Being a newly divorced single mom means that learning to properly budget the finances is very important. To successfully manage a household and meet the financial needs of children involved, setting up a budget and learning tips on budgeting is vital for the recently single mom.

The fact is that after divorce many single moms find that their finances have drastically decreased and yet they have to take on additional expenses in order to make it on their own. It can be tough on the mom who's husband before the divorce took care of the finances. Suddenly she finds herself taking on the role of accountant to the household finances.

A budget is a plan, covering all your expenses and money coming in over a month's time. Writing all the expenses and income down on a list helps to see where all the funds are going and helps to keep on budget.

A budget should include a list of all your expenses. List all the bills from credit cards and loans to utilities to food and clothing expenses. For a single mom budgeting money for the first time, you might not have all of this information handy. This helps to keep track of all income and household expenses. If at all possible try to have a savings account. Even small amounts will add up over time.

Grouping expenses into categories will help identify them and their level of importance. Include everything. Household based expenses you should be budgeting first are mortgage or rent and utilities. You might prefer to list expenses for your child separately if you and your ex have arranged to split costs on expenses such as daycare or medical bills.

There will be fixed expenses and variable expenses. Variable expenses can be flexible. Pay attention to these variable expenses, such as groceries, clothing and entertainment expenses to decide which can be cut back on.

As a single mom, you can use a budget to teach your children about responsible money management. This is a golden opportunity to train them to be able to master budgeting when they are grown.

Here are some general tips on budgeting that can help a single mom save money:

• Reconsider luxury entertainment items you own.

• A girl can save a lot of money on groceries.

• Save money by using tips on budgeting to arrange daycare swapping services with other single moms you know.