Thanks for visiting Ultimate Money Blog! If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Friday, January 6 is my last day of employment with the bank.  I’ve been an employee there for over seven years, and it’s been a really tough decision, but I’ve decided that I’m going to quit and be a stay at home mom.  I’ve always wanted to do that, so this is the path I’m going to take.  I can always return to work if I have to.  When considering being a working versus stay at home mom, I considered many factors. 1. If I kept working, I’d have to pay daycare.  Full time day care is expensive, costing anywhere from $600-$800 a month!  That would consume more than one of my paychecks.  Also, if my baby was in day care there’s a much greater chance of the baby getting sick and me having to take time off work.  That would stink! 2. I’d have to buy disposable diapers.  I plan on cloth diapering my baby to save money, and if [...]

Having a baby can be an overwhelming experience, especially when you go into Babies R Us and are bombarded by all the millions of baby items they carry.  The first time I went in our local store, I almost had a panic attack.  There’s no way we can afford all of these things that we supposedly need for a baby!  Thankfully, after I left the store I sat down and thought about what a baby will actually need according to my standards.  I don’t want to have 50 baby things, or a million plastic made in China toys for my kid.  We sway to the side of minimalism, and while I know I won’t be able to limit everything that makes its way into my house, I can do my best to make sure I have things I need and use for the baby.  Here are some of the ways we’re going to save money on baby expenses: -Breastfeed.  I’m going to do my best to breastfeed, and I plan on doing everything in my power to make it to [...]

I think one of the hardest things about being a first time mom is trying to figure out what I need for this baby.  There are tons of baby gadgets out there, and the first time I went to Babies R Us I was totally overwhelmed.  All the items in the store made me feel like I needed every one of them!  My family is throwing me a baby shower, and my co workers were insisting that I register soon, so a couple weeks ago I went and registered at two places.  When people started viewing my registry, they commented that there weren’t enough items listed on there.  Personally I felt like I had too much listed!  I didn’t want to just add items just to have stuff on there, so I carefully went through and decided what items I’d really like to have. I wonder if I’m being too much of a minimalist.  I don’t want to be miserable and wish I had gotten a certain item and regret it later on.  I’m trying to find a delicate balance [...]