Ways to Save Money on a Tight Budget

Being a single mom isn’t easy by any means, and it’s a struggle in many more ways than anyone who isn’t one could imagine. There’s a struggle in trying to find time to spend with your kids and also trying to save money so that you can.

Often times, we single moms find ourselves living paycheck to paycheck, and even then, it’s cutting it really close sometimes.

It seems like there’s absolutely no way out, right? That you’re destined to always be caught in this loop of making money just to wave goodbye to it as it flies out the window to pay your rent and bills.

You’re always going to struggle to work too many hours and never seeing those precious children you made.

The truth is it doesn’t have to be that way! There are plenty of ways out there that you can work on saving money, no matter how tight your budget is. But how? Well, I’m going to tell you about some of the ways that helped me.

 

Set a realistic budget

I know what you’re thinking; setting a budget when you can barely get by is not realistic in itself. This may true, but it’s the first step you need to take when it comes to trying to save some extra money to have a little fun with. If you don’t budget what you can spend, then you’re going to continue blowing money on what you don’t need. Trust me, I know.

Include everything in your budget:

• Bills
• Rent
• Food
• Essentials
• Extra spending

By having a budget plan, you will really be able to see where you are spending more than is necessary. Perhaps you’ve been spending more on junk food than is necessary? Or the brand of toilet paper you are using is more expensive than an off-brand that’s just as good?

Set a realistic budget based on your finances, and stick to it. You will be surprised at how much you can end up saving. I certainly was. I stopped buying as much junk food and started shopping smarter once I noticed where all my could-be extra money was going.

Get help managing your bills

This is probably one of the most important ways to ease your budget so you can save a little bit more. I know that my bills were getting outrageous, as utility companies were raising their prices while my pay rate stayed the same. I knew I needed to get some help, as I’m sure you do.

I started looking around for some options that might help to get them lowered and a bit more manageable. After trying a few different apps, the one that I had the most success from and stuck to is called TrueBill.

This nifty little app has a lot of convenient features when it comes to money management. Some of the things it can help with are:

• Lower your bills
• Cancel unwanted subscriptions
• Track your spending

I actually had a few subscriptions that I had forgotten about or couldn’t figure out how to cancel on my own. TrueBill helped to cancel them swiftly, which helped to save me about $50. It may not seem like a lot, but when you’re strapped for cash, it makes a difference.

If that wasn’t enough, TrueBill also succeeded in lowering my monthly bills enough to make a difference in my budget. Saving on my utilities helped with putting extra dollars in my savings account. It definitely adds up!

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Android on Google Play: Click Here

 

Be smarter with your shopping

We all love to shop and buy things when we see it, our eyes seeking out the next best item to fill our closets or to dote on our children with. But the problem is, tight budgets don’t leave a lot of room for this. Does that mean that we can’t shop at all? Of course not!

It just means we have to be a little bit more careful with the shopping that we do. Location is a huge way to cut those costs. Stop going to the mall; the mall is a death trap for the amount of money left on your debit card.

Instead, if you want to go out for your shopping experience, consider a local thrift shop instead. You wouldn’t believe the great deals you can find at a thrift store for high-end brand name clothing.

People with way more money than us will wear something incredible once and then just donate it because they can afford to buy something new. Take advantage of this.

If you’re shopping for an exact item, consider not leaving the house at all and just ordering it online. Make use of Amazon, E-bay, Etsy, and more. There are plenty of venues where you can find almost anything, and you’ll save money by avoiding the window-shopping aspect.

Start an online affiliate program

Now, this is one that can start off pretty slow, but I tell you what, it makes a huge difference once you get into the groove and really get started. It’s simple, and you don’t even have to do a lot of work to make it happen.

Affiliate programs are where you sign up with a specific company and post their link to your website in hopes of generating traffic to them. The more people click on your link and buy the products that they offer, the more money you get paid.

So, how do you go about getting commissions off of these links? How do you get potential customers to click on them and then proceed to buy from them? I was determined to make this one work, I’d heard of too many success stories from people using affiliate programs.

I kept failing, so I did some more research until I came across the 12 Minute Affiliate program. Did it do the amazing sales that the creator said he had? Certainly not, but it definitely helped in my endeavor. I definitely recommend looking into it if you want to get into affiliate programs.

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Find other simple ways to make money online

There are other things you can do online to make some money to add into your existing budget pool. Besides affiliate programs, you can consider looking into some other venues:

• Dropshipping or starting an eCommerce store on Shopify
• Sell unwanted new or used items on websites like Mercari
• Find apps that save money with couponing, giving money back, or helping you save

The internet is a wonderful tool and can be used to help save you so much money. All it takes is doing the correct research and taking care that you’re not going to be scammed. Make sure you always double-check all reviews, both good and bad.

These things seem like they are too good to be true, but some of them really are legit and can make a huge difference to a struggling single mom. Take it from me, don’t let these opportunities pass you by. I almost did because I thought the same thing.

I have absolutely no regrets with how much money I was able to save up with these venues.

 

Do some work on your days off

Am I saying to go out and get a second part-time job? Well, yes and no. I’m not telling you to go and find a second job where you will be slaving away and being away from your kids even more than you already are. I’m telling you to look into the world of freelancing.

Freelancing, as a single parent, is a blessing in disguise. You can work from home and be with your kids as much as you want, but it can be an incredibly slow start. This is why you want to do it on the free days you have until you can make enough money to do it full time.

There are a few different websites you can sign up with to start a freelancing career, but I really recommend ClickEarners. There are loads of different categories that you can find work in. Some of these categories include:

• Typing and writing
• Online research
• Data entry/input
• Customer service
• Mystery shopping
• Product testing

There are more, and the variety of work you can find on this website is amazing. It’s perfect for a single mom looking to make extra money at home while also weaning down slaving in the corporate system.

Check It Out

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Shop smarter, cook smarter

This goes back to the budget planner in the section of being careful how you spend your money on food. There are a few different ways to lower your spending when it comes to what you get at the grocery store.

• Go in with a list
• Shop store brand
• Only buy essentials
• Buy fewer snacks

I know buying the store brand stuff isn’t ideal, and the taste can be off sometimes, but these are hard times, and we moms have to do what is necessary to survive. That sacrifice in bolder flavor is worth it when you can fit more food into that budgeted amount.

Eat out less often

Another thing you want to try to do is shop for meals that you will have plenty of leftovers with. Leftovers will mean extra for lunch the next day or even two days in a row worth of dinner. Ideal? Maybe not, but it’s definitely smart.

This will also lessen the amount of money you will wind up spending by eating out. I know it is when you get off work, and you just want to come home and relax. The desire is so strong, and you fall into that immediate impulse of stopping on the way home and picking up dinner.

It doesn’t seem like a lot of the time, but really stop and think about how often you do this. Let it add up in your head how much a month you are spending on eating out instead of cooking.

Well, this is why doubling up on a meal when you do have the energy to cook will really come in handy. You can just come home and heat up what you already have in the fridge then relax.

 

Re-evaluate your bills

Really think about what you are paying for every single month. Do you really need to pay hundreds of dollars on those cell phone bills when there are cheaper prepaid options out there? The phones you can get may not be as good, but they still function the same way, and that’s what is really important.

What about cable? Is there anything you or your kids are using on the cable television you are overpaying for that they cannot get with a streaming service like Netflix? These streaming services are becoming so popular for a reason:

• They are cheaper than cable
• Shows just as good as those you find on cable channels
• Good movies at any time
• Can pause and stop watching whenever you want
• Only requires the internet, which is still cheaper than cable

Also, think about your utilities. TrueBill can help to lower your monthly payments, but have you also looked into budget billing? If you’re not on a budget plan with your utility company, call them up and ask them about it. This is especially helpful with electricity and gas, as it will lower your bills in those peak seasons.

Conclusion

Living paycheck to paycheck is hard, and it’s especially hard to get out of that lifestyle when you constantly feel tired and stressed from overworking yourself and never seeing your kids. But it does not have to be that way. I found ways to save money, and that’s why I decided to share my findings with you.

By saving money, I was able to spend so much more time with my daughter in a way that was enjoyable for us. I eventually saved up enough that I was able to go down to part-time and focus more of my work online on some of the venues I shared with you here. My daughter is just as happy that I’m home more often as I am.

So, whether you want to get away from working all the time or just want to save some money for a fun vacation this summer, research the ways to work around your tight budget. It is possible – you just have to try.