Single parent scholarships vital while budgeting
November 6, 2012
Even without school on the table, a single parent can easily feel overwhelmed balancing work and kids, keeping track of expenses and trying to save for the future. Adding a single parent scholarship to the mix helps relieve concerns over educational funding and allows moms to focus instead on getting good grades.
Still, maintaining a careful budget will be critical for the few years spent in college, as earning potential may be diminished with more hours dedicated to studying and attending classes. There are good ways to keep track of expenses and income, including tracking the condition of a college scholarship.
Keeping a budget
Accounting doesn't come naturally to all single parents, but finding the tools to assist with maintaining a budget are readily available. The San Francisco Chronicle wrote that opening an account is a good way to reach this goal, because users are no longer limited to monthly statements to monitor their money. Online and mobile resources can be obtained with most major banks, and even local entities will sometimes provide these utilities, allowing single parents to review funds on the go. Checks can even be deposited remotely using a tablet computer or smartphone.
Finding scholarship time
As a single mom, it may feel even harder to keep up with the status of a college scholarship, but since these funds can make the difference in maintaining enrollment status for many parents, it's crucial that performance requirements remain within specified guidelines.
The Daily Athenaeum Online wrote that some single moms overcome the budgeting challenge only through seeking out additional scholarship opportunities, many of which are available online. Since this is the same medium used for monitoring accounts and income versus expenses, taking a few minutes to research new single parent scholarships, as well as the academic requirements of an existing scholarship to ensure its good standing, would be a good move for moms.
The source spoke to Joy Carr, a single mom who became pregnant with her son while in college and had to take time off from school while he was young. She said that making a better life for her family meant she had to return to school, and single parent scholarships made all the difference in balancing her budget and helping her obtain her degree.
