7 Secrets of Parents Who’ve Slashed Their Bills, Paid Off Debt and Built Empires

Life as a parent can be hard. You might constantly feel tight on time — and money.

If you’re looking for some money advice, we’ve got stories from parents who’ve paid off debt, cut their expenses and built business empires.

They share their tips and secrets for financial success. And, hey, you can even start using some of their strategies right now.

Secret No. 1: You Can Leave Your Kids $1.5 Million (Without Being a Millionaire)

If you have kids, you’ve probably worried about what’ll happen to them if something were to happen to you…

For single mom Rebekah Pearsall, this was difficult to consider. “Since my son doesn’t have a biological father in his life, I wanted to make sure he was secure if something were to ever happen to me,” she said.

That’s when she started looking into life insurance.

You’re probably thinking: I don’t have the time or money for that. But your application can take minutes — and, if you’re approved, you could leave your family $1.5 million by spending a low monthly fee on term life insurance with a company called Bestow.

The peace of mind of knowing your family is taken care of is priceless.

It takes minutes to get a free quote.*

Secret No. 2: You Can Easily Add an Extra $25K to Your Kid’s College Fund

Does it ever frustrate you that the super-rich can get their kids into any college they want, meanwhile the rest of us are left wondering how to even afford next semester’s textbooks?

But just because you’re not a millionaire doesn’t mean you can’t use some of the same strategies the super-rich use.

Here’s a secret of the rich: They save their money tax-free. With an app called UNest, you can take advantage of that same strategy, which, by the time your kid is ready for college, could mean $25,000 more than you would save in a regular savings account.

Raleigh, North Carolina, parents Scott and Jennifer Perry, opened an investing plan for their son, Isaiah, shortly after he was born.

“I can’t stand the thought of funds sitting there stagnant for a long time,” Scott said of his decision to opt for an investing plan over a savings account. “You got to start early and get that compound interest working!”

New to all this? UNest will hold your hand through the whole thing. It makes it super easy to get started saving as little as $25 a month in one of its tax-free investing accounts. UNest even lets you invite friends and family to contribute to the plan for birthdays, holidays and other special occasions. It’s super easy to use, and those gifts will continue to grow in value, thanks to years of compound interest.

When saving an extra $25,000 is this easy, why wouldn’t you do it? It takes five minutes to download the UNest app and create an account.

Secret No. 3: You Cut Save Hundreds on Your Family Plan

You’ve probably had the same cell phone company for a while. And you’re probably paying way too much for your service, especially if you’ve got lines for your kids.

But with discount prepaid phone carrier US Mobile, you could get a plan starting at as little as $4 a month.

With US Mobile, you get to build your custom plan. Pick the amount of minutes, texts and data you need. Don’t worry about perfecting your plan; you can adjust it at any time.

You can bring your own phone — 99% of phones are compatible with US Mobile — or buy a new one through its site, then order a SIM card (a $3.99 one-time purchase). It’ll mail you the SIM card for free to put in your phone.

Switching to a discount carrier like US Mobile could save your family hundreds of dollars a month. Fran DeRosier, a busy mom of four and second-grade teacher in Burlington, Wisconsin, was paying close to $300 a month for four lines with Verizon.

By switching to a discount carrier, she slashed her bill to $65 a month — yup, for four lines.

“When I did the math, I was like, ‘Are you kidding me? That’s crazy!’” Fran said of the savings. “I didn’t realize it would be that much, but it’s freed up money to fix our house up to potentially sell and has given us extra room to do some things we want to do.”

If you’re like most of us, you need your cell phone. But you don’t need to overpay. See how much you could save here.

Secret No. 4: You Can Still Pay off Your Debt — Even Though Kids Are Expensive

We get it. Kids are expensive, and every month, you make payments toward your credit card debt. But you never seem to make a dent. It’s because of those sky-high interest rates — as much as 24% interest. It can feel impossible to get ahead.

But MoneyLion could help you find offers to cut your interest rate by 70% as soon as tomorrow. 

Here’s how it works: MoneyLion can match you with new loan offers at a lower interest rate — as low as 5.20% APR*. That’s 70%* lower than the average credit card interest rate. And it’s the key to finally getting ahead.

You can use this new loan to pay off all your existing credit card debt, then you’ll be left with one (cheaper) monthly payment that will help you get out of debt faster.

If you have a credit score of at least 620, you could get up to $100,000. With no collateral. And terms go up to 144 months.

Worried you won’t qualify? Take two minutes to check online and see if you could cut your credit card interest rate by 70%.

*Based on creditworthiness. Average credit card interest rate is 24.72% as of 8/14/23, according to Forbes Advisor’s weekly credit card rates report.

Secret No. 5: You Don’t Need an MBA to Start a Business

After a bad car accident back in 1993, Kate Sauls spent a year wheelchair bound, raising two kids and living off welfare.

Her injury required her to keep heat on her neck and shoulder — but imagine doing that while trying to lug kids around. That’s when she had an idea: The Kozy Collar, a hot-and-cold therapy pad that’d stay on your neck.

Sauls had no business degree and very little capital, but she hustled, and within nine months she’d made $64,000 selling her product at local craft shows and flea markets. When the recession hit, Sauls had to shut her operation down, but that didn’t stop her.

Fast forward to 2013, and Sauls created ThermaStretch, a solution to her knee pain. The idea was similar: a heating pad that fit around the knee and stayed in place. She was hesitant to launch another business, but her kids encouraged her.

She now sells her products online (primarily Amazon and Etsy). Last year, she even had the opportunity to sell on HSN, where within eight minutes she told 750 units, yielding almost $30,000 in revenue.

Sauls’ words of advice? “If you’re passionate about it, don’t be afraid of failure, because that is the road to success.”

Secret No. 6: Cancel Your Car Insurance

As a parent, you’ve got to juggle your housing costs, your typical monthly bills, your groceries — and not to mention exorbitant childcare costs. How do you do it?

Single mom Lourdes Robles-Velazquez, of California, felt overwhelmed. She told us she watches her every penny and trims her budget down as much as possible. But one thing she couldn’t avoid was her $205 monthly car insurance bill for her car and her daughter’s car — but she did find a way to cut it by 40%…

With a digital marketplace called SmartFinancial, you could be getting rates as low as $22 a month — and saving yourself more than $700 a year.

“Right now, I’m paying $125 a month for both cars,” she says. She used to pay about $205, which means she’s saving close to $1,000 a year.

It takes one minute to get quotes from multiple insurers, so you can see all the best rates side-by-side. Yep — in just one minute you could save yourself $715 this year. That’s some major cash back in your pocket.

So if you haven’t checked car insurance rates in a while, see how much you can save with a new policy.

Secret No. 7: Don’t Let Your Credit Score Limit You

You have enough going on in your life as a parent, so when it comes to taking care of your credit score, it’s easy to pass it off as a “one of these days” type of chore. But what happens when you want to buy a home? Or a car? That seemingly arbitrary number starts to play a huge role in your life.

And if you have an error on your credit report (one out of five reports do), that could stand in your way.

Thankfully, a website called Credit Sesame will help you detect any errors — for free. If you find any, it will even help you dispute them.

Salome Buitureria, a working mom in Louisiana, found a major error on her report this way. Using Credit Sesame, she was able to fix the mistake and take additional steps to raise her credit score from 524 to nearly 700.

Now she and her husband feel like they’re in a better position for their biggest goal — purchasing a house.

Want to check for yourself? It only takes about 90 seconds to sign up.

*Like Buitureria, 60% of Credit Sesame members see an increase in their credit score; 50% see at least a 10-point increase, and 20% see at least a 50-point increase after 180 days.

Credit Sesame does not guarantee any of these results, and some may even see a decrease in their credit score. Any score improvement is the result of many factors, including paying bills on time, keeping credit balances low, avoiding unnecessary inquiries, appropriate financial planning and developing better credit habits.

*Bestow: Policies are issued by Bestow Life Insurance Company, Dallas, TX on policy form series BLI-ITPOL. Bestow Life Insurance products may not be available in all states. Policy limitations or restrictions may apply. Not available in New York. Our application asks lifestyle and health questions to determine eligibility in order to avoid requiring a medical exam. Prices start at $10/month based on an 18-year-old male rated Preferred Plus NT for a $100k policy for a 10-year term. Rates will vary based on underwriting review.

Carson Kohler ([email protected]) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder.