Question for Stay at Home Moms

MB_Positif
MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
in Motivation and Support
I wasn't sure where to post this, but I don't think of it as chit chat or fun and games. I recently lost my job due to my company being crazy slow. So I will be home, collecting unemployment until I get a new job. Sadly I have worked all 5 years of my sons life so now that I am going to be home, he'll be in school next week. That leaves me with a lot of hours. I plan to work out more. I plan to do some serious cleaning projects. I plan to purge and organize my house. The thing that I need help with is how do you stop yourself from going out shopping when you really don't have money to spend!??!! Pretty much everytime I had a day off I would run errands and end up being out spending money! I can't do that now and I want to know how you stop yourselves from doing it. So I need motivation and support on how to make this work. Jobs in my field are SCARCE, so even if I get a job soon, it will likely be lower paying than what I am used to. Eeek!

Replies

  • sarahmaryfearnley
    sarahmaryfearnley Posts: 366 Member
    I'm not a mom but this spring I stopped working to focus on my PhD and only worked part time this fall with the same plan for the spring. I have had a full time job since I was in my 20s so it was a big adjustment.

    I found I spent a lot of money those first couple of months doing just what you described, errands, boredom, etc. It seemed like every day was Sat and what do you do on the weekends? Groceries, errands, shopping ....... spend money.

    A couple of things that worked for me was making a schedule for myself. I am a creature of routine and habit so it helped to be on a schedule even though sometimes I wasn't leaving the house. That way, if you only plan to do errands, say once a week, the temptation to go out and spend money is reduced. I also started riding my bike to run out and get milk or whatever. It is added exercise and I can't buy very much bc I have to carry it on my back home.

    Good Luck!
  • deeharley
    deeharley Posts: 1,208 Member
    Cash - if you need a certain amount of money to run your errands, take exactly how much cash you need to get those errands done. Don't take any cards with you. Then, when your errands are done, you have to go home.
  • amykach
    amykach Posts: 5
    My kids are quite young, so they aren't in school yet. But I try to find inexpensive things to do that get us out of the house that don't end up in stores.

    I also schedule everything, and make lists for everything, and really try to stick to it. I find if I schedule things, I'm more likely to stick to them, instead of being tempted to go out and shop just for something to do.

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