In the past four years, I have learned so much about what it takes to provide financially for my family! Along with that has come a lot of stress and burden regarding family finances. Up until then, my husband always took care of us. Hubby worked hard, brought home the paycheck, and I paid the bills. We made a good team that way. I’ve always been good about knowing where my money is going, and keeping track of it. My biggest problem as of late is the lack of money. My husband lost his job 4 years ago, in the construction industry. We decided to take that opportunity to go back to school for a second degree. This time, my husband took some prerequisite classes and began his chiropractic schooling. I can finally say that we see light at the tunnel, as my husband is due to graduate in June. Hallelujah! What this all means is that I have been the sole provider for the past 3-4 years. Hubby brings home the student loans, which contribute to paying the bills, but it is also more debt.
A new research study, MassMutual’s State of the American Mom, found that many Moms have strong hopes and convictions about providing financially for their families, but given the multiple demands of the life of a Mom, many also find it hard to achieve. Um, that explains me! I am providing, but it isn’t without difficulty some months, and a lot of stress at times.
College savings, saving for retirement, managing day-to-day expenses and educating yourself and children all rank as top priorities, yet some Moms shared they may feel overwhelmed about ways to start thinking about all of them. MassMutual has some planning tools & resources for finances with families in mind.
One of the things that has bothered me the most is the fact that we haven’t been able to set money aside, to save for the future. Making ends meet each month has taken enough worry on it’s own. I believe it is so important to set a good example for your family in terms of managing money and planning for the future. While I haven’t been able to save, I still teach my kids to save. As soon as the kids earn some money, they talk about what they want to spend it on. We don’t make quick and rash decisions regarding money though. We tell them to save it for a while and really think hard about it to make sure they don’t have buyer’s remorse.
MassMutual has created a cool new quiz to help Moms start thinking about their attitudes toward finances and how they can take small steps forward in the process of planning for their financial future. I took the quiz and my results came back with “successful planner”. Go ahead and take the quiz for yourself and see what kind of financial personality you have!
“I wrote this post as participation in in a blog tour for Mom Central on behalf of MassMutual and received compensation in the form of an Amazon gift code to thank me for taking the time to participate.”
Ellen Christian says
It’s really important especially in today’s economy to plan for your future. We try to be very aware of our spending/saving.