How to Be a Stay At Home Single Parent

Almost every parent would love to stay home with their children rather than leave them in daycare and go to work. Daycare costs alone can be expensive and not fit in a budget. In order to be able to support your children as a single parent, you will need to find a job that you can do from the house. Also, with the right budgeting techniques and will power, it is possible to be a stay at home single parent.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Write out all of your expenses. Groceries, bills, car and health insurance, mortgage or rent, gas, etc. You may also want to consider how much you want to spend each month for entertainment. Going out to dinner, seeing a movie and buying gifts for birthdays can all add up really quickly.

2. Be organized. Know how much you're spending and how much money is coming in. Always know how much money you have in the bank so you aren't expected to pay pricey overage fees. Organization can also help you know what your schedule is day to day. Taking children to their activities while running your own errands without the help of another parent can be stressful. Planning things help can reduce the amount of stress you feel.

3. Stop spending on things you don't really need. While a treat every now and then may be fine, overindulgences can mean that you're left without money for the bills or food for your children. Once you have cut your costs, you can get a better idea on how much work you will need to do in order to have enough money to live.

4. Move into a smaller home or share a house with another single mother. Not only will you have somebody to share the bills with, you'll have help cleaning and cooking.

5. Look for jobs that you can do from the house if you still aren't able to pay for everything without working. Consider babysitting other children from your house. Some states will require a license for this type of work but you can easily check your state's website to find information on the classes and licenses you need.

6. Search the Internet for companies that need customer service representatives to work from the house. If your children are old enough and don't need as much of your attention, you could easily set up an office in a quiet room and work from your home. Not only will this save money on daycare, you can still know what your children are doing. Many of these jobs will only offer part time work, so don't expect benefits for health insurance.

Tips & Warnings

• Finding a job to work from home may take time. Don't quit another job until you know for sure you're hired.
• Always do what's best for your children. Even though you're staying home, if you aren't making the money to care for your children, you won't be helping them.

[cheapcindy]

on 12/30/2008 Great advice and tips, thanks for sharing!

[Alisiane]

on 12/10/2008 Some of these are truly innovative ideas and the rest are helpful reminders of things that we technically already know, but can use reminding of. Good work!

[amylaine]

on 12/9/2008 Great tips, thanks for sharing.