Stay @ home mom money question

[CJsoccerchic]

Re: Stay @ home mom money question

Ima saver - not that I don't think that credit cards are the devil - but maybe getting one might be a good idea. Like one that pays YOU back. If you are already knowing how much you will spend each month and don't go over it, you can get a cfredit card and pay each monthe the full amount - I to am debtfree and only have one credit card. Payin git off each month has been great - I got a whole bunch of points and could have gotten cash value - but I got a gift certificate to Tiffany & co. instead. And it didn't cost me a dime to get it. I don't pay credit card fees and I have never been late so interest is not an object for me. Just an idea I'd thought you might sorta like...

[CJsoccerchic]

Re: Stay @ home mom money question

For all other moms - how about ebaying stuff you don't need around the house anymore? or half.com and sell all your books that you read and won't read again!

[PrincessPerky]

Re: Stay @ home mom money question

My Mom Ebays and Half.com, I am kindof eh about it, but when I come accross something worth money (or that I think is worth money) I set it aside for my mom to ebay, if it makes money great, if not, well good thing she likes me

[living_in_oz]

Re: Stay @ home mom money question

This is one of my first actual posts! I hope I'm doing it okay!LOL

From frugalfarmwife:

In our household I handle ALL finances, hubby is financially challenged, lol, I took over day one and it just works best for both of us, he trusts me fully and I can sleep at night knowing all the bills are paid. I do occasionally chase hubby down and give him a quick run down on how we're doing but really he's happy as long as he has a $5 in his pocket and his lunch bucket is well filled every morning when he heads to work.

This is exactly how our house runs! Actually, DH rarely has over $3 in his pocket!LOL Luckily, both DH and I are very frugal people and we support each other completely. He likes to work and make the money...I like to take care of the house and the kids.

In my house, all the money goes into the checking account except for $100 a week. Believe it or not, I buy all of the groceries, HBA, children's allowance, and "household needs" with that weekly $100. BTW, I have 3 kids along with my hubby. I pay in cash for all of these things, and when the money is gone...it's gone. I have to wait until Friday(payday) to get another $100. Keep in mind that I live in rural Kansas. Our prices and housing costs are low. Plus, local farmers keep my freezer stocked with beef and pork(hubby usually barders for it by working on machinery etc for local farmers).
All of the money in the checking account goes to pay our bills, and whatever is left goes towards paying off some debt that we accummulated on our credit cards to pay for some medical and dental bills.

Living on one income isn't easy, but nothing worthwhile is, IMO. We actually look at it as a challenge and have a lot of fun finding out how cheaply we can do things. It helps that DH and I have the same goals. It would be hard to have spouse who didn't

[Thrifty Ray]

Re: Stay @ home mom money question

All of our income goes into a joint account and I am the one who pays the bills, etc.

We each have a separate rewards credit card (He has Cabella's for the free merchandise and I have a cash reward card) that we use for most of the expenses each month- we have a budget that we stick to and then the cards are (usually) PIF at the end of each month. (Sometimes DH 'forgets' about the budget....grrrr)

In addition, DH gets an allowance for gas and misc. ($80 per week) and I get a smaller allowance ($20), which I often dont even use.

We try to figure out ways to earn money for extra's like his dunes trips (saves pop-cans and does side jobs) and fun money at holidays (I craft and bake)...that way, we don't dip into the family budget money unless we have to.

We have a Christmas account that we are diligent about contributing to each week- no more charging ANYTHING for Christmas.

And we have a separate account that we keep money in for insurance, birthdays, vacations, home repairs, medical bills, and miscellaneous. This also gets a weekly deposit with a set amount deposited for each line item...it takes the pain out of those occaisional expenses.

We rarely eat out. I have learned to make all of our 'restaraunt favorites' at home.
We rarely rent movies...we have satellite and can always find something fun to watch.
We heat our home with firewood that we process.

My DH trusts me to take care of the money and doesn't really think about it so long as he can 'forget' once in a while (smile)

[On Track]

Re: Stay @ home mom money question

I am a stay at home mom and have been for two years now. We had to make several changes financially but the hardest change was trying to figure out how to handle all of the free time. I had worked 2 jobs and then all of a sudden I had to be at home all day. It was tough at first trying to keep myself occupied but after 2 yrs i have adjusted and love it.

[Ima saver]

Re: Stay @ home mom money question

Some one mentioned that I should have a credit card, I do. We have two, one I use and get state farm dollars to help pay my house insurance. My husband uses am. express and gets a check back once a year, currently over $500 coming.
I do not have a debit and never will. I budget for each catagory by putting cash into each budget envelope. The first envelope is for savings! I put away money on a weekly basis for things like property tax, car and house insurance, tags, etc. [Automated by GetSmile]

[tgavin71]

Re: Stay @ home mom money question

We have a joint account as well. I have total control over the finances in our house.
If he needs money while he is away working he will call me (for free using our mobile phone deal) and lets me know how much he took out so that I can write it down.
I have set up automatic payments for our cc's and mangaged fund.