Following the reports of single parents in poverty is not wise always as these reports can prove detrimental to your primary goal to achieve financial freedom. Whether it is the US of the UK, these reports usually highlight the extent of several thousand of single parents that are living in poverty and struggling to manage their finance but not tell about those people who are living happily and peacefully even in debt.
You will find that these reports will speak a lot about those 47 percent of single parents struggling in their life but will carefully or even deliberately ‘forget to mention’ those 53 percent of single parents who are happy to be single. After all, 53% is significantly higher than the struggling 43%, which is good news by itself.
There is more good news to it. The figure of struggling single parents was as high as 61% previously and the fact that it has come down to 47 percent now is good enough a reason to believe that all is not bad for the single parents.
However, there is no reason to believe that single parents will not and do not face poverty and incur debt. This is primarily because they have only a single source of income and a high price to pay for maintaining an average standard of living today when everything is pricey.
All about your actions
It is all about how strong you are mentally and about your actions to manage your finance, household bringing up your children. It is a fact that on an average it is seen that the employment levels in single parents are a record high as compared to the households with two parents. Even then it is difficult for single parents to find financial stability and avoid the problems of incurring debt. The reasons for this include:
- High cost of covering childcare, health, and education
- Low wages and
- Insecurity in certain jobs and professions.
All these factors contribute to the fact that most of the single parents hardly find any money left at the end of each month after paying their essential bills. This leads to being indebted which makes the life of single parents even more difficult having to manage their debts on a low income. However, a strategic plan and a disciplined life will provide the rewards of being a single parent. It is true that there are several positives of being a single parent. You can avail several relief programs designed for single parents to make their life easier. You can come to know more about such programs visiting nationaldebtreliefprograms.com.
Positives of being a single parent
If you are a single parent and in debt, you will not have to worry about paying it off. You simply have to be onboard and on the right track with your payment plans and household finance management. Other benefits of being a single parent in debt are:
- You have no one other than yourself to make sure that everything is according to your plan but mind you this can be hard enough by it if you are not diligent with your actions. Once you decide to do something there is really no need to consult with others but in most of the cases people commit mistakes and take wrong decisions. The best way to prevent it is to involve your children to let them know about your plans and ask them for their views and comments. Make sure that you explain them about the changing money position. Make them understand why taking on debt is bad so that they too curtail they’re spending a bit lending some additional support to your financial management.
- Another significant benefit of being a single parent is that you have full control of your budget. Since you do not have to take others opinions into account, budgeting will be easier. It is only you to decide how much money you should keep aside for your debts and how much for the sinking funds. There is no one to convince or justify if you want to add new things or remove unnecessary things from your budget.
- Moreover, you will not have to be concerned with the debts of any other person other than yours. This, however, is hands down the biggest positives about being a single parent. This will help you a lot in your debt free journey as you will always know exactly how much debt you are carrying at any point in time. There will be no chance of any unknown or unexpected debts popping up every now and then which is one of the most significant issues faced by the married or the co-habiting couples.
All your expenses will be far cheaper as compared with the married couples. Consider gas, water, electricity, food and other bills that would have been much higher if there were two parents in your house. You will have one car and therefore a single insurance, one petrol amount in a month, one MOT and one Tax to take care of. There will be one hobby, one adult clothing category and the list may go on and on.
Make a better plan
To pay off your debts easily and effectively, you will have to make a proper and better plan. Remember, it might take a bit longer to clear off your debt has a limited source of income but the end result will be just the same as any other person in debt.
Planning will involve mostly your household budgeting and managing your bills. When you have a proper budget you will be able to identify your high-interest debts and formulate effective strategies to deal with it, negotiate with creditors, consult with a debt counselor and know about all available options to come out of debt.
All you need to do is look at your situation, prioritize your bills and speak to a debt counselor regarding the enforceability of a debt. The debt advisor will consider all factors and work out the most suitable option.
