Family Issues

Clothes take a big bite out of our budget and you can’t go without clothes. There are fields or industries that demand professionals to be well-dressed.  But being “well-dressed” need not mean tailor-made suits.  In fact, the budget that you spend for clothes can be reduced and the money you save can be used to pay debts.  Here are some ways to accomplish this.

Think of elegance, not fashion.  It means that you avoid fad.  That layered long skirts that dominate the department stores right now might be the subject of snickers a year from now.  While the “kikay” image would bring you second glances, the “cool, elegant” aura will bring you respect and admiration.  And so, when buying clothes, ask yourself this question:  “Would you be proud wearing this cut of dress three years from now?”

Mix and match.  While buying “terno” sounds like good fashion sense, the real clothing guru can pair two pieces of clothing items and come out with a chic look.  Instead of buying nine “terno” clothes to wear in nine days, buy three blouses and three skirts that could be used in nine different combinations.  These can also be paired with the ones that you already have at home.

Choose low-maintenance clothes.  Whenever you buy clothing items, check the tag for washing instructions.  If it says, “must be dry cleaned”, forget it.  Dry cleaning is expensive and may not be necessary.  Find clothes that you can easily wash at home.  Whenever possible, choose clothes made by textiles that need no ironing too.  This way, you can also reduce your electricity bill.

Go for big bargains.  Many stores announce “sales” every 15th and 30th of the month, coinciding with the time when people receive their wages and are quite willing to spend.  But this does not mean that you must buy a clothing item at this time.  You must not go into the habit of buying a new dress every payday.  The big bargain happens during holidays and festivals and when the store is having an “all must go” sale.  Also, avoid clothes attached to cloth hangers.  Instead, choose clothes that have been piled (sometimes not neatly) on wooden racks, because they tend to have lower prices.  This would seem “undignified”, but think of it as a challenge.  Those people discovering gold did not think about posture.  Be intent on finding that “treasure” from among the piled clothes.

Inspect quality.  Some clothes that are priced very low may have some defects on them.  Evaluate your situation.  Can you fix the defect, like a loose thread?  If you know how, then go for it.  If not, you may end up buying clothes that you would be ashamed to wear.  That means wasted money.

Tags: buying clothes, family, save money, fashion, shopping

Although the Great Bible tells us that it’s a sin to “undo” a mistake by making yet another one, sometimes, people are still forced to seek an end to their marriages when they feel that they’re unable to take any more of the pain.

Here are some of the most common situations in which marriages have reached the end of the line and there’s nothing left to do except to lead separate lives.

Physical Cruelty – You’d be surprised to know that there are some women who still cling to the tattered remains of their marriage even if it means getting physically beaten day after day. Worse, there are instances that even innocent children get physically hurt as well.

If this describes the status of your marriage, it might be better to start thinking where your marriage is heading and if it’s better to give up rather than continue fighting on. If your marriage has also bore children, you may not have any choice because the government isn’t in favor of children being exposed to such violence.

Adultery – For a woman, this is the most serious and hurtful sin that a man can ever commit against her. If you find out that your husband has been cheating on you, you have three options to choose from: end the marriage if you don’t think you can forgive this transgression, stay and suffer in silence or confront your husband about it.

Confrontations, if not done properly, can lead to violent fights and an abrupt end to the marriage. This is usually followed by more violent fights and/or legal proceedings. On the positive side, however, confrontations may just be the saving grace of your marriage and make your husband feel repentant.

Emotional Cruelty – A husband or wife can be described as emotionally cruel if the person persists in making the other feel humiliated and inferior through insults and other hurtful words. Words are said to be sharper than swords and this is particularly true in marriages where emotional cruelty is evident.

If this describes the status of your marriage and you have children with you, it may also be better if you seek an end to the marriage because children shouldn’t see any of their parents being treated in such a way.

While all the situations above are certainly valid reasons to end a marriage, if both husband and wife feel the need to patch things up then of course, they can seek professional counseling for the trying times ahead. Nothing, after all, is impossible.

Making decisions for efficient home management can be very difficult. It could mean being firm even if it hurts the feelings of a family member, or even depriving a family member or some privileges for the good of the rest. It means having to cut down on certain family luxuries to be able to make ends meet. Decisions are often made regarding the following matters at home:

Discipline. When our parents set rules regarding curfew, watching television on weekdays, or going out with friends, they expect us to follow these rules. When we deliberately disregard the rules, our parents have to impose sanctions. They may decide to limit our privileges like prohibiting weekend meetings with your friends or banning television for a certain period. Limits imposed by parents help put a structure to our lives.

Prioritizing expenses. The family expenses for a given period are generally classified into Needs and Wants. Needs are expense items that the family members cannot do without. Needs include food, housing, health maintenance, and education of the children.

o Wants are expenses for the family’s recreation, relaxation, and comfort. Procurement of these items can be postponed until such time that the family has extra funds aside from those set aside for Needs. Wants include fancy clothes, recreational appliance like television sets and stereos, out-of-town trips for vacations, and cosmetics.
o When the family budget is limited, the expenses are limited to the Needs. Additional funds that may result from increased income of bonuses may permit the family to give in to their Wants. Even then, the expense items categorized under Wants should be prioritized according to their benefits to the family. For example, a family get-together for a sick grandparent may be more meaningful than the purchase of a new stereo set for the family.

Maximizing the use of available space. When living space is limited, decisions have to be made on who will share sleeping and storage areas. It is ideal for parents to consult their children on this matter to arrive at an arrangement that is acceptable to everyone.

Planning meals. With a limited budget for family expenses, it is important to be able to decide on what food to serve the family. Homemakers should be guided by this basic rule: buy foods that are high in nutritive value but are inexpensive.

Decision-making in home management can indeed be very difficult but it is manageable especially if the family members are cooperating. It is always good that each member knows his or her responsibilities, limitations and priorities.

Income is the amount of money earned for a certain period through employment or business. For employees, income is a fixed amount that is received at a specified period, whether weekly, every two weeks, or monthly. During Christmas holidays, people generally have more money which explains the marked increase in the sale of appliance, food stuff, and clothes.
 
Family income refers to the total income earned by the family members within a certain period. This usually includes the income of the father, the mother, and their working children who are still part of the household.
 
Expenses are the costs incurred for specific household needs. These needs include food, rent, utilities, medicine, school tuition, and allowances of the children, entertainment, travel, and home maintenance and repair.
 
Ideally, a family’s expenses should be less than its income so there is some more money left for savings. However, the income of most families around the world in general is not even enough to cover basic needs such as shelter, food, and clothes. Some family members have to take on two jobs just to earn more.
 
Some expenses are critical. Expenses on food, shelter, school, medicine, and education should be considered a priority in every household.
 
There are expenses, however, which can be postponed until better times. These include new clothes, entertainment like watching movies or going out of town for vacation, and luxuries like personal vehicles or cosmetics.
 
A budget organizes expenses so that these will be within the family’s income. A budget divides the family income among the different needs of its members. The person who manages the family budget, whether it is the mother, father, or one of the children, should categorize expense items according to fixed expenses and variable expenses. In cases where expenses exceed actual income, expenses have to be carefully thought out and prioritized according to importance.
 
Foxed expenses are those which are paid for regularly in fairly consistent amounts. These include food, rent or amortization, utilities like water and electricity, allowances for school, transportation, taxes, and insurance.
 
Variable expenses are those which are paid for at irregular intervals like entertainment, medical consultations, clothing, and social affairs.
 
A personal budget is that part of the family budget allotted for each member. And living within a personal budget or affixed allowance daily, weekly, or monthly requires some amount of discipline. Students especially should make sure that their allowances will last for the period (day, week, or month) these are meant for.

Here are some tips to help you budget your allowance wisely:

1) List down the fixed items you spend for on a school or office day like fare, parking fee, etc. Also identify the expense items like meals.

2) Compute your total expenses for each day and deduct the fixed expenses from your allowance.

3) Allot the balance for your expense items.

4) If your estimated expenses for food exceed the balance of your allowance, review your food budget and cut down on expensive foodstuff.

5) Bring to work or school only the money budgeted for that day.

6) Take advantage of occasions when you can save up like when a co-worker treats you on hi/her birthday or promotion.

The honeymoon is now over and now you are welcomed to your real world. Welcome to the world of newlyweds. There will be lots of things that you would have to be facing and all of them would require both of you to really stick it out with one another. For instance, you will need to be very enduring when the in-laws are in town.

The marriage you’d entered is not a joyful ship all the time. Both of you would need to be mature about it and learn how to survive with one another. After all you are now a new unit of a future family.

One of the things that really newlyweds have problems with is learning to cope up with the expenses. It will be shocking for some newlyweds that they’d see their bills being knee deep already. Being a newlywed is not really like the show of Jessica Simpson and here husband. To some couples, remember that you are not a glamour pair or an heir to a multimillion company. You would need to face reality that you’d need to learn to work harder, save more money to be able to become richer or save for your kid’s future. Here is a money saving tips that can help you closer to your goals.

1. Find discount stores or factory outlets. If you dig branded clothes, shop once in a while at their shops when they have sales.

2. Instead of going out to parties, have your friends just come over. Cooking a simpler meal could be cheaper compared to going out at those clubs. By staying home, you and your friends will have more peace and quiet to talk.

3. Don’t disregard the coins you have. The coins you have in your pocket should be put in a jar. At the end of the year when you count them, you’ll be surprised at how much you’ll have. You might have enough coins to get you that vacation trip.

4. Buying online is cheaper. If you are looking for books, videos or music, buying them online is cheaper. You can even download free songs, videos or books. Take care of your stuff because you can also them online.

5. Try to choose a house that you can spruce up. Try to look for a house that has few problems such as carpets and paints. If you are able to make the house to look better, you may increase your homes value. If not, you can call those guys from extreme make over to really help you out.

These are only a few tips on how both of you can figure out to get the savings mode into high gear. If you have more suggestions feel free to share them.