Any other moms able to guess the price of a random grocery cart of groceries🙋🏼♀️ Nobody mentioned budget manager, in the job interview for becoming a mom .....oh that's right there was no interview. I am also still waiting on my first pay check 🤔
It's no secret that the cost of groceries, gas, rent , utilities....pretty much everything is increasing. As moms, we tend to experience the cost of living increases first and feel the stress immediately. Many of us, are the ones buying the groceries and household supplies.
The drastic increase in cost of living that we are currently experiencing can be stressful. Surfing Pinterest to find budget saving tips can easily turn into a new hobby. Money is one of those things that constantly stays on your mind. It's an underlaying stress that is constantly nagging whenever you make a purchase. If you are feeling a bit stressed out by the current inflation rates you aren't alone.
It's interesting to me that as women, we lean more into managing living expenses. The amount of men who are terrible with budgeting money is staggering . To be fair it isn't a skill we are taught in school or anywhere for that matter.
Learning to manage basic living expenses for a family was a learning curve for me. I was a master at this when I was single and living in my $500 a month apartment, but once I had to start thinking about two other people...I found it challenging. It was like doubling the mental load of managing the budget.
This rise in costs is especially troubling for stay at home moms. We often feel vulnerable when it comes to finances as it is, since we are not drawing a physical income. That doesn't mean that our work isn't valuable...it just means we don't receive a pay check for it. It's easy to feel guilty whenever you have to spend money because you have no control over the income....just the spending. This nagging feeling can really start to weigh you down.
Even if you are a working mom, it's likely the stress of the family budget still falls mainly on your shoulders. Taking the extra time to consider budget friendly meals, thrift store clothing or other ways to save money can feel exhausting.
I think finances are something we need to start talking about more often. Normalizing talking about how different families handle their money could bring a lot of value. The ability to learn from one another would be priceless...pun intended.
Finances are another area of invisible labour/mental load that by default, fall on women. It shouldn't be something we are solely feel responsible for ...but we do. Now, this obviously isn't the case in very situation , but for many it is.
Learning to share mental load is something we need to get better at doing as moms. A great place to start would be to start having conversations with our partners about the invisible work and stress that goes into tasks like managing the budget. It's 2022....the cost of living is rising and our expectations should be too! We don't need to "Do it all".
Finally, if you find yourself feeling guilty for not contributing financially to the family at the same level your partner does...remember that your work is valuable. They would not be able to devote as much time to working, if they didn't have you running the household or providing child care. Your skills are valuable!
Money is stressful and it's unfair that majority of the stress should fall on one parent's shoulders. We need to share the responsibility of budgeting for living expenses. Mom's have enough things to stress over...the rising cost of living shouldn't fall solely on us.
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