7 Smart Ways To Invest In Yourself As A Frugal Mom

Investing in myself as a mom got a whole new perspective since I discovered F.I.R.E. Financial Independence Retire Early and got hooked. I realized that one of the best ways to invest in myself as a mom is by investing my money into my own financial future. I started an individual retirement account and set the goal to self-fund my dream of early retirement. Less than 5 years later I‘ve passed my first 100K portfolio.

It feels great to start building wealth, having a concrete early retirement plan and creating that financial stability for myself and my family. I learned to prioritize saving and investing my money over consuming my money on things. But now, I had a problem. I felt like I had almost no extra money left over, so to say, for my other life goals like my career goals since being on a F.I.R.E. journey.

But having less free money in your bank account to invest in yourself and your career as a frugal mom can actually be an advantage. In this post, I will tell you my story as a frugal mom dedicated to build wealth for myself AND thrive in my career. I will reveal the most effective ways to invest in yourself professionally with no money or with only a little money and some special ways on top I personally like. My hope is that by doing so you can find a way to invest in yourself that fits into your budget and life:

1. How to invest in yourself as a mom with no money
2. How to invest in yourself as a mom with only little money
3. How to stop relying on 1 income source
4. How to invest in yourself as a mom by starting a side hustle
5. How to take inventory of investing in yourself as a mom

How To Save Even More Money As A Frugal Mom

If you live on a budget – you have set for yourself – it seams hard if not impossible to save even more money. Where should you save from? I know that firsthand. But, that’s why I like to encourage you to review your own income and expense situation one more time in a special way. Because if you can save even more money that is money you can then use to invest in yourself. More on that later in this article.

I remember when I started saving even more money consistently I felt like a superhero. But, I desperatly searched for concrete guidance along the way. It was a hard process for me and I cannot tell you how many times I failed. How big my frustration was. How much I have driven my husband crazy with writing out so many budgets that quickly failed. That’s why I want to make it super simple for you. Marc and I have put together an easy to use Bare Bones Budget Calculator to help you making those on-top savings happen if you live on a set budget.

Ideally, you then save your money in a high-yield savings account. However, even saving 1 dime more is enough money to start creating that habit of saving even more money on a budget. You will see how quickly you can scale that.

Let’s assume you’re there. You save money. Consistently. Before you start using that money for investing in yourself professionally you want to have a clear picture in mind of what it means to invest in yourself. But, you also want to know: How can I still invest in myself professionally now that I’m a frugal mom to thrive in my career without braking the bank, so to say?

What Does It Mean To INVEST IN YOURSELF?

I don‘t know about you but to me investing in a person is just not as clear as investing into the stock market. However, the purpose of investing is always the same.

You put your own resources in terms of your time and money into something with the expectation that its value will increase in the future so that you earn a return. No matter if you invest a lot of money or less money or your own time as your most precious resource.

If you put your time and extra money into your professional career and development you invest in yourself. You expect to get a return in form of increased income potential and more options to earn more money.

How To Build Wealth AND Invest Money Into Your Professional Career

Like it or not, your kids are watching you. I remember my little daughter asking me one day „Mommy, can you work today if you‘re sick?“. She saw me in bed with a cup of tea, working on my computer despite my cold. „Yes sweetheart because my cold is not that bad.“. I could literally see her thinking intensely to then responding „Then I will go working too on my painting in Kindergarten with the wound on my leg.“. She just fell down hitting her leg.

If you show your kids the importance of being dedicated to investing in yourself, even when times are hard(er), they will incorporate that habit into their own lives. That is a huge motivator on my own journey. I want to role-model the importance of investing my time and money to keep getting ahead in life. But, I found it quite challenging to balance how I invest my money in-between my financial goals and my career goals.

How To Invest In Yourself As A Mom With No Money

What comes to your mind when you think about investing in yourself from a financial point of view? For many moms, that means spending hundreds if not thousands using your debit card (if needed) for further education or online training. But you actually have a lot more options for individual learning than that. Here are my favorite 7 ways to invest in myself professionally as a frugal mom with no money.

Engage With People Who Are Already Where You Want To Be

I love to engage with friends who are on a F.I.R.E. journey. They too have a certain career ambition but re-defined what success means for their lives. How I want my career to look like is conceptually different today than in earlier times. You too might need to redefine your success markers for your career. Other like-minded people can be a great inspiration. You will be surprised how much you will learn and how willing people are to share their wisdom with you for free. Do you know someone? Ask for a chat. If not, join an online community to find other frugal moms like you to learn from.

Find YouTube Channels Or Blogs Or Podcasts

Find channels that teach what you need to learn for where you want to be. Then create a plan. I personally struggled a lot with how I want my career to look like since I was on a F.I.R.E. journey. I was ambitious but missed a blueprint. What‘s the point of building a corporate career to then retire early from that, right? I stumbled upon channels that talked about entrepreneurship. In the F.I.R.E. community that is a big thing. But certainly, it‘s not for everyone. However, I like to encourage you to read as much as possible through those channels for financial independence to get inspired how you want your career to look like.

Get Books From Your Local Library Or Audio Books

Get books in the beginning that others recommended to you. Also, check on the reviews on GoodReads or Amazon. I found the following books most helpful to figure out where I want to go professionally and to help me get there. If your local library doesn‘t have that book and you buy it by clicking on the link you support us in what we do as we get a small commission at no extra costs for you:

• I Know How She Does It is a must-read for moms learning about the time management strategies you need to build a great career.
• Mom’s Got Money is a millenials guide for moms on how to get into the drivers seat of their and their families financial lifes.
• Moms Mean Business helps you to build a successful company from scratch while living a happy life as a „mom entrepreneur“.
• Million Dollar Moms shares stories of moms building successful businesses while raising highly entrepreneurial kids.
• Power Moms shares the stories of moms sitting in the executive seat across industries while balancing raising their kids.
• Think and grow rich is a bit abstract but full of unique success stories for not straight-line but highly successful careers.
• Atomic habits is what you‘ll need to redefine your habits in daily life.
• Deep Work will skyrocket your productivity! It was the book with the biggest impact on my work.
• Miracle morning helps you creating an effective morning routine. I loved the edition for writers as that‘s what I‘m most interested in and can highly recommend reading it.
• The 4-Hour Work Week sounds a bit crazy and sometimes it is but it’s full of ideas to minimize your workload to what truly matters and how to outsource the rest. I bet you find at least one idea helpful.
• The One Thing is a minimalist guide helping you to figure out the ONE next step to take that makes ever other step easier.

Use Your Companies Learning Opportunities

Utilize your companies offers and platforms for free. I personally had access to LinkedIn courses for free which was huge. I took a look at some classes and only that helped me figuring out the next steps I need to take on my career journey. It was great to start learning in a new field of expertise where I wanted to evolve and it was for free. Maybe your company even pays for the next possibility as mine once did.

Find A Mentor

Hiring a business or life coach or professional mentor is a big thing nowadays. But you don’t need to do that to get ahead. If you have no money and your company doesn’t offer that, just take advantage of a friend, collegue, neighbor or relative who wants the same as you do. I remember that a friend of mine, also a mom, was my buddy for getting more active and moving in nature each day. That boosted my concentration more than anything else. We committed to share with each other our daily successes. No one wanted to be the one skipping one day of exercise. It worked great to get the ball rolling. I also had professional mentors for quite some money. But I cannot say that they helped me more with the current problem I had than my friend did for no money.

Learn To Say “YES”

As busy moms we have a ton of reasons why we cannot do something right now. But if we wait for the perfect moment or just a period of time where life will become easier and less exhausting, this moment might never come. There is a saying: “Time will waste you if you don’t stop wasting time”. And that is very true. So, what’s wrong with this moment in time to say “YES” to your next career step?

How To Invest In Yourself As A Mom With Only Little Money

I believe having a small amount of money in your bank account to invest in yourself professionally is necessary at some point in time. As a frugal mom you can use financial planning to get there within a couple of weeks. Use that money you‘ve saved to gain experience in new areas and keep up with the relevant skills needed in your professional field such as: digital skills or leadership skills or networking skills – also networking can be a powerful way to invest in new career opportunities.

Obtaining professional certifications for new skills is a great way to show your next potential boss that you‘re dedicated to learn. As the job market and the economy evolve, the skills gap can be a challenging problem. Consider, keeping your career opportunities open by earning certifications in areas you don’t already have experience in or getting certified in tools or software that will help you do your (next) job. Here‘s how you can do that with only little money:

1. Apply for an internship or volunteer in your field of interest to gain experience even if it‘s just for one week or month (when you‘re on vacation from your 9-to-5 job or take a career brake) – sometimes that‘s even more important than just your education.
2. Use on-demand online certifications: Google Certifications, EdX Certifications, IBM Certification (Europe, Germany)
3. Take Online Courses on sale from Udemy or LinkedIn or a F.I.R.E. blog which is typically around the holiday seasons or on Black Friday.

How To Stop Relying On 1 Income Source

Once you start to establish the habit of taking the time and money to invest in yourself as a mom, consider the next step. It took me quite a long time to realize that I had only one income source, my salary. Like many other European moms, I didn’t even consider creating multiple income streams. It is just not part of the European culture compared to the US.

Then the Corona crisis happened (COVID-19). In a sudden, the whole world became unpredictable. Jobs became insecure. Where would my husband and I take the money from to meet all of our financial obligations if both of our jobs were gone? Opening a credit card or going into the red on my checking account or debit card could do the job short-term. But to me that was no option long-term.

Many people found themselves in that situation. And as the Corona crisis showed, jobs aren’t as secure as we believe. We had many crises in history that revealed: Relying on 1 income source is the worst idea. Our family had to go through that experience to make a change. And we were fortunate enough to keep our jobs. We decided to create 3 new income sources besides our 2 salaries so that we have 5 income streams in total:

1. We built our own business as we already had this idea in mind.
2. We plan to generate passive income through dividend payments.
3. The next step will be to create a rental income stream.

If you aim for multiple income streams, be aware that you will split your time and effort between those income streams. So, you might not get ahead as fast as if you focus on only one thing at a time as you split your attention. Also, there will be many extra hours you will need to work besides your regular job. To us it’s totally worth it. But you need to make that equation for yourself and your family.

How To Invest In Yourself As A Mom By Starting A Side Hustle

If you have a passion you already considered to pursue as a career, maybe starting a side gig is for you. Typically you do this by first exploring your existing skills and experiences. After figuring out where you want to go you create a plan how to leverage your existing talents to then boost your income. Down below I share my personal, very honest example on how I actually started a side hustle as a frugal mom.

A side gig also helps you gain new experiences and skills, build your personal brand and bring in additional income you can then invest in yourself and your financial goals and life goals. Who knows if that will maybe your starting point to build your own small business on the side to your regular job.

Here’s some inspiration of 7 side hustles for everyone to earn extra money asap:

1. Writing book reviews on Reedsy/Discovery or KirkusReviews or onlinebookclub.org.
2. Creating visuals like photos or videos and sell them on Shutterstock or GettyImages (Germany).
3. Beta testing for any products on betatesting.com.
4. Transcription of audio or video recordings by typing everything that is said into a document on TranscribeMe or Rev or Scribie.
5. Sitting like dog walking, cat boarding in your home over night or baby sitting or nanny services like picking up kids from daycare.
6. Decluttering and selling your unused maybe even unpacked stuff.
7. Allowing ads on your car or garden fence or balcony.

Here’s some industry-specific inspiration for earning more money:

8. Digital product offers on Etsy like homeschooling materials.
9. Graphic design offers on Printify: open your own online store to sell print-on-demand products and Printify offers automated store integrations for Etsy or Ebay.
10. Physical product selling on Etsy or other virtual or real market places for example if you enjoy crocheting or knitting for example.
11. Online course teaching in your professional field on Udemy, Skillshare or Teachable.
12. Consulting in your professional field as a freelancer like for translations, writing or assistance jobs.
13. Virtual assistant offers on a platform from your home country.
14. Tutor students in a specialized subject or field and give extra-lessons like in English or whatever you know best – in the US for example you can try this on Wyzant.
15. Flipping items or houses that you re-sell after renovations.
16. House sitting or/and pet sitting via TrustedHouseSitters.
17. Re-sell curated consignment finds like packages that got lost or collectibles like old coins.

How To Take Inventory Of Investing In Yourself As A Mom

Taking inventory requires you to pause. Ask yourself the following 7 powerful questions when investing in yourself as mom. I also recommend to do this continuously on your journey. By doing so you not only commit to milestones and concrete action steps to execute and ideally write them down into your calender. But you will also review them and make adjustments on the go. Ask in quite:

1. What is your exact goal?
2. What‘s your goal for the rest of the year and for each remaining quarter of the year? When exactly do you want to reach which milestone?
3. What should be the outcome at the end of this year?
4. What is the most important skill you need so that you can achieve your goal but haven‘t yet?
5. What is your income goal? How much money you want to have within this next career step?
6. What can you offer in return?
7. Have you been persistent with executing the plan to achieve your goal? If not, how do you need to change your „investments“ in yourself?

First you need to ask: What is your exact goal? You might consider changing jobs, taking on more responsibility in your current company or building your own business. Whatever it is, write it down and get specific.

Now, let me share my personal, very honest example as a frugal mom starting a side hustle.

I wanted to start a side hustle. As I just LOVE writing – I always did even as a kid – I knew it has to be a writing business. Also, I was super passionate about our own F.I.R.E. journey as a European family. So, I thought why not combining both?

I then posted on a yellow notepad „I am about to start a profitable Blog business helping other families to achieve F.I.R.E. their own way“. I myself struggled with the traditional path to F.I.R.E. and hardly learned about alternative ways or even about Semi-FI or semi-retirement. That’s because there are only a few resources out there teaching that and if so they are not from Europe. I posted my yellow statement on the mirror in our bathroom until it disappeared. I bring my little ones under suspicion. But you can do it anywhere in your home where you can read it every day.

Now, the most important skill I needed to learn was writing in English. Let‘s say you need to learn a new language too. If you have a really tight budget to invest in yourself, what options do you have to learn that new skill on a budget? Nowadays the cheapest way is often finding online resources that do the job. I personally like reading in that new language not only in books but also on blogs. I listen to YouTube Channels in English. And I do all of that every day. You could also consider online classes or resources like Babbel for this example. Whatever you choose, make a choice an go after it!

When you walk away today with at least one new idea to improve your personal financial journey towards F.I.R.E. I’d love to show you some more in the next post. If you haven’t already, you can apply to become a part of the community to not miss any new release. For that you can subscribe to our newsletter below in the green footer.

Now, I’d love to hear from you: Which way of investing in yourself as a frugal mom or mommy to be sounds most appealing to you? Let me know in the comments below!