Holly's helping hand | The 4 Things You Need To Know About Financial Planning and Being a Single Mum

1. The key starting point is to get a snapshot of your finances and to understand whether your life is affordable in its current format. You've got to know what's in your bank account, what the regular payments are, what the cost of your mortgage is, and the best way to get on top of that. So sit down and map out a budget. Once you've got an idea of what's coming in and what's going out, you've got to start taking serious thought and potential action to adjust to that situation. So quite simply, if you're in a situation where your outgoings exceed what's coming in, you've either got to increase what's coming in or reduce what's going out. Otherwise you're just building up financial pressure for yourself and perhaps looking at taking on debt that you probably can't afford.

2. It’s time to see what benefits you are entitled to. It might be the case that you are entitled to Universal Credit or some of the other benefits. And if you are someone who loathes the idea, you can see that as a stepping stone to tide you over until you stop firefighting and can think about what role comes next. If you’re in a divorce situation, a good divorce lawyer would be able to give you advice about the different kinds of benefits and the different advice centres that you could talk to for information about what you are entitled to.

3. Now that you're a single parent, what impact is that going to have? Are you someone who perhaps needs to ask for flexible work arrangements? And if so, how might that affect your finances, because now is not the time to be taking a cut in income. So is it time to go in and negotiate a pay rise? Not just because your circumstances have changed, but also to rethink your market value. And if you can't find that with your existing employer, it could be time to look at your whole work-life balance. Because depending upon the age of the children, and what their needs are, it’s now turning into a juggling act of how do you earn enough money to be flexible?

4. We're getting into the realms of thinking about who you are now as this person and what of that old life you feel ready to let go of, so you can embrace something new and different. You might have found that you were locked into certain things as a couple that you definitely are not locked into as a single parent. Perhaps it's now time to think of a different family holiday. And kids are really resourceful and adaptable. So maybe holidays with mum could now be more adventurous, which actually for me, took the financial pressure off. And I'm not just talking about camping versus hotel, I'm talking about different destinations, different experiences. You just perhaps need to think a bit more creatively and lift yourself out of previous patterns that might not be working for you anymore.