-my meals are all planned out before going for groceries, and then I only buy what we need, and I have no waste
-I buy my meats and vegetables from a farmer market, much cheaper (and healthier) example – every two months $100 buys us 10 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts, 20 lbs of lean ground beef, 5 lbs of stewing beef and 4 steaks. Vegetables we buy once a week as to what we are eating. we rarely buy any frozen/box meals because they just don’t fill us up and are quite pricey.
- we do buy rice, flour and other pantry items in bulk, we always use them and they keep for some time
-Husband always has a packed lunch and coffee from home ( I know someone who spends $5 a day just on take out coffee)

-clothes for baby that we buy are always from a second hand store, he grows to quick and all his new adventures with puree foods lead to alot of stains.
-I am not against accepting hand me downs from family and close friends

Lastly, we are very aware of what we need versus what we want, talk about our budget alot at least once a week, and try to anticipate any costs every three months ( baby needs a new car seat, birthdays, I need new glasses, home repairs)

We also aggressively attacked our debt when we were expecting our baby so that things would be easier when he came along. It is not a perfect financial situation by any means, and I will be returning to work so that we can reach our goals. One success we have had through being very diligent is that we have paid of one credit card completely and gotten rid of all of my student loans while I have been on maternity leave.

If you find money is just too tight then maybe you could babysit other children from your home, or look into a small paper route that only takes up an hour or two a day. I hope I will be able to stay home soon as well, our goal is to have no debt including mortgage before I leave working behind. I am sure you are doing great with a budget and keep up the good work
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