Managing Debt Archives – Page 2 of 5

Crisis Budgeting: How to Survive Financial Catastrophe And Thrive on the Other Side

04/19/2020
Building a Nest, Get Help When You Need It, Kids and Money, Making Ends Meet, Managing Debt, Owning Your Own Business, Protect Your Financial Future, Single Mom CPA, The Basics

When you’re a single parent, it doesn’t take much to knock you into a financial crisis. Sudden job loss… flooded basement… a sick or injured child… dozens of things can make you dip into and use up your emergency savings. And those financial setbacks can leave you struggling to make ends meet. Lots of times, those events pile on top of each other. And like so many of you, I’ve lived with financial anxiety, and had months where I couldn’t pay all of my bills. When you’re stuck inside a financial crisis, the usual money advice doesn't work. You need…

You Can Stop Living Paycheck-to-Paycheck

01/28/2019
Building a Nest, Making Ends Meet, Managing Debt, Single Mom CPA

Worrying about whether you can cover all the bills this month is one of the worst feelings a single mom can have. And knowing that you definitely can’t feels even worse. When you’re living paycheck-to-paycheck, almost anything can knock your finances off course. A bigger than expected electric bill … a smaller than expected tax refund … a sick kid … a birthday party. You have to turn to credit cards, and that only makes next month’s bills even worse. And no matter how much you’re earning, you can get stuck in this damaging financial cycle. It’s impossible to save…

7 Things You NEED to Know about Debt and Divorce

03/01/2018
Getting Divorced?, Managing Debt, Protect Your Financial Future, Single Mom CPA

Divorce and debt are hard enough to deal with separately, and when they come together, it can be like navigating a minefield. The most important thing you can do about this is to protect yourself in every way you can. And the first step toward that is knowing exactly what you're up against when it comes to debt and your divorce. Specific rules about divorce and debt may vary by state, especially between community property and common law states, so ask your lawyer about which debts you could be responsible for. You're responsible for all joint debts taken on while…

How to Escape the Single Mom Student Loan Debt Trap

12/22/2017
Making Ends Meet, Managing Debt, Protect Your Financial Future, Single Mom CPA

As single moms, we face the highest student loan burdens. Our loans are bigger…our salaries are lower…our monthly budgets are tighter. According to Deeper in Debt by the American Academy of University Women, student loan debt has become a women’s issue as more of us go to college. And it’s an especially tricky situation for single mom-students who often face childcare challenges as they struggle to achieve their education goals. Here are just a few of the ways the system is tilted against single moms… Women owe $800 billion, about 67% of the total student debt in the U.S. Women earn…

4 Ways to Ease Your Monthly Student Loan Burden

12/22/2017
Get Help When You Need It, Making Ends Meet, Managing Debt, Protect Your Financial Future, Single Mom CPA

If your student loan payment is squeezing your budget too hard, change it. On average, monthly student loan payments run about $350 a month – and that’s an expense many single moms really can’t afford on top of childcare costs and regular monthly bills. Unfortunately, many single moms just stop making payments, not realizing the extremely negative long-term effects that will take on their finances. There’s a lot you can do to lower those monthly payments before the problem gets too far out of control. And once you get your budget on a better track or start earning more money,…