Monday, April 9, 2018

How to make an agreement with your partner about money problems!

How to make an agreement with your partner about money problems!


Life isn’t simple!

Rather things get tougher and difficult as you age, get married, and start living in a relationship!

This post will be dealing with one big issue that nearly we all couples face at the end of the day. It is about coming to an agreement with one’s partner about money problems and other financial issues like fighting debts together and merging finances!

What makes a financial agreement so important in relationship?

Finance is a very sensitive and personal subject to discuss.
If you think minutely, then you will realize that hiding deep financial secrets from your partner can only bring future chaos in your relationship!
Being a couple, you share so many personal secrets. To be precise, sharing is the main driving factor that keeps a relationship intact. The more transparent you are with your partner, the better is it for the relationship!
If you approach any financial therapist or counselor, you will understand what I am trying to say. There are many instances where debts and other financial problems cause divorces, breakups, delays in conceiving child, and many other mental health issues.
Also united we stand and divided we fall. As I will talk later in this post, if you can merge your finances with your partner, then you can fight emergency expenses and other costly issues efficiently.

Is discussing finances with your partner difficult?

Absolutely not!
If both of you are ready to participate equally in such discussions, then it’s not difficult. The initiatives should come from both sides.

How can you approach your partner to discuss money problems?

  1. Sit with your partner in a relaxed mind. Tell how you’ve been feeling lately about solidifying your relationship more than ever. To do so, you believe, that both of you must be clear about finances just like other aspects of life and love.
  2. Open up your financial issues one by one. Remember to speak out the worst problem first. By doing so, you will be able to throw out the other petty issues without any dilemma or shyness.
  3. Reveal both of your salaries, and don’t hide one’s financial strength from the other.


Merge the finances and handle debt together:

The main reason for coming into an agreement about financial problems, with your partner, is to merge your finances together.
If both of you are income holders in your family, then you can easily divide the expenses between you two, and take charge of obligations separately.

You can take care of groceries and the utility bills, while your partner can take hold of debt payments.

Debt payments is a very important factor in merging finances.
Do you have enough debts to take away your night’s sleep? Do you feel your income is not enough to suffice your debt payments?

Well you must discuss in brief with your spouse about all the debts that you have, whether or not you can fight it alone, how helpful will it be for you if your spouse plans to contribute to your debt payments.

When it comes to debts, or tackling loan bills, you both should work together to get the optimum results.

If both of you are breadwinners, then having one low income won’t be much of a problem. Surface your options to pay off debts even with a low income, by merging your salary with your spouse’s.
Start making extra payments, with the help of your partner.
There’s nothing called “your debts” or “my debts” in a relationship. By being together, you agree that everything will be shared by both of you equally, including liabilities and responsibility, and debts are no different.

Ultimately the money agreement should look a bit like this:

  1. There will be no secrets and hiding of facts when it comes to sharing personal financial information.
  2. Each should have a brief idea about one another, regarding income, expenses, debts, obligations and other miscellaneous costs.
  3. Savings and expenses, should be divided between you two, based on who earns how much.So if you earn $5000, and your spouse earns $8000, then your spouse’s contribution will be more than you.
  4. You can deal with small expenses, while your spouse can deal with the bigger ones.
  5. The same thing will happen with savings. Your partner’s contribution will be a bit more than yours.
  6. From now on, every financial decision is to be taken jointly, be it a vacation planning or managing medical debts, or even your kid’s college expenses.

That’s all I had to say about making a financial agreement with your partner. No doubt it will be helpful in whatever financial goals you want to achieve.

Also don’t forget to check out the book family travel hacks and tips for any budget, if you are planning a vacation with your family on a tight budget, and want to deal with the travel expenses together.

Andy Masaki is a blogger and financial writer associated with the Oak View Law Group. He is a debt expert and a member of several online forums where he shares his advice as well as tips to lead a financially independent life.

Monday, January 8, 2018

Declutter Your Life in the New Year with Dana White!

Need to declutter a room, your entire house, or your life for that matter? Did you make a New Year's Resolution or goal to organize your spaces? Then check out the new book Decluttering at the Speed of Life from Dana White!

Declutter Your Life


Monday, January 1, 2018

Do This When You Wake Up For A Better Day! - Author Interview!

Do you ever wish you were a morning person? Do you feel you are living life on purpose? If not, then find out how you can start your days off right with Kat Lee, author of Hello Mornings!





Why did you write this book?

I wrote Hello Mornings because I’m passionate about helping others build a grace-filled,  life-giving morning routine. Over the years, I’ve learned so much about habit building and simple ways to create lasting change that I wanted to put it all together into a fun, inspiring, “how-to” book for mornings.


Why is a morning routine important?

Well, technically, I don’t think morning routines are important. What I believe to be important is starting each day connecting with God and creating an on-ramp for living each day centered around Him and the life He’s called us to live.


What is the foundation of a morning routine?

At Hello Mornings we call it the 3 Minute Morning and it has three parts. God Time, Plan Time and Move Time. The central idea is that we don’t want to be ONLY hearers of the Word, but doers also. So, our time with God is followed by prayerfully submitting our daily calendar and tasks to Him and making healthy choices so that we have the energy to do the things He’s called us to do.

The 3 Minute Morning:

  1. Read/Pray Psalm 143:8
  2. Prayerfully review your calendar
  3. Drink a glass of water

This is the basis of a faith-filled, action oriented morning routine that anyone can do any day of their life. We all have 3 minutes.


How can busy parents incorporate this morning routine?

Simply do the 3 Minute Morning right when they get up. We all have three minutes. Then as life allows, scale up in any area.


What difference has this morning routine made in peoples' lives?

First of all, I don’t think this morning routine is magical. The difference is made when the simplicity of the routine and the grace-filled focus of Hello Mornings helps people consistently start each day with God. Then He makes the difference in their lives. That being said, we’ve heard powerful stories from people all over the world who have renewed their faith, organized their lives, gotten healthy, restored their vision for their lives and have seen their marriages and families strengthened by starting each day with God.


What else would you like our readers to know?

Your life matters. There is no better way to live each day than to start with the One who made us, loves us and has a purpose and plan for our lives. (Jeremiah 29:11)


How can our readers find out more about you?

You can learn more at HelloMornings.org. I hope to see you there!


How will you incorporate Kat's advice to start your day off right?

Let us know in the comments!


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Monday, December 4, 2017

A Happy Holiday Starts in the Morning: How to Start Your Family's Day Off Right

A Happy Holiday Starts in the Morning: How to Start Your Family's Day Off Right

Your kids look forward to winter vacation the duration of fall, but sometimes the holidays are more stressful than fun. Between long days of travel and changes to daily routines, the holidays can leave kids tired and grumpy and parents at their wit’s end. If last year’s meltdowns have you thinking of skipping this year’s festivities altogether, don’t make any rash decisions just yet. It is possible to keep everyone happy over the holidays, it just requires planning ahead for a consistent holiday routine.

Family Time with Mobile Device
Image via Unsplash



It might not seem like you have much control over your family’s holiday schedule. Whether you’re traveling to visit family or they’re coming to stay with you, your daily itinerary is likely packed with shared meals and activities. It might be all you can do to keep your kids alive and fed during the most hectic hours, which means the most important time of day is before everyone arrives. By establishing a morning routine for your family, you can set everyone up to be on their best behavior until the day’s end.

Children thrive under predictability and consistency. According to the University of Kansas, it’s a lack of daily routine and clear expectations that’s behind many temper tantrums. While you may not be able to keep your kids’ routines exactly the same over the holidays, aim to keep eating and sleeping patterns as regular as possible.

Don’t let kids stay up late or sleep in just because it’s vacation. While some flexibility is acceptable, don’t stretch it beyond normal weekend bedtimes and wake-ups. If traveling between time zones, keep kids on their home schedule unless it’s a long trip. While it might make for some awkward scheduling, it will pay off when school starts again. The same goes for parents; resist the urge to sleep in or stay up late mingling. Getting plenty of rest will ensure your holiday relaxes you, not drains you.

It’s not just the quantity of sleep that matters; quality is important too. Unfortunately, no one sleeps well when they’re bunking in a crowded room alongside extended family members. If you’re traveling, retreat to a hotel each night for an environment conducive to quality rest. Family staying at your house? Rather than putting family members in kids’ beds, treat family bedrooms as sacred and keep visitors to guest rooms and common areas.

The battle isn’t over once morning has arrived. Breakfast is your opportunity to balance rich holiday meals and treats with nutritious foods. Rather than relying on sugary convenience foods like pastries to get through the holidays, stock up on the healthy options your family is used to. A good breakfast prevents overeating later, and, according to HealthyChildren, helps kids function better throughout the day. Once breakfast is ready, serve it around the table. If you let kids eat on the couch just because it’s vacation, they may think it’s okay to bend other rules too.

If you still have a couple hours of calm after breakfast is finished and before guests arrive, use that time for reading and homework assignments. Later in the day there will be too many distractions for your children to focus. Plus, since they’re used to being in school at this time, kids are more willing to settle in for quiet activity.

The post-breakfast period is also a great time for parents to mentally prepare for the day ahead. Holidays can test your patience as a parent, especially if you find family get-togethers stressful, as so many people do. Take time to center yourself before festivities are underway. By carving out time for exercise, meditation, or another self-care activity, you’ll be able to take parenting challenges in stride.

Finally, make sure everyone knows what to expect from each day. Disruptions are unavoidable over the holidays, and keeping everyone on the same page is key to preventing unnecessary stress. When everyone is well-rested, well-fed, and knows what the day will bring, the whole family functions better.

Daniel is a single dad raising two children. At DadSolo.com, he aims to provide other single dads with information and resources to help them better equip themselves on the journey that is parenthood. 

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Wednesday, November 22, 2017

How to Survive Black Friday Without Destroying Your Budget or Your Bank Account!

For many Americans, Black Friday has become a ritual and expectation.  While we're not against Black Friday, the day can lead to buying things you don't need for more than you should pay. Here are some tips to help busy frugal families survive Black Friday without destroying your bank account or your budget.

How To Survive Black Friday

Set a Black Friday spending limit with your spouse.


Whether you handle your finances jointly or separately, discussing your financial goals with your spouse and getting on the same page is critical for a healthy marriage.  Come to an agreement on how much you will spend based on what you can afford.  Ideally, you would have money saved up for this expense, but if you're not there yet, you can at least agree on how much money you both will spend.

Think about what you want to buy before looking at the Black Friday ads.


Deciding what you want by looking at the ads is like going grocery shopping when you're hungry. If you let the ads tell you what you should buy, you're more likely to overspend and buy things that seem cool but you don't really need or don't help you reach your goals.

Free yourself from the pressure to buy something for everyone.  


Heartfelt gifts don't have to cost a lot of money. If you buy someone for every coworker or person you supervise, every family member, and all your friends, you'll be broke before you even get to Cyber Monday.  They probably won't even remember the gift you gave them in a few weeks. If you take the time to compose a handwritten note or make something from materials you have at home, the gift will be distinguishable from all the other gifts people get during the holidays.  If you're a person of faith, remember that Christmas isn't about presents in boxes. It's about the greatest gift we could ever receive.

Don't forget about any unused reward points, reward miles, or coupon app earnings.


One way to reduce your out of pocket costs for the holidays is to use accumulated reward points or miles. If you plan to travel during the holidays, you may be able to use your points for hotel stays and transportation and use your miles for plane tickets.  If you use Coupon apps like iBotta or Checkout51 and have accumulated enough money to cash out your savings, you may have enough extra money to drastically reduce the amount of money you need to contribute for holiday purchases.

Have another tip for saving money on Black Friday? Let us know in the comments!

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Monday, November 13, 2017

Preparing the Next Generation of Familypreneurs!

Want to teach your children entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills, but don't know where to start?

Then let's get some advice from Familypreneur author Jean Pierre Rukebesha!


Familypreneur


1. Why did you write Familypreneur?


There are five major reasons:

First, I wanted to share with parents especially those running their small businesses how they can nurture and educate their children from any early age the basics of entrepreneurship and along the way get the kids to have a keen interests in what Mom and Dad do and how it contributes to the overall family wellbeing and financial stability.

Second, the role of small business in the nations' economies and value creation is in general understated. When you turn on your TV or any media talking about business, all what you hear is about the big corporations in oil and gas, banking or technologies and how their values have gone up on the stock exchange. This is strange to many people focused in the small business communities!
Yet, small companies create on average 70% of the jobs every year! In other words, they are the biggest employer even those the head count is between 1 to 5 people.

Third, job security is something in the past; people used to work for corporations, receive pension benefits and when they retire, their financial situation would almost be guaranteed for the rest of their lives. Small business do the same for the owners too! Not only their pay (5 figure salary is possible for a young adult joining his parents within 3 to 5 years, which is hard to achieve when joining big corporations).

Fourth, job creation is at the center of each government; for start, why don't we try and keep those created in the small business community from generation to generation instead of stop and start we see every day (statistics show that 80% of new created business do not survive beyond five years).

Fifth, as a business advisor, I have seen the baby boomers phenomenon where many small businesses are closing down because the owner is retiring or old and none of his kids is prepared to take over; one of the reasons is parents assumed that kids will eventually take interests in what they do! Meanwhile, parents provided the educations but never talked about the ups and downs of running the business to their kids at a younger age; by the time they are teenagers and parents are trying to introduce the entrepreneurship concepts, it is too late! They have made up their minds to move on! Even when kids venture in the outside world do not work out, it is always hard to turn their attentions to what their parents do because of the unknown.

2. Tell us about your business and family.


I am an Accountant by trade focusing on advisory services. Beside my accounting practice, I co-own a Tour Operators company (we purchased it from a family which has owned it for 36 years - Rostad Tours Ltd), a kids playground (under construction - Luv2play Airdrie) and co-founded recently GN Compass, a fintech company in crypto-currency-backed loans.

I am married with 3 kids (2 boys and one girl - age 11, 10 and 7).

3. Why is it important to teach kids entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills?


If you look into the school curricula, entrepreneurship is never taught at a young age, not even mentioned for even curiosity sake; when we grow up, we find ourselves struggling to grasp the basic concepts of entrepreneurship! We just freeze and we think of business owners as those people who took on huge risks!

On the other hand, jobs are never easy to find, let alone job satisfaction and possibility of realizing someone's full potential.

When jobs are not coming buy, people turns into a survival mode where the next best option is starting something of your own - turn into entrepreneur! Yet, you have never been prepared.

Equally, financially literacy are important to everyone's financial stability! At the end of the day, a financial planner will only implement what you sign off; the younger we are fully conversant and comfortable discussing the financial matters, the better we will be prepared to make sound financial decisions.

4. How can parents involve your kids in their businesses?


Familypreneur tagline "The Six Keys to Raising Your Little Entrepreneurs" explains what the book is all about. The book provides a guide to achieve the entrepreneurship mindset in kids; just like we teach our kids good habits, manners, the does the same by offering the inside on how that conversation can be introduced in every home around the dinner table.

5. How can parents help their kids get started as entrepreneurs?


The book works as a guide; besides that, we learn best by trying things out. While the book offers many ideas each parent can implement, taking your kid on a job will work wonders.

It is interesting that Bill Gates announced this week that he will invest almost $ 1.7 billion reforming US public education over the next five years (because the existing elementary school model is no longer relevant to the digital economy). One of the 12 modules of a future elementary curriculum would be organized around "Entrepreneurship & Sales." 

The book supports this future revamped education model.


6. Where can people go to get more information from you?


I am on social media and LinkedIn
Please also visit my website: www.familypreneur.net.

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What suggestions do you have for teaching entrepreneurship skills to kids?
Let us know in the comments!

Monday, October 23, 2017

Twelve Easy Ways to Save Money That Won't Make You Feel Frustrated!

Bills. Groceries. Debt. The struggle is real.

If you're anything like us, you need to save money to put more money toward your financial goals.

Getting out of debt. Building an emergency fund. Saving for retirement. Saving for college.

Here are some ways we save money that have helped in our journey to financial independence:


Twelve Easy Ways to Save Money