Money Saving Mom®

Guest post from Alexa of Single Moms Income.

Times are tough, jobs are scarce, and pay is low – that is the reality of America’s economic standstill. Families are having a rough time paying their bills and keeping food on the table. As a single mother I have been faced with these same worries.

The one thing that I have learned through my journey as a single mother is that sacrifices are what hold everything together.

Before my husband and I divorced we lived in a very nice home in a wonderful area. Upon our split I felt that I should be entitled to keep the same standard of living. I frantically and desperately searched to buy a home that would offer me the same comfort. Luckily, the offers that I did put in on houses fell through.

I was so desperate to keep the standard of living that I had once had with two incomes that I was ready to spend every penny I now had on a down payment on a new home. This would have led to my financial devastation.

I was extremely disappointed that my offers fell through, so I took a break from house hunting. After I picked myself up off the ground something clicked in my head. It was more important for me to be financially stable than to live in a nice home – after all I have two beautiful kids who need me now more than ever.

With my new-found thinking, I decided to purchase a trailer and put it on an extra lot that my family owned. I spent $1500 on the trailer with plenty of money left to spend on moving and repairs for the trailer.

I had never envisioned myself being single with two kids and moving into a trailer… but what I now realize is that sacrifices are temporary and are made with a bigger picture in mind. This trailer is not my forever – it is simply a stepping stone for something greater. I now will have a place for my children to live while I work on saving more money and being fiscally responsible.

Of course, my living situation isn’t the only sacrifice I’m willing to make. Becoming a single mother is like starting a whole new life. There will be kinks to work out in my budgets and I am certain that I will have my fair share of struggles.

There are times when I feel sorry for myself, but I stop and think of other people who are in much worse situations than I am. There is a light at the end of every tunnel.

Alexa is a newly single mother to two beautiful girls. She chronicles her journey into single motherhood at Single Moms Income.

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Guest post from Tosh of Super Coupon Lady

When I decided to leave the classroom after ten years of teaching, I knew the hardest job I would ever do was just beginning. You see, I wanted badly to be home with my children who (since six weeks old) spent about ten hours a day in daycare. I wanted to have more time for my home, for my faith, and for the many other “I wish I could haves” in life that I seemed to keep putting off.

My husband has a decent job, but by no means can he support our family of four (plus a dog!) on his own. So we carefully concocted a plan of how this would all work. How could I leave the traditional work field and and how could we survive as a one-income family?

Well surprisingly, it was possible. We had to roll our sleeves up and make some tough choices, but in the end it was worth it!

I think you might be surprised how truly simple it is if you are willing to do a little hard work.

1. Chart what you will SAVE.

This part of the process is the best way to start because it is very encouraging. Make a chart of how much money you can save by going to one income. Will you no longer have to buy daily work lunches? Will you no longer need to purchase work uniforms or expensive business attire? Will you save on gas from not having to drive 25 miles to work?

For us, we not only saved on all of these expenses, but would no longer be paying nearly $1,000 a month for daycare. That was huge.

2. Chart what you will GAIN.

Next, chart what you will gain. For us it was more time as a family, no more dependance on daycare, time to cook healthier dinners, to be able to stay home with sick children, plus so much more.

While I miss the holiday parties with my classroom children, I am so excited to be helping at the classroom parties of my own children!

Chart these things and see how great it makes you feel and motivates you.

3. Start cutting.

The first thing that we needed to do was start looking at our expenses and making some drastic cuts.

Extras and little conveniences were the first to go. No more cable movie rentals, no more high definition channels, no more extras tied into our cell phone plans. We cut back on dining out, our clothing budget, kept our thermostat at a cooler temperature and just got use to wearing sweaters, plus a lot more.

Try not to look at this step as painful, look at it as eliminating the extra and unnecessary to make room for what you really want — more time with your family!

4. Find ways to supplement the one income.

Even though you left your job and are necessarily looking for a new job, there are still plenty of ways you can supplement your income from the convenience and comfort of your home.

Perhaps you have enjoyed cosmetics and would want to start doing home parties? Perhaps you can watch a neighbor’s child one day a week? There are plenty of ways to add a few hundred extra dollars to your monthly income.

I have been able to help out a few days a month doing some online research for a company, as well as babysit for a friend. I also take online surveys to earn gift cards that come in handy during the holidays. In fact, I was so proud when over $100 worth of gifts was purchased for family this year using gift cards I had earned!

When you find ways to supplement, the extra income helps with groceries, birthday gifts, and other odds and ends that pop up during the month.

5. Sell what you don’t need.

Living on one income can be scary, especially if you don’t have an emergency fund. Create one by selling items you no longer need. This can be clothing, jewelry, toys, everything!

Clothing can be taken to consignment stores for instant cash, as can kid’s clothing and toys. Jewelry if broken or outdated can be sold for scrap. Other usable or collectible items can be sold online though auctions such as eBay, and handmade goods can be sold through online venues such as Etsy.

I put a few things a month on eBay to generate extra funds, and it works well. People have bought everything from an old coat I had to an unopened bottle of high end facial cleanser.

Etsy is a great place to sell handmade ornaments and vintage items I have. It is quite fun and satisfying to turn our junk into cash and build an emergency fund should an appliance go out or an emergency pop up.

Remember, living on one income takes work and determination. It can seem daunting at first, but in the end the gains are huge.

Your friends may not quite understand, and you may feel frustrated — I heard many comments like, “It must be nice to not have to work and live off of your husband,” and things of that nature. There seems to be this impression that by leaving my traditional job I now spend my days at Starbucks. What they didn’t see was that I spent the previous evening cutting out coupons with the kiddos and stitching up some fun old fabric into curtains so we wouldn’t have to buy new ones.

The reality is you will never work harder or have to be more prepared and organized. But in the end, it is a decision that is up to each individual and can be very rewarding!

Tosh, aka Super Coupon Lady, teaches others how to coupon easily, save money, and score freebies. You can follow her recipes, frugal tips, style ideas and more on her blog and on Pinterest!

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Guest post from Carolynn of My Little Bit of Life

Sometimes I feel so alone trying to make sure my life is in balance. It seems that it’s “all or nothing,” “black or white,” or “hot or cold.”

What ever happened to balance, what happened to gray? Balance was thrown out the window when every parent felt like they had to send their child to an Ivy League school, so let’s just go all out and put our kid in everything — because you know, you’re a terrible parent if your child isn’t trilingual and a prodigy in something by the time they’re four! 🙂

When I was in high school, I remember constantly comparing myself to everyone. One big problem though, I’d compare the worst parts of myself to the best parts of everyone else.

I used to beg and plead to God to make me good at something, anything. I was so tired of just being alright in just about everything!

Now that I’m a parent, my view has totally changed. I like being alright in lots of areas. I know I have a lot of work to do, but I feel like this balance is good for parenting. I don’t want to be a Tiger Mom, getting irate if my child doesn’t bring home a perfect grade card or isn’t the star player all the time.

That’s not realistic, and I feel like those expectations will only set a child up for failure. They may not look like a failure to the outside world, but I would almost guarantee that they feel like failures.

What is this teaching our children? That in order to be loved or worthy, they have to be the best all the time?

If this is what we teach them, then they are in for a rude awakening, because life isn’t like that! Life is full of failures. It’s how we bounce back that makes us who we are!

So, I want to try to show my children a good balance. I’m going to let them see things that I’m good at and things that I struggle with. Every once in a while, I know I’m going to lose my cool and that gives me an opportunity to show them how to “fix” mistakes.

I’m not going to immediately rescue them every time they need my help. I’m going to let them slip and maybe even fall and teach them how to recover.

A very wise friend of mine told me that “The best way to make sure you’re staying balanced is to look at the past year of your life as a whole. Were there months you focused more on your marriage, parenting, or the household. If you’ve committed a few months to each area, you are doing great.”

Despite what some people say, “You can have it all… just not all at once!”

What does balance look like for you?

Carolynn is a teacher turned stay-at-home mom to four children. She has a passion for helping parents be better parents and strive to help make life easier for them. Join her on her journey at My Little Bit of Life!

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