Trying to make your money go further? When you’re a single parent, every cent counts. Often, our first instinct is to cut costs, deprive ourselves, and go without in order to spread our money as thinly as possible. However, cutting back can only get us so far. Sometimes, the issue isn’t how we’re using our income — it’s the income itself.
Making more money can feel like a herculean task, but there are some subtle and simple ways to bring in extra cash. Here are some tips to help you boost your income:
The Side Hustle
If you’re already working full time or near-full time, you can consider adding a side hustle to get a little extra cash. When you’re taking care of a little one on your own, it’s important that any extra work you take on is on your terms. That’s why freelance and contract work is such a good fit for single parents. When you work as a freelancer, you set your own schedule, define your own workload, and can pick up or drop work as needed.
However, getting started as a freelancer can be a little tricky. Many people are unsure of what their rates should be, and wind up underselling themselves on the market. Here is the big freelancing secret: You’ll only get the money you fight for. Know your own worth, and don’t be afraid to turn down offers that don’t meet your standards.
Asking for a Raise
If you’ve been at your company for a while and you know you’re making an impact, ask for a raise. There is an art to the raise conversation — your first step should be gathering evidence of your impact on the company. This can be anything from figures showing value added or money saved on a project to feedback you’ve received from superiors saying you’ve done well. If you’ve had a written positive review, be sure to bring that along during the conversation.
Just as with freelancing, it’s important to know your worth and be willing to ask for what you want. The worst you can get is a “no.” That said, you need to be prepared with what a “no” will mean for you. Will you be willing to bargain down to a smaller raise? What if they’re not willing to give you a raise at all? Will that mean you look for different work? There’s no one right answer, but you should consider these questions before you begin the conversation.
Online Work
In today’s digital age, there are a ton of options for people who want to find work online. You can write for a blog, work as a social media manager, create your own online shop; you’re almost only limited by your own imagination. That said, there are potential pitfalls in online income generation. Turn to trustworthy e-commerce resources to make sure you’re on the right track.
Avoid Scams
Be sure to stay savvy along the way to avoid money-making scams. Pyramid schemes and other get-rich-quick methods target single parents because they know they’re a vulnerable population. Be wary of anything that promises instant results, and especially suspicious of any job that you have to pay to do.
We hope this article helps you find ways to bring in some extra money. Supporting a family alone is hard work, and any additional income can make it just a little easier. Here are a few freelance and work from home jobs you might want to consider:
Blog writing can be a lucrative way to build your brand and bring cash in at once.
Companies value Excel experts who can use Visual Basic to automate tasks.
Graphic designers can make a tidy income designing logos and marketing imagery.
Security specialists can perform audits to help companies ensure their data is safe.
Web developers can bring a business’s website to life and make it good-looking.
Samantha A. Gregory is an author, consultant, and speaker. She’s a single-mom lifestyle, money, and parenting expert featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Essence Magazine, HuffPost, ABC News, and Mint.com.
Samantha founded the award-winning RichSingleMomma.com™, the first online magazine featuring personal finance, parenting, and personal development content and courses for single moms.
She aims to inspire women who are ready to thrive and not just survive in their single motherhood journey. Connect with her on Instagram @richsinglemomma.
If you have a baby on the way, congratulations! That’s wonderful news. At the same time, you may have a few concerns about your budget. After all, you’re now responsible for supporting at least one new life.
Few would argue that giving birth is inexpensive. However, you can get your budget under control by simultaneously cutting back in some areas while boosting your income. Here’s how.
Tips for Saving Money
Ah, the lure of those adorable baby outfits and that to-die-for nursery gear. You might feel tempted to break out the credit card, but before you do, remember! Most baby items see limited use.
Do you genuinely need a designer outfit your kiddo will wear once, spit up all over, then outgrow?
1. Shop in Your Closet
Chances are, you have a few items that you can wear even in your third trimester, like maxi dresses. Plus, if you find yourself now working from home, you don’t need as extensive of a maternity wardrobe.
Your baby will throw up all over their shirts, and that’s not all. Why let them defile a $40 set of duds? Plus, they outgrow clothing faster than you can buy them.
If you have a family member or friend with a few hand-me-downs to spare, take advantage.
3. Refinance
Depending on your circumstances, now may be the ideal time to refinance your mortgage. If you wait until you go on maternity leave to apply, your income will likely decrease.
Additionally, your lender might have questions about your future ability to make payments. If you have a partner who also works, you will probably have a more streamlined time winning approval.
4. Click Unsubscribe
Like it or not, you live in a subscription economy, and many people have recurring charges for items they no longer use. One fellow found he paid $40 a month for in-flight WiFi for eight months while he was safely grounded. That amount would pay a monthly utility bill in some areas.
Download an app like Truebill and enter your information. Do you need a subscription to the Tai Chi Move-of-the-Month club any longer, or can you go without to save money?
5. “Upcycle” Your Produce
Things could be worse — the current pandemic could have struck in the dead of winter. Now, however, you don’t have long to wait until planting time. If you live in the south, you could enjoy peak season already.
Learn how to save the seeds from your produce and start seedlings indoors. When they grow large enough, replant them in your garden. This way, your family will always enjoy a supply of fresh vegetables, even when the grocery budget gets tight.
Tips for Increasing Your Income
In addition to cutting your budget, you can increase your income, even during tumultuous times. Here are some ideas.
1. Become a Virtual Assistant
Scores of companies need virtual assistants for handing everything from customer calls to emails. You might manage social media posts or help with bookkeeping tasks.
Sites such as Fiverr allow you to offer your services for sale to the highest bidders.
2. Sell Crafts on Etsy
Are you a crafty mama-to-be? If you have knitted more adorable baby booties than your child could wear by the time they turn 21, why not sell the excess on Etsy?
You can set the price for your wares, and once you establish yourself as a seller, you can do well. You can also search your home for any high-value items like electronics you don’t need or use, and see if you could possibly pawn them for a little extra cash.
3. Teach or Tutor Online
In case you missed it, many schools have shuttered for the rest of the year, and the demand for online teachers is high. If you have a certificate, you can work for a virtual school.
However, even if you lack a credential, you can tutor if you have a bachelor’s degree.
4. Start a YouTube Channel
Do you have a skill you can share? One grandmother recently gained significant stardom when she started a YouTube cooking channel to pass down her recipes.
If you can do yoga, knit like a fiend or make a tutorial on how to build a better birdhouse, you could earn residual income through advertising revenue.
Get Your Budget Under Control Before Baby Arrives
Once your baby arrives, you will have plenty to occupy your mind. In the meantime, get your budget in order so that you feel secure in your family’s finances.
Samantha A. Gregory is an author, consultant, and speaker. She’s a single-mom lifestyle, money, and parenting expert featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Essence Magazine, HuffPost, ABC News, and Mint.com.
Samantha founded the award-winning RichSingleMomma.com™, the first online magazine featuring personal finance, parenting, and personal development content and courses for single moms.
She aims to inspire women who are ready to thrive and not just survive in their single motherhood journey. Connect with her on Instagram @richsinglemomma.
Lost your job during the Coronavirus shutdown? It’s pretty scary but now is the perfect time to learn new skill that is crisis-proof. Here are a list of free classes you can take to upgrade your career skills or start a business that allows you to work from home.
Brit and Co.
If you are a creative who enjoys drawing, painting, and photography you will love the classes featured on Brit+Co. You will learn skills that you can use to become a graphic designer, illustrator, or photographer. These skills will fit into a work from home role or in your own digital marketing business.
Get certified to manage social media. With a certification from Hubspot you will be ahead of the curve in your company. You can leverage these skills into a new role or turn it into a Virtual Assistant or Social Media Management agency.
You get a free month to learn any skill in any category over at LinkedIn Learning. From programming to digital marketing and Microsoft certification prep to technical writing. There is something for everyone. All courses are rated for beginner to advanced so you are never in over your head.
Skillshare is giving you two free months to learn something new. You can focus on fun topics like cooking or art or upgrade your skills when you learn how to manage social media, start your own business, or invest money. The options are limitless.
Access 2000 free online courses from 140 leading institutions worldwide. Gain new skills and earn a certificate of completion. Join today for free.
Edx offers free classes from Colleges and Universities around the country – edx.org
Six classes help you move from survival mode to thriving through your single mom journey. Get the Single Mom Survival and Success Kit – https://richsinglemomma.vipmembervault.com/products/courses
A Decision to Change Your Life Forever
Getting through a crisis take a lot of mental and emotional energy. It can have a negative affect on your life if you let it, but you have options (free ones) to help you move past the mental and emotional turmoil. You can turn what looks like defeat into victory by making the decision to take a class that will change your life for you and your kids.
Samantha A. Gregory is an author, consultant, and speaker. She’s a single-mom lifestyle, money, and parenting expert featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Essence Magazine, HuffPost, ABC News, and Mint.com.
Samantha founded the award-winning RichSingleMomma.com™, the first online magazine featuring personal finance, parenting, and personal development content and courses for single moms.
She aims to inspire women who are ready to thrive and not just survive in their single motherhood journey. Connect with her on Instagram @richsinglemomma.
Do you only find moths in your wallet at the end of each month? While it’s true that societal factors play a role, you do have some control over your budget. Chances are, you can find multiple places to pare.
When you grow tired of feeling short on cash, give the following nine tips a try. Many of these strategies will save you money and also reduce your carbon footprint. Here’s how to get started!
1. Use Fewer Paper Products
As the Coronavirus rages on, paper products are in short supply. What better time to reduce your carbon footprint by decreasing their use? You’ll wash your hands after you wipe, so cut down on the number of sheets you take off the roll each time. You can also find bidet attachments for your toilet that allow you to rinse, decreasing the need for tissue exponentially.
Instead of using paper towels to clean your counter-tops, invest in rags. You can even cut up old T-shirts to use as substitutes. Consider using a hankie instead of tissues. After all, you’ll be practicing social distancing and using sanitizer.
2. Reheat Leftovers
When you enjoy a delicious meal, what do you do with the scraps? You can save a small fortune by pretending you’re on the hit Food Network show “Chopped” and reusing your leftovers. You can even reheat foods like ribs by wrapping them in foil and heating them slowly at 250 degrees.
Get creative with veggies. You can transform leftover crudités into a comforting soup that will warm you on chilly days. Rice or potatoes can form a base for a bowl-style entree — so toss in some corn and leftover fried chicken for a KFC-like experience.
3. Sign Up for Rewards
Does your local grocery store offer rewards? If so, you’re dinging your wallet every time you shop if you don’t sign up for one.
You can earn digital coupons on the products you purchase the most — without clipping Sunday circulars. Some shops also award points and other free prizes on your birthday or anniversary.
4. Round Up Your Purchases
Does your bank or credit union enable you to round up your everyday debit card purchases to pad your savings or investments? If not, why not sign up for an Acorns account so that you can invest money painlessly?
If you spend $1.50 on an order of french fries, the app will automatically round up the extra $.50 and add it to your investment account. This way, you can earn stock through micro-purchases, even if you can’t afford to sell out for shares.
5. Save Your Change
Your spare change can add up relatively quickly, so if you don’t have a piggy bank, invest in one today. Do you have little ones at home? You can use coin savings banks to teach them valuable money lessons from a young age.
6. Improve Your Credit Score
If your credit isn’t the best, you could pay thousands of dollars more in loans and credit card fees. You can order a free credit report from all the major bureaus once per year.
Take advantage of this and review these carefully. Dispute any discrepancies with the bureaus, or consider hiring a credit repair company.
7. Reduce Your Water Use
If you shower every day, you can use several gallons of water, particularly if you like to soak for a while. Instead, set an egg timer for no more than five minutes.
If you do this every time you shower — maybe allowing yourself one luxurious bath per week — you should save money on your utilities. If you don’t have low-flow toilets and faucets, install them when you upgrade.
8. Change Your Lighting
Compact fluorescent lighting uses 25% to 80% less electricity than traditional incandescent lighting. If you haven’t swapped out your bulbs yet — maybe because you still have some left from a long-ago Costco run — make an effort to do so. Changing your lights can save you cash.
Also, consider taking down the heavy blinds and using natural light to illuminate your abode whenever possible. That way, you don’t have to use electricity at all, and you may boost your mood by looking at natural scenes. Window film enables you to see outside while keeping miscreants from peeking in at your china collection.
9. Brew Coffee at Home
Finally, if you have a long-standing coffee shop habit, now is the ideal time to start brewing your morning joe at home. If you buy 14 cups or more a week, you could save $70 every month by going homemade.
Plus, you can experiment with adding herbs like cinnamon and turmeric to your beans. These can provide additional health benefits, as well as a burst of flavor.
Save Money in These Obvious-But-Overlooked Ways
You don’t have to go hungry at the end of every month. Use these tips to keep a few more bucks in your wallet today!
Samantha A. Gregory is an author, consultant, and speaker. She’s a single-mom lifestyle, money, and parenting expert featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Essence Magazine, HuffPost, ABC News, and Mint.com.
Samantha founded the award-winning RichSingleMomma.com™, the first online magazine featuring personal finance, parenting, and personal development content and courses for single moms.
She aims to inspire women who are ready to thrive and not just survive in their single motherhood journey. Connect with her on Instagram @richsinglemomma.
The first things homeowners look at when they want to know how much their home is worth are tax records and property sale records. Then, they compare their home to others in their neighborhood. Tax assessors tend to view homes in Atlanta with an upward microscope, so their estimates are sometimes in need of correction. Then, iBuyers look at the overall amenities of the home, and provide an estimate.
Within this post, we’ll dive into each section and provide you with the ‘need to know’ information about selling and buying real estate in Atlanta, GA.
Traditional Home Assessments
Traditional assessors estimate your home’s worth in just a few minutes’ time. They gather information first by driving by your property. They take pictures and check the exterior of your home and yard for changes made since last year. They take note of everything they see, from new windows and gutters to the condition of the garden shed in the back yard. After compiling the information, they come up with an estimate of your home’s value called the tax valuation. You pay a flat percentage of your home’s value in property taxes based on that assessment.
Is the property valuation for your home accurate?
If your home’s valuation has skyrocketed along with your tax burden, taking the time and energy to audit the assessor’s report is warranted. If you believe the tax valuation is inaccurate, you’re well within your rights to appeal the tax assessor’s valuation at the Fulton County Tax Assessor’s office.
The advantage of a high tax valuation
Before you start filing property tax appeals, stop and think for a minute. Ask yourself, “do I want to stay in the same home for a few more years?” If you like your home and it makes financial sense to stay in it, go ahead and appeal those high taxes. Are you considering putting your house on the market? If you want to sell your home in Atlanta, don’t file a tax appeal. A high tax valuation will help you get a higher price when you sell your house.
Thousands of people move to Atlanta each year. The city is expected to grow by more than 2 million people by 2030. Because Atlanta is such a desirous place to live and the population boom has been so prominent, home values have risen an average of 4.8% in the last year. They’re supposed to rise another 6.6% in 2020. The tax valuation of your home could be accurate.
iBuyer Home Assessments
iBuyer companies are primarily based online and they evaluate a homes value similar to real estate agents run comps on when buyers are looking to purchase, they don’t need to drive past the home (although some have staff that have jobs similar to that) and simply evaluate the home by the amenities the specific property has. All of which may include square footage, number of bedrooms/bathrooms, if there is a swimming pool, any major renovations or major upgrades over the last few years – so, an iBuyer home value may be more accurate than the traditional way of finding out how much your home is worth. Then, after the home assessment, most times, the iBuyer will provide you with a home purchase offer. According to Atlanta Business Chronicle, Atlanta is one of the top markets for the iBuyer home sale model.
Is it a good time to sell?
Right now, there is a perfect storm of factors that are aligning which can give homeowners and buyers incredible opportunities. America is in a trade war, there’s a pandemic disrupting global markets, banks are loosening purse strings to try to keep the markets hot, and interest rates are so low that it’s silly not to take advantage of the chance to save tens of thousands of dollars on mortgage products. It’s a great time to upgrade your living situation in Atlanta before there’s a recession. Sell high and buy low.
We’re on the precipice of a bear market. The average home price in Atlanta is nearly $300,000, but it might not hold that value for much longer. The marketing is moving but the pace is slowing. It takes longer to sell homes this year than last. It’s clear we’re at the beginning of an economic slowdown, which is a perfectly natural and expected economic pattern. If selling your home is on the agenda for 2020, do it soon or you could lose out on the highest possible return on your investment.
Samantha A. Gregory is an author, consultant, and speaker. She’s a single-mom lifestyle, money, and parenting expert featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Essence Magazine, HuffPost, ABC News, and Mint.com.
Samantha founded the award-winning RichSingleMomma.com™, the first online magazine featuring personal finance, parenting, and personal development content and courses for single moms.
She aims to inspire women who are ready to thrive and not just survive in their single motherhood journey. Connect with her on Instagram @richsinglemomma.
I got a question recently asking how can I save money when I don’t make much money? Today I want to share with you 4 No-Brainer Ways to Save Money (Even if You Have a Low Income). It is important to save money for emergencies and to build wealth. We hear this all the time. The recommended amount to save is about $1,000 into your savings account for emergency funds for just things that come up that we have no control over. And I completely agree. There are plenty of books from Amazon you can read about the topic. I’m not always great at it, but I agree. And so I found some ways that are pretty easy for me to save money and I’m going to share them with you.
Throughout this post there are a few affiliate links involved. This helps support RichSingleMomma.com and I really appreciate your support and so I hope that you will click the link and actually use the tools that I’ll be sharing with you.
Digit Automatic Savings App
The first way is the Digit App. Now I love this app! This app helps you to save by withdrawing money from your account not a whole lot, because you could tell it how much to actually withdraw from your account. And it does it automatically for you daily. It could be small amounts of money. I currently have mine set to $5 a day. So that $5 a day will give me a pretty nice chunk at the end of the month. And the great thing about the app is you can set a goal and I think it’s really important to create a goal for your savings so you actually know where it’s going.
Emergency Fund is such a blanket statement but let’s say you want to have an emergency fund but you really want to go on vacation, you really want to buy a car, or you really want to put money in a down payment for a house. You can do this with a Digit and then you could tell it how much to actually withdraw from your account. So even if you’re not making a lot of money, you can still have $1 a day taken out, right? Everybody can do $1 a day, especially given the fact that we often eat out or get coffee, you get donuts or buy those little things from the $1 store. Just imagine if you put the money that you get by used to buy from the dollar store into your digital account, you’d be saving money.
So or you could challenge yourself and say, for every dollar I spend, I’ll save $1. Now, it may be limited to the Dollar Tree, or limited to a low cost thing. store that you actually use not maybe on groceries or rent or anything like that. Because again, this is money that we’re trying to save even if we’re not making an extremely large amount of money. So try the digit app. It is free in the app store and it’s in the Android Google Play Store.
Automatic Savings Transfer
The next thing I want to share is the Automatic Transfer Savings method. So what is an automatic transfer? If you tell your bank to automatically transfer money from your checking to your savings every month, it’ll do it for you. You don’t even have to think about it, you just set it up. You can even create it as an automatic bill pay.
If you have a separate bank account, which I always recommend, I say never keep all your eggs in one basket. I’m kind of like a multi bank account junkie. I have bank accounts in several places. And that’s because I don’t like keeping all my eggs in one basket. Go ahead and set up an automatic transfer to a separate savings account so that every payday or every month or however you want it to be you can have that money placed into your savings account.
If you open up a separate savings account, you can do that online. And there are several banks, and I’ll have them listed in the show notes, where you can actually open up a separate savings account that’s online. I use Capital One which is one bank you can use online. There’s Ally Bank, there’s several other ones as well. So choose a bank and then schedule a transfer of a certain amount from each paycheck to that account. So you don’t even have to think about it as just an automatic payment to yourself. Okay, so that’s how we want to think about savings, you’re actually paying yourself.
Acorns Investment Savings Account
Next is Acorns which is kind of different, because it is not putting money into a savings account, but it’s actually putting money into an investment account. And the investment account is really for making money out of the money that you’ve placed in there. So what Acorns does is round up your purchases and put it into the investment account. Now the investment account is set up in Acorns.
You have to download the app or go on the website, you have to decide your investments. So you can invest in a lot of different companies. And that’s basically what investing is, is investing in stocks in a certain company. So you actually own a part of that company. And when they make money, you make money. Simple of course, it feels complicated, especially if you listen to all the other financial gurus on MSNBC or CNBC or wherever. But it is a simple idea. I would like for you to start investing now even if it’s just $1 a month, $5 a month, that investment will grow.
Do you want your money to grow? And that contributes to savings for you. So if Acorn again, when you go to the store, and let’s say your amount is $25.67 cents, well, the Acorn rounded up that change that was not spent 220 $7 to make $27, it’ll round that up and put that change into the investment account for you. Oh, that makes sense for you, but that’s what happens. So that’s a pretty good way to actually start investing on a small scale. And it makes a big difference in the long run, because that money can be used later on for your child’s college. If they decide to go to college, it could be used for down payment on a car. It could be used for several different things.
Self Lender Credit Building Savings Account
The final thing I want to share with you is Self Lender. This is a different type of savings as well. It is not like the Acorns app but, it is a type of savings account that automatically withdraws $25 or more into a separate CD. A CD is a Certificate of Deposit for a bank. The money is saved into the account for you. The great thing about it is you get that money back in 24 to 48 months depending on the amount that you’ve allotted to be withdrawn from your account each month. You’re actually saving for one or two years. So if you have if you’re putting in $25 a month, you get that money back in two years. Just think about the amount of money that has accumulated for you. You could get a lump sum check, which can then go into your own savings within your bank account because you got into the habit of saving money. Let’s say you have a goal to put a down payment on a car or you want to move into a better home, you have that money ready for you. Even if you want a Christmas savings account, this would be a great option because of the savings you put into the Self Lender account you could have enough money for an amazing Christmas savings account. The perk of this is each payment is reported to the credit bureaus, which raises your credit score. This is so you have a two-fold purpose. First of all, you’re saving money.
Second of all it is being reported to the credit bureau so your credit score goes up. You’re in a win-win situation so I don’t want to hear the excuse that you don’t have enough money to save. Actually you do because I just gave you four tools that you can use to save money for the thing that you need in your life. It’s possible to save with discipline, consistency, and developing an out of sight out of mind attitude about savings. I think an automatic savings program is the best way to go. If you ever have heard of David Bach, he has this book called, The Automatic Millionaire. He pretty much goes through some similar ideas about how to save automatically so that you can begin to fund your retirement. You can fund anything in your life, if you just set it and forget it. I hope these ways to save have helped you. They are no-brainer ways to save money even if you have a low income. And for those of you who have a moderate to high income is even better, you can save even more.
Send in your questions to the Single Mom Answers program. I love answering questions. It’s like one of my favorite things to do. And I will answer your questions and I hope that you will continue to listen to us, subscribe to the podcast channel, and that you will keep those questions coming.
Samantha A. Gregory is an author, consultant, and speaker. She’s a single-mom lifestyle, money, and parenting expert featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Essence Magazine, HuffPost, ABC News, and Mint.com.
Samantha founded the award-winning RichSingleMomma.com™, the first online magazine featuring personal finance, parenting, and personal development content and courses for single moms.
She aims to inspire women who are ready to thrive and not just survive in their single motherhood journey. Connect with her on Instagram @richsinglemomma.
Hi! Welcome to RichSingleMomma.com. I started this website almost a decade ago because I couldn't find any blogs back then that helped single moms with money. I was having some success in that area so I decided to share what I knew about side hustles, making extra money, and managing money. Read more...
