Lonely? Single parent overwhelm? Struggling to manage your home? There’s an app for that! OK, to be honest there’s no shortcut to managing the all-consuming task of being a single mum, but there are things that can help. Organisation is something that is absolutely key for single parents, along with managing finances, meal prepping and mindfulness, and there are some great apps out there for all of these. And of course there’s the ultimate single parent app, Frolo.
11 Great Single Parent Apps
Frolo
Frolo is a community app created specifically for single parents. It allows you to connect with other single parents in your local area for friendship, support, and advice. The app has features like Group Chats, Meetups (completely life changing) and the ability to connect individually with other single parents near you. Joining Frolo and meeting my single parent crew completely changed my life for the better. I even wrote a book with the Frolo founder (and now close friend) Zoë.
Frolo Dating
If you want to meet other single parents to date, Frolo also has a dating mode where you can match with other single parents ready to form connections. Both Frolo Community and Dating have free and paid-for Premium modes so you can get as much from the app as possible, whatever your budget. frolo.com
Plate Up
Plate Up is a meal planning app that allows you to add meals to your weekly plan and automatically adds the ingredients to an online shopping list. Plate Up claims it can do your entire weekly shop in just 5 minutes, but I have never managed to make quite that effective use of it… plateup.app
OurHome
Looking for a way to get older children involved in the household chores? OurHome app involves the whole family, assigning tasks to children and incentivising them to complete their responsibilities through a points system. Want a child to help? Make it a competition… I haven’t tried this one yet but it’s next on my list! ourhomeapp.com
Emma
Managing finances is something that is a major challenge to pretty much every single mum I know. Emma is a personal finance app that helps single parents stay on top of their day-to-day finances. It allows you to avoid overdrafts, cancel unwanted subscriptions, and generally keep better control of your money. emma-app.com
Otter
If you struggle to find time for journaling, Otter is an app that lets you record your thoughts and feelings through audio journaling. This is perfect for single parents who are short on time but want to practise self-care. You could also use it to pen that best-selling novel on the go, too… otter.ai
Sprive
If you have a mortgage, this app helps you to try and pay it off earlier to save you interest and shows how much overpayments can save you. You can use my Sprive referral code ‘G4XGGJC6’ and you’ll get £5 toward your mortgage when you sign up. (To be transparent, for every three people that sign up I’ll also get £25 toward my mortgage, but I really do rate this app, as it shows just how much saving a little extra each month can take off your interest and payment term.) sprive.com
FitBit
Keeping fit and healthy is imperative as a single parent. You cannot pour from an empty cup, and you cannot look after your children if you aren’t looking after yourself. For me, walking almost everywhere, going for occasional runs and fitting in gym sessions is essential to keep me feeling my best, physically and mentally. I have a Google Watch, and the FitBit app is great for keeping track of sleep, steps and general wellbeing. But the most important tracker of all is the menstrual cycle. Understanding your mood and cycle according to this information as well as planning for work, travel and social plans according to your cycle is truly transformative. fitbit.com
QuickBooks
For single parents running their own businesses, QuickBooks is an invaluable financial management tool. It makes tracking expenses, invoicing, and tax preparation much easier. If you are thinking of starting your own business, it might seem mad but single parenthood actually mimics running your own business so you might be better prepared than you think.
Calm
Working a wellbeing activity into your routine is essential. Meditation isn’t for everyone but there are a lot of bite-size meditation and guided breathing exercises on Calm, which is generally cheaper than Headspace, unless you have a subscription to either included in a group package. I like Calm because the kids bedtime stories are ace, Jack used to always fall asleep to one of the Minions ones, even though I thought it was the most annoying one on the app. (And I used to fall asleep to Beauty and the Beast for a while, too.) quickbooks.intuit.com
OurFamilyWizard
OurFamilyWizard is a co-parenting app that helps divorced or separated families in the UK manage schedules, expenses, communication, and important documents in a secure, centralised platform. It offers features like a shared calendar, expense tracking, secure messaging, and access for children and professionals to support effective co-parenting. I have never used this one, instead taking the longer, rockier path of managing co-parenting via trial and (countless) error(s). ourfamilywizard.co.uk