One Year Later – How We’re Doing Financially After I Quit My Corporate Job to be a Stay at Home Mom

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This Saturday will officially mark one whole year since I quit my corporate job to be a stay at home mom.  While one of my long-term goals in life was to get to a point where I could eventually stay at home, it was not one of my goals for 2017.  Heck, it wasn’t even on my radar for 2018.  But due to circumstances at work, an opportunity presented itself, and after a lot of discussion and even more praying, B and I decided that I should take a leap of faith. 

And I did. 

And it has been the absolute biggest blessing.

This past year I have been to every single one of the kids’ class parties, I’ve been on loads of field trips with them, I spent an entire lazy summer off with them, I’ve volunteered countless times at their school, I’m rocking the room mom gig for Jacob’s class this school year, and B and I haven’t once had to scramble to figure out who was going to watch the kids on one of their many days off during the school year.  Gone is the mom guilt for missing any of the kids’ activities, and gone is the corporate employee guilt for having to take another long lunch or leave work early one more time.

Can I get an amen?!

However, along with my newfound freedom has also come new responsibility – cutting back on our spending and watching our money even more carefully than ever.  Before I get into the details, here is a little bit of background information on Brian and me…

B and I were both born with the gift of financial responsibility and both of us were well into our careers before we were engaged, so we both entered our marriage with zero debt (aside from B’s home mortgage, which is now our mortgage for the home we built together) and decent-sized savings accounts.  Because of this, we have been very blessed to be able to live comfortably since day one of our marriage.  Had circumstances been different (lots of debt, no savings, just out of college and starting our careers), I’m sure we would not have felt comfortable enough for me to take such a drastic leap like this. 

Before I quit, B and I looked at our monthly income, deducted my salary, went over our budget, decided where we could make some cuts, and we knew that we could swing it before I ever quit.  I NEVER WOULD HAVE QUIT MY JOB IF THERE HAD BEEN ANY UNCERTAINTY!! 

Now that you know a little bit about our financial background, I’m going to share all of the ways that we have cut back this past year and then I will answer the question about how we’re actually doing overall. 

How We’re Saving Money

(Please note that some of these figures are exact, but most of them are estimates and they do vary from month to month):

1. Moved Olivia from daycare to Pre-K4 at her new school.  Her new school is a private school so we are still paying tuition, but we are saving money each month since it is no longer considered daycare. – Total Monthly Savings $323
2. Took Jacob out of after-school care since I can now pick him up in the car line – Total Monthly Savings $112 ($135.00/month x 10 months during the school year = $1,350.00/12 months per year)
3. Took Jacob out of summer camp since I can now stay home with him – Total Monthly Savings $108 ($130.00/week x 10 weeks during the summer = $1,300.00/12 months per year)
4. Cut our Netflix DVD subscription to 2 DVDs instead of 3… yes, I do realize that DVDs are super old-school, but Netflix streaming doesn’t always have all the movies we want to watch, so we do still have a DVD subscription – Total Monthly Savings $4
5. Got rid of cable and home phone and switched to Sling TV and HD antenna – Total Monthly Savings $100
6. Got rid of Sirius XM Radio – Total Monthly Savings $13
7. Got rid of Tivo Mini in master bedroom – Total Monthly Savings $5
8. Brian started taking his lunch most days instead of going out to eat every day – Total Monthly Savings $75
9. Started eating Mexican more when going out to dinner as a family because it’s SO CHEAP!  – Total Monthly Savings $20
10. Stopped ordering drinks we have to pay for and started ordering water at restaurants more often, kids included… we still splurge on wine, beer, and margs, every now and then, though – Total Monthly Savings $20
11. Started shopping at Walmart for certain items rather than Publix… now that I have more time I have been buying a lot of the expensive items at Walmart (Halo Top, waffles, cereal, chips, etc.) and only shopping at Publix for certain things – Total Monthly Savings $50
12. Started shopping at Fresh Market for chicken on Tuesdays when it’s on sale… again, now that I have more time, I can go to multiple places for groceries if it means saving money.  Every Tuesday, Fresh Market puts their boneless, skinless chicken breasts on super sale and I only purchase from there now. – Total Monthly Savings $35
13. Started shopping at Trader Joe’s for wine… we used to purchase all kinds of different brands at different price points, but now any time we’re near a TJ’s we load up on their $2.99 Charles Shaw wine so we always have it on hand.  No more spending $10-$15 per bottle. – Total Monthly Savings $35
14. Started buying gift cards on Raise for every day use.  Raise is an app that you can use to buy gift cards at a discount and sell gift cards you are not going to use.  B has started purchasing gift cards for all of our frequented places (Starbucks, Old Navy, Carrabba’s, Five Guys, Chipotle, Chick-Fil-A, etc.) when he can get them for a good discount.  The gift cards are purchased for anywhere between 5-25% off, so we save money on the things that we’re already going to purchase.  See my detailed post about it here to see how you can get started and save $5 off of your first purchase! – Total Monthly Savings $20
15. Started using coupons for things we already buy – Total Monthly Savings $10  (I obviously need to step it up in this department because this number could be a lot higher!)
16. Started using cash back and rewards apps (Ibotta, Fetch Rewards, Ebates – see this post here) for things we already buy – Total Monthly Savings $20
17. Started buying more things (stocking up) when they are on sale Total Monthly Savings (not really sure how to calculate this)
18. We are now buying fewer nonessential items and waiting for sales/deals when buying nonessential items – Total Monthly Savings (not really sure how to calculate this either)

Total Savings Each Month – $950 (+ whatever we're saving on the last two items)

How We’re Making Extra Money

1. We got lucky with the timing of the raises at Brian’s job because they switched from giving raises in the fall to giving them in the spring this year, so he got two back-to-back raises, one in fall 2017 (right before I quit) and one in spring 2018 (right after I quit).
2. If we’re not using gift cards from Raise, we pay for every other expense with credit cards that earn points and give cash back.  This can be a dangerous game for anyone who is tempted to spend beyond their means, but B and I are always very careful to only spend what we can pay off each month and therefore, we don’t ever incur interest.  Instead, we pay every balance in full each month and accumulate points that can be redeemed for cash back.  We don’t use any credit cards that don’t have some kind of cash back or rewards program.  If you do, you’re leaving money on the table! 
3. I have more time to focus on my blog now, so I’ve started dedicating more time to affiliate marketing and sponsored content.  This blog post has been viral on Pinterest for several months and it has been generating a decent income in affiliate sales, so this has been very helpful financially.  Other collaborations with brands also bring in income and/or save us money on the things that we would have needed to buy anyway.  For example, this month we are saving almost $250 because we’re getting our Christmas cards for free due to a collaboration I was able to snag.  Post is coming soon!
4. I was also recently accepted into the Mediavine family.  In case you’re not familiar with them, they are a full service ad management company for content creators like me.  All of the ads you see on my blog are now managed by them and I am now making more money per day with Mediavine than I made in an entire week with Google Adsense.  Fingers crossed that my passive income continues to grow each month!
5. We had a yard sale back during the summer that generated a nice lump sum for us to put away.
6. Brian has been focusing even more on stocks/trading/investments and they have been generating a decent income although there are no guarantees for the future.
7. We switched banks for a higher interest rate on our savings account.
8. We started selling things we don’t need on ebay and FB (CDs, toys, various household items) which has generated a small side income.

On Travel, Experiences, and Other Frivolous Purchases

Vacations and experiences (concert-going, football games, date nights) are very much a priority for our family so we make sure to set aside money each month for those.  We made it to several concerts this year (Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Dave Matthews Band, Ed Sheeran, etc.) and continued to purchase season tickets for the Georgia football games as we always do, so our experiences were not compromised when I quit since they have always been factored into our budget. 

With regard to our Disney World trip earlier this year, that trip was already paid for before I quit my job, so that didn’t affect our budget for the year at all.  We all know how expensive a Disney trip is, so that would have been a tough one to budget for, and that’s why we are already thinking about a 2020 Disney trip.  It’s never too early to start saving! 

With regard to our beach trip, we still went and did everything we would have done before I quit my job, but we did try to save money where we could.  For example, we did downsize our condo for the beach this year to save money.  Instead of getting our usual two bedroom condo, we just booked a one bedroom and the kids slept on the living room floor in sleeping bags.  They’d prefer to sleep in sleeping bags anyway, so it just made sense, and it didn’t decrease our overall experience in any way.  As a matter of fact, I think this was one of my favorite beach trips ever!  And we were still able to save a good chunk of money!

With regard to our mountain trip that we take every year, we are very fortunate to have family members who own a house in the mountains and they graciously let us stay there for free.  Therefore, we were able to take a trip this fall and not have to pay for a place to stay.

How We’re Actually Doing

While making all of these changes has saved us a decent amount of money each month, it honestly hasn’t affected our overall quality of life very much.  We are still going out to eat, attending concerts, going on dates, traveling, and having fun… we’re just being smarter about saving money wherever else we can.  I honestly don’t miss that third DVD from Netflix, the Sirius XM radio, the Tivo Mini, the more expensive wine (TJ’s is the best anyway!), or any of those other things we cut back on… well, maybe I miss having cable a tiny bit.  But only this time of year because I can’t watch Hallmark Christmas movies.  Haha.  I’m perfectly content with my Christmas music or Christmas movies on Netflix anyway!  Don’t ask me to give up Netflix! 

For me, one of the harder things has been curbing my shopping.  I definitely wasn’t a shopaholic or anything like that prior to quitting my job, but when I saw something I wanted I would buy it without thinking twice.  Now that I’m not working, I’m way more intentional with my purchasing. 

If you’re a long-time reader, then you know that 2018 has been the year for me to simplify, and even if we hadn’t gone down to one income I had already planned to be more intentional with my purchases.  Not buying tons of new stuff has significantly cut down on clutter and excess, and this whole experience has changed my overall mentality for the better.  There is less to tidy up each day and I feel like we’re no longer drowning in clutter.  That has done wonders for my mental state. 

And let me go ahead and say, I haven’t stopped shopping altogether.  I will always and forever love fashion and I will always and forever buy a few new pieces each season, but putting this simplifying mentality in place has helped me to realize that I should only purchase things that I absolutely love.  I no longer purchase anything if I just kind of like it or am on the fence about it.  If I don’t love it to pieces, then I do not waste money on it.  Simple as that. 

My biggest struggle overall has been just knowing that I’m not contributing as much financially as I used to.  I’ve always been a very independent woman.  I have had a job since I was 16 years old and I have never relied on my parents or a man for money, so sometimes that guilt does creep up, but that also adds fuel to my fire to continue pursuing my blogging career.  I’m making more money as a blogger now than I ever did when I was working full-time at a corporate job, so having this extra time has literally paid off.  And let me also say that starting your own business from nothing and actually figuring out how to make your own money from it is so much more rewarding than making money at any corporate job!!  Or at least that’s how I feel, anyway.  :o)

Bottom line, I’m loving this opportunity to stay at home and I thank the Lord every single day that I was given this chance.  I feel like my sanity is more in tact because our house is cleaner than it’s ever been, B and I no longer have to waste precious weekend hours cleaning and doing laundry, we no longer have to scramble constantly to find someone to watch the kids when they’re out of school or unexpectedly sick, and I’m no longer in a CONSTANT state of rushing. 

I feel like I’ve been given the gift of time – more time with Brian, more time with my babies, more time to get things done around the house without sacrificing time with my family, and more time to pursue my dreams – and to me, that is the ultimate gift.  

Now if I could just figure out how to replace my entire corporate salary with blog income I’d be a happy, happy girl! 

Baby steps… :o)

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