Finance

Welcome to the latest series here at the wildly popular JosephSangl.com – “Managing Money As A Single Parent”!

Part One  Prepare and live by a monthly budget

A monthly budget allows you to tell your money where to go instead of wondering where it all went. Without this basic financial tool in place, you will not be able to maximize the money you have worked so diligently to earn. One of the greatest benefits of budgeting is being able to stop the morning routine of checking your bank account balance! You should prepare a budget every month, and it should be completed before the month actually begins. This systematic approach will allow you to review your financial performance over the previous month and make any adjustments necessary for the upcoming one.

“You can eliminate a lot of insanity from your life simply by preparing and living by a budget.”

By preparing your budget before the month begins, it will provide you an opportunity to recognize upcoming financial challenges and implement steps to address each one. For example, suppose your budget revealed a gap of $220 in the approaching month. Because you prepared a budget before the month began, it provides you the opportunity to either (a) eliminate $220 of expenses in the budget or (b) determine a way to produce an extra $220 in income (like working overtime, selling something, etc.) You could even potentially do a combination of options (a) and (b).

However, if you encountered this scenario without a budget, when would you would discover the $220 gap? That’s right. When your money ran out! This would leave you with little option beyond putting the overages on a credit card or using overdraft. You can eliminate a lot of insanity from your life simply by preparing and living by a budget.

As you approach the end of each month, follow these two simple steps:

1. Review your budget for the month you are completing.
   • What went well?
   • What surprises did you encounter?
   • What do you need to adjust for upcoming months?
2. Update your budget for the approaching month.
   • What items need to be included in this budget?
   • Do you need to make any changes to existing budget expenses?

Remember it is important to prepare your budget BEFORE the month begins! This process should take less than 15 minutes each month.

PRACTICAL STEP TO TAKE: Use the free budget tools from IWBNIN: www.iwbnin.com/tools and prepare your budget!

Welcome to the latest series here at the wildly popular JosephSangl.com – “Managing Money As A Single Parent”!

So many people are faced with this very situation, and it is a key issue many people face today. Life as a single parent is very challenging. Balancing your children’s needs with the demands of your job creates a near-constant tension. Toss money into this equation, and life can become overwhelming! The good news is it is still possible to thrive financially even when faced with what, at times, can feel like insurmountable odds. This series has been prepared to provide key steps you can take to win with money in spite of your circumstances.

Over the next several days, I will be sharing seven key steps single parents can take to win with money. If you apply these principles and take the practical steps outlined in each section, you will eliminate a ton of stress and frustration. You can do this!

As part of this series, I would love to hear from some single parents about the financial challenges you have faced. Will you take two minutes to share your thoughts with me? If you can’t see the survey, please click here to access the survey.

 

Welcome to the latest series at JosephSangl.com – “The Reluctant Spouse”

Perhaps the most challenging issue I face as a financial author, teacher, and coach is “the reluctant spouse.” One spouse wants to prepare and live by a budget, invest, save, give, and live frugally. Meanwhile, their spouse is very reluctant to participate in the budgeting process and routinely makes contradictory financial decisions. In this series, I will share some tips and ideas to help bring the reluctant spouse on board as an active and willing participant in financial decisions.

Part Five  Be Realistic

It is important to recognize that your spouse may never share your excitement about money management. While an Excel spreadsheet and budgeting may light your fire, it might always drive your spouse crazy. Don’t ask them to become involved with the tasks as much as you ask them to become involved in the decisions and execution.

Think about this for a moment. If you have a reluctant spouse right now who refuses to participate with any money decisions, which of the following is a better outcome?

1. For your spouse to prepare the budget each month
2. For you to prepare the budget each month and gain your spouse’s final input and support to follow it?

Of course, the answer is #2. Because it is their involvement you are seeking.

Change is difficult and will take some time. Depending upon the reasons for their reluctance outlined in Part One, it can be vital to seek marriage coaching/counseling.

There is hope, and I should know because I used to be a reluctant spouse. And now I’ve written multiple books on the subject and started a business teaching about it!

Welcome to the latest series at JosephSangl.com – “The Reluctant Spouse”

Perhaps the most challenging issue I face as a financial author, teacher, and coach is “the reluctant spouse.” One spouse wants to prepare and live by a budget, invest, save, give, and live frugally. Meanwhile, their spouse is very reluctant to participate in the budgeting process and routinely makes contradictory financial decisions. In this series, I will share some tips and ideas to help bring the reluctant spouse on board as an active and willing participant in financial decisions.

Part Four  Invite your spouse to participate

As you tell your reluctant spouse about your plans, hopes, and dreams, you will be sharing your passion. After all, you can’t separate your heart from money. This means your passion will flow out of you as you share your dreams. Bill Hybels has shared this about vision, “Vision is painting a picture with passion and then putting people into it.”

As you passionately tell your spouse of the vision you have for your marriage and future, it is important to “paint them into the picture.” Ask them to share some of their dreams with you. Ask the, “If we won the lottery …” question. Write their ideas down.

Then ask for their help in making those dreams come true.

Let’s be very clear. Ask them to take one step. Perhaps you will ask them to help prepare the monthly budget. Maybe you would like them to accompany you to a meeting with an investment officer. Even bolder, ask them to turn in their debit card and convert to the cash envelope system to control impulsive spending decisions.

Remember: one step. Not twenty. Not even five. One.

I’ll finish the series with an important reminder in Part Five.

Read the entire series (available after 10/21/2014)

Welcome to the latest series at JosephSangl.com – “The Reluctant Spouse”

Perhaps the most challenging issue I face as a financial author, teacher, and coach is “the reluctant spouse.” One spouse wants to prepare and live by a budget, invest, save, give, and live frugally. Meanwhile, their spouse is very reluctant to participate in the budgeting process and routinely makes contradictory financial decisions. In this series, I will share some tips and ideas to help bring the reluctant spouse on board as an active and willing participant in financial decisions.

Part Three  Share the WHY

As you live out the principles in your life, it is important to begin addressing the reasons you’ve identified as the cause of your spouse’s reluctance to participate in financial decisions. This can include marriage counseling/coaching as well as ongoing one-on-one conversation.

Ultimately, you must convey to them why you want them to participate in financial decisions. This should be done with a few key things in mind.

• You are both rested  Trying to have a financial conversation when your spouse is exhausted is a recipe for a terrific argument.
• Without the kids present  Children tend to be very distracting to serious conversation. Hire a babysitter and go out to a nice dinner at a place where you can have a real conversation free of interruptions.
• Focused on the issue – and the emotions  Attempting to separate emotions from finances is an impossible task. Acknowledge this fact and remain focused on the issues – which is the “why” you want their participation in financial decisions. Don’t make any personal attacks.
• Not too long  Your spouse probably isn’t naturally drawn to financial conversation like you are. Don’t drag out the conversation.

With these items in place, it is the moment to share WHY you want their help with financial decisions. Have your reasons written down on paper. Your preparedness will quietly convey the importance of this conversation. Remember, “Your level of EXPECTATION will determine your level of PREPARATION.” Because of your high expectations, you must be prepared!

Your reasons should not be focused on financial principles and tools like “I want to have a budget that works.” This is uninspiring to your reluctant spouse. Instead, focus on the outcomes that will occur as a result of excellent budgeting. Outcomes like “I want to be able to retire by age 55.” Even better, “I want us both to be able to retire by age 55.” Here are a few statements to help you get started with your own list:

• “I want us to be able to build our dream house.”
• “I would like to own a cottage at the beach.”
• “I want to pay cash for our children’s college education so they don’t have student loan debt like us.”
• “I want to see you start that business you’ve always talked about.”

Do you see it? Share the WHY and then apply the fourth step which I’ll share in the next part of this series.

Read the entire series (available after 10/21/2014)