by Pam on February 27, 2011
A great way for couples to manage their money effectively is to routinely set up money dates. Pick a time when you are both alert and set aside about 30 minutes to discuss your current financial situation. Be sure to touch on any outstanding or upcoming bills and evaluate your current debt situation. It is also important to talk about how much you are saving as a couple each month and what your goals are for the short and long term.
Couples who set up money dates on a regular basis find it much easier to manage their money. It is important for both parties to understand where the family is at now and where they are headed. Both can contribute to the discussion and can have input into where changes need to be made.
[click to read…]
by Pam on February 21, 2011
If you want to go on a family vacation such as taking a trip to Disneyland, a great way to save enough money is to do it as a family. Get the kids involved by encouraging them to think of creative ways they can contribute. Open up a savings account specifically for the trip and then as the funds come in, put them into this account. Give your family frequent updates on how much has been saved so everyone is aware of how far you’ve come and how far you still have to go in order to achieve your goal.
Make it a team effort to come up with the money. It will be fun! Your kids can do odd jobs around the neighborhood to earn extra cash. Perhaps they are old enough to babysit or can pitch in and help with recycling. Collecting cans and getting a refund is a simple way to earn some cash. A lemonade stand is also a fun idea.
[click to read…]
by Pam on December 21, 2010
If your younger children are getting antsy around the house during the Christmas holidays, you may want to direct them to the Starfall website. It’s an educational website that helps children learn to read while doing various fun activities. It is interactive and colorful and best of all it’s completely free!
A friend of mine who has young children told me about this website and apparently her kids love it, especially her youngest who is four and a half years old. If you want to encourage your kids to improve their reading skills, this is a great way to do it.
[click to read…]
by Pam on December 1, 2010
If you are looking for ideas on how to spend more quality time with your family this holiday season, there is a great article titled “50 Free & Frugal Ideas For Holiday Family Bonding” that I would recommend you read.
The article has an extensive list of ideas of ways to do crafts with your kids and provides links to several websites for further details. There are also links to a variety of websites that can help you get your kids interested in various home improvement projects. Why not be productive while bonding!
[click to read…]
by Pam on November 19, 2010
There are times when it makes sense for parents (who can afford it) to lend money to their adult children to help with post secondary education, a down payment on a home, etc. However, this isn’t always the best idea and it’s important to really discuss things thoroughly before making a decision.
Every parent wants to be able to help their children, no matter what their age, however, at a certain point it is important for children to become financially independent. If parents continuously bail their kids out when they overspend, they are not helping their children at all. Why? Because their kids need to learn that there are consequences for being irresponsible with their money. Kids will never learn this if Mommy and Daddy always foot the bill when they make a mistake.
[click to read…]
by Pam on October 18, 2010
While visiting a friend who has young children, she shared with me a great online resource that her kids use to learn how to type. It’s called Dance Mat Typing, and it’s a website that is free to use. It’s based out of the UK and it makes learning to type a lot of fun for kids. The site is very colorful and it features neat animations to make learning amusing.
[click to read…]
by Pam on October 12, 2010
I have written before about the importance of employees taking advantage of their work benefits, as the benefits are a big part of an employee’s compensation. Unfortunately, due to misunderstanding the true cost of the health and dental benefits offered at my husband’s work place, we decided not to take advantage of his benefits. We thought that they were too costly and that we wouldn’t make enough use of them to justify the cost.
Unfortunately both my husband and I have had to get some major dental work done recently and after looking into his benefits further, had we decided to sign up for the benefits when he was first eligible, the benefits would have turned out to be really helpful now in paying our dental bills.
[click to read…]
