// Financial Confidence as a Single Mom


Well, I've officially been a single mom for a year now. Whoa. Twelve whole months of just me and those two goons around here. I can tell you exactly how much of it has been easy: zilch. Nada. Nuhnuvit. Obviously one of the biggest obstacles single parents face is finances. All of a sudden I was solely responsible for 100% of our living expenses, but with only half of the income. Couple that with being an independent contractor for work (but your spouse was half of that work team) and you've got yourself a doozy of a pair. Financial confidence? I didn't have much of it last year. One thing became very clear to me early on though - I needed to get my butt in gear and learn some discipline then figure out how to make it work. My knowledge didn't come from desire to learn more about personal finances because it sounded interesting, it came out of sheer necessity. Fear dominated my thoughts around being a single parent to two kids.

Now that I'm a full year in I can say that, while I'm still no Dave Ramsey, I have a much better understanding of what all those acronyms stand for and why it's smart to utilize reward points and rebates on cards, and all of that good stuff. I started by reading a couple books that friends or family had loaned out to me (like 'The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and Broke' and 'How to be Richer, Smarter, and Better-Looking Than Your Parents') and I pored over Pinterest and the abundance of "millennial finances" posts and e-books. Finally, at the very end of February, I was able to start each of the boys their own savings accounts for college (or whatever path they embark on post-high school.) It's a little thing, but it's a big thing at the same time. There isn't a whole heck of a lot in either one of them haha - but it's a start. It's something that I was able to do for them on my own. It's something I can 110% say I'm proud of and that gives me a great deal of confidence. The rest of it I'm still figuring it out as I go along. Being a creative freelancer and IC means I'm tasked with taking care of all my own retirement and 401k stuff, health insurance, etc. Now that I'm less than a year away from my 30s I'm starting to recognize how important all of that stuff really is. Some of it still leaves me shaking in my boots a little, but like I said, one step at a time! All it took was reaching that first benchmark to ignite some type of mama bear determination or something, because now I'm a mama on a mission!

I'm partnering with SunTrust to share a small part of my story in hopes that you'll think about your own and then be encouraged to ~move on up~ in the realm of personal finances. Whether you've paid cash for a large purchase or simply stuck to last month's budget, we all need that something to be proud of when it comes to money matters. Financial confidence will look different for each and every one of us. Those two little savings accounts are my pride for the moment. What about yours? For fellow millennials, the economic climate is so vastly different than it was for our parents. Many (read: most) of us weren't taught basic personal finance skills in school. (Which, by the way, is ridic! Sure, I'm totally more likely to utilize my knowledge on chemical nomenclature as opposed to, you know, something more practical like creating a household budget... haha) Our generation are at the stage where we want to buy houses and have families and actually invest money in something with more staying power than a cup of overpriced coffee. How do we do that though? The answer for most of us is to figure it out ourselves. Look for the resources around you, and arm yourself with the knowledge on how to navigate some of life's sticky situations.

We are responsible for our ourselves, but that doesn't mean we have to do it by ourselves. That's why SunTrust created their onUP Movement last year. To coincide with Financial Literacy Month (April, obviously), it's the perfect time to talk about financial confidence. . They're asking people to join them in an effort to inspire other Americans to take a step toward their own financial freedom. My little piece of advice: create BIG goals, with smaller benchmarks along the way. Why not dream big? If you can't dream big, you can't reach big. Your goal might seem intimidating at first, but if you lay it out in steady increments then your confidence will simply snowball toward the finish line. Having the check-in points along the way will help ensure that you're on the right track and allow you to make changes before you get too far in. Check out the onUp Movement and join over 1.4 million other folks, not unlike me and you, on a quest for financial confidence.

xo KB

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This post was sponsored by SunTrust. Thanks for supporting the brands
and businesses that help support This Charming Life.

At SunTrust Bank their purpose is lighting the way to financial well-being. When you feel confident about your money, you can save for your goals and spend knowingly on what matters most to you.  

The onUp Movement is 1 million strong…and growing. onUp is about having the confidence to move forward one smart step at a time.

Join now and start building your financial confidence today.

Join the movement

 

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of SunTrust. The opinions and text are all mine.

It’s important that if you want to be confident financially, you have the correct information and understand that no matter how you make your money, it’s a valid method. What we mean by this is that there are some people out there who are going to judge you for the ways that you are doing life, but these people should be ignored. If you can make money selling foot pics online as a side hustle, you go for it! Use this money to set yourself up for the future!

4 comments:

  1. I had no idea you got divorced?? ( so c sorry

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  2. what great tips!

    www.thewonderlanders.com

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  3. Great post! As the daughter of a financial adviser, my goal is to be better about finances. For us, student loan debt is what feels like our insurmountable nightmare. We only have one car payment now (yay) and try to keep consumer debt to a minimum. My first goal honestly is to build an emergency fund and keep paying our loans. I may be in my 40s and 50s before we're both paid up, but I want to get there someday!

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  4. It's always been weird to me that people don't like talking about money. Same/different situation where I had to make some major adjustments to our finances. Without going too boring with the details, I totally agree that success has come from reading widely, setting a big goal, and celebrating in tiny steps.

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HEY! Thanks for dropping by. xo KB