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Confessions of a Single Mum

The ups, the downs and sideways views of life as a single parent

6 Best Strategies for Single Parents to Save Money

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Among the many challenges faced by single parents, the most daunting one is managing finances. It is not just single moms who have to struggle, single dads are the victim too. It isn’t easy to manage a house full of kids and bills. Don’t lose hope, it is not the end of the world. There is one positive side of this and that is, you can make your own money decisions. Some days of the months are good, but sometimes, you just find yourself staring at the bank account, wondering which bills you ... VIEW POST

Money Saving Tips for Single Parents

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Being a single parent is always a hard task. With so much time and energy just looking after your own children and meeting their every need, you also have to worry about ensuring bills are paid and the food is put on the table. It always feels like you never quite have enough money, and making ends meet until next payday is often stressful. However, through creating an effective budget you should be able to manage your money better, save money spent on frivolous purchases, and hopefully be in a ... VIEW POST

Moving To Universal Credit?

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The Government promised that when you are moved onto Universal Credit from the current system that no one will be worse off. Indeed if you use the calculator on Turn2Us it can give you a Universal Credit calculation if your not on the new system and move onto Universal Credit. It also shows if you will be worse off and how much of a 'top up' you could be entitled to, making it the same as your current benefits...follow that? Good. But because George Osborne reversed his plans for tax credit ... VIEW POST

Free Childcare New Criteria Will Effect 20,000 Single Parents

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Last year the Conservative Party pledged in its General Election manifesto that 30 hours of free childcare would be available to all working parents of 3 and 4 year olds. Having myself worked since my youngest was 3 I know what a help this would be as childcare is expensive no matter how they snazz it up. But the eligibility criteria have been tightened in the recent months. First parents had to work a minimum of 8 hours or more to qualify. Now the governments Childcare Bill is reaching the ... VIEW POST

Government Loses Case on Bedroom Tax

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Back in April 2013 the Government introduced changes to housing benefit. Labour call it the bedroom tax and its basically where they work out how many bedrooms they think you need and if you have more they reduce your housing benefit accordingly. I rent privately and this has been in place for housing benefit claims on privately rented properties since 2008 and is called LHA . There are a few differences between LHA and the 'bedroom tax' now being applied to social housing claimants but I wont ... VIEW POST

How To Staying Warm for Less Money

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I know the temperatures have just risen a few notches but a few days before that it was cold. It's all a struggle at the best of times but when the temperature drops you suddenly have to factor in heating as well. So armed and ready for the next cold snap I searched out some tips to stay warm without costing the earth. First off compare prices because about 80% of your energy bill goes on heating. Pop over to uswitch.com or energyhelpline.com and enter your postcode. To get a more accurate ... VIEW POST