As a wife, I need to be a good steward because I know my husband’s job is not easy peasy. I witnessed his overtime without pay, sleepless nights and working even on vacation leave, holiday and weekends. I’m proud to say that he’s doing a good job as our provider.
Five years of being a full-time mom taught me a lot of things, I learned from my own experiences and other’s experiences. Like I always say, I’m not a financial expert but I hope these tips will also help you in budgeting and saving.
1. Plan your route
I always plan our trip because I want to finish all my errands in a single trip. I want to hit two birds at the same time so I can save time, effort and money.
For example.
a. I love going to World Trade Center because of the Christmas Bazaar so after visiting my family in Valenzuela to give my gifts, I will drop here to buy stuff before going home since I live in the South area.
b. I regularly visit my grandmother in Victoria, Laguna and if we have extra time we try to visit those places listed in Viaje Del Sol.
C. I love taking notes and I always have a list of “Things to do” and “Things to buy” so whenever we’re going to the mall, I bring my list. What’s in my list? These are the usual things that I have on my list, it just varies on the due date.
- Pay bills such as postpaid plans, internet providers, credit cards, amortization, and others.
- Deposit or Withdraw.
- Go to junkshop to sell our junk of course.
- Grocery (things to buy)
- Buy medicine and vitamins. I have psoriasis so I always buy medicine.
- Pay SSS loan and SSS contribution …and many more.
2. Refrigerate and Cupboard Awareness
If you’ve read my energy saving tips, you know for sure that I religiously defrost our fridge every week before Wet Market Day. It is my time to clean the fridge and do my inventory.
I will check the left-over, expiration date and list the things that we need to buy in the market. As I mentioned before I always have “Menu List”. I do check our cupboard every month to check the expiration and clean it too.
I have a notepad where I write all the stuff that we need to buy so it is not really difficult to do the inventory.
3. Do not waste it. Learn to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. You can read more on my Green Living post.
4. Minimalist Living
Think before you buy things. Ask yourself if you really need to buy stuff? Do you really need to buy the latest gadget? Do you need to follow fashion trend? We have rules in our house, “If it is broken, try to fix it. If it cannot be fixed, then replace it”. “If we buy something we need to let go something” like clothes because we have limited space in our cabinet.
5. Decluttering
Always remember “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. I used to sell preloved stuff in my multiply account and I was able to sell most of my son’s baby stuff. Other baby stuff, I gave to relatives.
6. Buy or accept pre-loved stuff.
When I started selling my pre-loved stuff, I also bought some pre-loved stuff. I just double check if the stuff is still in good condition or in great shape. I visit Warehouse Sale, Ukay-Ukay, and Garage Sales.
If someone is giving hand me down clothes or other stuff, I welcome it with open arms. You can repair or fix the free stuff according to your needs and wants. Free is better.
7. Join Contest and Giveaways
If you have spare time, try your luck. Who knows you might win big prizes. I love joining contests and giveaways and my lucky year was last year.
8. DIY
You can really save if you do it yourself. Learn how to DIY your travels, kitchen ingredients, gifts and others. Read more here.
9. Research
I subscribed to Facebook page and emails of different airlines and discount websites so I will be updated with all offers, seat sales, promos and discounts. But I only buy what I really need.
10. Don’t scrimp on what matters.
Though savings is a must, there are also times that we splurge for the experience just like our travels and food trips. Recreation is part of our family bonding. There are different ways to save money if you want to travel like searching for cheap airfare, staying in hostels or budget hotel, DIY your itinerary and many more.
11. Watch where your money goes.
I have a notebook where I write our income and expenses every month. Since my husband receives a monthly paycheck, I have to make sure that we will have money for the whole month. I do list our credit card expenses just to make sure that we will not go beyond our limit and we can still pay our debt on the due date.
12. Teach kids the value of money.
I hope I can teach my son the value of money, as of now he doesn’t know the value of money. For him, money never runs out, you can get it from your wallet or ATM Machine.
But he has his own piggy bank, savings account, and stocks. The amount is not that big but he is learning how to save his money.
13. Invest on quality items
When I say quality; buy furniture, appliances or gadgets that will last for long so you don't have to replace it every few years. Invest in energy saver appliances, solar panels to save electricity and printer that can print up to 6000 pages.
Bonus: Learn to appreciate what you have and be happy with it.
"Do not envy the rich. They are blessed with the ability to create wealth. While their wealth may be in money you may be blessed in other areas that the rich do not have. We are all experts but only in different subject matters. Envy is a killer. If we keep on looking at the things we do not have then we will fail to appreciate the things we have." – Francis Kong
Pray and believe that God will make a way where there seems to be no way.
Feel free to share your saving tips.
I totally agree with everything you have said here, except with the planning for trips cause, well, I do still like the spontaneity that comes with roadtrips, but what I do with that is I allot a certain budget and make sure that we don't go overboard with it. I remember the time that what I had was stripped from me after my parents knew of my pregnancy, and I must say that during those times, I learned how to shop for preloved ukay ukay clothes, and try out for giveaways just to satisfy my materialistic cravings. This is a pretty good list that should be a bible for every mommy who's penny pinching, especially now that christmas and gift giving season is here :D
ReplyDeleteThanks. I experienced an unplanned trip before, we just book a plane ticket without hotel accommodation and no itinerary. We survived and enjoyed our Coron trip but I still prefer planning trip for peace of mind. lol
DeleteI am also a stay-at-home mom and just like you, we only rely on my husband's monthly salary. I agree in all the things you mentioned in your list and we do our best to have a "minimalist" lifestyle. It is true that less is more. And above all else, we must have a strong faith in God because truly, He provides. Thanks for sharing! Your blog site is really very informative. I love it! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this mommy. You are correct, "Learn to appreciate what you have and be happy with it." and "Believe that God provides." ^_^
ReplyDeletehi.i can totally relate with you. i was also a stay-at-home and a full-time mom for twelve years. it is really hard to live with less than enough salary. there were many times when i cried and at some point self-pitied because in my father's house, i was more provided when i got married. but as the saying goes, it may rain for a while but the sun will rise again. good stewardship and being thankful are the key!
ReplyDeleteThese are all really good tips. :) I also plan my trips to lessen gas expenses. So on my grocery day, that's when I pay bills and run errands. Having one day dedicated to all these things can really save you a lot of money for gas.
ReplyDeleteThank you for these tips! It is always wise to be frugal and save for the rainy day. I myself am a proud kuripot and I'm not above buying preloved!
ReplyDeleteNice tips. I'm a certified kuripot and always on the look out for items I need on sale :D
ReplyDeleteExcellent tips mommy Michi! I'm trying to stick to a menu plan but I'm really having a hard time.
ReplyDeleteGreat tips. I must make mine too. Number 1 would be declutter. I need to save for the future expenses.
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