Thriving on One Income
I've enjoyed all the comments on living on one income - Great ideas and inspiration!
I thought I'd share a few things we have done. Others have touched on some of these already, but these are some ideas which have allowed us to live on $800-$1000/month without going into debt. We have been through some very lean times financially, but God has always taken care of us and been so faithful to make the "ends meet" when we couldn't work it out on paper. Even though things are not at all as tight now as they were the first two years of our marriage, we know that we can live on a lot less if we need to.
-Tithe. Vitally important! Recognize that all the money you have is given to you from God and you are to be a good steward of it.
-Read the biography of George Mueller and get in a habit of asking God for your provisions. I can tell you story after story of amazing ways God has answered our prayers for specific needs-- from providing a washer and dryer for free, to furnishing our home for $100, to anonymous gifts in the mail just when we needed it most, to a good sale at the grocery store on something. God has provided above and beyond many things we have asked Him for. It has been truly amazing to see His provision.
-Pay cash for everything. Don't even think of buying something if you don't have the money for it.
-Pare down to the basic essentials. It is amazing what you can live without.
-Make a budget and stick to it. Pay for the essentials first. If there is money left over, put it in savings.
-Regardless of how little you have, put a little money in savings every month-- even if it's only $5.
-Don't buy expensive gifts. Make something or write a letter, it's much more meaningful when you put time and effort into a gift anyway.
-Have one vehicle (and buy it used!).
- Stay home more. It's amazing how many things you don't know you are missing out on, if you're not out window shopping. Staying home and just spending time together as a family is much more fulfilling anyway!
-Don't buy anything you don't need and then, only if it's on sale.
-Don't eat out. I repeat, don't eat out. You'll save yourself a bundle of money.
-Find ways to have "free dates" with your husband. Pack a picnic and go to the park. Or, go to a bookstore and browse together. Make some homemade mocha and play a game. The possibilities are almost endless on this one.
-Learn to utilize the library. I love our local library-- I can go and check out as many books as I want and never pay them a cent (We are spoiled to not have overdue fees at our library, as well)!
-Pack a lunch for your husband to take to work everyday.
-Cut back on meat consumption. (we only eat meat about 3-4 times per week and really have not missed it much.)
-Stick to simple meals. Cook and bake from scratch.
-Learn to mend and home dry-clean.
Oh, there's so many more I could share. Feel free to add to my list!
I thought I'd share a few things we have done. Others have touched on some of these already, but these are some ideas which have allowed us to live on $800-$1000/month without going into debt. We have been through some very lean times financially, but God has always taken care of us and been so faithful to make the "ends meet" when we couldn't work it out on paper. Even though things are not at all as tight now as they were the first two years of our marriage, we know that we can live on a lot less if we need to.
-Tithe. Vitally important! Recognize that all the money you have is given to you from God and you are to be a good steward of it.
-Read the biography of George Mueller and get in a habit of asking God for your provisions. I can tell you story after story of amazing ways God has answered our prayers for specific needs-- from providing a washer and dryer for free, to furnishing our home for $100, to anonymous gifts in the mail just when we needed it most, to a good sale at the grocery store on something. God has provided above and beyond many things we have asked Him for. It has been truly amazing to see His provision.
-Pay cash for everything. Don't even think of buying something if you don't have the money for it.
-Pare down to the basic essentials. It is amazing what you can live without.
-Make a budget and stick to it. Pay for the essentials first. If there is money left over, put it in savings.
-Regardless of how little you have, put a little money in savings every month-- even if it's only $5.
-Don't buy expensive gifts. Make something or write a letter, it's much more meaningful when you put time and effort into a gift anyway.
-Have one vehicle (and buy it used!).
- Stay home more. It's amazing how many things you don't know you are missing out on, if you're not out window shopping. Staying home and just spending time together as a family is much more fulfilling anyway!
-Don't buy anything you don't need and then, only if it's on sale.
-Don't eat out. I repeat, don't eat out. You'll save yourself a bundle of money.
-Find ways to have "free dates" with your husband. Pack a picnic and go to the park. Or, go to a bookstore and browse together. Make some homemade mocha and play a game. The possibilities are almost endless on this one.
-Learn to utilize the library. I love our local library-- I can go and check out as many books as I want and never pay them a cent (We are spoiled to not have overdue fees at our library, as well)!
-Pack a lunch for your husband to take to work everyday.
-Cut back on meat consumption. (we only eat meat about 3-4 times per week and really have not missed it much.)
-Stick to simple meals. Cook and bake from scratch.
-Learn to mend and home dry-clean.
Oh, there's so many more I could share. Feel free to add to my list!
posted by Crystal Paine at 1:39 PM
14 Comments:
This is such an excellent list! I most especially agree with "pay cash for everything." My fiance laid down that rule when we became engaged, and it has absolutely saved us from going into debt. When you see cash physically leaving your hands when making purchases, you consider those purchases much more seriously. We do keep on credit card on hand, but far away from our wallets... it's ONLY for emergencies, and we pay it off as soon as our cash flow allows. I think the last time we used it was in February, when my car needed a major repair.
I am going to print out this list and save it-- Thanks!!!
I don't know anything about home dry cleaning, but I would love to learn how to do it. Could you please share?
We live on a very, very small income as my husband is disabled.
Some things we do to save money:
Only shop sales
Take bags of hand me downs when offered to you (It is alot of work to go through and get rid of the bad stuff, but often there is good clothing that you do not have to pay for for the children)
Do research and think long and hard before making a purchase of any sort of magnitude
When you buy clothing- shop clearance racks
I actually save more money using checks than cash- If you have to go through the work of writing a check then you are often not so much going to buy the little things that eat away your money.
Remembeer that the more it is prepared at the store the more you pay usually!
Yeah Crystal, like miss_24 said, what is home dry cleaning?
We only have a credit card for emergencies now. However, it is possible to learn self control with credit cards. I have never been an extravagant spender even when I was single and working full time. It is important to build good credit. I had no credit card at all before I was married and was unable to get any kind of loan for my car. I disagree about the used car. A lot of used cars cost about as much as a new one and usually need work, in my experience. I think it is cheaper to get a new toyota or something that has a long life to it and that you can run into the ground. However, my husband disagrees. His car is used.
-Zan
Any car insurance advice from anyone?
I just posted about our date night on my blog - www.inashoe.blogspot.com.
It's not spectacularly cheap the way we do it, but it is *far* cheaper than if we went out for dinner and a movie, and we think it's much more enjoyable.
Other ways we save money:
Plan the menu around specials
Cook from scratch (kids are willing guinea pigs even if the recipe doesn't quite turn out as expected - just give it a new name)
Keep *small* pets - they eat less!
Let it be known that you *love* hand-me-downs. Many people are unsure about making the offer.
Take your time on major purchases. Our dryer has been down for a week so far; we're still shopping and thinking about how much to spend. In the meantime, drying laundry on the deck takes a little extra time and planning, but doesn't cost a dime.
Plan to spend a little on treats now and then, so you don't feel deprived and lose all self-control at a bad time - like when you're grocery shopping at Wal-mart and you're hungry and you haven't tasted chocolate in 3 weeks.
When you're tempted to buy a useful looking gadget, don't just ask yourself if you'll actually use it. Go a step further: will I really miss it if I don't have it?
This mindset makes a huge difference for me!
I'm sure there's much more. I look forward to reading others' tips.
I have to agree 100% with the tithe part. For the record I am in no way a "name it and claim it" person. We were in desperate financial troubles for awhile. We had not tithed consistently for like a year. When Dh began to tithe with his whole heart and cheerfully our money trouble began to clear up. In January we were (without the house) 26,400 in debt we are now at half that and plan to have it all paid off in 2 years. We have just had extra money..pouring in it seems like. The only thing we can say is it started when we began to tithe.
I also must agree with the comments on tithing, I can't believe I forgot to include that in my other post...for a Christian it makes a lot of difference....again, like Julie, I'm not promising you'll get rich or that God will just give you anything you want...but it's all HIS anyway...I've watched it make a difference with us as well.
~~Mrs. B~~
1. We eat a lot of grains and legumes. They're very inexpensive and are very healthy.
2. We have our own garden, so during the growing months, we grow our own produce.
3. For produce we don't grow, we go to a farmer's market. The prices there are much cheaper than the grocery store.
4. We stay away from soda. Not only is it not good for you, the cost adds up quickly.
5. We make our own household cleaner. For the kitchen and bathroom, I bought two squirt bottles and filled both of them up with white vinegar. The vinegar works on most anything - mirrors, toilets, sinks, counters, etc. Not only is vinegar a good cleaner and a disinfectant, it is very inexpensive when bought in the gallon size. I also like avoiding the chemicals in store bought cleaners.
6. We used washcloths instead of baby wipes.
7. We buy meat and seafood in bulk, which is almost a dollar cheaper a pound.
8. I buy spices that are sold in bulk at a nearby natural foods store. The price difference between this and the cans of spices in the grocery store is unbelievable. (I do grow herbs in my garden and freeze them to use during the winter.)
9. We don't use babysitters.
10. We don't have a cell phone or cable TV.
11. We don't have a fancy car, but it does get us where we need to go.
12. We do our best to avoid the world's push for always getting something "bigger and better." For example, we live in a modestly priced house so we can afford for me to stay home with my son.
13. We use a credit card, but we always pay off the balance each month. Our credit card gives us 5% back on all grocery, gas and drugstore purchases; so we feel it would be unwise not to keep the card. We've earned back hundreds of dollars, for buying things that are necessities (food, gas, etc.). We also get 1% back on everything else.
14. We have paid off all loans and if we need something not covered in our daily expenses, we use our savings.
15. I ditto Crystal's comment on the library. What a goldmine!! They have cassettes and CD's of books and music, videos and DVD's of all sorts (including historical documentaries that my husband loves), toys that can be borrowed to use at home, magazines (including good children's ones), and on and on!
16. We don't buy a lot of toys for our son (or us!). We spend a lot of time together as a family, making our own fun, and thus don't need nearly as many.
16. We put a good portion of my husband's pay into savings and are frugal with the rest.
17. I avoid processed and packaged foods like the plague. I make most everything from scratch, including soups, bread, stocks (chicken, vegetable, beef), baking mix, etc. I also do a lot of canning and freezing to save money. For example, I get apples for a very low price at the farmer's market and then make my own applesauce. In the summer, we went to an orchard and picked our own strawberries, blueberries, cherries and raspberries and I froze them in individual 1 cup bags (enough to last until next summer). Picking your own is significantly cheaper than buying them and it's a really fun family outing.
18. If there's work to be done around the house, such as plumbing, remodeling, repairs, etc., my husband does it himself. We rarely call a specialist unless absolutely necessary. When we needed a computer desk, he built it.
19. I use discount stores to buy crafts to do with my son.
Well, I know there's a lot more I could list, but I better stop for now. I hope this helps!
Great points, everyone! We have been doing a lot of these already, but it's good to be reminded and motivated. Plus, it's nice to know that we're not the ONLY ones who don't get to buy new clothes or eat out at expensive restaurants.
My husband would agree with your point, Kim C...and now, so would I. For a while, I was so zealous to not waste money that I really discouraged anything "fun" that Micah wanted to do. After talking about it, I realized that I was depriving him of the things he really enjoys. Now we just focus on finding cheaper ways to do those things. We'll eat out sometimes, for instance, but at places that don't require tipping, and where the portions are big enough to share:
Example:
1 Burrito Bowl + Chips and guacamole at Chipotle (Mexican place, good, and served at the counter so no tipping!) = less than $8.00 for both of us.
I just wanted to remark about credit cards. We pay the balance off every moonth. It is a good way to build credit. When I buy something on the credit card I always make the money is in the bank. I also get good deals with my Penneys card during sales. I actually think it is cheaper to buy clothes this way than at Wal-Mart and the quality is better.
-Zan
A note about buying clothes: I usually buy most of my clothes at www.blair.com They have a great clearance section! I keep track of their 7 day clearance countdown and have gotten some nice clothes from that - for a really nice price! For someone looking for affordable, good quality modest clothing, they're the best.
I reread the list and saw the limited amount of meat you eat. My husband would never go for that. He would get too hungry. What do you eat to fill you up? I would love to get a non meat meal idea that is filling. In the summer, I eat a lot of salad but even in the summer my husband needs meat.
-Zan
Post a Comment
<< Home