As mothers, we spend quite a bit of time with our children at home. It makes a lot of sense then to use proven ways to save money at home. This will help you save extra cash to build your emergency fund or investments. Whether you are an outdoorsy or homebody mom, your household bills are likely to eat up a good chunk of your monthly budget. Even if you could save $50-100 a month, that’s money you can put in your savings account and watch it grow.
With colder months ahead of us, we’ll all be spending more time indoors. Cooking, cleaning, playing, watching movies, and many other activities are very fun but they also come at a daily cost. Instead of minimizing how much you do at home you can use smart strategies to save at home with a minimum effort required on your part!
Below are 10 proven and very simple ways to save money at home, which you can start putting to use right away:
Negotiate your Internet, TV, and phone costs.
I don’t know about the exact costs of the Internet, cable and home phone in your area, but they are pretty high where I live. Every month I cringe that I have to spend THAT much on the services that should be way more affordable in our day and age. If you are still watching cable TV, I highly recommend cutting this service once and for all. I did it 8 years ago and did not miss it for a second. Why? Because you can stream many TV shows and cartoons directly from your computer to your TV screen for free.
I also love Amazon Prime, since it gives me access to 2-day free shipping on items I buy and allows me to stream movies, TV shows and cartoons for my daughter. Their annual charge is just $79 per year in Canada ($99 in the US), which is what most people pay monthly for their cable TV. Amazon Prime also offers a discounted Prime membership for students and EBT cardholders in the USA.
But if you are really attached to your cable TV, then consider re-negotiating your monthly costs by bundling it up with your Internet and phone services. Usually, you can cut anywhere from 25-50% off by bundling up your services with the same company.
I don’t have a home phone, and as I mentioned I also don’t watch cable TV. So that leaves me with the cost of the Internet. Because I prefer to use a high-speed Internet, this cost is quite high. I am not eligible for any bundle packages, but twice a year I try to re-negotiate my monthly fee by simply calling the provider and asking how I can lower my costs. Usually, the representatives go out of their way to find a way to lower your bill and keep you as a customer.
Utilize your home to generate extra income.
If you don’t live in a tiny condo and enjoy a more spacious home, you might want to consider utilizing a part of your home to generate extra income. While some people swear by Airbnb, I do not recommend letting strangers into your home. As a single mother with children, this is a risk you don’t want to take regardless of how lucrative renting out your home might be. So please just don’t do it.
Instead, you can set up an area in your home to generate extra income by offering pet sitting or occasional childcare. See point #2 in my post “How To Make Money Online As A Single Mom” where I describe how you can advertise your pet sitting services online and use your home to make it happen. If you would rather offer childcare then you can post the information about your service in your local online community on Facebook, and also ask other mom friends to have your information on hand if someone asks.
Save money on home energy all year round.
Most people enjoy a much smaller electricity bill during the summer. But you don’t have to wait till summer to save. This little visual by Energy Smart shows where most energy leaks happen at home, so you need to know how to enjoy your home and save money.
Learn how you can lower your energy consumption and your bill by 50% all year round in this post.
Get to know your groceries.
One of the top priorities for moms is to feed their children well. As such, we tend to spend a lot of money on groceries, snacks, and food takeouts. If you notice that no matter how much food you buy you run out of ingredients to cook with at home, you might be wasting a lot of money on impulse food items you actually don’t use.
Your first step is to take an inventory of your fridge, freezer and kitchen pantry. Observe what items you end up not using or throwing out, and stop buying them. For example, stop buying numerous boxes of cookies, cereals, and snacks and focus on meal-worthy items instead. You can do a lot with pasta, potatoes, beans, and other high nutrition ingredients.
Know how to unclog your toilet for free.
This does not sound glamorous, but toilets do clog more often than we’d like. Especially with our little ones at home, who might be throwing copious amounts of toilet paper in there! While calling a professional plumber might sometimes be necessary, first try these free and tested ways to do it yourself for free. The last time I had a plugged toilet, I discovered I wasn’t using the plunger correctly. I also used the secret plumber’s trick and it worked like a charm!
Watch this video to learn how to use the plunger the way certified plumbers do. Find out the “secret plumber’s trick” to unclog a toilet.
Grow your own herbs and greens.
Growing your herbs and greens at home offers a few advantages. It’s convenient, provides you with freshest ingredients for your cooking, and allows you to save money every month.
I simply bought various seeds and a bit of soil at a nearby plant store, and planted some of the herbs I most frequently use in my cooking. I also love that my daughter can participate in planting and growing the seeds and see them turn into actual plants we eat! It is a very fun and satisfying process. If you want to learn tips on how to grow fresh greens at home, check out this post via Chelsea Green Blog.
Become your favorite barista.
If you love good coffee, you know that brewing a great tasting cup of coffee is somewhat of an art. Buying coffee at Starbucks or boutique coffee shops might be convenient, but it’s also an expensive habit to maintain. Many people make a mistake of buying a cheap low-quality coffee brewing machine, only to find themselves going to Starbucks again.
Instead, consider higher quality appliances which will help you make a great cup of coffee every time. This is a one-time expense that can help you save quite a bit of money in the long run.
Tip: Look for coffee machines that don’t require any pricey coffee pods or extra expenses to operate it.
Recover some cash by de-cluttering.
As I wrote in my earlier post on de-cluttering, I am not a big fan of rummaging through my stuff to find what I need to let go of. Perhaps it’s because this process reminds me of how wasteful I’ve been with my finances. Yet, getting into a habit of de-cluttering on a regular basis was an absolutely necessary step in my recovery as a deals’ shopaholic. In the last couple of years, I sold, donated, and disposed of a lot of items that I wish I never bought in the first place. Not because I no longer liked them, but because I realized how much more I could have done with all that money, especially as a single mother.
Learn how to get rid of your stuff quickly and generate some good cash!
I hope these ways to save money at home will prove useful to you. Want to share your personal favorite ways to save at home? Post below in the comments section or on our Facebook page!