I Just Want to Pay Rent and Buy Organic Fruit: The Real Life of a Working Single Mom

Being a working single mom isn’t a lifestyle—it’s survival. In this raw and real episode, I peel back the layers of what it truly means to live paycheck to paycheck while trying to raise a child, maintain sanity, and still hold on to hope. No luxury dreams here—just a desire to pay $2,500 rent, keep the fridge full, and breathe.

She shares what it feels like to constantly be treading water while others seem to be floating through life with ease. This is a story about resilience, exhaustion, and the small joys we cling to in the chaos. If you've ever whispered to yourself, “I just want a break,” this episode is for you.

💬 Real talk. Real struggle. Real hope.

Transcript

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Hey mamas, welcome back to the mommy pod where we speak the unfiltered truth about motherhood, healing, and showing up. Especially when it feels like no one else sees what we're carrying. Today's episode is for every single mama out there who is working hard and doing the absolute most to survive. And I don't mean survive in the poetic TikTok glossed over way. I mean real survival. working full-time, trying to parent with intention, paying your$2,500 rent and maybe buy a little food and fruit and not have your body shut down from burnout. This story is personal, y'all. I'm not here with a five-step plan to help fix your life. I'm here with truth and maybe a little solidarity. So let's start with this question. How am I supposed to catch a break? Because I'm not trying to be rich. I'm not trying to buy a mega mansion. I'm not trying to go on some luxury vacation. I just want to pay my rent, feed my kids good, healthy, organic food, and have enough energy leftover to be present and not exhausted. But this economy, this society, it wasn't built for single moms. who are trying to hold it all down and hold it all together. Every bill is higher. Groceries are a luxury at this point. Self-care, like I'm just trying to have a moment to pee in peace. I just would love to know what are some things to do to increase my income. without increasing my workload. I guess that's what we all want. We all want to increase our income without increasing our workload, but I'm doing things like the mommy pod and writing books and just other extra things that might not go anywhere, might not do anything, but I'm trying. Because it's not like I have extra hours in the day where I can go do Instacart or go do Postmates or go work somewhere else. And it's not like I split my time 50-50. I would not want that. But I don't. And so I don't have a schedule that allows me to really have another job besides the ones that I create for myself. So how am I supposed to catch a break? I need to increase my income so that I can pay off debt, so that I can increase my credit, so that we can move closer to my job, so that I don't have to spend so much in gas, pay so much in rent, or just the gas situation, because I'd probably still pay the same in rent, but gas is... like I drive over 40 miles a day and I guess that's not a lot because some people really truly commute but I don't know I feel like for a better quality of life it would be better to just be closer um yeah What do you do to get extra income? But on top of that, I think it's important to find the joy. Find the joy in life no matter what. It's hard, and I think that you should start small. I think that finding the joy... does start small, especially if you are one that has to find the joy. It doesn't just show up in big, life-changing moments. Sometimes this is a five-minute dance party, or on an erupted nap, or a mango that tastes amazingly right. Joy doesn't erase the struggle. Joy doesn't erase the struggle, but it interrupts it, even for a moment. And those small moments matter. Your children seeing you laugh matters. You being able to deeply breathe is important. And I think it's important for your kids to see that too. My kids know about taking deep breaths. Even my daughter, she stepped on my foot and I screamed and she said, mommy, you gotta take deep breaths. Oh, Lily. Yeah. I think that's important. And I think it's important to know that we deserve more. You deserve to be more than a provider. You deserve community. You deserve rest. You deserve resources. We need policy changes. We need personal acknowledgement as well. This is hard. And you are not broken. You are doing the job of multiple people, unlimited resources, and still trying to love deeply, raise kind humans, and build a future. You are already enough. Even if the fridge fills empty, or you cried at work, or you feed your kids cereal for dinner, just know you are enough. But also, a tip. When you do have the money, go to places that give you rewards because then when money is low, you can use those rewards to purchase food. Can I just offer you a prayer? And yeah, here we go. Dear Lord, I ask that you help these mothers find a moment of peace. Find moments to breathe between the chaos. I ask the right resources flow to ease to all of us, Lord God. May our rent get paid without stress for the rest of the year, Lord God. May our fridge stay full and our heart stay soft. May we be surrounded by people who get it and who don't expect us to carry it all alone because we are not alone, Lord God. We have you and we have each other. We are in this together. I thank you for your mercy and I thank you for your goodness and I thank you for your grace and I thank you for the gifts that we are about to receive. In this, I pray. Amen. Until next time, MommyPod, be gentle with yourself. We got this.