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Remember when you were a kid, and realized that your mom really could be in two placed at once. She could get you to school, go to work, take you to soccer, make dinner, and finish your laundry all without breaking a sweat. She most likely still had time to finish your science project for you. It taks a special person to be a mom. To handle not only the kids, but dad as well.
In this tough economy mom’s are having more trouble keeping the budget together than they are handling an all girls sleepover. Dad may be the bread winner in the family, although that’s not true in every case, but moms have to deal with the bills, the collection calls, and most importantly their family’s needs. But can they do it without taking a little more of their time and no money from their private piggy bank.
Moms can make sure that the budget includes everything their family needs from the clothes on their back to the food on the table, and everything in between. However, parents tend to sacrifice their own lifestyle for their family. Budgets don’t have to make you choose between yourself and your family. Balance out costs that affect everyone. Try clipping coupons and buying store brands at the grocery store, or buying in bulk the things you use the most.
Once you have a handle on the basics, write down all the major bills, credit cards, utilities, gas, and insurance, if your budget is over what you have coming in, or even over what you are comfortable with, see where you can cut more corners. Things like baking your own birthday cake and making homemade pizza for a birthday celebration, using Netflix instead of Blockbuster or going to the movies, and look into an energy saving estimate that could save you money on utilities every month. Cutting back doesn’t have to mean giving things up, but perhaps exploring alternative services with other companies. Search for companies that you know often give discount deals.
For instance, get on mailing lists for all the stores that you frequent. Pay attention to some of those annoying telemarketing calls, they might have something you want. And pay attention to your junk mail, you may have been missing out on a months worth of premium channels from Directv or restaurant coupons from your favorite neighborhood spot.
