6 Money-Saving Tips Every Single Mom Needs to Know

When you’re a single mom, you need money-saving tips because you’re the only breadwinner. Everything is on you. The cooking, cleaning, homework help, and every expense involved. 

As a single parent, trust and believe, I know how hard it is to stretch a dollar on a single income. It’s overwhelming and sometimes you don’t believe there’s a solution. But there is! I’ve compiled 6 money-saving tips that every single mom needs to know to maintain financial serenity.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Budgeting Your Way to Financial Freedom
• Lower Your Grocery Shopping Costs
• Win the Thrifting Game by Shopping Secondhand
• Veg Out to Stretch Your Food Budget
• Self-Serve – DIY Repairs & Maintenance at Home
• Free or Inexpensive Entertainment is Still Entertainment
• Conclusion

Budgeting Your Way to Financial Freedom

Your money is like your child. You want to know where it’s going and what it’s doing when you’re not looking. You don’t want it running around buying stuff that’s going to have you in debt. That’s where budgeting comes in. 

Budgeting helps you control what your money does and how it interacts with the world to get you to a place of financial security. It starts with knowing your monthly expenses and income numbers. 

Go over 3-6 months of credit card and bank statements to see how much you consistently earn monthly and in what categories you are spending the most. Use the lowest of your last 4 paychecks to calculate your monthly income.

CREATING A BUDGET

List your fixed and variable expenses. Rent/mortgage, utilities, food, transportation, and other essential needs you pay monthly. For bills you pay annually, divide them by 12.

Total your monthly expenses and subtract that from your monthly income. Then make a list of your wants. These are things you don’t need to survive, like eating out, expensive clothes, Starbucks, and streaming subscriptions. 

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I’m not saying you can’t have Netflix or Starbucks. I love a good caramel Frappuccino ☕️, I’m just saying it’s something you don’t actually need to survive. If you feel otherwise, then by all means, add it to your budget. For me, it’s yarn and chips. 🥰

Subtract the cost of your wants from what’s left of your income. If there is nothing left, you either need to earn more or cut back on more.

This will give you a good idea of where you stand financially with regard to where you’re positioned for financial freedom. Comb over the entries and see what you can reduce or eliminate completely so that you’re saving more in an emergency fund and investing some to grow for your future.

Use the information you gathered about your income and spending habits to create a budget you can stick to. A great way to create and automate your budget is by using budgeting apps. I use the free versions of both Mint and Every Dollar. They help you see exactly how much you’re spending and on what.

I used them to create a debt-free plan that was tailored to my personal wants and needs. I created a budget that allowed me to keep Netflix, pay off my debt, and still be able to buy chips and other life essentials ☺️. 

You can use these budgeting apps to create your own personalized budget.

Once you put intention behind taking control of your expenses, your financial worries become less and your money becomes free to grow and build financial freedom for you.

Lower Your Grocery Shopping Costs

You have to eat or you’ll die. That makes groceries an item you can’t remove from your budget. But there are ways you can cut back and lower the cost of what you’re spending on these food items.

Make A Grocery List & Stick To It

Create and add staple foods that are running out to your list as the week goes by. On grocery shopping day, check your list to make sure it has things you need so you don’t forget to add something. I usually rummage through my cabinets and refrigerator to double-check my list before heading to the store. That way I’m not buying stuff I already have and not forgetting to add stuff I need. 

Include things on your list that can become a quick meal in a pinch. Examples are ground beef or turkey, canned Tuna, beans, pasta, rice, and frozen, or fresh veggies. That can really help prevent ordering takeout too much.

Be A Coupon Queen

Check the store app to see if anything on your list is on sale or to add coupon items to your loyalty program to scan at the register. Use any coupons you can get your physical or digital hands on, as long as the item is on your list and within your budget. 

There are also browser extensions that can apply coupons when shopping online. I use Rakuten and RetailMeNot. I also heard that Honey is good too. I haven’t tried that one yet. 

I use my store loyalty card and coupon apps like Ibotta, receipt hog, and Inbox Dollars to scan my grocery receipts.

I use those apps because they give cash back and not just gift cards. I’m not interested in gift cards because it forces you to shop at those stores or you can’t use the money. We need cash so we can buy what we want or need. Cash outs to PayPal are ok because PayPal offers a debit card attached to the account so you can shop anywhere that takes MasterCard (I’m talking about the debit card, not the credit card). 

There are no fees to use the cash in your account or your PayPal debit card for purchases. Since I have it linked to my checking account, it automatically uses my checking account to cover any overage. That’s a win because it allows you to use every penny of the cashback you receive for your receipts. 

Be careful with switching out grocery items just because of available coupons. Make sure that item is still a better deal and not more expensive than another brand you could have purchased for less.

Don’t Hate on Store Brands

I’m not saying there’s no difference, but for some items like canned beans and frozen vegetables, you can just go with the store brand. Test it out. If the taste is too different or you feel the quality is off, especially if you prefer organic and the store brand doesn’t have that option, then it’s worth it to pay a little more. But if you don’t feel there’s a significant difference, save the money.

Meal Prep

Think of a few dishes you’d like to make for the week and make sure the items to make those dishes are included on your grocery list. A great way to save money is by prepping some proteins and veggies and putting them in containers in the refrigerator. When you need to have a quick meal, you can just heat something up quickly. You won’t need to order takeout unless you want to and it’s in your budget. 

Caution 🚧: Don’t shop when you’re hungry. Your stomach will fight you down every aisle for things that are not on your list. 

Win the Thrifting Game by Shopping Secondhand

When it comes to Fashion, I have high-end Rick Owens x Chanel taste and a Rainbow Shops budget. The garments I love are waaaaaay too expensive… right off the rack. But who says you have to buy them at full price? Used high-end name-brand clothes are still those same clothes. The only difference is the price. As long as they were well kept, you get the benefit of high-quality clothes that can last longer than less expensive brands.

I’m always searching for Rick Ownes and Lanvin on Thread Up. If I can catch a secondhand piece from a brand I drool over within my budget, I’m in. Sometimes I try to recreate a knitted version, but sometimes you just want that specific piece. 

A fun way to shop thrift is to find an image of a look you love, then search all your local and online.

Here are some thrift shopping options

• ThredUp
• Poshmark
• Mercari
• Good Will

If you can’t find a piece you really want on thrift, create an Oh You Fancy Fund for it. Most people call them sinking funds but I’m not a fan of the word ‘sinking’ when it comes to my money. It doesn’t sound like an ideal situation. LOL! Save up and splurge on a staple piece and get everything else on thrift. 

Veg Out to Stretch Your Food Budget

One of the best food budget tips I ever got was adding spinach and/or cooked lentils to ground beef instead of bread crumbs. I could make six burgers instead of four from a pack of ground beef. Spinach is such a great and healthy filler—fresh or frozen. Shredded carrots are another good filler option. 

Animal protein is usually the most expensive grocery item. Try having a meat-free day or two to reduce your food cost. Filling your plate with a second serving of veggies will not only improve your budget but will also help improve your waistline and your health.

Self-Serve: DIY Repairs & Maintenance at Home

Home repairs can be extremely expensive. Before you hire a professional to do repairs or maintenance, see if there’s a way that you can do it yourself. 

YouTube has videos on pretty much everything. Watch a few and see if it’s possible for you to save money by grabbing a wrench a hammer and some duct tape and taking a shot at it. 

Ask friends or family members for help with the task if they are handy. As long as it’s not something that requires a licensed professional, I think it’s worth it to at least try and learn a new skill in the process. 

If you want to try your hand at making routine repairs yourself, check out this book “Popular Mechanics How to Fix Anything: Essential Home Repairs Anyone Can Do“.

If you must hire someone to do it for you, check out services like TaskRabbit. TaskRabbit is like Fiverr, except I use Fiver when I want someone to help me create something, with TaskRabbit, they come to your house and fix stuff. 🛠 

Weigh the pros and cons of doing it yourself or hiring someone local. The important thing is that you’re consciously making decisions toward saving money.

Free or Inexpensive Entertainment is Still Entertainment

Entertainment is important, but it doesn’t have to be expensive. Take advantage of free and low-cost options such as library books and movies, local parks, and community events. You can also find fun and educational activities to do with your kids that won’t break the bank.

Just because you’re on a budget, doesn’t mean you have to cut out happiness. Happiness is more important than money. That’s why unhappy rich people exist. Always create a budget for fun. If you find that you can’t squeeze in even a small amount to have the things you enjoy, find a way to do them for free. Many museums have free and low-cost admissions. Local parks also have free events from time to time. 

You can borrow books and DVDs from the library. There are even free apps that allow you to download the books onto your Kindle, if you have one. I use Libby with my library card number and I can borrow as many books as I like without cost. 

Do you like movies? I love movies, so I invested in an air popper and when I’m in the mood to watch a movie, I make a big batch and log into my Netflix account and look for fun movies that I can enjoy or ones I can laugh at how poorly they were made. Even the free version of YouTube has movies.

These are some other free streaming sites that I use and love:

• Crackle 
• Pluto 
• Peacock
• Tubi 
• Crunchy Roll (for Anime heads)

So when you’re in the mood to be entertained, consider doing something that will not only increase your joy but also save you enough money to increase your net worth.

Conclusion

Saving money can be tough for single moms because every penny is important, but it doesn’t have to be debilitating. Using these 6 tips can help you keep more of the money you earn while still enjoying your life. 

You’ll put more toward saving by creating a budget, using smart grocery shopping tactics, doing DIY repairs, shopping secondhand, and finding inexpensive entertainment. Just make sure you’re also giving yourself grace when you fall short. 

Don’t wait to start! When you choose to be intentional with your money and take steps like these, your income will go further, in turn decreasing your financial stress.

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