Eight years ago I became a stay at home mom. My husband started our home business the year before. Money was tight, and every penny counted. I had a good hold on how to save money from my grandparents. Living on a frugal home budget was not easy. It was not easy when friends were all driving nice, new, niche car for families. Our minivan was nice, but we had to cash in our total savings to buy it. Let me tell you we were very careful driving that minivan. After cashing in our savings there was no money saved for repairs.
How To Start A Frugal Home Budget Life
Frugal home budget is now our lifestyle. When I stopped working I put my ducks in a row to be successful at living on one income. We had debt. Student loans, car payments, house payments, credit cards, and a few miscellaneous doctor bills. All of that had to be paid off.
My first step was to take a second job to pay off our debt. One by one we paid it off. Tackling the student loans were the most fulfilling. Student loans do not go away. After working a second job for several months we paid off our small credit card bills. Paying off our credit card bills first allowed us to snowball the payments on our student loans.
After much prayer and discussion we felt that I was called to be a stay at home mom. Living on one income seemed impossible. Looking back I see the plan God had for our lives. My future job was a homeschool mom. Living on one income was possible. Contentment with our needs was possible. Living within our means was not as hard as everyone made it to be.
I am so glad to change the future of our kids. They will grow up debt free, create a frugal home budget for their family, and be happy. A frugal home budget starts with contentment. The journey is different for each family. We still take vacations, but stay within the limits of our frugal home budget. All shopping did not cease. Shopping has boundaries, fun has a budget.
Frugal home budget does not mean that we sit at home and do nothing. Frugal fun has a financial limit and sometimes a coupon!
Cheers,
Michelle
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