From broke single mom to financial success

In mid-2014, I went from being a married, stay-at-home mom to a single mom overnight. I was blindsided by my husband’s decision to walk away from our marriage, but with no job and little savings, I knew that I would have to get to work making money and fast.

At the time, I had a small freelance writing side hustle and I hadn’t worked outside my home in several years. I decided to scale up my hustle into a business so I could take care of my two kids, who were 4 and 6 at the time. I had no clue how to do it, but I was determined to make it work so we could survive financially.

From 2014 to 2016, I dug in and hustled hard to grow my income. At the same time, I was paying off roughly $80,000 in credit card debt and student loans while trying to save as much money as possible. By the spring of 2016, my credit card debts were gone and I’d saved enough to buy a very modest home with an FHA loan. Then my car conked out and I took out a loan to the tune of $24,000.

From 2016 to 2018, I focused on paying down the car loan with every spare penny while also padding my savings. I was able to wipe out that debt and finally focus on getting rid of my $40,000 in student loans that had been hanging around for far too long. I cleared those debts by the fall of 2020, and we were able to upgrade to a larger home that same year.

Today, we’re debt-free except for our mortgage and my little side hustle is now a six-figure business. We’re able to save amply, give generously and live a flexible lifestyle that includes homeschooling, hobbies and lots of travel. But we couldn’t have done any of it without a plan and that’s what I hope to share here at Savvy Money Lessons — a blueprint for living your best life financially!