Single, Frugal Moms
Seen as you’re reading this, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how hard it is to be a single mom! When you’re raising young kids without a partner, you have to do everything! Aside from all the work, cooking and cleaning, one of the biggest challenges of being a single mom is handling money economically. Here are a few clever ways to save a little more as a single mom…
Stop Paying for Day Care
Day care is something that takes up a massive proportion of most single mom’s budgets. If you have kids who aren’t in school, or you work long hours, you can easily end up paying $700 for someone responsible to watch your child. I’m not suggesting that you dump your kids on the sidewalk or leave them to their own devices at home. However, if you can find some way of mitigating or eliminating the cost of day care, you’ll save yourself a small fortune in no time. Talk to your family members, explain that you’re struggling, and see if they’d be able to take the kids off your hands every now and then. Alternatively you could talk things over with your employer and try to reduce your hours, or find ways to earn money from home.
Stop Bringing Your Kids Grocery Shopping
You may have noticed before that whenever you bring your kids shopping with you, the cart fills up much faster than usual. It’s a simple fact that kids and grocery shopping don’t mix. A lot of single moms will be so busy trying to keep their kids happy and under control that they’ll end up impulse-buying and grabbing stuff they usually wouldn’t. While this is a quick fix to the problem, you’ll be able to save a lot by ordering groceries to your door or doing your shopping alone. On the subject of grocery shopping, this is another area where you should be looking for ways to cut your living expenses. Try cheaper brands you’d usually avoid, or cook meals that use more economical ingredients. You can also take advantage of special offers and promotions like all these coupon codes. Making a few little changes to your weekly shop can save a small fortune over time!
Teach them to Save on Utilities
You might be very conservative with your utilities, but you still need to think about your kids. If they don’t have the reference of seeing the bill and having to pay it themselves, there’s no difference in a child’s mind to leaving the TV on for the whole day or an hour. Whenever you realize your kids are being wasteful with utilities, take the time to show them how to turn water and lights on or off, and when they should use them. It may feel like you’re fighting a losing battle, but eventually your kids will adopt the same thrifty habits as you.
Being a single mom certainly isn’t easy, but following these frugal tips will relieve a lot of the financial strain.