If you are a single mother, chances are money is pretty tight around this time of year, well let’s face it, money is tight all year round! With the holidays right around the corner you may be feeling the financial pressure weighing on your shoulders. It’s hard to provide Christmas for your children when you are already struggling to make it on your own. However, there are lots of things that can make this time a little less stressful for a single mother.
Yesterday afternoon Logan and I went to a local thrift store with some friends of ours. We had a few last minute Christmas gifts to buy and we were all looking for books for our classrooms. At first I was a little biased. I hadn’t been to a thrift store in years and my view of them was less than perfect. However, within a few minutes I was raiding the shelves and finding great treasures. Not only did I find a ton of books for my classroom, but I also found a bunch of little things for Logan as well. He doesn’t mind that the books are used and have a few marks here and there, all he cares about is that he has some new books to read with Mom before bed. He even found some cute little toys. They were a bit worn, but after being washed and adding a few small paint repairs they were good as new and the best part is they were less than a dollar. It’s hard to feel guilty when your child brings you a $0.75 toy and wants to bring it home with you.
It does take some time to go through everything, but the harder you look the more you will find. Children grow out of clothes so quickly that their clothes are usually in pretty good condition. We have even found some clothes at these thrift stores that still had the original tags on them. You can find lots of great things for very little money and your kids will hardly know the difference. Christmas doesn’t have to break your budget, you just have to learn to save money in all the right places!