Page 31 - Book11E

Shop during your appointment
Browse the consignment store while the clerk is assessing your items. You might find some inexpensive items that you need. Some consign- ment stores give you more credit if you use the trade to shop in the store. If you start taking items to the store every few months, you can put the money you earn toward things your family needs.
Sharing Responsibilities
Another way to earn extra income is to spend less. One way to spend less is to share the expenses with another single parent. Two single parents sharing expenses and household chores can sometimes achieve more than one person trying to go it alone. You may meet other single parents in support groups, at your children’s school, at work, or in a class you are taking. If you make friends with someone and your children like each other also, sharing an apartment may be worth try- ing. Being able to share the rent may make it possible to rent a place in a safer area of town with more space and more amenities. It could also help you save on child care during hours that your work sched- ules don’t overlap. One parent can watch the children while the other parent is at work. You may be able to carpool if your children attend school. That could save you some gas money. You can also share the chores. Maybe one of you likes to iron, but the other hates it. Maybe one likes to cook, but the other doesn’t. By dividing up the chores, you can eliminate some of the stress that comes with being a single parent and you can have someone to bounce parenting ideas off of.
But there are also things to consider to ensure that house sharing is a good experience for parents and children. You will need to establish some rules upfront. Areas that might need rules could include house guests, groceries and food preparation, television watching, who parks in the garage, who gets the biggest bedroom, etc. It will take serious thought to make sure you make the right choice of a roommate, not just for you but also for your child.
Creating Extra Income 23