Over the last years, you’ve set down 9,392 times to create a winning strategy to help you manage your finances.

For a minute, it was every Sunday. Soon that dwindled down to one Sunday a month, which has now turned into a short glance into your bank account a few times between paychecks.

That scenario may be a stretch for some, while for others I may have very well nailed it.

Living paycheck to paycheck as a single mom is hard work.

Being the breadwinner and bringing in enough to pay the bills? No easy feat. To say the least.

Creating a budget and a winning strategy that will help you achieve those unaccomplished financial goals that have left you feeling guilty for far too long?

Feels nearly impossible on most days.

If some of what I’m saying sounds a bit too familiar – I’m with you sister! I’ve set in your chair. I’ve stood in your shoes. I’ve even cried in your bowl of cheerios. Many times.

But guess what?!

You are not alone.

You are not the only single mom who struggles with maintaining healthy habits with your finances, and you are not the only single mom with big dreams and a strong desire to create change and leave a legacy that is valued.

There are many who have paved the way before you.

What have others done?

What does it take to create winning routines that will help you manage your finances?

YOU – getting tired.

YOU – getting wore out.

YOU – relentlessly pursuing change more than whatever it is you are currently spinning your financial wheels on.

Here’s a small start but a very important piece to the puzzle of mastering your finances.

Are you ready?

Here are five best practices to help you create winning routines around managing your finances:

1. Partnering with accountability.

Depending on what stage of the game, the amount of mess your finances are in and how much you are struggling to get on board, an accountability partner can really make a difference in your follow-through and routines. Find someone you trust. Someone who has done this before. Someone who will believe in you and someone that has similar or shared ways of managing money.

2. Create a plan.

Failing to plan doesn’t necessarily mean you are planning to fail, but it can shave time, disappointment and guilt off your plate. Your accountability partner is a good place to start in helping you create a plan of routines and goals. You’ll want to start by asking yourself what’s getting in your way? What systems aren’t working for you? What are your biggest obstacles in not being able to follow through with a system and routine? Establishing realistic goals and objectives will help motivate you to stick to a weekly routine while creating healthy budgeting habits.

3. Pursuing growth.

To be successful in the routines around managing your finances, your desire to grow beyond where you are will need to be front and center. Why are you determined to nail these healthy money habits? Why do you need to be sure to follow through on your budget and hit that savings goal this month? All of these answers combined is the growth you are pursuing. Know them. Remind yourself of them. Keep them tucked away and protected from the desire to subconsciously sabotage your own dreams.

4. Join like-minded mama’s.

When you are with a team of other single moms, struggling in similar ways and fighting the good fight together, it is less lonely. You meet with them and then go back to your world but you know they are working hard at it too! When you think about not hitting that financial goal this month because you just couldn’t say no to that bright shiny object, or the disappointment of another unexpected bill coming in, it really helps to know you are not alone and there are other mama’s, like you, pressing on to pursue that legacy of financial change.

5. Remain Disciplined.

Ahhhhh, discipline. Doesn’t the word just make you cringe when it comes to learning or tackling something new? Yes, it’s a cringe-worthy word. It is often the one thing that gets us from where we are to where we want to go. It’s kinda that one big thing that helps us arrive. And it’s painful. Like most things, when put into practice, it becomes much easier or tolerable, depending on the context, to bust out and apply. But my friend, among numbers 1-3, discipline is going to need to become a best friend.

Yes, I am aware that these five best practices roll off my keypad much easier than implemented. I also know how powerful they can be once applied. Building your wealth is hard work, but being broke is much harder.

So tell me what you think?

After reading through these five best practices has your brain been processing where you land with them? What you are good at and what you could master a bit better?

When you think of an accountability partner, who could give you the support and encouragement you need?

What about like-minded mama’s? You are looking to manage your finances and manage them well. Does a friend come to mind who will support you in this new venture?

If you are anything like I was, you are tired of the guilt of not moving forward. Knowing very well, there is more you can do, but you just aren’t sure where to start or how to start the process.

This is why you need a plan with intentional and purposeful focus.

I know this article is basically a bunch of organized words handed to you in a packaged strategy and that it is you who will be the one stepping out and creating the big change to activate those BIG dreams!

If this article is not enough and you need that extra bit of help to get you prepared with the right strategy to help you manage your finances in this next season, you can contact me here.

I would love to support you in mastering the overwhelm and frustration of your money habits. You can also join our Facebook group, The Savvy Christian Single Mom, where we dig into a variety of topics, one of them being money!

’till next time,

Cassie