I hate staying home. Being a stay at home mom. I don't mind the actual staying home part. I get to hang out with my kiddos more. I am seeing things in Little Missy that I missed with Little Man. She and I get to spend our days hanging out. I have time to work out (even though I still find time not to!) and do all those things that I've never been able to do all day. It's also given the kids opprotunities that they would not have had if I was working. Little Man got to go to preschool last year because I wasn't working. It was 3.5 hours a day and he had to be dropped off and picked up. Because of him going, I feel like he had a little leg up when he started kindergarten and he got started on speech classes. He has a speech problem. It's gotten tons better, but it's still there. I think and hope that 6 months in preschool helped.
But, I'm off track. The main reason I hate staying home is because I'm not contributing money to the household. I don't feel like I can't spend hubby's paycheck, what's his is mine! I think he had a problem sharing at first (he was 37 when we got married, that's a long time of being on your own and I don't fault him for the adjustment), but he doesn't have a problem thinking of it as ours. I just hate that we can't put more into savings, retirement, or pay down debt faster because I'm not working. I don't like the fact that I'm not using my education, but that really can't be helped.
So, since I'm not bringing in money, I've decided that saving us money is my job. When I first told hubby about instant win games, I think he thought I was stupid. Seriously. He now loves that I save us money, even though he thinks I'm addicted to the internet (which is only slightly true). I never shop without coupons. Only being able to shop at the commissary limits our saving abilities, but I do what I can. If he is with me when I grocery shop, he'll ask if I have a coupon or help me find the best deal. I love him for that!!
I know I go on and on about
instant win games, but I have seriously done awesome with them. I keep a spreadsheet of everything I win and the value of it. In the last year, everything I have won is over $3,400 worth of stuff. A lot of the stuff is gift cards and coupons for free items. These really make a difference in reducing grocery bills. Gift cards are also good at buying fun stuff (meaning new clothes for me!!). If I get a gift card or something that I can't use, I'll either give it away or sell it on Ebay. I won a PS3 game from a Subway game a few months ago. I just sold it on Ebay for like $40. I also won a flip camera. The same one sells for like $185 at Best Buy. I don't need it, so it's going on Ebay too. I save up all that Ebay money and it goes to reduce debt. Well, except for the necklace I just bought from
Melissa.
I do get a little jealous when I see about the savings people had shopping at CVS, Walgreens, or Rite Aid. You can get some killer deals if you know what you are doing at those stores. Just know that if you are looking to reduce your bills or anything similar, try playing instant win games and make sure you use your coupons!!! You won't get rich (the only large item I ever won was a laptop from Aafes (and you better believe I had to pay taxes on it), everything else is relatively cheap), but it is kinda fun and helps me feel better about not contributing to our household.
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