How do you thrive as a single parent mother with limited income? I get this question asked of me on an almost weekly basis.
This was going to be a simple quick list of tips. However as I began to put this post together, It dawned on me, that I raised my children as a single mother and while I had awesome active co-parents, I none the less was a single parent. I had my oldest son while I was in high school. Hence I feel the need to infuse this article with more practical hands-on tips.
Often times we are told what we should, could, can’t and must do. The reality is that we aren’t superwomen, and we can’t do everything. I do hope that a few of these tips, help you to see that that there is a way out, even when it doesn’t seem like it. I can attest to the simple fact that I put many of these tips in place and as a result over time, I saw major improvements.
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Fast-forward to my life today- My sons are both adults and thriving in their respective fields. My youngest Troy is in the Airforce and currently stationed in London – Yes I’m heading to London for the holidays. My oldest D’lone son resides in Atlanta; works and is in the midst of launching his online men’s boutique, “The Elegant Goon” coming soon. I say all of this to simply say, been there, done that, now I’m writing a blog post about it.
Show Me The Money
We all need money. The baby needs diapers, your 5-year-old is growing like a weed and needs new shoes. Child support is late once again. You have done everything that you can think of to cut unnecessary expenses and live as frugal as possible…
Despite putting your best foot forward and using all the so-called tips from the experts, you still seem to be living paycheck to paycheck. After having saved an additional $20,000 in the last 8 months, I think you have landed in the right spot for some practical advice. I love frugal living and like you, I love saving money without being depressed or stressed over the process. I think I have a good idea about how to thrive as a single mom. Though my children are now adults, I definitely utilized many of these tips.
This practical guide is not by any means the holy grail. It is in fact, just practical (and easily achievable) methods and ways to be smarter with the money and resources that you do have in order to achieve financial relief. as well as get you on the path to savings. How do you save money and thrive on a low income?
Let’s get this party started…
1. Let’s Talk About Food
Food is the #1 place where most Americans overspend, and trust and believe that grocery stores take full advantage of it. From the moment you walk into the store, the entire store layout is designed to get you to part with your money. The magazines & candy are at the check-out isles because they are impulse buying.
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If you like free money, take a quick moment and stop reading and download the Ibotta App right here
Also, organize your kitchen & pantry. Some items should be purchased in bulk. Here is a picture of my pantry rehab. It has made finding items easier, but more importantly, I no longer overspend on items that I do not need and honestly don’t want. A cluttered pantry results in items expiring which is the same as throwing money in the trash ~ trust me, I know this first hand as I threw out $100 worth of expired items.
2. Find A Grocery Buddy
What exactly is a grocery buddy? Someone that you can split the cost on items that make more sense to purchase in bulk. We know that you don’t need 25lbs of onions, but between 5 friends, this may make sense and your cost comes out cheaper and the food tends to not go to waste. Hence establishing a grocery buddy is ideal. Find a friend, neighbor, co-worker that is willing to anty-up on certain items. A 25lb bag of rice may be economical but it’s not practical.
3. Eat What You Have
This sounds so frigging simple and makes so much sense. Do a 30-day food challenge and try to only eat what you have on hand. This tends to exclude eggs, milk, and bread. Honestly try to figure out what you can cook using the food that you already have in your pantry, cupboards, freezer, and refrigerator.
Often times we shop and we pick up duplicate items because we see them on sale, which explains why I have six things of creamed corn in my pantry ~ Don’t ask. I promise I do not eat creamed corn in that manner.
Some of my best meals have come as a result of just using items that I already had. Lastly, it cleans out your pantry of items that may otherwise go unused and expire – expiration equals throwing money in the trash.
4. Make A Grocery List And Stick To It
If you are like most of us, then chances are you’ve experienced the following scenario: You ran into the grocery store for a few items that should not have cost more than $25. You left, having spent well over $100.
Trust and believe a grocery list is your friend. Stick to the list and save your coins.
5. Clean Out Your Pantry And Organize It.
I can not begin to stress enough the importance of having a clean and organized pantry. I just re-did my pantry. I had the floors completed (tile installed ~ the kitchen floor was done, but the contractor never completed my pantry floors. I painted – removed old shelving and installed new shelving ~ Ikea Ivar shelving is what I used. I promise as you can see from the photo’s that I now have what looks like a custom pantry in my opinion
The importance of having an organized pantry is to ensure that 1. You don’t have food that is expiring and going to waste. I threw out in excess of $100 in expired food. 2. You simply want to know what you have and what you don’t have. 3. It allows you to take inventory of things that you purchased (it was probably on sale) and honestly didn’t need. We oftentimes spend money on items that are clearance. $2 here, $3, $.99 cents.. It still adds up and it could go into your savings. 4. Lastly, I’m more organized. The more organized you are the better you feel over-all. Now you can focus on other things that will generate your passive income streams.
Check out my video on my pantry rehab
6. One Of The Easiest Ways To Earn Money & Save
Stop sleeping on free money. This is one of my favorite apps for a single mother. If you want to upgrade your debit card and earn 1% cashback or turn your 1% cashback credit card into 2% cash back rewards card, then Dosh app is perfect.
Easy peasy, just download the Dosh App, connect your debit/credit cards and start earning cash back rewards immediately. Why do I love the Dosh App, because it does what it does in the background at over 1,000+ locations (like Walmart and Walgreens)! Here’s just a peek at some of the places YOU could get cashback from. I don’t have to do anything else, I don’t have to scan receipts, etc… Just swipe and shop as you normally would. I logged into my Dosh Acct today and found out there was $57 sitting on my account. I had honestly, forgotten about it. Update, I’m up to $117.50
7. Clean Your Closet and Sell Items Online
As of today, I have made over $300 selling items online. Between Poshmark, FB Market Place and now Etsy, my goal is to make no less than $300 per month selling items. The key is getting organized and ready. I have purchased items on clearance with the sole intention of reselling them. I recently purchased a dining room light from Lowes that was on sale for $49, regular price $249. I sold it for $99. That is a $50 profit.
Take a look around your house and see what you don’t need and get rid of it. Those jeans that you haven’t squeezed into since 2015 can be sold online. Stop hoarding and get to selling.
Here are a few links to great articles on selling online.
8. Drop the Hidden Hotel Fees.
Many of the big-name hotel search engines also charge big-name fees. Stay away from sites that charge excessive service fees. Visit the ones below to get better deals.
9. Use Credit Cards To Earn Rewards
This can be a tricky one as I am advocating that you reduce your debt. However, I also recommend that you use a credit card to earn points or airline points. I typically pay my mortgage with my American Express Delta Skymiles Card – then I turn around and pay the credit card off so I can earn the points, which in turn give me free flights.
10. Take A Vacation In The Off-Season
Everyone is using AirBnB, Hostels, etc… but what is more fun is taking a vacation in the offseason when prices are cheaper. Just because it is cold here does not mean it’s cold in Bora Bora or Ghana or Egypt.
Living a frugal lifestyle does not mean that you can’t enjoy entertainment. There are tons of free things that you can do with your kids that don’t cost an arm and leg. Remember that Google is your friend, take advantage of all the free stuff your city has to offer.
11. Cut Cable
In this day and age, there is no reason why you should have an astronomical cable bill. Between, Firestick, Amazon Prime, Hulu and a host of alternatives, you should be able to slash $100 a month. Take a few minutes out and call your cable company and see if they are willing to slash that bill.
Check out a few of the alternatives below. A penny saved is a penny earned.
- Netflix
- Hulu <<<click
- Sling TV
- Philo
- Amazon Prime Video
- HBO Now
- YouTube
- YouTube TV
12. Groupon Is Your Friend
I am not advising you to not enjoy life, but use a Groupon to do it. Groupon is filled with a ton of discounted adventures and things to do. Search Groupon for things in your area. I think you will be amazed at the discounts that Groupon offers- everything from brunch to museum tickets and more. Click here to sign up for Groupon
13. Visit your local Library!
I am the person I am today because I spent so much time at the library as a child. Take advantage of all the free stuff that the library offers. Free DVDs, books, magazines. Libraries tend to have a ton of activities for younger adults, take advantage of FREE
14. Budgeting 101
Budgeting is critical in this journey. Maximize your income. The quickest and easiest way to save is to create a budget and stick with it. Stop using budget as a dirty word. Budgeting is, in fact, a single mother’s saving grace and friend. It’s a friendly tool and once you know how to learn it and master it, you will always want to confer with your budget before you make impulse purchases etc.
I have been able to accomplish what I have because I stick to a budget. Budgeting is like losing weight. If you burn off more calories than you take in, you will lose weight. If you ensure that your income exceeds your monthly expenses, your savings will grow.
If you are serious about saving 10K, then budgeting is like morning coffee. A must-have more most people. Even wealthy people tend to drink a cup of morning joe. Even wealthy people budget their money.
Learn to allocate your money in a responsible manner to ensure that your future is bright as you learn to live within your means. Do you really have to have an iPhone or will a lesser brand suffice and meet your needs?
Make budgeting fun, when I worked at GSA as Senior Contracting Officer, I still only ate out on Wednesday… It was our one day that everyone came in the office and we would all go to lunch together. My limit was still $10 and I made in excess of $100k per year.
15. Save Time and Money With Auto-Pay
One of the worst feelings is paying a late fee, when in fact you had the money in your account to pay the bill. Not only am I a huge fan of autopay, but I am also a huge fan of paying bills every two weeks. My advice is to create a separate account (checking) and have all of your autopay bills come out of this acct. Only use this account to pay your debts. Do not use this account to make misc purchases.
Do a direct deposit to this account and allow all your debts to be on autopay. Gone are the days of late fees and trying to finagle accts to cover overdraft fees etc.
16. Create Your Emergency Fund.
I can not stress enough how important it is for you to create an emergency fund. As a single parent, my saving grace has always been that I pay my savings first so that I have emergency/rainy day/ my secret stash set aside. Statistics show that most Americans have less than $400 in savings. Don’t be a statistic. An emergency will arise, the question is will you be prepared for it.
Take 10 min and focus. Go ahead and visit the folks over at Ellevest and create your free account.
Related Post: Simple Tips To Build $1000, Emergency Fund
17. Pay Off Debt
Having debt and interest payments is a dream killer. Try your hardest to pay off any existing credit card debt. This may mean creating an additional stream of income to tackle your high-interest credit cards. I know that it may seem overwhelming, but I promise you will get to the finish line, one day at a time, one extra payment at a time. You may have to choose between going to hang out with friends or spending that extra $20 on a bill.
Trust me when I tell you that the stress disappears when you don’t have bills & debts lingering in the background. Interest on credit cards is the same as simply giving your money away. The quicker we get rid of the debt, the more money you have to do other things such as save, invest, travel and live.
18. Create Multiple Streams of Income
Honestly, this is one of the easiest things that you can do that doesn’t take and arm and a leg to do. I started writing this blog article a few days ago and as I stated above, I logged into my Dosh account and there was $57 sitting in the account, as of today, there is $92 in the account. That $92.50 will go towards a credit card bill. ~ Lowes to be exact! Outside of simply sharing the link and using my debit card as I normally would. I didn’t have to do anything extra. What could you use $92 on right now?
I’ve made in excess of $10,000 this year from blogging, affiliate links, re-selling items, dropshipping, downloadables, courses, consultations etc. I launched this blog in February of 2019. I made over $2000 in my first 30 days of blogging.
Related Post: How I Made Over $2000 In My First 30 Days Of Blogging
Take a few moments and just write down different things that you think you can do to earn money. Nothing is crazy and nothing is beyond your reach. I make custom wine glasses that are etched. The wine glass normally comes from the dollar tree ~ $1 plus tax. On average, I will sell one glass for $15 and two for $25. It’s not hard or complicated.
I learned how to do it by watching a simple youtube video. I used my Cricut Machine to customize the names. Many of the actual flowers & designs are removable stencils that I purchase from Michaels, Hobby Lobby and Joannes. For less than $30 excluding the Cricut Machine, you can get started.. Click here to take advantage of the Cricut Machine
19. Affiliate & Referal Programs To Join
Below is a quick list of affiliate programs that you can join today to get you started. Several of them you may need to have a blog site to take full advantage of. The key is to simply get started. Get rid of all the self-doubt, you can do this. You can start your own blog just like I did. What would you do with an extra $10,000?
20. Live Within Your Means
This one is by far one of the most important aspects of thriving on a limited income. It is, in fact, the secret sauce. Live within your means. As an individual that has made a substantial amount of money and saved a substantial amount of money, I can assure you that I live well below my means.
It’s ok to tell your kids no. It’s ok to not purchase name brand items. When my youngest son was in high school, I did not purchase Michael Jordan Sneakers. My son got Van sneakers and 2 for $89 at Finish Line. He was in college when he spent his own money on brand name sneakers. Your kids will remember memories over brand name items.
At the end of the day, don’t spend more than what you have. I promise that you don’t have to have the latest and the greatest trends. If you don’t have a $1000 in your emergency fund, do you really need to purchase a $1000 iPhone? Do you really need 5 pairs of blue jeans when you throw on the same pair every weekend? More importantly, can you afford it? Having gel nails is not a necessity, nor are those bundles.
These are just some basic tips to get you started on the road to financial freedom. The key is learning how to spend your money in a responsible manner without feeling depressed, stressed or guilty over your current situation.
How To Thrive As A Single Mom With Limited Income
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