I am going to throw this out there for suggestions from all of you. I feel like an ameteur in stretching my budget after reading your posts.  Due to a rather chronic illness (IBS/Fibermyalgia) I am making plans to leave work and work at home (I'm a licensed attorney).  Since my income will be sporadic, I won't include all possibilities but I think I can count on about $500/mo. after I pay my self employment taxes.  I have a family of 4 (my husband and I and two girls).  Here are the set monthly expenses:

 Mortgage $1,120, Taxes $333, Insurance $100      Security System $20, Electric Average of $150, Phone $23, Trash $17, Long Distance $10, and Cell Phone (used partially for my work $68)                   Car Insurance $50                      Student Loans $242                    Daycare $25, Church $60, Lunch Money $36  Allowance $25

 This does not include my Groceries, Gasoline, Gifts or Clothes.  When I stayed home this summer I spent about $200 a month on gasoline.  But I really see these four areas as being the biggest area where I can make my dollars stretch. 

My husband has a take home income of $3400.  I want to put money aside for retirement (He fully participates in his 401K), money away for kid's college, and for a big vacation such as a trip to D.C. or Alaska every 3 years. 

Any suggestions you can give me would be appreciated.  I value your input and read this daily.  In my area, there is a Craigslist frugal forum and sometimes people say pretty mean things to others.  That has never occurred on this site so I feel okay with asking. 

Well, here you definitely find tips!   Its hard to see what your total expenses are the way they are laid out but I assume you know what the total is.  I have two little ones and know the running around with them with kindergarten and preschool.

General things are like saving on gas by combining errands, finding deals on groceries, cooking from scratch, clothes etc.  Shopping for kids clothes on ebay, consignment stores, thrift shops etc.  Hanging clothes to dry. finding free activities for the kids,  It is all little things that add up. Even putting $20 away a month adds up.  cutting down on eating out.  eating healthier..less junk food etc.

Check for cheaper rates on insurance, phone etc. 

Look at other frugal websites/blogs for more ideas.  It doesn't apply to me since I am in Canada but the blogs go on about cvs, walgreens etc rewards alot. with coupons they seem to get great deals.

Fixed Expenses = 2279  Income = 3900 , leftover for variables is 1621. This is what you have to play with until your student loans are paid off. Gas is not going down (i looked into my crystal ball) so you might have to bump up that to $250 per month. Food? That's a great place to cut back but honestly with the fibro you might need to compromise by buying prepared/frozen options for those bad days, or if your children are old enough they could help with chopping and cutting things up. (like for pizzas, buy the prepared shells, sauce and grated mozzarella, it's still much cheaper than having it delivered). This might be too basic but here are my tips - don't buy boneless cuts of chicken because the price is so much higher, buy vegs from a farm stand and freeze the cheap veggies for the winter - a great savings if produce has to travel far in the winter. Use kitchen appliances like a bread maker and crockpot to cut costs (making bread without having to hand knead it is marvelous, and slow cooking tenderizes everything). Bean burritos are a staple in our household - canned beans are inexpensive, dried ones can be cooked in the crockpot - they are also packed with nutrition. We also eat a lot of pasta to fill in meals and stretch the money. We just stopped eating out except for two or three breakfasts a month (my husband and I both work evening jobs) which are cheaper than fine dining (which I miss sometimes ) I also buy lots of cans of soup when it goes on sale so I can have that for a quick meal when I don't have time to cook but want something warm. I tend to look at convenience food as ways to take food on the go or eat quickly at home so I don't spend money when I'm out and hungry.

So if you say $250 for gas per month, 300 for food, 200 for clothes, gifts, and toiletries, that would still leave you $871 per month. The way I work our home budget is that I put much of our income in savings but some of the savings is for gifts/clothes, veterinarian visits, medical bills, car repairs, house repairs....whatever pops up that month. We are on a tight budget right now while we pay off debts so we can't do all the house stuff or whatever when we want to, only as we can put the money aside. See if you can swap kids' clothes with friends - they go through stuff so quickly, it usually looks new through a couple of individuals. When my girls were in jr. and sr. high they would have friends over and swap clothes with each other. This was wonderful when it came to all the formal dances and proms - one dress would get worn by three or four girls over the years, and it made me feel better about the cost (and that my girls got to wear dresses bought by others).

But with 871 per month (or $500 per month if you need more for clothes, etc. and food) you can put $200 in a retirement account and $300 in a vacation account (or more).

This is the best I can figure out for you. I have fibro too and just want to make one more suggestion - yoga! I refused to walk for much of two years due to the crippling pain. I couldn't hold a knife to cut up a stick of butter and had to have someone else open cans. I hated being so housebound out of fear of making the pain worse. I started doing yoga, one hour each week and now I work three jobs (one as nanny to a family of four children: three of them are 4 and under so I run around like crazy with them), and there is nothing that stops me from what I want to do. Yoga saved my life, and believe me when I started it, I almost gave up, it was so painful for the first few weeks,....I kept going and got my life back.

Blessings. I hope I haven't been too bold with your budget, it's such a personal thing where we choose to spend our money but I understand the pinch of having children to raise while looking out for our retirement.

Pam

There are some simple things that can be done that will save some pennies but may add up in the long run. Saving old cotton T-shirts for cleaning instead of using paper towels. In short using anything that is washable instead of disposable will save money and mean fewer trips to the store. It has been suggested here and elsewhere about using things like old wash cloths on a swiffer dust mop instead of throw-away use-once-only pads. Making your own cleaning solutions from basics like vinegar, dish soap, or baking soda. Evaluate everything that you may be getting rid of to see if there is a possible second or third use for it before putting it in the trash. Think twice about spending money on any gadget that is single purpose. Kitchen gadgets and some appliances are an example.

Good luck with what you do and keep reading here for help with your budget. E 

Hi everyone,  Boy you guys are just chock full of great information!  Lots of great tips and practical ideas to implement.  I'd be sure to recruit the entire family in this endeavour.  It's kinda hard just doing it yourself.

Pumpkin 390. Great Suggestion about getting the whole family involved.  We had a sit down family meeting last weekend to discuss my job change.  Last night I had to explain to our teen why we could not order pizza from the local delivery place.  She offered to pay for it with her allowance!  We did not order the pizza as it is hard on my IBS anyways.  I hope my kids will begin to see that while being frugal and cutting back on expenses means you can't have everything immediately, it does not entail complete deprivation!  It's just a switch in mentality.  I did show the whole family the numbers with only my husband's paycheck coming in.  I will keep you all updated on our progress. 

 The tips were great.  I already am utilzing many of them but I need to do better in many areas.  I can't recall the name of the individual who recommended yoga but your story sounds like mine.  I just hurt and it's difficult to open jars, use utensils, etc.. I have a yoga tape reserved at the library.  I hope it and the less stressful life will help me heal a bit. 

Thanks again. 

Besides being able to reduce a food budget, clothing is another area where you can really cut down. Depending on your lifestyle this requires some modifications. But generally, make what you have last longer, don't buy trendy styles/colors so you can wear them longer, and don't be afraid to buy gently used clothing (from garage sales, thrift shops, or swapping with friends). If you work from home, your work clothing requirements will change as you won't be dressing up as much. Worst thing for me having growing boys is shoes. That's one thing that is hard to get for kids second hand as they are worn out so much I have to break down and get those new. (I tend to put them on birthday and christmas shopping lists to grandparents to help.)

Lillett,  Sounds like you're on the right track.  Sometimes teens can be a hard-sell!  Don't get discouraged if or when the newness of this wears off, (especially where teens are concerned).  I wish you and your family all the best and will keep you in my prayers. 

 My teens have gotten jobs and if they want something not in the budget....they pay. Actually, our boys started delivering papers at age 8. DD got a babysitting job and more recently is cleaning someones house. That has helped by budget a lot. They buy their own clothes, gas, pizza and stuff. Babs

Years ago I had a job that required certain dress clothes in certain colors (I was a supervisor) so they gave me a clothing budget of $300.  I bought a classic suit or pants with it and now have a healthy wardrobe of nice suits.  Being that I will only be part time, I don' t think I will need much in the way of clothes for work. Actually, my parents live on a very busy highway and I am planning on selling a lot of the clothes my kids have outgrown, clothes I don't use, and other items.  I am hoping to make enough off it to buy the kids school clothes in the fall.  I let my kids mark their stuff so the money they receive they get to use for school clothes (we did this two years ago) so they really go through their stuff including toys and get rid of that they don't play with.  My eldest daughter has been asked to babysit and has done so several times.  It looks like she will have a steady summer with the babysitting.  She saved her babysitting money last year to buy an I-pod since my husband and I said "no".  They both get a small allowance (apparently we are on the low end of the allowance as compared to other parents) and they must use that for anything like going to basketball game, buying a movie, etc..  It's funny but I am in a way looking forwarding to downshifting with my own office and leading a more simple life.