Solo mum love in: Make money online, my self-care secret weapon – and more!

My monthly round-up post is back! I call it the love-in because I consider it a celebration of solo mums living our best lives.

It’s a way for me to share all the great resources, tips and advice I come across. I’m always discovering new things and I always assuming that everyone else knows about them to, and flabbergasted when they don’t! So read on for solo mum inspiration, money advice and self-care secrets!

I also see this series as a way to support the amazing community of inspiring single mum bloggers and advocates I’ve come across. I also try and support them all through my social media accounts – mainly on Twitter, so do come and find me there!

Solo mum inspiration

One of my favourite single mum bloggers is Alice Judge-Talbot from More Than Toast. This post, Your blue balls are not my problem is about toxic masculinity and how we women compromise ourselves to accommodate it and  keep ourselves safe from it.

I think we’ve all had times in our lives when we’ve tolerated toxic male behaviour, to our detriment. The more of us recognise this toxic behaviour and refuse tolerate it, as Alice has done, the better.

One thing I’m always struck by as a solo mum is the things I do by myself without thinking twice about. Everyday things that my partnered friends think they need a man to help with, or do it for them. Things like drilling holes in the wall. Hosting a barbeque – and doing all the barbequeing. Putting together flat-pack furniture. I firmly believe that every single woman I know is FAR more capable than they give themselves credit for. So I loved this post by Emma Johnson of Wealthy Singly Mommy – 41 things every woman should do alone (I’ve done most of them!).

It can sometimes feel like very few people appreciate  what it’s like to shoulder the ENTIRE burden of parenting, earning money and running home alone. If you’ve had a partnered friends utter the words “I feel like a single mother” when her normally supportive partner, whose salary pays all the bills, is away for a weekend, you know what I mean!

So, with Mother’s Day nearly upon us, it’s hugely appreciated when someone who isn’t walking the solo path acknowledges our achievements. “Anyone who can raise a child without a partner and without losing herself entirely, deserves public recognition, public money and public respect,” says Nell Frizzell in her Vogue article, Why we need a single Mother’s Day.

Solo mum money

Over the last month or so I’ve been testing out different ways to make extra money online. I stumbled upon an amazing resource, The Money Shed, which is packed full of tips, ideas and detailed instructions about all the difference ways you can make extra money. It’s both a blog and a forum where members help support each other in reaching monthly earnings goals.

This month I set myself a goal or earning and extra £250 online and gave matched betting and survey sites a try. I’ve made it about half way towards my target.

I won’t even try to explain the ins and outs of matched betting, I’ll leave that to Jon at The Money Shed. All I’ll say is that it’s totally risk free and if you follow the instructions you can only make money. Tax free money. I’ve never placed an online bet in my life before, but this month I’ve made about £100!

Solo mum self-care

I’m going to let you in on my self-care secret weapon. Well, she’s not so secret anymore. But I’m still AMAZED that more people don’t know about Yoga with Adriene. If you don’t love her as much as I do, why not??!

She, and her hundreds and hundreds of FREE yoga videos, can be found on YouTube. And her channels is perfect for us solo mums.

Adriene has a yoga video for almost any scenario you can think of. Stress, anxiety, hangover? Morning, lunch, bed time? Runner, cyclist, climber? Two minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour?  You name it, she’s created it.

I WISH I’d discovered her when E was a baby because her videos are perfect for squeezing a much needed dose of exercise, or relaxation, into any tiny bit of time you can find. Without leaving your living room.

I’ve been following Adriene for about four years. In that time I’ve done so many of her classes I feel like she’s one of my friends. I did yoga with her daily in January. I spend so much time with her that my daughter is jealous of her!

Check her out, and subscribe to her channel, she’s ace. (I want to be Adriene, can you tell?!)

On Savvy Solo Mama this month

• Why you shouldn’t freeze your eggs if you’re a single woman over 35
• 7 things I’d wish I’d known before I became a single mother by choice

Coming up in April

In no particular order:

• I’ve just started buying my beauty products from Beauty Pie, a members’ site for beauty lovers. I love it, and it’s a great way to get quality products on the cheap, so I’ve decided to share a piece of the pie and write a review.
• Have you got a will? I did mine last year, and thought it was worth sharing why it’s vital to have one and how to go about it.
• Our donor sibling journey. I’ve decided to make more of an effort to find out about E’s donor siblings. Come on the journey with us!

Thank you

To any of you who have mentioned, shared or commented on any of my posts over the last month – a BIG BIG thank you. It’s your support that keeps me writing this blog. Every time I get supportive comments and mentions on social media it spurs me on to write more.

I share most of the articles and resources I’ve mentioned here on Twitter, so come join me there and you’ll see just how much support and community there is out there for us single mamas.

Got an article or blog post you’d like me to feature here? Tweet me!Tweet me!

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