Sharon from Mom on Dealz sent in the following testimonial that I thought would be a real encouragement to some of you:
When we found out I was pregnant with our first son Will, I knew I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. At that time, our incomes were not enough to make that happen–or so I thought.
My husband and I sat down and really evaluated our budget. After careful consideration and a lot of prayer, we began eliminating monthly expenses and really stripped everything to the bare minimum. We cut out gym memberships, magazine subscriptions, going out to eat, and many extracurricular activities such as my husband’s golfing and my pedicures.
It was a bit painful, but our goal was to make it so I could stay home for one year with our baby. After all of the cuts, we found we had a very difficult choice to make–we were four months shy of having enough money to stay home for a year. We had to choose whether I would return to work when Will was 12 weeks old and finish the school year, or not return and only have February through September with him.
We decided I would finish out the year since that would give us a bit more money and would then give me more time home with Will. After making this tough decision, I returned to work and finished the school year.
In June, I celebrated even more because I knew I could be home with my son. It did not take very long before I realized I wanted to be home much longer than the originally planned year. But how? My husband’s income was minimal and the savings we had put aside would only last a year.
That’s how my couponing journey began! Couponing has been our number one way of saving money. By matching up store deals with coupons, we have cut our grocery bill drastically.
My husband and I have also left no stone unturned for bringing in extra income. I have taught and tutored part-time as well as started a blog about frugal living that brings in a very small amount.
My husband has also done some side jobs and recently has turned a pergola home project into a money-maker! Small side jobs do add up and have contributed to me now being home three years. We still “do without” a lot of extras but our needs are met and we know we are doing what is best for our family.
We have followed Dave Ramsey’s financial plan and although we haven’t paid off any major debt, we have managed to not create any new bills. In this economy I would say that’s a success story! I do plan on returning to teaching when the boys enter traditional school but until then we are treasuring this precious time together. -Sharon
Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it 
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