Working from Home with Baby

Many of us dream about what it will be like when our baby arrives and how we will find a work situation that is conducive to our wants and needs. Focusing on what you enjoy doing or what you are good at and then looking for something that allows you to either work reduced hours or from home is a popular choice. So you get a situation where you are lucky enough to work from home, it’s a dream come true! Then the reality sets in–how in the world will you get it all done with baby underfoot and tending to their every need? Here are some tried and true tips to help keep baby as your number one priority while allowing you to keep your sanity.

*Develop a more creative work schedule. The regular 9-5 schedule that you used to keep may no longer be a reality. Once the baby is mobile, your dreams of putting baby next to you and jumping on the laptop are short lived. It helps to be able to get up early to get some work done, or to focus on your job after you’ve put the baby down for a nap. Getting work done in the evening in front of the tv works well, and it’s worth noting that you are still doing all of this from the comfort of your own home.

*Learn to make the most of your time. This sounds obvious, but it really helps to make a list and prioritize every item on it. If the baby goes down for a nap or daddy is spending some quality time with her, then use that time to cross off the higher priority items. Just keep chipping away at it little by little and you will be amazed at what a multi tasker you’ve become. It happens to every mother, you learn to manage your time and multi task–both of these skills will help you in getting work done while still taking care of baby.

*Keep things in perspective as it helps you from getting stressed out. You are still home with that little darling and that’s the most important thing. You’d be amazed at what a couple of hours on the weekend or in the evenings can do for your workload. Even if the days get crazy or you don’t get as much done as you’d like, remember that you’ve still managed to find a situation that allows you to be home with your baby. A dream come true!

Working from home can be possible if you make some slight adjustments in your mindset and priority list. If you are lucky enough to find something allowing you to work from home, keep in mind how lucky you are and use that positive energy to help you get through the craziest of days.

Go Cash Only and Save

ABC ran the story of a family who got rid of all their plastic and went cash only for a year. They ended up saving over 24% of what they had spent the year before. Be prepared to make some other adjsutments to your life though:

One of the most noticeable downsides the Farhats noticed was how using cash only slowed down their fast-paced lives. Even gassing up the family’s SUV could turn into a half-day excursion when paying in cash.

Easy Ways to Reduce Printing Costs

Have you ever tried to print out a website only to find that you have 5 pages of material and what you really wanted to print has the last two words on each line truncated? It’s frustrating. Or the ever popular second page with only an email signature. I had almost given up on saving trees when I found this tip and several others at Thehowtogeek.com:

Instead of very quickly wasting all of your color ink printing photos on your home printer, you can get cheap rates on print-and-mail photo prints from any number of online establishments. You can use previously mentioned digital print comparison site PrintRates.com to easily see who has the best prices, and possibly save yourself a lot of money the next time you need to send out holiday photos.

Clip More Coupons with These Sites

Centsoff.com
Thecouponclippers.com
Smartsource.com

For a review of the sites, don’t forget to head over to themomsbuzz.com and find out how best to use these sites.

Alternate Funding for College

Are you currently wondering how you are going to pay for college, or you want to pay for your child’s college, but you don’t know how? Don’t be discouraged, there are many different ways to help you achieve this goal. Surf Net Parents has some great information on the different options you have when saving for your child’s education. For example, here’s what they write about 529 plans:

Basically, a 529 Savings Plan is a fantastic way to save money for college without having to think too much about it. Money is allocated to the savings plan as often as you’d like and the savings will just continue to grow as it accumulates interest. This is definitely an investment into your or your child’s future.

Can Produce before the Season Ends

If you can carve out a day for canning produce you will save yourself quite a bit of money. In addition, you’ll be able to have those fall harvest foods well into the winter and save some veggies from the compost pile. Jenny at Blissfully Domestic has put together a selection of links to help you preserve that produce and your cash. My favorite from these links: Canning 101.

Improve how you Handle Your Personal Finances

HeatherB over at the Blogher.com Network has put together a collection of activities personal finance bloggers are doing right now to keep their finances in shape. The activities range from practical hand-me-down tips to surfing new websites that offer time and money saving ideas. You’ll find more tips like the one below in her article “Personal Finance in Financial Crisis.”

My mom always used to say “heat rises” this was an answer to statement that I was cold and would need to put on slippers, sweater or a hat to stay warm if I didn’t want to lose that internal body heat. All three items that when put together make you very toasty in your home in a matter of minutes. And as I write this I realize I am bouncing my legs up and down to keep warm and should really take mom’s advice and go puton my fuzzy slippers and maybe even a robe or sweatshirt.

Toiletries for Free? You bet!

It’s hard not to have my budget constantly at the forefront of my mind these days. So I’ve been looking into ways I can cut down on the cost of grocery bills. That’s when I stumbled upon Linsey Knerl’s article “6 Ways to get your Toiletries for Cheap or Even Free.” I’ve been implementing her tips for a week now and I am happy to see some extra pennies at the bottom of the piggy bank!

How to Live On Only One Income

It’s easier than you think. The hard part is getting rid of all that extra stuff that you’ve become accustomed to. Frugal Dad tells us his story of moving to a one income family and he offers this insight to any one contemplating the move:

Before making the move, pay off debts and stack up some cash.
Stay away from new cars.
Do not underestimate costs for the stay at home parent.
Do not attempt to keep up with two income families.
As a stay at home mom or dad, look for ways to become the “home economist.”

My husband “retired” when our first son was born and we’ve been a single income family for almost three years now. In those three years I’ve received several raises, we purchased a used van for cash, and put 20% down on our first house. It was a difficult first few years but we’re very accustomed to it now and we’re beginning to have “extra money” again. And our children have had the benefit of a parent around 24/7 - priceless.

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