Budget Blog

I've been thinking a lot about budgeting, saving money, and our financial future as a country. I've always been interested in frugality, but it seems lately it's coming more out of necessity rather than enjoyment. It seems harder and harder to get by these days on just one income and it's almost like everyone just expects women to go back to work after they have their babies. I am doing all I can to continue to be a stay at home mom but it's kind of looking grim. So this blog post is about a few things, and I hope I get lots of tips from anyone who reads this.

1. What are some possible things someone can do from home to earn extra money?

2. What are some ways to save money on anything (car insurance, credit card interest, groceries, entertainment, baby clothes) ?

3. What are some of your family's favorite go-to meals? (cheap and easy to make)

4. What are some fun free or cheap things you do as a family for fun?

You can leave a comment and if you think of something later you can leave another comment. Or if you know my email address you can email me. I thought I would start the discussion and tell what I am already doing in an effort to save money/get by. Then if you feel comfortable you can tell me what you do to save money. I really don't want to leave Tato at a daycare so please give tips freely!

To save money I:

Buy the cheap diapers
Breastfeed
Use only half a paper towel at a time
Don't go shopping . . . ever (well except for groceries of course)
Rent movies from the Redbox instead of Blockbuster
Only go see movies in the theater about . . . once every 6 months
Have the lowest minute option on our cell phone plan
Don't have a land line
Don't have cable
Got rid of our WOW accounts . . . (this was mostly out of boredom though, as our Wow accounts were our only form of entertainment and 13 bucks a month for entertainment is actually pretty cheap, we just got sick of the game)

I know it's not a lot, but it's what we're doing now. Now for the things I desperately need help with.

Ways I am NOT saving money:

I way too often have Terry pick up fast-food on his way home from work
I buy those easy skillet meals which are like 5 bucks a meal (maybe that isn't a lot for a meal for two people, I don't know, is it?)
I buy baby food
Our car is pricey
Our rent is pricey

Most of our spending has to do with food actually. This is why I need tips about cooking for lazies and stuff like that. I'm not sure what I can do about the car and rent, but tips are still appreciated. So I think food is our main problem. We just really like good food. We just don't want to make it ourselves. : ) If you have any motivational tips too, like how to get excited about cooking in addition to recipes, that would be nice too. But really anything you can think of to save money is interesting to me.