Have you ever been at a point where you’ve gone through your budget as much as you can and cut expenses, but you’re still struggling to make it work or pay off your debt? You can’t seem to stay afloat despite all your efforts.
I can truly relate.
Today’s post is pretty simple, but I’ve had this on my mind to share lately because I was once there and had I not taken this action, I’d still be there. I know many people who try so hard to save money, but just can’t seem to cut their budget down low enough to afford bills and debt payoff.
My husband and I are really good at cutting expenses, but it seemed like we still didn’t have money to do some of the extra things we wanted or afford bigger priced items/experiences. My husband is a teacher, one of the most noble jobs in this world, but we all know teachers’ incomes are limited and increase at a low rate. I used to teach before kids too and when we made the choice for me to stay home with the kids, we cut our income in half.
Therefore, we were down almost $3,000 a month (plus the amount it cost us to put me and the kids on his insurance, which was about $500 a month = $3500 a month). That’s a big CUT! Luckily, we had our house paid off at this point, otherwise, it wouldn’t have even been a possibility for me to stay home.
This is also when I was “assigned” the budget…documenting it, that is, since I made most of the purchases, and it really opened my eyes to intentional budgeting. I remember talking to a friend and we were both in a similar position of finding ways to cut back and save.
We both concluded that sometimes you hit the point where it’s easier to make money than to save anymore. When you’ve reached the point where you can’t save anymore or you can’t spend any more time finding ways to save, you might want to look at earning more income.
Obviously this isn’t an easy task and not something you do overnight, but an option when you’ve hit that point. When I had gone through our budget and realized there weren’t many areas we could cut back on, that’s when I started my Etsy shop.
I NEVER considered myself a crafty person, nor thought I could run a shop and do business on my own, but after a lot of time and effort, it’s paid off and it helps to pay for a lot of extras so we don’t feel so trapped.
And like I mentioned above, my husband takes on a second job (has since we dated) of reffing college basketball to help increase our income and pay the bills.
I feel like there may be some other moms (or dads) out there that are telling themselves they’ve cut back as much as possible, but it’s still too hard. I encourage you to look at different ways to make money.
I personally know moms who have started Etsy businesses, blogs, sold products via Facebook, or took on a part time job or something from home to earn some extra money. There are tons of ideas on Pinterest HERE that might get you going if you’re searching.
I know this wasn’t a ground breaking post, but one I’ve dealt with before, so I wanted to share.
Not sure if you noticed, but in your pic are Canadian $1 coins ( we call them loonies ) and $2 coins ( we call them toonies) so that jar may look like a lot of change, but it is full of $1’s and $2’s !!! WE are in the midst of paying off debt, we have a larger income and needed to track our expenses for a month to see where it all went… truly eye opening.. now we can budget better and make better decisions knowing were it all goes…
as Dave Ramsey says ” we have an out problem, not an in problem” LOL!!!!
Haha didn’t notice 🙂 That is awesome you figured out the problem…better to be an out problem than an in 🙂 At least you can fix that…I sure do love Dave’s advice.
My youngest started Kindergarten this year so I’ve been thinking about doing something part-time. It’s hard after being out of the work force for nearly 10 years. Love your post today!
Go for it Stacy! You can do it. Ask your friends and family if they see you doing anything specific (if you’re unsure where to start). If it weren’t for a friend of mine who encouraged me to do Etsy, I would have NEVER done it. I’ve also thought being a nursery/preschool teacher a couple of times a week would be a cool thing to do to make some extra cash (and still allow you to be home with your kids since it’s a little less than a school day). Good luck.
Usually just a lurker from PA, but loved this post and wanted to share some mild success that can also bring in some money. As a newly minted stay at home mom (and unfortunate 2x csection body), my clothes were no longer functional for me. At. All. Cashmere is impractical with babies. It just is! So I sold my entire wardrobe on Poshmark! It takes some effort to get your pieces out there (good photos, responding to comments, etc), but even with Poshmark fees, this made me infinitely more money than consigning or yard sale. I made roughly 3 mortgage payments’ worth! If you have name brand clothes in great condition this is a great way to make cash. If you have yard sale quality clothes or off brand, not so much. I was very reckless in my twenties with money and credit, especially concerning my wardrobe, so this also brought me some closure regarding that time in my life and felt like I recovered some of the money I wasted:) not a full time solution, but helped our monthly cash flow on a short term basis.
Best of luck to you. I stayed home with me 3 boys and struggled to make the ends meet. They are now grown. I would advise you to keep your skills sharp so that you will be ready when you choose to go back to work.
Yes, thinking about going back into the “real world” is nerve-wrecking. I will cherish this time forever though!