Tips for Making A Budget for Single Moms
As a single mother, you are fully in charge of your family finances. You have to make a budget on your own. Generating a solid budget can be overwhelming, not only to single mothers but any other person as well. As the head of your family, you got to do it anyway. You need to figure out how to grow your savings and settle your unpaid debts. Do you want to make the most out of your income and have a great plan for the future of your family? Well, in this article, we will show you how to make a solid budget as a single mom.
What Is A Budget?
A budget is a plan you develop for your finances. It helps you avoid the stress that comes with single mom responsibilities, including -school fees, monthly bills, daycare, among others. It reaches a point when you feel you shouldn’t shop anymore because you have to prioritize other expenses. Making a budget can be challenging, especially when you have one source of income.
Tips for Making A Budget
List Down Your Priorities
When you want to create a budget as a single mom, you need to prioritize what is more important. Do you want to prioritize feeding your kids over everything else? Or do you want to settle down your bills first? This allows you to know what to pay out for once you get your paycheck.
Make Saving One of Your Top Priorities
You have goals that you want to achieve some time later in life. Just because you are a single mother doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy great things. Do you want to be a homeowner one day? Do you want to buy a new car? Or simply travel for a vacation in some nice places? It is time you start planning for such. And the best possible way is by saving a few dollars every month. You can decide to go with the rule of thumb: save at least 30% of your monthly income. But, with many responsibilities that come with being a single mom, you may not make it to 30%, which is okay. Even 1% is just fine. After one year, you can do something big for your family or consider one of the kid’s custodial accounts options available to save for your children’s future
Seek for Cheaper Alternatives Whenever You Are Making A Purchase
It is always advisable to find a cheaper alternative for whatever it is you are looking to buy. Just conduct some research, and you will find somewhere you can get whatever you want at a cheaper price. Look, you don’t lose out on the product quality. The thing is, you find somewhere the same product is sold at a cheaper price. For instance, instead of going to big supermarkets to do shopping, why not use smaller supermarkets near you? Or maybe you are a single mom who likes shopping for clothes. It is not a bad thing. But, instead of shopping from high street shops, why not shop online at fairly discounted rates? It could save you hundreds of dollars.
Set Aside Some Funds for Emergency Situations
Being a single mom, you are in charge of every expense in your household. And of course, we often find ourselves in some unexpected situations that may require money to get over with. You can’t budget for such expenses because you don’t know when you are going to find yourself in one. This is where setting aside, emergency fund, comes in. It is money that you set aside every month to cover up for any emergencies that you may come across.
Choose Cash Over Debit or Credit Cards
When you go shopping, it is advisable to walk with cash rather than choosing credit or debit cards. Using cash will help you stick to your budgeting plan. Believe me, you won’t consider how much you are spending if you use your debit card. And we both know what that brings. It will hurt your financial life if you continue living like this. You have a lot to worry about that running without money can be devastating to your family. So, if you are a single mom and you are finding it hard to stick to your budget, consider switching to using cash.
Look for Other Sources of Income
Have you thought about having a side hustle? One of the most flexible ways of maintaining your lifestyle is side hustling. Being a single mom, of course, there are some habits you don’t want to forgo. So, why not look for something else to add you some extra money on top of your regular income. It could be freelancing or tutoring online. The best part about freelancing is you can do it from home. The internet is increasingly bringing new work-from-home opportunities that single moms can take advantage of. Why don’t you see if you can find some great ideas about making money from home at https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/best-websites-to-make-money-online?
3 Best Budgeting Apps
Mint
Being the oldest and one of the most popular budgeting apps, Mint come with an array of features that allow you to manage your finances from banks, brokerages, as well as other money lenders. Among the features, the most important one is budgeting tools. Mint allows you to get alerts when you don’t strictly stay within your budget. It also allows you to track your spending by category. With this app, you can even check your monthly cash flow to see how you spend your money. Find out more at https://www.mint.com/.
PocketGuard
PocketGuard is the best budgeting in terms of keeping you from overspending. It helps you keep track of your spending on a monthly basis by linking to all your bank accounts. PocketGuard provides you with the easiest way of setting up and connecting to your bank accounts. It gives you opportunities to save money for future use. Visit https://www.pocketguard.com for more information.
You Need a Budget (YNAB)
At YNAB, you generate your monthly budget based on your income. It ensures that each dollar is accounted for. This allows you to think before spending any dollar you acquire. Read more at https://www.youneedabudget.com.
