Single moms who do well

[Anonymous]

If you are a single mom who is financially well off can you provide tips for how you did it independently? And talk about how you secured your financial future.

[Anonymous]

Start Ira and 401k early. Your kids might qualify for aid so not sure if you need a 529 so I’m not advising you either way on that but I’d definitely do a tax free hsa.

Whenever you have extra money save it. Your retirement is funded solely by you.

Make sure your kids get good grades.

[Anonymous]

Education. The confidence boost in having a sought after job (knowing you will never be unemployed) is worth the grad school hours. There are a lot of free or "payback in work hours" programs too. Community, you can trade a lot of free stuff including babysitting swaps (make sure the people are trustworthy). Think about where you live and what you are paying out/getting back- some places you get a higher salary but pay out the nose for all services, some places you get a LOT of free stuff (camps, pools, public /low cost gyms, low cost babysitting, good schools). Some buildings in the city have amenities you might otherwise pay for, some dont. I'd move buildings, cities, states, regions, even countries to get a good quality of life for myself and my child if I were able to with the custody agreement. Get all the free stuff - do you qualify for anything free? Take it. You'd be surprised how much there is. Used clothing. Our list serv has constant giveaways. There are places where working women can get gorgeous giveaways. Network. Single moms needs lots of friend family and community. So do their kids. Again, only people you trust. Not saying open the door to one and all. OP my cake is more about trimming costs, maximizing opportunities. I am sure others will have a lot to say about really building wealth..you are asking all the right questions, on the right path.

[Anonymous]

I’m a SMBC. I planned out my path long before I was ready for kids. If I met someone and got married, we would be in a great position. But if not, I would still be able to achieve my goals.

For me, that meant finishing my education and being established in my job. It also meant buying a house. I was 35 when I had my first child. I was 10 yrs into my career and mortgage by then. I used an in home day care rather than a center. My kids are 3 yrs apart. The years with 2 in daycare were tight. But I had a 15 yr mortgage and when my oldest went to K, money freed up significantly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a SMBC. I planned out my path long before I was ready for kids. If I met someone and got married, we would be in a great position. But if not, I would still be able to achieve my goals.

For me, that meant finishing my education and being established in my job. It also meant buying a house. I was 35 when I had my first child. I was 10 yrs into my career and mortgage by then. I used an in home day care rather than a center. My kids are 3 yrs apart. The years with 2 in daycare were tight. But I had a 15 yr mortgage and when my oldest went to K, money freed up significantly.

What the hell is a smbc?

[Anonymous]

Education and really good job, constantly moving up the career ladder. Have to be assertive.
AuPair for childcare. My mom helped with childcare intermittantly

[Anonymous]

Change jobs every few years to move up and make more money. Pay more for very reliable childcare so I’m not calling out of work.

[Anonymous]

I also got two grad degrees before having my child. That way I was ensured a decent paying job and good benefits.

I did not rise to the top of my career though because I wanted to maximize my time with my child. She only had one parent, so I wanted to put extra time into supporting her.

[Anonymous]

I learned everything I could about personal finance. I also got BA in Finance while working low wage jobs and raising kids. I never worked in finance though, because I just had my 2nd kid when I finished up the degree.
My own investments have been enough for me to stop working. I was able to invest from 2007 on. I made a lot of mistakes though. Learning from them was really what made half the difference in my journey to financial freedom.
This getting a degree didn't work out for me at all. I was illegal here for the first 12 years, which meant that I couldn't get a better job, go to school, or get on property ladder.
Not only did I do alone, independently, I had to drop the losers who didn't see the possibilities. I never really mixed my finances with ex. He did put me in cc debt using my cards, and when we did taxes together (no income from his part), my refund was take to pay his student loans he had ignored for years.
So, lots of experience of being poor, standing still just hiding from INS, making money mistakes, supporting losers, getting finance degree, making anything money priority really helped me to get to good place financially.
You can do it! All information is online and in books and it's so interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Education. The confidence boost in having a sought after job (knowing you will never be unemployed) is worth the grad school hours. There are a lot of free or "payback in work hours" programs too. Community, you can trade a lot of free stuff including babysitting swaps (make sure the people are trustworthy). Think about where you live and what you are paying out/getting back- some places you get a higher salary but pay out the nose for all services, some places you get a LOT of free stuff (camps, pools, public /low cost gyms, low cost babysitting, good schools). Some buildings in the city have amenities you might otherwise pay for, some dont. I'd move buildings, cities, states, regions, even countries to get a good quality of life for myself and my child if I were able to with the custody agreement. Get all the free stuff - do you qualify for anything free? Take it. You'd be surprised how much there is. Used clothing. Our list serv has constant giveaways. There are places where working women can get gorgeous giveaways. Network. Single moms needs lots of friend family and community. So do their kids. Again, only people you trust. Not saying open the door to one and all. OP my cake is more about trimming costs, maximizing opportunities. I am sure others will have a lot to say about really building wealth..you are asking all the right questions, on the right path.

You mentioned a custody agreement. You're not a single mom. You're a divorced mom. There's a huge difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a SMBC. I planned out my path long before I was ready for kids. If I met someone and got married, we would be in a great position. But if not, I would still be able to achieve my goals.

For me, that meant finishing my education and being established in my job. It also meant buying a house. I was 35 when I had my first child. I was 10 yrs into my career and mortgage by then. I used an in home day care rather than a center. My kids are 3 yrs apart. The years with 2 in daycare were tight. But I had a 15 yr mortgage and when my oldest went to K, money freed up significantly.

What the hell is a smbc?

Single Mom By Choice

[Anonymous]

My friend did this. She put all of her energy into her career for first 20 adult years, ended up with a great job with high pay and flexibility. She used the money to pay for a live-in nanny, then later childcare. She lives in an apartment building and has close friends with kids of similar ages, who are a support network. Her family also helped her financially/with childcare when needed.

TLDR: Make sure you are in a good place career wise and then spend the money on quality of life, so that you're not trying to do everything yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Education. The confidence boost in having a sought after job (knowing you will never be unemployed) is worth the grad school hours. There are a lot of free or "payback in work hours" programs too. Community, you can trade a lot of free stuff including babysitting swaps (make sure the people are trustworthy). Think about where you live and what you are paying out/getting back- some places you get a higher salary but pay out the nose for all services, some places you get a LOT of free stuff (camps, pools, public /low cost gyms, low cost babysitting, good schools). Some buildings in the city have amenities you might otherwise pay for, some dont. I'd move buildings, cities, states, regions, even countries to get a good quality of life for myself and my child if I were able to with the custody agreement. Get all the free stuff - do you qualify for anything free? Take it. You'd be surprised how much there is. Used clothing. Our list serv has constant giveaways. There are places where working women can get gorgeous giveaways. Network. Single moms needs lots of friend family and community. So do their kids. Again, only people you trust. Not saying open the door to one and all. OP my cake is more about trimming costs, maximizing opportunities. I am sure others will have a lot to say about really building wealth..you are asking all the right questions, on the right path.

You mentioned a custody agreement. You're not a single mom. You're a divorced mom. There's a huge difference.

You are wrong. Not pp.

[Anonymous]

I started modeling at 14. After finishing HS worked a lot in Asia, did a lot of commercials in Japan, then came home, got a RE license, went to college, became an interior decorator. Live in an expensive city and pursued wealthy clients. Still going well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a SMBC. I planned out my path long before I was ready for kids. If I met someone and got married, we would be in a great position. But if not, I would still be able to achieve my goals.

For me, that meant finishing my education and being established in my job. It also meant buying a house. I was 35 when I had my first child. I was 10 yrs into my career and mortgage by then. I used an in home day care rather than a center. My kids are 3 yrs apart. The years with 2 in daycare were tight. But I had a 15 yr mortgage and when my oldest went to K, money freed up significantly.

What the hell is a smbc?

Single Mom By Choice

Dp Thanks because I was puzzling and went to single military black and couldn’t find a C