Advice- Single Mom ASN student

jnw8606 · Sep 19, 2009

Im 22 and a single mom of a 3 y/o girl, I work part time and i STRUGGLE every month to pay the bills. I just pray and tell myself that this is temporary and school will pay off in the end.

violettn, ADN · Sep 19, 2009

I don't know if childcare costs are a factor for you (since most daycares can cost up to $200 a week) I am a single mom of a 2 yr old (I'm 27) and the school that I am attending has a childcare facillity on campus that participates in a federal grant program called CCAMPIS. As long as you are at least Pell-grant eligible, you qualify, and the grant pays for most of the daycare costs. So I only paid $35 a week last semester! If it wasn't for that, I never would have been able to afford to go back to school.

LeesG · Sep 19, 2009

Im also a ADN Student and single mother of 3, 19 ( in college),16 and 7 yrs old. Although I am making ends meet with alot of budgeting , there have been times, like when I first was divorced when I felt just like you.

Some things I did

I cut the cable to 10 channels, with all the DVD movies the kids had there was enough to watch, and PBS was still available so they had educational shows.

Bill was $75 a month, went down to $12.75 !! You have to call the cable company and ask about the BASIC plan, they have it but do not advertise it usually.

We have a scratch and dent store called Amelia's. Has canned goods that have dents and cant be sold at the regular grocery store and sell for about .25 a can in addition to other things that are fine, just not perfect for the regular store. We also have a store called ALDI which sells off brand soups, cereals, rice, butter, everything you find in a regular grocery store, just off brand

Had a budget of $500 a month for the kids and I ( there were 4 of us) for food, it dropped to $350 !!!

I saw on Oprah once a woman who said that if she isant using something it is UNPLUGGED !!! She said that even leaving toasters and such plugged in draws some electricity, I tried it, and I must admit that plugging the can opener in to use it was a pain at first, also unplugging the TV at night when I went to bed was annoying, but I was curious so I tried it just to see, and suprisingly my electric bill dropped from $120 a month to $90...thats $30 bucks !!! I must admit I dont so it anymore, but it did save some $.

Pack your lunch !!! Make sure you have plastic containers and pack left over and Peanut Butter sandwichs...I was buying at school with the other girls...cost me $6-7 a day !!! At the end of a month of school that $120 bucks !!

If you have a cell phone look at the bill..do you have internet on the phone ? If so do you really need it ? I see many of the younger classmates checking their Facebook on a break on their phones. These plans can cost $20- 50 a month...and right now its really not necessary...you have computers at home and at school and changing their update to " I hate this class" can wait till they get home.

Winter is coming, if you pay heat then plastic on the windows can really save some $. It is inexpensive and you can buy it at any Walmart or Lowes.

A guilty pleasure of mine...Iced Tea from the convenince store, to the tune of $2.50 a gallon. When I was broke I bought a box of 100 generic tea bags and a 5lb bag of sugar at the store...cost about $6.00...made about 10 gallons of iced tea and saved $19.00 a month.

I know these may seem like small nickel and dime things ...but the add up ALOT.

I just showed changes that can save someone $300 or so a month !!! Nursing school is, in the grand scheme of life, a short time, only 2 years....do everything you can to make sure you can devote your time to it, so later down the road you can afford to keep the cable on

Rylee2008, ASN, RN · Sep 20, 2009

I would check with your school. Our school will help single parents with daycare, student employment at the school around your school hours and also social services may be able to help with food, electric, heat and daycare. Good luck.

mbuteyn · Sep 21, 2009

I am a 25 year old single mom of a 4 year old girl. I am in my second year (1 year left to RN) so I am a full time student, I work full-time between my jobs as a CNA at the local hospital on both the behavioral health unit and the medical/surgical unit. My daughter is in ice skating, swim, gymnastics, and soccer. I am also a room parent for her junior kindergarten class. Just know, you can get through this. There are plenty of programs out there to help (being a single mom gets you great financial aid if you're on your own), school day cares are usually pretty cheap b/c they have a lot of early education majors getting there practice in there (around 3 something an hour). To afford my daughter going to all of her classes I get financial aid for the YMCA (FREE SWIM LESSONS!). I know it's tough but you'll make it through...I swear Nursing is THE profession for single moms!

gagesmommy · Dec 31, 2009

WOW great savings!!!!

gagesmommy · Dec 31, 2009

mbuteyn

Wow how in the world do you work full time go to nursing school full time and balance your daughter?! Don't you have clinicals that interfere with your work and does your work not interfere in your daughters activities? I swear your my new role model! Can I follow you around for a day to see your magic work?1 haha just joking, I'm just amazed at how you fit it all into one day! :yeah: :yeah: :yeah: :bowingpur:bowingpur:bowingpur:uhoh3: :uhoh3: :uhoh3: :up: :up:

CBsMommy · Dec 31, 2009

There are a lot of great savings tips on this board, just type it in the search bar and you will get even more tips!

I am a single Mom as well with champagne tastes on a water/cracker diet! I've learned to cut out cable ALL THE WAY! Tough to do but since I have to pay for internet, I can watch all my shows on my computer the next day for free.

I rent movies from the library as well as books (instead of buying new).

I don't eat out anymore, which used to be a guilty pleasure. Instead, I usually cook cheap meals in my crockpot and freeze the rest for leftovers.

If you can, move into cheaper accomodations. If that's not possible, can you get a roommate?

Sell some of your items on Craigslist. I made over $300 last month for Christmas money by doing this and my house is cleaner because of it!

Can you get a parttime job? Now that I know my schedule, I am going to be looking into doing this. I know that it's time away from the kiddo but it's only temporary and if you can get a part time job at night...at least it's while they're sleeping.

Good luck. We can get through this!

Angel@MyTable, RN · Dec 31, 2009

I am a single mom of 3 boys (although 2 are adults) and my youngest is 8, he is Autistic.

I quit work when I got into nursing school, but I am fortunate that I got into a great low income housing project (rent is 284).

I basically live off my student loans, and my son gets some SSI which helps pay the bills (I pay one of my sons classroom aides to watch him in the morning when I have to be at clinicals early in the am, which eats up much of the SSI). It gets to be a struggle, but I am keeping my eye on the prize!

There are a lot of programs out there if you look: scholarships for single moms, county programs, and the school may even have an emergency fund (my schools fund is called "Have a Heart" and you can get up to 300 a year for emergencies for gas, car repairs, books, basically anything for school to help you stay in school) which I have used a few times. Also, work study is fabulous if you can do that, I did that for over a year while I completed my pre-req's and pay is usually pretty decent.

As another poster stated selling items on Craigslist, I would also suggest Ebay! I do that once in a while and I have made some nice extra $$ that way!

Also, if you plastic the windows, keep a CO2 detector on!

Good Luck in your endevors!

For me it has ALL been worth it!

(I am almost done with my program-I graduate in May).

Multicollinearity, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2009

When I was in school, I canceled my cell phone and cable TV. I also quit buying things like paper toweling - it's just not a necessity. We can go without a lot more than many of us think. And we survive.