article on the Top 10 Work At Home Scams. This article actually talks about specific types of work at home businesses that are, more times than not, scams. It really comes down to doing your research and being very cautious. Even a simple Google search can uncover significant concerns with work at home ideas that you see every day.

Eating Out While Eating At Home

Eating out is not really an option for most single-income families. It just costs too much and can be more of a hassle than it's worth. But I still like to eat out. It gives me a chance to try new dishes that I would have never thought about or do not have the culinary ability to create.

We've actually found ways to emulate foods that we really like at restaurants. Our kids are addicted to bean burritos right now (which for a very gassy crew by the way). So instead of hitting the Taco Bell drive thru every time they want a burrito, we have started buying Taco Bell refried beans at the grocery store and making them at home. You can also find recipes that mimic your favorite restaurant meal on the Internet (like Panera's Brocoli Cheddar Soup, Papa John's Garlic Sauce or McDonald's Southwest Chicken Salad).

There are even websites dedicated to these "copycat" recipes. Check out CDKitchen and The Recipe Link for some more ideas.

The Decision to Become a Stay-At-Home Mom

For most families, the decision to become a single-income family is not easy. You get used to life with two incomes. There tends to be disposable income every month. Eating out and taking trips isn't such a big deal. Need a new pair of shoes or an upgraded plasma screen TV? Not out of the question. But a single-income family does not have that option.

There are definitely sacrifices that have to be made. For us it was all about prioritizing. What do really need and what can we do without? Sometimes it's as easy as giving up your daily Starbucks or making a dinner out a special occasion. Sometimes it is a much bigger sacrifice.

Our biggest sacrifice was a second car. We traded in 2 cars for one SUV. Now we had to upgrade size-wise with a 3rd kid on the way, but we didn't have to go down to one car. It's taken a while to get used to, but I think we've got it figured out.

Our other big sacrifice was convenience. It is much easier to hit the drive-thru than it is to cook a meal at home. But you pay for that convenience. Since we're not running around like chickens with our heads cut off all the time, we actually have more time and energy to make most of our meals at home. The money we save is amazing.

So I'm curious what other sacrifices you've made for the opportunity to stay home with your kids. Share your budget cutting decisions with others and maybe pick up a few ideas at the same time.