Saving Money by Staying Home

This isn't one of my normal post days- which are Tuesdays and Thursdays- but I had this topic on my mind.

I know staying at home saves money, yes having no income may even save more money than what your lost income brought in.  I understand not everyone has the luxury of staying home, but for two parent families this may be something to consider.

Here is a great article of how much one family saves by a parent staying home- $29,000 dollars in savings. Written in 2007 so figures may be even higher now.

The Simple Dollar- The Real Value of Stay at Home

• When I had our little one I chose to stay home, our food bill dropped by about $50 dollars too. (And keeps getting lower as I have time to learn to make the scratch.) 
• We did not go the cloth diaper route, but even being home with disposable saves money.  Many Day Care centers are required to change a diaper every two hours whether the kid needs it or not.
• Speaking of day care, the cost has gone up, in my state the average spent for in home care was $5040- and it was higher for a day care.  The low end is $2-4 dollars an hour, out of your paycheck to have someone else raise your child.
• Our gas bill dropped too, probably by $75 a month, instead of increasing for the extra travel time it would take to get our child to a day care.  Plus, as the article mentions, it saves on wear and tear on the car.
• Staying at home also allowed me to breastfeed.  A low estimate for how much it takes to formula feed a child for one year (all other food excluded) was $1138.50.  If you don't have time to make baby food it's not cheap either.
• Plus you have the benefit of being the one to raise your child, knowing what happened in their day. Watching them learn and do things for the first time (huge in the first year).

People can live on less than they think they can.