Tips to Create Financial Stability for Single Moms: How to Start Working from Home Today

Would working from home make single motherhood easier for you? If the answer is ‘YES!,’ you are on the right page. Here are some tips to create financial stability by learning how to start working from home today.

And the best part? You don’t have to wait for a job offer or interview with a dozen different companies. You won’t have to explain why you NEED to work from home because of your circumstances.

Here’s How to Start Working from Home Today: Build a Business Using Your Skills and Expertise

You can create your own path to financial freedom and business ownership by using your talents, skills and abilities to attract clients and begin offering consulting services.

Here are 3 reasons why you should consider this NOW:

1. You can start consulting TODAY
2. Use your YOUR BEST SKILL (writing? graphic design? management expertise? childcare services?) and make it available for hire or purchase
3. Starting a consulting business costs nothing. Until you start making money or decide that you want to invest in marketing tools, you can begin seeking out clients at no cost to you.

If you feel intimidated by the idea of starting a consulting business THAT IS OKAY. Remember:

Here’s what I’ve learned: You don’t have to be perfect AND You don’t have to know everything on the first day.

Why I’m SO Passionate About Single Moms Creating Financial Freedom

The answer is simple: because when single moms have financial stability it helps them stop stressing about money and start focusing on what matters most. This subject is deeply personal to me because I have many single mom friends that are in all different financial situations and the unfortunate truth is that when a single mom lacks financial stability it hinders her ability to care for her kids. Financial stability–enough money to create savings and pay basic bills–can help single moms make better decisions themselves and for their families.

Financial Circumstances Range Widely in Single Mom Households

Single motherhood can be a really tough, lonely road. And, it’s MUCH harder if you are living paycheck to paycheck. There are things we can do to change this and to ensure that we aren’t ‘trapped’ in single mom stereotypes.

Some single moms create financial stability through the pursuit of a steady career or by building their own business. Other women became single moms through divorce and receive alimony or child support that supplement their income. Some Single moms struggle because they didn’t have the opportunity to go to college (due to financial circumstances or an unplanned pregnancy). These women often have a harder time getting on a career path that leads to financial stability.

Ideas Based On Real Experience

By offering ideas on how to work from home, or how business ownership helped me, I truly hope that other women are able to seek out work that they love, that accommodates their schedules and provides enough income to support an entire household. I hope single moms that are in desperate need of financial stability started seeing opportunities to change their destiny.  Even as a single mom–when all it feels like the odds are against you–you can create an incredible life for you and your kids.

More Reasons to Consider Consulting/Business Ownership

I’m a huge advocate of business ownership. This is because it allows me to provide for my family in ways that I never imagined were possible. Don’t get me wrong: making more money will not solve all of your problems as a single mother. Making more money won’t help you feel less alone. It won’t mend broken relationships. It can’t ensure your children become great people. It won’t replace a loving husband. It won’t change an absentee dad. All of these soul issues require soul-care. Money will never replace a relationship with the God that loves you and has a plan for your future.

Get in the Driver’s Seat of Your Work Life

Making more money will give you the space to create a plan for the future of your family that you are excited about. Rather than making decisions in panic mode or under stress, extra income helps put you in the driver’s seat on extremely important decisions that can create positive change in your family.

Having enough money to live in the home and neighborhood I choose are AMAZING and I am beyond grateful, obviously, no amount of money changes other difficult aspects of single motherhood.

How Financial Stability Impacts Single Moms & their Decision Making

As a single mom, financial stability is extremely important. Prayers for the resolution of money issues or financial stability are some of the most common prayer requests that we receive. Without it, many women feel subject to their circumstances.

Unfortunately, when single moms are struggling financially, their career and relationship choices often reflect this. When you are struggling to create financial stability, decision making often suffers. Rather than choosing a career they love that meets the needs of their family, women are choosing work that allows them to survive or make ends meet. They end up reacting to their circumstances rather than planning for an incredible future.

When single moms struggle financially, they often make choices like this:

• Staying with an unloving or abusive boyfriend for financial stability/protection
• Working multiple jobs and living on auto-pilot
• Pursuit of additional income through work that is illegal & unsafe
• Pursuit of ‘get rich quick’ alternatives that cost more than the value they provide
• Child-care arrangements that are less than ideal
• Child-care arrangements that expose children to unknown individuals (increasing the likeliness of abuse as shown by study after study)
• Choosing dating relationships for financial protection (women in desperate need of financial protection often choose men that can provide but are harmful/unloving in other ways)
• Remaining in stable careers that they are desperately unhappy with (because most single moms view their responsibility as a provider to their children as the MOST important thing, they put their dreams on the back burner)

Get Unstuck Today: How Single Moms Can Create Financial Stability for Their Family

If you feel like you’ve been stuck on auto pilot or in survival mode, take a deep breath. I hope that reading this article helps encourage you to get unstuck no matter how hard your current working and childcare circumstances are. There is hope. Take a deep breath. Get ready to make a plan.

Here’s my suggestion to get started (and, yes, I’ve done this myself before!):

After the kids go to bed, find a quiet place and begin to make a new plan that strengthens your ability to provide for your family on your terms and with your best skills.

Working From Home Helps Single Moms Put their Families First

I’m the primary caregiver for both of my kiddos which means that I have to get them to and from day care, on and off the bus and to any activities on a schedule that I ultimately don’t have a ton of control over. Working independently (from home) has given me the ability to be a better mom and be more available than I would be if our life worked any differently.

Work from Home/Business Ownership Helps Solve Childcare Issues

While I do recommend having a childcare support system in place if you are working from home, there is flexibility. If you sitter or nanny cancels, you don’t have to call in. Come up with a few ideas to keep your kids occupied. For instance, create a movie day or relocate your workstation (if you are using a laptop) to the living room/child’s bedroom. When you are working from home, you have more OPTIONS to improvise circumstances change.

Work from Home/Business Ownership Grows Over Time

You can start small. Your client base and business can grow at a pace you are comfortable with. Here’s how:

• Limit the number of clients you can handle right now with your current schedule.
• We don’t recommend that single moms quit their jobs or invest tons of cash into coaches or business start-ups. You can start making extra income without all of that. But first, you have to make the time.
• Find 1-4 hours per week (evenings or mornings?) to dedicate to finding clients that need your services.
• As the money you make working from home grows, you can decide if you want to continue working your day job OR invest yourself fully in your new business.

Keep Your Job & Grow Your Business

We know that most single moms rely on steady employment and consistent paychecks. If you are a single mom that lives pay check to pay check and wants to increase your income, keep your job while beginning to grow your business.  By keeping your job while you grow your client base/consulting business you can:

• Take on the amount of work you can handle
• Choose to work with clients that you enjoy
• Limit stress
• Boost income
• Consider growth strategies (if you decide you want to work independently full-time)

Feeling Inspired by Our Tips to Create Financial Stability? Next Steps to Consider.

There are lots of steps that you can take next, but here is a suggestion from my own tip jar: begin brainstorming and considering how you will make the future that you want for your family possible. Make this a priority. Take time to think about your future. Make time to think about your future.

If you are a single mom, ready to start working from home, here are a few ideas:

1. Write your ideas down. By writing your ideas down you are at the very beginning of creating a plan for your future. The idea of being financially stable is extremely exciting, don’t burn yourself out now that you feel motivated to move forward. Pace yourself.
2. Start to ask yourself questions. What is your best skill? What are you AMAZING at? If you designed a business around your best skill, who would your clients be?
3. Begin researching where you could potentially find clients. When I started my consulting business my first client was off of Craigslist! Pretty crazy when I consider that I have made millions of dollars consulting since them.
4. Create a portfolio. Your potential clients are going to ask for examples of your work. If you don’t have examples to share, you will need to make some. These samples will be the start of your first portfolio.
5. Review our Path to Financial Freedom. This was developed based on how I built my first business AND each business after.
6. If you need help creating a plan and understanding how to move forward, consider the Dream Biz Beginner Membership by the Million Dollar Mama Club.
7. Visit our Entrepreneurship FAQ. Learn more about creating financial freedom through entrepreneurship. 

 

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