1. Look for ways to save
My 3 favorite words are free, sale, and clearance. I am constantly looking for sales, and clearenced items. I also go to the local consignment stores and buy my daughters clothes. Sometimes they still have tags on them, and they are typicaly in good shape. Unfortunately they do not have a consignment store for adult clothes! I also shop yard sales for toys in good shape, this isn't always a great find for me.
2. Cloth diapers
Although expensive to start out it saves in the long run. I have spent about $300 on diapers for my daughter but have had them for about 4 months. I spent more than that in the first 6 months of her life. They have different sizes from xs-xl in various colors, and types. Check out http://nickisdiapers.com/ there are all kinds of cloth diapers on there from All In Ones, to traditional prefolds. They also have free shipping on anything over $75.
3. Find a support group
I don't mean where you stand up and say "Hi I'm Kari and I'm a Stay at Home Mom. I have been a mother for 11 months." I found a wonderful group of women through http://meetup.com where there are plenty of play dates for my daughter and nights where only the mom's get together. All yo have to do is type in your city or zip and they will give you the closest groups in your area. This is very important to me to have others who understand what I go through. Don't worry if you have a newborn there are plenty of things to do in the groups with them.
4. Find time for yourself
This is the MOST important thing. I read in a magazine once that a mother took her childs nap time as her Me time. Instead of worring about picking up or catching up on the laundry she did what she wanted, slept, watched a tv show that didn't have puppets or cartoons, or even read. I tried this and it is wonderful for my sanity! My husband and I also sat down and figured out a way for him to allow me to have my ME time. 2 nights a week and one day on the weekend he is the primary care taker for our daughter. Granted I am still here and I don't just ignore her but if I need to get something done I can.
5. The house can wait
For many this might be a tough one. I typically do a quick pick up after my daughter has gone to sleep but don't do any heavy cleaning. I do laundry and other house hold items during the week but I have realized that my sanity is not completly rapped up in a clean house. Typically the heay cleaning is left for the weekend when I can get some help from my husband. Not to mention it's going to be destroyed the next day.
6. Plan your meals in
I find it easier to schedule our dinners. I have a whiteboard calender that I writte all the meals on. This makes it easier to go grociery shopping and easier when it comes to making dinners. But don't forget to grab things that will be quick to throw in the oven just incase there is some last minute child breakdown. We also planned only 2 nights a month that we can eat out.
7. Have a Date night
Sometimes it's hard to leave your children in others care but my husband and I have found this important for our marriage. It doesn't have to be once a week but maybe just once a month. Go to the movies and dinner and try to focus on each other.
Like I said before not everything will work for everyone but I hope that this may help some new SAHM.
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