The Best Credit Cards for Single Mothers

It takes a village to raise a child—and, unfortunately, no one knows this more than the people who don’t have a village to rely on. Whether it’s food, diapers, housing costs, medical costs, or other basic needs, the costs of raising a child is by no means cheap or easy, and many parents turn to credit cards to help them stretch their budgets to make ends meet. This is especially true for single mothers, who on top of suffering from the gender pay gap, are also less likely to be employed full time.

However, if you’re a single mom who is already turning to credit cards to help you meet your needs—why not also get one that makes things easier you take care of you and your little one? There are plenty of cards out there that have unique rewards options and rates that are ideal for any single mother trying to extend her budget!

Now, there are a lot of things to consider when looking at getting a new credit card—especially if you’re a single parent. Things like cash back programs, interest rates, rewards programs, and other perks are all different depending on which card you’re looking at, and each mother may want a card to help out with a different need.

In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the top credit cards across a broad range of categories to ultimately help you decide which one would be the best one for you!

The Best Credit Cards: An Overview
Best All-Around Pick: Amazon Rewards Signature Visa Card
Best Flat-Rate Pick: Citi Double Cash Card
Best Cash Back Pick: Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express
Best Versatile Pick: U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature Card
Conclusion

The Best Credit Cards: An Overview

There are no shortage of credit cards out there to choose from in today’s market—but when looking for the best card for you, the most important thing to keep in mind is your spending habits: where and how you spend your money and, ultimately, how you’d want to redeem your rewards.

Are you looking to get the most cash back for purchases made to put towards other expenses? Do you like to travel with your children and want a card that has rewards that could help you cover those costs?

If there are no categories that directly stand out to you, then perhaps a flat-rate credit card would be the best fit.

The following cards all come with solid perks in and of themselves, but outshine all others in at least one rewards category:

Best All-Around Pick: Amazon Rewards Signature Visa Card
Best Flat-Rate Pick: Citi Double Cash Card
Best Cash Back Pick: Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express
Best Grocery and Dining Rewards: Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card
Best Versatile Pick: U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature Card

In the following sections, we’ll look at each of these cards more in-depth and see what other perks these cards may offer and, ultimately, help you choose the one that caters to your specific needs.

Best All-Around Pick: Amazon Rewards Signature Visa Card

Let’s face it: who doesn’t use Amazon these days? For busy single mothers especially, the convenience of being able to shop an almost endless catalogue of things—from food to toys to vitamins and birthday gifts—and have them delivered to your door can not be overlooked.

And for that reason, the Amazon Rewards Signature Visa Card gets our choice for the best, economical, all-around top pick for the best card you could get! This card offers perks like:

No Annual Fee
2% cash back at restaurants, at gas stations, and at drugstores
1% back on utilities, rideshare, and all other purchases
5% back on purchases made on Amazon.com or at physical Amazon stores, as well as 5% back at Whole Foods (with an eligible Amazon Prime membership)

As an added sign-up bonus, Amazon is even offering a $150 Amazon Gift card once you’re approved! If you’re a busy single mother who already shops on Amazon for your family needs, then this card is the perfect way to start getting some of that money back into your pocket.

Best Flat-Rate Pick: Citi Double Cash Card

A flat-rate cash back credit card in one in which you earn a certain fixed percentage back from every kind of purchase you make, whether that purchase is on food, gas, clothing…you get the idea.

For this kind of arrangement, there’s no better card out there than the Citi Double Cash Card.

This card lets you earn 2% cash back on every purchase you make: 1% when you buy, and the other 1% when you pay your statement balance for the month.

Some other perks include:

No Annual Fee
0% APR on balance transfers for 18 months
The ability to redeem points as cash back to put toward your credit statement, as funds direct deposited into your bank account, or mailed to you as a check
The option to redeem points for gift cards, travel, or to shop on Amazon

Best Cash Back Pick: Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express

There’s no question that the OG Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express is one of the most impressive in the game when it comes to rewards, especially when it comes to grocery shopping, with cash back rewards as high as 6% for the first $6,000 spent. But with a $95 annual fee, this card can be out of reach for many single mothers.

Cue: The Blue Cash Everyday Card! It offers most of what the Blue Cash Preferred Card offers, but without the hassle of having to pay an annual fee.

Other bonuses include:

$200 back after you spend $2,000 in the first 6 months
0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months
3% cash back at US supermarkets (for the first $6,000 spent annually, 1% after)
2% cash back at US gas stations and select online retail purchases (for the first $6,000 spent annually, 1% after)
1% cash back everywhere else

Best Grocery and Dining Rewards: Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card

If you find that food expenses are one of the largest sections of your budget, then the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card may just be your new best friend!

This card is specially designed for dining and entertainment and, as such, has rewards that are higher-than-average in this particular category.

Some other perks are:

No Annual Fee

A one-time $200 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening
Unlimited 3% cash back on dining, entertainment, popular streaming services and at grocery stores and 1% on all other purchases
Unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
8% cash back on Capital One Entertainment purchases
0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months

Best Versatile Pick: U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature Card

Raising a child means that your budget needs may change over time as your child gets older. Food expenses may morph into entertainment expenses as your child gets older which may, in turn, develop into travel expenses if they end up going away for school.

And the U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa Signature Card is the perfect one to fit all of those needs, because YOU get to pick the category where you earn the most rewards—and even have the power to change them once every quarter.

Other benefits include:

No Annual Fee
A $150 statement credit when you spend $500 in the first 90 days

5% on first combined $2,000 of spending in two categories of your choosing each quarter
2% back on your choice of one everyday category (like grocery stores or gas stations)
1% back everywhere else

Not only is 5% a generous amount of money to receive back on your purchases—but when you get those savings on two different categories and also have the power to change them every few months!? Your bank account will speak for itself.

Conclusion

When it comes to choosing the right credit card, especially for single mothers, there are a lot of things to keep in mind in order to make sure you’re getting the most out what your card can offer you.

The most important of these things is undoubtedly your spending habits, as you want to be sure that you’re maximizing your earning potential by getting rewards back for using your card to make purchases on things you already tend spend your money on.

As we’ve seen here in this article, there are a lot of cards out there that offer a variety of bonus perks that, when used wisely, can be utilized as a single mother to save as much money as you can while you’re busy trying to raise your family.

This list of cards is by no means exhaustive, however, and if you find that none of these quite meets your needs, there are literally hundreds of credit card options out there to choose from! But now that you’re also a little wiser about how to play the overall credit card game, hopefully this article can at least be a springboard to helping you find the perfect one for you!