5 Ways to Save Money as a Stay At Home Mom

I'm a stay at home mom of 2. It's frustrating to buy gas, groceries and pay for kids activities like dance and soccer without contributing to our income. It recently feels like I'm bleeding money.

Here are 5 simple tips to save your money. Remember, pennies add up.

1. Skip the Coffee Shop = $$!

2. Skip Buying Books (Use Your Public Library)

3. Turn Lights Off and Save on Electricity!

4. Consolidate Kid Shoes (invest in neutral shoes that go with more outfits)

5. Meal Prep to Reduce Waste and Money Spent Eating Out

Skip the Coffee Shop = $$!

Sorry! I know what it feels like to be a mom who needs a pick-me-up, but making your own coffee at home instead of splurging at a coffee shop will save you big bucks.

1 Grande Vanilla Cafe Latte (from Starbucks) costs $6.47 after tax.

Let's say I was buying two latte's a week:

Tip: If you move $51.76 each month to your savings instead of buying 4 lattes, you will see the savings adding up!

Skip Buying Books

My daughter is a huge reader, so for a long time, I was happy to buy her books.

The reality is that books are a huge expense. For example, The Magic Treehouse series by Mary Pope Osborne (a favorite series of my kids) books 1-4 will cost you $23.96 on the Barnes and Nobel website.

Stop buying books new! Instead of buying books, increase your trips to the public library. It can be frustrating to wait for a book at the public library (learn to reserve and request books from other libraries), but the savings are worth it.

Turn the Lights Off

A super easy way to save money on electricity is to make sure that you turn the lights off when you aren't using a room.

How many times have you walked past a lamp that has been left on? Switch it off! The savings will add up as you and your family member's make it a habit to not leave lights on.

Consolidate Kid Shoes

Instead of having 6 pairs of kids shoes why not narrow it down to 3? Because my kids are still young and their feet grow quickly, it's easy to buy shoes as needed and before you know it, you have too many.

We had the opportunity to spend the summer with family, so I only packed 3 pairs of shoes for each of my kids. My kids survived the summer in Crocs, tennis shoes and 1 pair of nice Church shoes.

Consolidating shoes initially won't save you money, but it will save you space! Think about all of the shoes piled up in the entry way that you won't miss organizing.

This winter, we'll continue with limited shoes, so I won't be purchasing shoes without seriously considering the option we already own. I'll save money each season sticking with neutral shoes that can be worn with a variety of outfits. I'm thinking 1 pair each of school shoes, tennis shoes, church shoes and snow boots.

Meal Prep After Grocery Shopping

Have you ever bought groceries and had something go bad because it was a hassle to cook or prep it during the week?

Recently, this happened to me with romaine lettuce. I love a good ceasar salad with extras like chicken, bell peppers and shredded lettuce. This particular week it was hard to find the motivation to make the salad and easier to heat up leftovers. Before I knew it, the lettuce had gone bad.

After bringing groceries home, take time to prep food to avoid food spoilage. Cut bell peppers, shred carrots, cook chicken or go ahead and cook a soup or meal to easily heat up during the week.

Meal prepping will also cut down on money spent on take out. It'll be easier to pack a lunch instead of opting to buy takeout. You'll also save on kids lunches! If you have meals prepped and ready to go, it'll be much easier to put together a packed lunch instead of buying (our kids lunches cost $4/meal).