Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on March 26, 2014

Making the Most of Your Family Income

Give children an allowance and guide them through the process of saving and spending.

There are many reasons families may need to re-evaluate their budgets, from life changes to illness to other hardships. We talked to three local moms, all of whom learned how to re-evaluate their monetary priorities and accommodate lifes big surprises.

Laney and her husband have two children. Their family finances took a hit when her husband unexpectedly lost his job in November 2012. (Laney did not want her last name used for this article.)

Callie Cromers husband Clay recently left the Coast Guard to pursue a career in Christian ministries. He is currently attending graduate school. They have two children: James, 3, and Caleb, 2.

April Sampson was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a double mastectomy and is receiving chemotherapy treatments. She and her husband have two children: Summer, 14, and Lela, 9.

No one gets the budgeting process right the first time and that expectation causes people to give up, he says. Begin small by tracking your monthly income and expenses and grow from there.

Going from a two-person income to a single one can be especially difficult.

Laney knows this all too well: In November 2012, her husband unexpectedly lost his job.

Needless to say, we were pretty scared, she says. His salary was our main income providing everything from the house to health care.

Read more from the original source:
Budgeting for a New Year

Category: Jewish American Heritage Month
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