Four Tips On the Issue of Money and Family
February 5, 2008 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Family and Relationships, Kids and Money, Money Management
When I was in college, my first car had finally broken down. I needed another car, but I didn’t have any money to get another one. I didn’t want to go to a bank to get a loan for a car, because I was didn’t want to pay all of the interest and I didn’t want the possibility of it getting repossessed if I could not make the payment. After several discussions with my dad, he agreed to pay for the car and I would pay him a set amount each month until the loan was either paid off, or he felt that I had paid enough towards it for him to give me the title. I didn’t have to pay any interest, and if I was a few days late, I wouldn’t be penalized. It seemed like a sweet deal at the time, but once I started driving that car and paying payments to my dad, it just didn’t seem right. He wasn’t a jerk about it, and he didn’t hold it over my head, but I didn’t like the idea of owing my dad money. I thought to myself, “My family shouldn’t feel like my bank.” At some point in your life, your money and your family will mix together. You may not want it to, but it will. However, you can choose how you deal with money when it comes to you and your immediate and extended family. Borrowing money, lending money, and starting business from family can be very alluring, because you are close to that person and you feel like you can trust them. I understand why families borrow money from each and start businesses together, but I am going to give you a few reasons why you should not do it and how to avoid it.
Marriage and Money: What to Do When You and Your Spouse Have Different Risk Tolerances
November 14, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Family and Relationships
My wife and I are a perfect example of spouses with VERY different tolerances for risk. I am definitely more of a risk taker when it comes to investing money and Lindzee is definitely more conservative when it comes to money. I like the idea of flipping a house to make a quick profit, while she would rather put her money in a money-market account. However, Lindzee does not try to act like she knows more about investing and what levels of risk to take with our money. In most cases, we balance each other out. She helps prevent me from doing deals that will bankrupt us, while I help prevent her from allowing our money to rot from inflation and taxes. But, some of you might be in a situation where your spouse is stubborn about how to invest your money. Particularly, you might both have 401(k) or Roth IRA accounts for retirement. Just because the account is “your” account that takes money from “your” paycheck, it’s still both of your money. Which means that you should both be making decisions about that money together.
Marriage and Money: Taking Leadership Of Your Money
November 3, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Family and Relationships
If you’ve read any of my other articles about marriage and money, then you know I am a huge proponent for spouses working as a team when managing money. However, I also recognize that spouses tend to have different personalities, different passions, and different things that motivate them.
One of the big questions when it comes to personal finance and relationships is: “How do I get my spouse on board to becoming debt free or saving more of our income?”
Is it Worth it for Your Spouse To Go Back To Work?
October 13, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Family and Relationships, Kids and Money
Whether it’s the man or the woman that stays home with the kids during their early months or years, it’s always a good practice to see whether or not it is worth it for that spouse to go back to work after having kids.
This article from Free Money Finance reveals a comment of one of his readers that shows how they ran the numbers, and it really wasn’t worth it for the spouse to go back to work.
Things to Consider:
Marriage and Money: Spend 30 Minutes Each Week Discussing Your Finances
September 21, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Family and Relationships
We live in a fast-paced society. Our time is precious to us, even though we spend hours every week wasting it by watching television, daydreaming, and doing other meaningless tasks to kill time. But when it comes down to it, it never seems like there are enough hours in the day to get what needs to be done. I know that when my wife and I don’t sit down and go over our monthly budget at least 2 times a month, we end up spending more money as a result of it, because we’re not on the same page and we haven’t set forth a clear plan for our money.
The 11 Principles Series: You and Your Spouse Are a Team
July 17, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Family and Relationships
If you’re single, then don’t skip over this final and crucial Money Crasher Principle about handling your money with a spouse. That day may come when you will be tying the knot and talking about how you will bring your money together, who will pay the bills, and what you will spend your money on. If you are married, then you already know that money can be a huge blessing or a huge burden when it comes to your marital relationship. The statistic that everyone hears is that half of all marriages end in divorce. Ironically, more marriages end because of money problems rather than infidelity. Why can’t people come to an agreement about their money? I think it’s a combination of greed, selfishness, and laziness. Some people hate the thought that their spouse will be spending THEIR hard earned money. They also think their freedom is being taken away. They think that every time they buy something, they have to look over their back to make sure their spouse isn’t looking. It doesn’t have to be that way if you do one thing: COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER.
Six Money Mistakes of Newlyweds
June 7, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Family and Relationships
I came across this across on Kiplinger’s website titled, Six Money Mistakes of Newlyweds. I thought that there would be a lot of advice that I disagreed with, but when I started reading the article, I realized that I agreed with most of it. Money is definitely one of the biggest issues that can cause strife in a marriage, especially new marriages. Typically, young newlyweds don’t have much money, and they need to watch what comes and what goes out more closely. Here are the three mistakes that I think are key in trying to avoid:
Protecting Your Financial Future During a Divorce
May 3, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Family and Relationships
I’m a strong advocate for encouraging couples to do whatever it takes to try to save their marriage. However, I am not an idealist, and I realize that divorce happens every day in America. In fact, almost half of all marriages end in divorce, and studies have shown that problems with money have been the number one cause of divorce in America. This is slightly skewed, because money issues in a marriage are usually the symptom of the real marital problems. If you are going through a divorce, my thoughts and prayers go out to you. It’s a horrible situation, even if you are parting ways without a great deal of angst. As a spouse going through a divorce, you do have rights and your other spouse does not have the right to trash your credit and put you in a tough financial situation.
Being Frugal Is An Art Form
April 30, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Family and Relationships, Spending and Saving
My wife and I were shopping for groceries today. We had put aside $130 in our groceries envelope for the next 12 days. For some reason, I went with her to go shopping this week. It’s not that I’m a male pig. She just doesn’t like me going with her, because we always end up spending more money than we budget. Food is my downfall. I see all of the wonderful goodies at the grocery store, and I just want to buy all of it. My point is that I may write for a personal finance blog and give my opinions about how to manage money, but my wife is MUCH more frugal than I will ever be. She thinks of more creative ways to save a few bucks than I could ever think of. Yesterday, she had the idea of going to get milk at the drug store, because they sell it for $2.49 as opposed to $3.49 at the grocery store. We always buy 2 gallons every two weeks, so that’s a savings of $4 a month, or $48 dollars a year. I know, that’s chump change, but if you think of 9 other things to save a dollar on that you buy four of in a month, then the conversation turns into $480 per month.
Resolving a Financial Dispute With Your Spouse
April 1, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Family and Relationships
There will quickly come a time in your marriage or dating relationship when you disagree about money. The most common argument occurs when two people disagree about how a certain amount of money should be spent. The guy might want to buy a television while the girl wants to put the money away for a vacation. One spouse may want to cut down on eating out while the other may want to cut off the cable or cell phone bill. These and many other financial decisions will often cause a dispute between two spouses. One of three scenarios occurs when a financial dispute arises.
