Single Mums' Story - Elaine (Mortgage Free in Three) Colliar.

Here is the next in the second series of our marvellous Single Mum's Stories. It's great to have a new audience with us this time around, as well as our maintaining our current one.  We're spreading further afield all the time and it is intriguing to see what happens next.

This one is from five times World Mind Mapping Champion, Elaine Colliar.  She is 43, has two children who are 12 and four and has been blogging for just over a year at Mortgage Free in Three, her aim being to become exactly that - mortgage free in three years, but in a gentle and sustainable way.

This mission was inspired by events in 2009, when her family was smashed flat by the credit crunch and she was left with no partner, no business, repossession papers on her home and literally "71p and three nappies" to her name and the bank froze all related accounts without notice.  She says she scraped herself out of the gutter and chose 'revenge' on the banks, managing to pay off £10 000 in 22 months, half of which time whilst living on basic state benefits.

She now focuses on bootstrapping several self-employed revenue streams to claw back the financial future for her children that disappeared overnight and is a great believer that as long as you are in motion you will eventually hit your target!

She likes to have fun and to write about the little things that can make a big impact.

 

 

Elaine (Mortgage Free in Three) Colliar, 43.

Yup – another “scummy single Mum here” – actually it’s worse than that, I have two kids ……………… so does that make me a “scummy double Mummy”????

I mean I am nothing like the “perceived stereotype” but I still often feel the effects of being tarred with the same massively wide brush by the mainstream media (male AND recently female journalists BTW) ;-)  MUMSNET anyone????

OMG – you gotta love the Media brainwashing that we all allow ourselves to be sucked into don’t you?

 

I’m in the business of “growing men” not “raising boys” – trust me there is a very important distinction here.  Actually come to think of it – if a certain Mum and Dad one generation back had “grown a man” instead of “raising a boy” then I wouldn’t be in the position of having to do the whole “being responsible for our kids all on my own” malarkey.

Not that I am bitter – because in reality what I have discovered during the last few years is that this is actually quite a lot easier on my own.  As I look at it, I have just two kids to care for now and not three.(Tongue firmly in cheek here)

Now the “conservatives” amongst you (that’s small c BTW) will be throwing up your hands at horror at such blasphemy.  “Because kids need both parents” ……………… well the latest research from Gingerbread doesn’t bear out your claim I’m afraid.

“Parental separation by itself is not considered predictive of a poor outcome in children”

So – a “Get out of Jail Free Card” then???  Well afraid not – you see they also balance this out with:

“…… the resulting single parent status often leads to financial hardships.  That resulting poverty may be a significant factor in explaining poorer child outcomes rather than family structure”

HOLY CRAPOLA!!!!! Bring on the guilt trip.  It’s not the fact that I am a single parent that is going to blight my kids lives …………… it’s the fact that we are poor!!!  WE ARE DOOMED!!!

Funny thing is my kids don’t think we are poor ………….. (because I have never told them LOL).  In reality we live on a smidge over £800 per month, it’s tight, but doable at a pinch and every month I manage to not only pay my mortgage but overpay on the capital too.

How? Well I am super organized (lists anyone) and sure I do the “Frugal Stuff” too – I can menu plan, build a store cupboard and feed a visiting hoard with three lentils and a great slow-cooker recipe LOL.  In reality the reason we don’t “feel poor” is that we never act it.  Instead my boys and I are on a mission to not only survive as a smaller family unit but to thrive.  Our Big Bad Goal is to pay off our £126000 mortgage by Christmas Eve 2014 ………………. And we celebrate every mini milestone achieved.

Now sure, the toddler doesn’t really “get” the whole money thing, but my 12 year old does.  Money has to be earned and then EITHER spent or invested for your future.  Every penny that we have beyond paying for our necessities if ours to make a decision with …………. And we are choosing eventual Financial Freedom.

So do I have a “job” – well not in the “traditional sense” ………….. you see I live in a rural area in Scotland and if I were to get a local job it would be at minimum wage and most of that money would disappear in paying for suitable childcare……………. So instead I have chosen the much more precarious route of being self employed.

I do lots of things, I tutor local kids, I write training books,  I create Mind Maps for professional organisations, I  create online courses, I speak at conferences, I work at memory competitions ……………………. But everything I now do I have learned since being on my own with the kids. If I think I can earn some money I roll up my sleeves, acquire the skills and get stuck in. Slowly and surely this strategy is beginning to pay off……. And every penny earned goes into the mortgage account.

From 12 kids tutored last year (all whom got straight A’s BTW) I have been able to design a new course delivered via online video ……………. In response to parents wanting me to work with their kids, but me being ,naturally, unable to leave my kids at the weekend to do so……. Create the solution that gives you the best economic leverage – see?

I have a new book, not only written but ready to be launched on Amazon Kindle.  Not bad for a dyslexic single Mum – eh? (when is someone going to invent the sarcasm font???)

But more importantly I have two boys who are seeing the power of dreaming a big dream and then getting busy with the work needed to achieve the end goal ………………. “poor” is a state of mind too and I refuse to get sucked into playing that game.

Together as a family our life is about abundance, about creative solutions, about setting and achieving our goals at school, at work and as a unit.

And that “Mainstream Media” take note is a looooooong way from the Vikki Pollard stereotype.  As my 12 year old pointed out this week – Barak Obama came from a single parent family …… and he hasn’t done too bad for himself has he??? LOL

Let’s raise our glasses to our great kids and the important lessons we can share with them in the years to come………………… after all its not ”All about the Money, money, money!!”

CHECK OUT MORE FINE SINGLE MUMS' STORIES FROM TOP BLOGGERS AND OTHERS HERE.