The world we live in is geared up for families with two income earners, so to be a single parent puts you at an immediate disadvantage. Your available income is half of that of your child's friends, yet you almost certainly have the same outgoings as their two-parent playmates. While none of us have a magic wand to conjure up extra cash every time we need it, there are some ways in which you can budget to compensate for a single income.
The temptation to spoil our children can be very strong; we often feel that they should have all the luxuries that we never had as children. Whether this is actually any good for them is not something we stop to consider when passing the toy shop. There is nothing at all wrong with buying your children gifts, but when you have a tight limited budget you have to remember that you are the parent and you make the rules. If your child's birthday falls close to Christmas, they are likely to feel hard done by during the rest of the year as it always seems so long between getting presents. It is easy to over compensate for this, but pretending that getting them something small every pay day will be OK. A better way to approach this is to pick a date in the middle of the year, and have it as an un-birthday. Make that day the focus of your gift planning, and treat it the same way as you might the real birthday by purchasing perhaps one large gift and a few smaller items. Children with winter birthdays often miss out on outdoor parties because of inclement weather, so picking an un-birthday in July and having the party then instead is a great tonic for an impatient child. Outdoor parties often take less organisation, less supplies and entertainment costs, and less clearing up afterwards too.
If your passion for spending on your children centres on buying clothes, then make your purchases practical. Don't wait until your child absolutely needs new clothes because almost certainly those will not be the times of year that the stores have their sales. Shop carefully to find the bargains when the sales are on, but purchase clothes in two or three sizes larger than your child currently needs. Then you can surprise them through the year with new outfits, without running down your monthly budget at the same time. There are certain items that all children need, such as wellington boots or sandals, a sun hat, swim wear etc that can be bought cheaply at the end of the season and saved for the following year. Making clothes is also a cheaper way to stretch your budget; if you can knit then you need never buy another sweater again.
As children get older, their tastes develop and their wants and needs get ever more expensive. This is the point to nip extravagant habits in the bud. Make your children understand the financial process by helping them open their own bank account and managing their own allowance. For single parents, it is often simpler to give a set amount rather than to pay extra for individual chores. Encourage your children to meet you half-way with the expense of the item they want (in reality you are still paying for the whole thing, but your child will learn about cause and effect much better this way). Then make your purchase really count, and do some research on the best value item before you decide which one to buy. Help your child decide which features will suit them best, what might be optional extras, and save the hassle of having to return the item or risk it only being used twice because it wasn't exactly right.
Vacations are possibly one of the most expensive times for single parents. Not only do you have to cover childcare costs out of one income when the schools are closed, but children also quickly realise that their friends are going away to far off places while they are in day care or sat at home. If you cannot afford to take whole weeks off from work, try to arrange single days dotted throughout the year to do something special with the kids. Perhaps a day trip to the beach or a water park, picnics, or visits to museums or friends out of town; all of these things can be less expensive and often less stressful than trying to save all year for two weeks on a foreign beach. Encourage your children to keep scrap books or diaries where they can paste things from your days out. This is a good way to remind them in the depths of winter that they did actually do quite a lot during the year, and can also keep them occupied for a couple of days after the outing as well.