Here's what we did to make it work:
BUDGET
I can’t say how important it is to have a budget and know where all your money is going. By seeing what all your bills are and how much money you have it will help you efficiently allocate your paycheck and plan for the future. {Please read my blog post on Creating and Maintaining a Monthly Budget if you’d like more information on how to create budget as well as download a Free Excel Budgeting Spreadsheet.}
Called Around to Lower Bills
Make a list of all your utilities, car insurance, home owners insurance, phone plan, etc. Call around to each one and ask if there's anything they can do to lower your bill. Often if you've been a customer for a while and your rates haven't been adjusted in a few years, they will be able to give you a bit of a discount.
If they can't give you a discount on what you have, re-evaluate your current plan. There might be something unnecessary in your plan you can drop to save some money on your bill or consider switching to another provider for cheaper service/coverage.
Cut Cable, Limit TV Streaming Services
Cable TV is expensive - SO expensive. Ditch that bill and you can easily save $100+/month. Subscribing to multiple TV streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, Amazon Prime, etc) also adds up fast. We originally subscribed to several services but now just use Amazon Prime since we pay for that subscription anyways for it's shipping perks.
One Vehicle
Having just one car won't work for every family but we decided it was something we could make happen. With my husband working from home already, we really only "needed" a single car for errands and school drop-off... sometimes there are conflicts when we both need to be somewhere different at the same time, but we've learned to plan ahead for these conflicts and carpool or rearrange a schedule to accommodate each other.
By having one car that means just one car payment, one insurance bill, and one set of carseats to purchase.
Save on Health Insurance and Medical Bills
Ha. I'll use the term "save" loosely here. Health insurance and out of pocket medical costs are sooooo expensive these days and sadly there's not much you can do if the plans available to you are limited and you don't qualify for reduced premiums (both of these situations apply to us). But there are some small tips we've found over the years to help save a little on our health-related bills - these include using your credit card rewards to your advantage, shopping around for care, and asking for prompt payment discounts.
{How to Save on Health Insurance and Medical Bills is a separate blog post that goes into more detail on all the ways we save on health bills if you would like to read more.}
No More Date Nights/Takeout
Before kids, we had date nights a lot - going out to eat, to the movies, etc. But all that spending sure adds up fast. Once I became a stay-at-home mom, date nights were limited to special occasions only and takeout nights have become few and far between.
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