A Single Mom’s Guide to Starting a Budget

Being a single mom after enduring an unhealthy relationship is not an easy task. That’s why I am here to support you in a heart-centered, kind, caring way. You have enough to balance everything from work to your kid’s school, extracurricular activities, and trying to fit in some fun time. One of the best things you can do as a single mom is create a saving and spending plan. In the long run it will reduce your stress. It may seem complicated, but I assure you, like anything else that’s new, it seems hard until you created it. Then you look back and say “that was easy”! In this blog post I will guide you through the process of starting a saving and spending plan so you can confidently create one as a single mom. I got you!

Create a Saving and Spending Plan😊

As a single mom, you have to make sure you have enough money to cover your fixed expenses like housing, utilities, car payment, and loan payments. Write down all the fixed payments you have each month. Next, create a list of all your monthly variable expenses. These are things that change from month to month like food, utilities, toiletries, and clothing. This is where tracking your expenses comes in really handy. Next, subtract your fixed and variable expenses from your income. When reviewing these expenses, determine where you can possibly cut back or save money. For example, if you eating out expense is really high, consider making meals at home. It helped me the most when I was open to being creative.

Let’s Look at Your Net Income

Your net income is the amount that’s deposited into your checking account or the number on your paycheck. Do you have any other income from other part-time jobs or child support? Add up all your monthly net income. Once you have determined your net income, you can create a plan based on this figure.

Fixed Expenses

When sorting out expenses, I like to write out my fixed expenses. These expenses don’t change from month to month. For example your rent payment, car payment, and loan payments. Then I add them up and note the total.

Variable Expenses

Variable expenses are going to change each month or at least fluctuate a little. Think of your groceries, fuel for your car, toiletries, clothing, and entertainment. When you’re first starting out, it’s helpful to go back through your checking account or bank statement to get a good idea of what you spent. This way you can put an estimate down on paper. This will be perfected as you go forward. Then I use my estimated total and subtract this number along with my fixed expenses from my net income.

Plan to Save

After you have determined your income and expenses, start to create a plan for saving. When I was single parenting, I found it helpful to start saving money because the unexpected always happened. It’s stressful when you don’t have any money left and you have to wait for your next paycheck! Even if you can save $10.00 out of each paycheck. This helped me get in the habit of saving and keeping it top of mind. Another option is to have automatic withdrawals from your paycheck.

Annual Expenses

As a single mom, annual expenses always caught me off guard! Make sure you plan for all the annual expenses that come up. These may include insurance premiums, taxes, and kids extracurricular activities. Planning for these expenses that come up every year, protects you from falling into debt. It’s so helpful to think about the future and what expenses typically come up and add them to your plan. I add up my annual expenses and then divide them by 12 (months). Then I save this amount of money each month. As a result, I have enough money and I am prepared when that expenses comes up each year.

The Look Back

This step is usually the step everyone wants to skip but is the most important! We need to look back at what we spent and what our income was for the past month, If we under-budgeted or over-budgeted our numbers, we need to know that. This is important each month so we can adjust our estimates for income, fixed expenses and adjustable expenses for the next month. You got this!😊

Get Support

Having support was so helpful for my success! We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Sharing your challenges and successes with others can be so helpful! Maybe you have a friend or family member that will cheer you on to success. If you don’t, I got you! Join “Single Moms: Thriving after Unhealthy Relationships and I’ll cheer you on to success! This will help you realize that you’re not alone, and you can learn from others’ experiences.

One Last Thing…

Starting a saving and spending plan doesn’t have to be difficult and I’ll help you make as easy as possible. It really is necessary to understand the money coming into your house and money going out, especially if you’re a single mom. Plus, I’ll make it easy for you. Get the printout that guides you through the process to this post here. The process of starting a saving and spending plan may seem overwhelming, but it’s doable as long as you break it down into smaller, manageable steps. The key to success is to be consistent! Create a plan, track your expenses, always do a look back, set goals, and get support. Remember, taking care of your finances is taking care of your family’s future. Take the first step and start your Saving and Spending plan today.