Yesterday I shared with you the first half of 5 Ways to S-t-r-e-t-c-h a Budget. If you haven’t read the first half, I encourage you to do so as it contains the foundation of our frugal living. In these tough economic times, it’s hard to find ways to make a small budget work, especially if you have a large family and are living on a single income. These tips should help.
And now, for part 2:
3. Pray for Your Needs and 4. Buy Gently Used
(these two overlap quite a bit)
Appliances – Finding good deals on appliances is admittedly harder than saving money on other items, but it can be done! Our first action is to pray about it. Remember, the Lord promises to provide for our needs. Our favorite money-saving techniques when buying gently used appliances are to look at garage sales, ask friends and family to be on the lookout for us, check craigslist, buy scratch and dent, and so forth.
Vehicles – We have never had a car payment, ever. When we realize that it’s time for a new (to us) vehicle, we start praying! Sensing a theme yet? 🙂 We know we cannot afford a car payment while attempting to pay down student loans, so we ask God to send us a vehicle that will meet our needs as well as our budget. Praise the Lord, He has always provided the vehicles we needed, sometimes even at no cost to us, including the necessary switch to a minivan before the birth of our twins! Then, we are often able to pass on the blessing by giving our old vehicle to someone else in need.
For necessary car repairs, we also pray. My husband does whatever he can himself, but if it’s a major repair, we usually have to ask for help. We’ve been blessed with some mechanics in the family, but when they are busy we have also turned to church family or friends. If you know someone mechanically minded, you could even trade services – offer to babysit, make a meal, or some other skill you or your husband have!
Furniture – In our home, you will not find new furniture. It’s a luxury we cannot afford, although I’ll admit I’ve been tempted at times! The majority of our furniture has come from garage sales, hand-me-downs, Goodwill, Craigslist, and so forth. We often pray for furniture needs as well, especially when we moved last year and our twins needed to graduate to full-sized beds and dressers of their own.
God provided a set of bunkbeds, a loft bed, a few dressers, a desk, and more – most of which came from one garage sale. We had looked at loft beds online for our daughter’s room since it was going to be quite small, but they were very pricey. We prayed about it and just didn’t feel peaceful about spending that much money on a want. That very weekend, God provided via the garage sale where we found a white loft bed with matching shelves and dresser – all for $50! They wanted to get rid of it so badly, they even threw in an extra desk. Praise the Lord! If we had not been willing to wait, we would have unnecessarily spent well over $400.
Baby Items – We have pretty much outgrown the baby years here, but when we found out we were pregnant with twins over four years ago, I learned a lot about trusting God to provide for needs in this area. He provided a second crib, clothing, a second exersaucer (which wasn’t even a need, really), and so forth from generous friends and even neighbors. We even found car seats we really liked on clearance in one of those moments when you know God is just blessing you for the fun of it! 🙂
I also shopped a lot of garage sales, but my favorite place to shop was the nearest second-hand baby store, called Once Upon a Child. Not only are the gently used items half the price of a new item, but also outgrown baby clothing and items can be traded in for cash or store credit. If you don’t have one in your area, check for another baby thrift store. E-bay was another source of gently used items that I utilized. Last but not least, I often swapped items with ladies at church. For more ideas on how to save in the baby area, read 9 Ways to Save on Kids’ Clothes.
Vacations – We do splurge a little in this area (at least what we call splurging). God has always provided a way for us to vacation when needed.
Now that my husband ministers full-time, vacations are becoming much more of an actual need than a want, and as the saver in the family, I’m learning to see them that way. 🙂 However, the funding isn’t always available, even for a “cheap” vacation like camping. In this case, we have vacationed at relatives’ homes, we have swapped houses, and we have even found some ministries for pastor’s families who help provide lodging. If you are a family in full-time ministry in desperate need of rejuvenation, please visit this site: http://www.lawrencewilson.com/free-retreats-vacations-pastors/ .
Utilities – You can only stretch this budget so far since heat and electricity are necessities (in this country anyway). However, setting the thermostat at 66 or 67 in the winter months and 75 or 76 in the summer months saves quite a bit of money. If you can’t go that far, even a couple of degrees can make a difference.
Consider rewarding your children for turning off unnecessary lights or appliances in the home to motivate them to keep utility costs to a minimum. Additionally, we utilize the budget-billing program to keep our monthly costs even, which is easier to budget for. Consider investing in energy efficient appliances, but only if you have the finances to. Again, if your budget is lacking, pray about it.
5. Do It Yourself Whenever Possible
Haircuts, Home improvements, Home decorating, Lanscaping, Gardening, Sewing, Homemade cleaning products – whatever you can do on your own rather than paying someone else to do is like money in the bank! A $25 pair of clippers lasts a long time – just sayin’. (See this tutorial to learn how to cut boy hair at home and my pinterest board for lots of other DIY tutorials.) Learn how to re-purpose everyday items such as baby wipes. And with the invention of Pinterest and the DIY blogs readily available, we really have little excuse to avoid learning some new skills, right? 🙂
If you have already tried to d-i-y and it just isn’t working, why not trade services to save money on the things you need help with? A few years ago, I promised my husband I would never again ask him to lay laminate wood flooring after we sold our previous home. He was miserable doing it and encountered much difficulty, even with the help of my brother-in-law! But we can barter with friends next time we need new flooring.
So that’s how we live frugally to achieve our financial goals. After 14 years of marriage, my husband has learned to appreciate my frugal nature, and I have learned to allow him to balance it out. Sometimes it’s nice to have the freedom to buy something new, or something that is a want rather than a need. I’m thankful for God’s wisdom in the mate He chose for me!
I’m sure I missed something, but I hope these ideas have helped you find areas in which you can stretch your budget, too! Even if you currently have a budget with a little room to spare, why not consider cutting back in just one area so that you can support global missions or feed a hungry child? When looking around our home, I can see there are things that we could live without even today, so I’m challenging myself here, too. Remember that as with any changes in life, learning to live more frugally is a work in progress. Even small steps can lead to success!
Have a great budget-stretching tip? Share with us in the comments!
Jen 🙂
If you enjoyed this post, you might suggest these practical suggestions for making things last:
http://harvestlanecottage.blogspot.com/2013/06/forty-ways-to-use-it-up-wear-it-out.html
or this post with additional ideas for savings in order to live on one income:
http://yourmodernfamily.com/how-to-become-a-stay-at-home-mom-on-one-income/
or these postw detailing how to save on kids’ clothes:
9 Ways to Save on Kids’ Clothes (part 1)
9 Ways to Save on Kids’ Clothes (part 2)
Also linking up at:
Lorneth says
I really enjoyed reading your blog! I am always looking for ways to save so I am looking forward to parts 3-5! Thanks also for connecting with me at my blog.
stultsmamaof4 says
Lorneth,
Thanks so much for visiting. Parts 3-5 are actually up already, I just forgot to make a link to them at the end of the post. So, thanks for that reminder!
Jen 🙂
Elena Ferdinand says
Just wanted to say thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment on my Inspiring Blog Headers II post! Hope you’re having a great Tuesday :o)
– croppedstories@gmail.com
stultsmamaof4 says
Thanks for visiting, Elena! Hope your day is good, as well.
Jen 🙂
Elizabeth@Transitional-Woman says
Your five points on money saving were very comprehensive. I feel you were spot on with your emphasis on prayer. After 27 years of marriage, money is still tight and I always need to remind myself that God will provide for all our needs according to His riches in glory.
stultsmamaof4 says
Thanks, Elizabeth. I don’t always turn directly to praying for a need, but I’m learning to make that my first recourse! 🙂 Thanks for visiting today.
Jen 🙂
Hazel Moon says
Thank you for visiting Nancy Kehr’s site. I am posting for her today.
http://songsatnight.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-song-from-my-heart-repost.html
stultsmamaof4 says
Thanks for visiting back today, Hazel!
Jen 🙂
Renee says
Thanks for the reminder for prayer. Sometimes I don’t wait long enough. I definitely am going to look around and see what I can do differently since coming on mission to El Salvador, even though money is tight for us too.
stultsmamaof4 says
Renee, sometimes I don’t wait long enough either, which is why I call myself a work in progress. 🙂 But after 13 years of parenting, I’m learning to wait and see what God will do. Once my daughter needed summer pajamas and I couldn’t find any on clearance. I had very little hand-me-downs for her because she’s our only girl. I decided to try garage sales that weekend, and before I left, I felt prompted to pray for pajamas and a few other needs. The second garage sale we stopped at had tables full of clothing just the size my daughter needed, and wouldn’t you know – a whole section of pj’s! 🙂 I bought four or five pairs for less than the cost of one pair at Walmart. I think sometimes we only expect Him to provide for the BIG needs, but He cares about the little things, too. Thanks for visiting!
Jen 🙂
Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage says
Thanks so much for the plug, I found some ideas in your posts helpful, too. We pray for things we need as well.
God provides for us much better than hubby’s income supplies.
Blessings,
Laura Lane
Harvest Lane Cottage
stultsmamaof4 says
So true, Laura. He is the best provider! Thanks for visiting.
Jen 🙂
dianna says
Oh man I love it! Great advice, I do almost every one of things myself. We thought we were done after our 3 boys (love having a group of boys) when we had a little surprise. Not only was it a shocker but the baby turned out to be a girl. Didnt have many hand me downs this time lol. Luckily id learned the lesson that baby gear is not a neccessity. Buying 1 of everything is a waste of $ and floor space. For any first time mom’s out there worrying over the price of all stuff- ask a few different mom’s to list their must haves and compare what they say. Listen to the reasons they were musts too, and think about how that will fit into your lifestyle. Then choose a few. I get baby items from Craigslist, yard/church sales and from people just passing stuff on. My essentials were a Bumbo and a Rock N Play. I would’ve liked a vibrating chair but never found a cheap one. That’s the only “gear” ive used. Go old school and throw a blanket on the floor-that will be your babies favorite place to be!…..I use baby wipes for ABSOLUTELY everything. They are awesome for a quick bathroom wipe down and will get a stain out of almost any clothing. I learned that from my mom, she her mom. They’re 54 and 74, both still keep baby wipes stocked to this day.
jstults says
Great advice, Dianna! Thanks for sharing your insight with us here today!
Jen 🙂
Erica says
Wow, I really enjoyed reading and learning your tips on how to stretch a one income budget. Our family is one income too. So your articles were timely. I especially love the ultimate tip, which is praying about it all. Prayer is a major necessity. Thanks.
Shakema Gailliard says
Awesome Tips!!