With prices rising, mothers have to do more than ever to save money on essential purchases. Twelve moms shared their best saving hacks. Here are twelve tips for saving money as a mom and making the most of your hard work.
How To Save Money as a Mom
Parenting not only takes a lot of effort but can also be expensive. We all know how much we do as moms. We care for the kids, cook, clean, educate, and run our houses. We feed our children healthy meals, provide entertainment, and support their education.
Balancing the Budget
Balancing the budget on top of all these responsibilities can seem like a truly overwhelming feat. Practicing frugality on top of everything else is a lot. To do justice to this topic, I turned to the experts: the moms themselves. I asked twelve frugal moms how they save money in their homes.
Here are 12 ways moms save money!
Shop Sales
Everything goes on sale eventually. From groceries to clothes to school supplies to household items, you’ll never have to pay full price for anything if you only buy things when prices are low.
Shopping sales work! If you are organized enough, you can stock up when things are on sale and buy things in advance. The amount of money you can save if you do this properly is astounding. Think about kid’s shoes- kids go through shoes so quickly. When shoes go on sale, they can be half-price, and you can easily save $10 or $20 on one pair of shoes. Target and Old Navy have awesome savings on clearance. If you are buying a few pairs of shoes, you can easily save $20-$50 on shoes alone!
Plan Meals
My number one money-saving tip is to plan meals!! We have five people and three dogs…if I didn’t plan out menus and meals, we wouldn’t have enough to get through the entire month. Not only does it save us money, but it saves me TONS of precious time!
Meal planning can save you lots of time, and if you are good at it, you will save lots of money. Especially if fast food is your downfall, having a plan will make you less likely to run and buy food. It will also reduce the stress in your house, which is always a good thing. I love creating building blocks of food to be able to throw food and meals together quickly. Having already prepared food readily available is a great way to save money and make your life easier!
Make Freezer Meals
My best money-saving tip would be to start making freezer meals. I didn’t know how much money and time I could save with just 2 hours of hard work preparing meals for a whole week. Also, these freezer meals help you stay on a budget as you spend less money on take-out when you can make quick, delicious, and easy-to-prepare meals at home.
This is such a great idea! When you make a meal, then double it and put it in the freezer. Then on a hard day, you can grab it and heat it for a meal. This means less take-out and less expensive prepared food. I made sure to stock my freezer before I had a baby because I knew I would have to keep costs down during my unpaid maternity leave.
Use Nature
Use nature as your primary entertainment. Kids don’t need expensive classes and activity memberships; they can have a ton of fun for free if you take them outside to a nature preserve or park.
Recent events have certainly taught us the value of this statement! Kids don’t need expensive things to make them happy. There are so many free things to do in and out of the house. You can create fun and educational activities no matter where you are. When you focus on creating free and fun activities for your kids, they won’t miss the expensive activities or classes. If there is one expensive thing that you want to spend money on, then either budget for it or see if someone (like a grandparent) can chip in instead of a physical gift.
Make a Written Budget
My best money-saving tip for Moms is this: Get on a written budget to know exactly how much you are making, saving, and spending. A budget takes the guesswork out of trying to figure out where all your money is going.
Budget. Budget. Budget. With all the emotional labor that goes into being a mom- you don’t need to be counting every cent or worrying about money all the time. Having a clear, written budget can be freeing in so many ways. Deciding where your money is going beforehand will take a lot of the stress of your finances off of you so you can deal with all the millions of other things you have to deal with.
Always Look for a Deal
Before making a purchase, take a minute to look for a deal. Always search for “promo code” online before purchasing. If you are re-using, check your local “Buy Nothing” group on Facebook and your neighborhood classifieds on NextDoor. I’ve seen high-quality furniture, tools, kid’s bicycles, books, clothes – you name it! It’s a great way to recycle, save money, and meet your neighbors.
When you have a family, you need stuff. As minimalistic as you’d love to be, raising kids means that you will need to buy things for them. Getting great deals or free stuff from your others is the best way to save money on all that expensive gear. Many parents whose kids are grown would love to help another parent out! So try to find them and score some free stuff. This works particularly well when preparing for a baby on a budget since baby gear is so expensive and used for such a short time.
Get Free Things
Join local Facebook buy nothing, pay it forward, + frugal parent groups! I have scored so much for free online, from nappies to toys to books and more. It’s also great for the earth if you want to live more sustainably.
Frugality and being eco-friendly work hand-in-hand! I love tips that save you money (yay!) and help save the earth. What could be better?
Buy Used
Buying used kids’ items saves money, but for some items, you want to purchase new. We always plan around discounts and sales for new items like shoes and underwear. Often, “buy one, get one” sales allows us to buy a current size and the next size up at the same time. This gives us some breathing room for when kids hit a growth spurt so that we don’t have to run out and purchase whatever we can find in a pinch, often at premium prices.
Buying clothing or shoes last minute usually means having to shell out some serious cash. Being organized and preparing in advance means you can shop for the deals you want and get everything you need—no running to the store when it starts raining to buy expensive boots. Buy them before you need them and when they are on sale!
Make Coffee at Home
My best money-saving tip is to make coffee at home! I got into the habit of buying a coffee to treat myself and decided to stop when I wanted to cut down on unnecessary expenses. I save an average of $50 a month just by making my own coffee.
It’s so hard to resist spending money when you are out and about and running errands. Making your own coffee and investing in a good reusable mug can save you some real money if you are a coffee lover. Maybe consider investing in a good machine or flavorings so you can have the coffee you crave at a price that you can afford.
Get Organized
I think it’s very helpful to lay out all your expenses and see how much you’re spending on what. The little things can really add up and can surprise you! Lastly, if you’re in debt and budgeting, make it a priority to pay off the debt with the highest interest rate.
Being a mom means putting your family first. We all want to do what is best for our families and provide for their future. Ensuring that you are not overspending and staying within a budget can help your family down the line. Make sure to set aside money for savings, pay off debt when you can, and set your family up for the best possible financial future.
Do Curbside
My best money-saving mom tip is to do curbside grocery pick-up. Initially, I was a little skeptical, but I don’t buy impulse items, and I know my exact total before checking out. I also save a ton of time and don’t have to go back to the store because I forgot something.
Impulse shopping is a huge budget-buster! This money-saving tip is also great because I HATE TAKING KIDS SHOPPING. I don’t think I’m the only one! When you do curbside pickup, you don’t have to deal with screaming children, and you don’t need to deal with car seats and seatbelt hassles. Save energy and help save you money? I am in! When you reduce the amount of time you are spending on tedious errands, you can focus more on yourself and your family.
Join a Clothing Swap
Clothing swaps are a great way to save money on clothes for your little ones. This works perfectly if you have friends, family, or coworkers with kids of different ages than yours. The person with an older child packs up a box of appropriate-sized clothing and lends it to you for as long as your little one needs it. Then when your kid outgrows the clothes, you can send the box back to its original owner. To make it easier, you can put a small mark on the clothes’ tag so that you know who they belong to. Clothing swaps especially work great if you do it with someone who eventually wants to have more kids because they get their clothes back.
Hand-me-downs are the best for so many reasons! Save money on clothes. Reduce consumption by reusing clothing. Help another family out by helping them clear out their house (having extra stuff is stressful and costs money). If you can find a family with similar-age kids, this can be great. Don’t forget that play clothes and pajamas can be more worn and can be unfashionable (if you care about that). If you are very particular about the clothing your children wear, consider spending money on some clothes and saving money on clothes that no one sees.
How Moms Save Money
Being a mother is one of the hardest jobs in the world. There are so many responsibilities and things you have to take care of. I hope that some of these tips for moms can help some mothers out there have a bit of an easier time so they can focus on what matters most: your children.
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A Dime Saved
Hi! I am a millennial mom with a passion for personal finance. I have always been “into” personal finance but got inspired to start my blog after a period of extended unemployment. That experience really changed the way I viewed my relationship with money and the importance of accessible personal finance education.