As a single parent is there ever a time when you are not stressed about money? If there is, I haven’t found it. I’ve been a single parent for almost as long as I was a married parent and there is always money stress. Through the years I discovered a couple things that helped.
Make a budget, I know it’s no fun, but it helps to know what you have and where it goes. If you can’t depend on your child support, don’t include it in your budget, then when you do get it, it’s like a bonus and you can put it in a savings account for emergencies.
Many places give single parent discounts. Some day cares, tutoring services and even orthodontists will give discounts to single parents, but you have to ask.
Take advantage of places that have discounts for kids. Many restaurants have kids eat free with a paying adult. Everyone likes to go out to dinner once in a while so find out which restaurants in your area have kid nights.
Go to the discounted movie theater. Our local one is around two dollars and plays the movies once they go to video. As quickly as movies go to video now your kids won’t have to wait that long and they still get the big screen experience.
Also, the museums in our area have free admission one day a month, check the ones near you, they probably have a free or deeply discounted day.
Try to cook meals that will serve for more than one meal, the farther you can stretch a whole chicken or roast, the lower your grocery bill will be. Most of us eat more meat than we need anyway so get inventive.
Find another single parent to share things like carpooling and babysitting. You can also barter, are you a talented seamstress? Cake baker extraordinaire? Everyone has a talent that someone else could use. Use your talent to barter for after school pick ups or childcare.
Think outside the box. There are no rules, save money any way the works for you. Until you find a money tree in your back yard, cutting costs is a must.