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Money Is A Family Affair

by: Terry J. Rigg

If you are single and don't have kids this tip
won't mean much to you. For the rest of us that
have others to consider when making money
decisions it just may make things a little easier.

I guess the best knock-down, drag-out fights my
wife and I ever had was about money. No, it never
came to blows because she's meaner than I am.
Believe me you can have a lot of fights in almost
39 years.

At some point we realized that it wasn't
accomplishing anything. We still didn't have any
money but we never earned a nickel fighting about
it.

To get a handle on your finances it is going to
take a team effort. The whole family has to be
working in the same direction.

My suggestion would be to sit down and talk
your money situation over with your spouse and
the kids. It's important for everybody in the
family to know what is going on.

You may be surprised at what the kids will come
up with.

When I bought my first house I made a miscalculation
on how much I would need to come up with for the
down payment. When I realized it we had maxed out
our credit cards and wasn't sure where we would
get the rest of the money.

My wife and I discussed this with the kids and they
offered to baby-sit and mow lawns. They came up
with enough to cover the down payment. I'll never
forget how proud that made them feel and how proud
we were of them.

All too often one person in the family is strapped
with making the money decisions. This is a great
idea and the best way to keep things organized but
they shouldn't take all the blame when something doesn't
work out.

A family solves difficult problems everyday. Money
is just one of them.

About the author:
Terry Rigg is the author of Living Within Your Means - The Easy
Way and editor
of The FREE Budget Stretcher Newsletter and Budget Stretcher
web site He has 25 years of
experience counseling individuals and families concerning their
personal finances.

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