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Cable, smart phones, being able to just go shopping on a whim (we budget for clothes) and eating out. We still go on date nights but we use gift cards. It hasn't been as hard of an adjustment as I thought it'd be actually.

@mrskc: we're younger and I knew we wanted to have kids younger, and that I wanted to SAHM, so we've been living and budgeting off DH's income for the past 3 years. So; although I'm no longer working.. nothing has really changed except our savings (we still save, just obviously not as much).

With that being said - I groom our dog myself, cut DH's hair myself, usually cut my own hair myself, meal plan, shop/stock up on sales, don't have cable, etc. We still save and will have money to travel once we're ready to leave our son!

One change I've made, and more from a perspective change (although it has financial benefits) is stopping recreational shopping for the most part. I thought I was saving money and having fun by buying jeans on super clearance when they fit but once I was back out of maternity clothes I realized how small of a wardrobe I actually wore. I'm taking a huge haul of stuff to the consignment store this weekend!

For holidays and birthdays we've never really gotten each other gifts, we usually just go out to eat. My family decided not to exchange presents at Christmas except for each others' kids which will help a lot too.

Another thing to consider - did you budget in year-end bonuses, holiday money, etc. if you receive those? We don't budget those as income, and usually split them 80/20 between extra savings and something fun.

The biggest thing for us is that we delayed having kids by an extra year until DH's salary alone will be enough for us to be comfortable. We'll be cutting back when I quit for sure, but a lot of that would naturally happen anyway, I think-- like we'll go out to eat less often, regardless of money, just because we have a baby. And so far, the plan is to not have a cleaning lady, since I'll be home. That part might be tough for me, since I suck at cleaning, so it's still negotiable.

@mrskc: For what it is worth, it's less of a problem than I thought it would be... mostly because I don't have as much free time as I used to I'm trying, in general, to just buy what I (or LO) needs and price compare/check ebay/etc. before I do. I used to get in the trap of buying things because they were cheap/on sale and figured it would save money in the long run. After looking at my closet with fresh eyes post-maternity clothes wearing I recognize the error of my ways seeing as I have like 13 pairs of jeans that are not close to being worn out... and LO has several outfits from the last size he didn't wear more than once because he just had too many clothes.

Moving frequently (4 times in the past 5 years) has also opened my eyes to less stuff = better... now that we're in a house I view every item that comes in as something more I have to dust/move to vaccum which helps too!

I'm not going to lie, the cost of living in this town is low, so it makes it a ton easier. Of course, incomes are also much lower, and that is why it was easy for me to leave my old job behind. We really live similarly to the way we did before, money wise. I do want to cut my data plan in November when our contracts renew, though, because I'm always home and connected to wifi.

No vacations, no luxury cars and less furniture/clothes shopping.

Uh, my sanity?

But no, in seriousness we didn't cut out much in the way of cable/smartphone, etc., but that's because my husband wouldn't hear of it. I do find that I spend much less on clothing and beauty products and I cook A LOT. However, I really enjoy cooking, so that's no big deal to me.

I was a SAHW due to health issues before I became a SAHM, so we were used to living without my income. Plus I've always been very thrifty. I only buy things I need. Like if I already have a pair of black dress shoes, I won't buy another pair no matter how cute they are because I don't NEED them. I've always been like that though, it wasn't a change for me.

We won't have much to cut, we don't have cable, no fancy cars, I hardly ever shop for myself, my dh won't give up his iphone, we have to have internet/wifi. All the cuts would be on his spending, coffee/energy drinks every morning, eating out when out of town, buying frivolous things... I should bring that up to him He doesn't think he spends much, but I think he spends double what I do and I buy all the groceries!

I'm the bread winner, so it's not an option, but when Mr. Jacks was a SAHD we cut our current spending in half, so $25 a month for items for the girls was $12.50. Instead of eating out once or twice a month, we didn't at all, and our food budget was much tighter. We still saved enough for our adoption and down payment on our new house, but only because I'm such a tightwad!

What frustrates me is when people say that you are "lucky to be a sahm". It's not luck that allows us to live off one income, it's hard work and sometimes sacrifice.

We don't have a lot on savings anymore, and some weeks we are tight for money. BUT, we never really go without the important things and I would much rather sacrifice that new dress or going out to dinner to be able to raise our kids myself.

But, if I was to return to work, I think it would cost more! Child are for 2 kids, we would need another car, etc.

We're not used to an extravagant lifestyle, so I really don't feel like I'm making many sacrifices. I'd love to be able to afford to buy a house, but I know that will come eventually. We're still pretty young, so I'm just enjoying this time with S... we'll have a house one day!