Handle Your Finances Wisely

A Single mom can’t be carefree with her finances.  With no financial support from the father of her children she needs to be extremely cautious where and how she spends her money.  This is difficult especially when she does not have enough.  Below are some suggestions to make the most of your money.

Learn to cook a few dishes from your favorite cuisine. When you have a craving for Lasagna, Pad Thai or Fajitas, you can pick up the ingredients yourself and cook the meal for a fraction of the cost than ordering it in a restaurant. Make more than you need and pack it for lunch the next day.

Try to buy items on sale in bulk. For example, if pasta noodles are on sale, but sauce is not, buy enough sauce for the current week's meal, but buy enough noodles for the month. Wait to buy sauce at a time when they are on sale or from another store that has them for less. You can save hundreds as those cents add up.

The best way to manage your finances each month is to set a budget. Figure out how much you make each month. Then, add up your rent, automobile expenses, and any other bills you have. Determine how much these bills add up to and subtract that amount from your income. The result is how much money you have leftover each month.

Stay within your budget by avoiding impulse buying. Marketers send relentless emails trying to lure money out of your wallet with special deals and offers. Online purchases are not always cheaper, and you should do your homework to find the lowest price for a purchase. Because you do not even have to go to the store, online impulse shopping is an especially easy trap to fall into.

Make sure you are carrying cash or your debit card for small purchases. You do not want to have to put small purchases on your credit card and end up paying interest on them. Some merchants also put restrictions on purchases made with a credit card not allowing you to put under 10 dollars on it.

If you are a young single mom, take advantage of student discounts wherever you can. Certain stores offer the discounts every day, while others limit them to specific days of the week or one day per month. It does take a little work to find out the details of the discounts, but if you can save on the things you would buy anyway it is worth the effort.

Learning about financial management helps you improve your finances. No matter what your financial situation is, you should have a better handle on it.  You are a single mom, out to take the world because you need to for your children.  Start with handling your finances wisely and you will go a long way.