December 24, 2015 / como / 0 Comments
Almost everyone at some point in his or her life has asked a parent for money. While this is mostly a harmless habit at a young age, the older you get, the more dangerous this becomes. Borrowing money from parents, or any family member, is a risky business that might cause family tension or lead you down a bad financial path. Before you borrow money from your parents, you should consider the other alternatives you have. You should also understand the process of how to borrow money in the real world.
When to Borrow from Your Parents
Borrowing money from your parents should generally be a last resort, and it should always be done responsibly with both parties understanding the ramifications. Before you borrow money from parents, consider if there are any other options. One of your first steps should be to view your credit scores so that you can see if a bank loan would be a better option. If you have poor credit and aren’t likely to qualify for a loan, then you might consider turning to your parents for monetary help. However, you should still be sure that you are being a responsible adult.
If you do borrow money from your parents, make sure you only take an amount that you can afford to pay back. Suggest that they perform a credit score check of their own so that you can all sit down and discuss the importance of credit and repaying debt. If they have their own credit problems, then you shouldn’t take a loan from them. After you have reviewed both of your financial situations, then you should decide if a loan from your parents is a good idea for everyone involved. Before borrowing money from your parents, make sure it is the best decision and that everyone understands the rules behind the agreement.
Set Clear Boundaries and Rules
Even though you are borrowing money from family, it’s still essential to set up clear rules. This will give you a better understanding of how to borrow money in the future. You need to have clear guidelines regarding the repayment of the loan. Discuss exactly when and how you will make the payments. Determine if the payments will be monthly or if they will occur as you get the money.
It’s best to treat a loan with your parents like a regular loan. Stick to the payment plan and view your credit score on a regular basis to make sure you aren’t taking on too much debt. Don’t ask for an extension on a payment unless you really need it. You should also consider establishing a formal agreement, like you would with any other loan. Have this written out so that both parties can sign it and look back on it as proof of the agreement. This might help prevent any future arguments regarding the payback procedures.
The Potential Downfalls of Borrowing from Parents
Borrowing money from your parents might cause some tension in your relationship, especially if you can’t pay them back. They may even lose their trust in you. If you owe them money and they fall on hard times themselves, they may have to take legal action against you. Borrowing money from parents can also lead to tension or different expectations than before. Parents might use the loan against you in order to take more control over your life. A parent who has given a child a loan might think he or she can control their decisions and tell them where to live and what to do. If you have set up proper boundaries prior to the loan, this shouldn’t happen. Unfortunately, money often causes people to do things they wouldn’t otherwise do.
Another reason why borrowing money from your parents is not always a good idea is because it sometimes sets a bad example or teaches a child the wrong lesson about money and debt. Since it is in a parent’s nature to be giving and to try to accommodate the needs of a child, these loans are often not expected to be repaid. If a child borrows money from parents and doesn’t have to repay it, this can send the message that debt doesn’t have to be repaid. This is dangerous territory and can lead to bad credit or inability to get a new loan in the future.
Borrowing money from family members, particularly parents, may seem like a great idea at first. It prevents you from going to the bank or maybe even from paying interest. However, it can be a costly affair that may lead to tension in a relationship. If you want to borrow money from parents, make sure it is your last resort and that you have a clear agreement regarding how and when you are going to repay the loan. Always be sure that you do pay back the loan as quickly as you can. This will help you avoid many of the pitfalls that borrowing from a family member can have.
December 24, 2015 / como / 0 Comments
Your children have gone through a lot, with a divorce, remarriage, and now having to negotiate the intricacies of a new blended family. The question most parents have is whether they should lighten up on the rules and give them a break from discipline.
The answer is no and here is why:
oThe values you hold true won’t change with your new step family, and the children must still be taught what is right and wrong.
oThe love you have for your kids and step kids is demonstrated through your consistent rules and guidelines
oA lot is changing for your children during this time and maintaining consistency will give your kids a sense of security within their new blended family.
How to handle step kids
Standards and rules for your stepfamily should be discussed and agreed on by both parents. Respect should be paid to the history of parenting by the biological mom or dad, but the step mom or step dad must be given a say on the rules as well. There must be a mutual agreement on discipline, to ensure that parents are pulling in opposite directions. Now is the time to sit down and have a deep discussion on these blended family matters.
All kids should be treated the same
All children should be treated equally and fairly. You should have rules already in place, including the following:
oWhere the kids and step kids can and cannot eat
oThe allowable hours and time limits to television viewing
oWhich children are responsible for cleaning up after meals
The rules you set must be applied to all children in your new step family. Obviously, the associated consequences for not following rules will be different, defending on the age of the child. However, these consequences need to be equal and fair for all children in your blended family.
The parents should also follow some of the same rules. The kids are not going to understand why they can’t watch TV during dinner if dad is doing it every evening.
The biological parent at the forefront
The biological parent should be the one enforcing the rules in your blended family, not the step mom or step dad. Let your spouse take that time to get to know the children, without having them be the one that enforces the guidelines.
Consistency
If a rule is in place, enforce it, every day, without fail. Rules can’t change just because you are tired of your spouse is working late.
Avoid secret alliances
You absolutely cannot change the rules in your stepfamily when your spouse isn’t around, especially as it relates to your biological children. This will give them the impression that they don’t have to respect the authority of the other parent. Maintain a strong relationship and sense of teamwork with your spouse and your kids will respect and acknowledge that. Consistency and stability in your blended family leads to a successful and united family.
December 24, 2015 / como / 0 Comments
Would you like to start a fun and practical holiday tradition for your family? Consider buying your family matching footed pajamas. Wearing adult footie pajamas might seem very odd when you first think about it. But, many families are now wearing matching footed pajamas. If you think about why, it really makes sense.
For years, many families have enjoyed the tradition of wearing non-footed matching pajamas during the holidays. Dressing in matching pajamas makes family members feel closer together, much like wearing a family uniform. But it was often the case that the younger members of the family would wear footed pajamas while the older members of the family would wear the non-footed type of pajamas. Why? Until lately, footed pajamas were only offered in sizes for children. Since some members of the family members were wearing footed pajamas and others were dressing in non-footed pajamas the pajamas were similar but not exactly matching.
Approximately ten years ago, several manufacturers began manufacturing matching footed pajamas in sizes for teens as well as adults. With that, it was possible to dress the whole family in footed pajamas. Families began to switch from non-footed matching pajamas to matching footie pajamas.
At first, some families switched to matching footie pjs for laughs. Children liked seeing their parents wearing pjs which were usually worn only by kids. But once parents actually owned footed pajamas, many of them remember why they enjoyed footed pjs so much as kids. Footed pajamas are the warmest pajamas around. The warmth and the originality make footie pjs not only fun but practical too.
Why are matching footie pjs practical? Almost 10% of the population have peripheral vascular disease and suffer from cold feet. People with cold feet are unhappy and many people with circulatory problems endlessly seek a solution for it. Many adults with circulatory problems find that they are happier when they are sleeping in adult footed pajamas. The warmth generated by the rest of the body travels to the toes and brings the temperature of the feet to the same temperature as the rest of the body. Further families discover that when the whole family is dressed in matching footed pajamas they can turn down the heat and save some money. Wearing exactly the same pjs as the kids, parents understand how warm their children are since if the parents are warm, then it is very likely that the kids are warm too.
Footed pajamas may have begun as a fun family gift idea. But once adults buy footed pajamas for themselves and their children, many parents decide to make matching footie pjs a tradition that the whole family can enjoy for a lifetime.
December 23, 2015 / como / 0 Comments
A little forethought and ingenuity can help keep your family from being among the more than 171,000 people involved in ladder-related accidents each year.
Many of these accidents occur while hanging lights during the holiday season. In response, a number of retailers now carry products designed to make holiday decorating faster, safer and easier.
For example, St. Nick’s Choice’s No Ladder Hanging Kit simplifies outdoor decorating by taking the ladder, and all of its associated dangers and hassles, out of the holiday decorating equation.
Sold at major home, hardware and home-improvement stores, the kit includes a nine or 11-foot telescoping pole with 50 clips and a tree adapter to decorate your home with lights. The 11-foot pole (along with a working height of 5-feet) gives you a reach of 16-feet so you can decorate your gutters/ shingles/eaves or even your taller trees. This kit will help achieve a holiday look both merry and bright in a quarter of the time it takes to hike lights and decorations up a ladder. The kit works with icicle, mini and traditional lights.
December 23, 2015 / como / 0 Comments
There are many things that are needed in order to survive the coming 2012 disaster. it is essential that you come up with a list of the contents of your survival kit for 2012; and you should compare it with the list that you can unearth in survival books for 2012. But before you should make a list, first you must know what the list will be for; know what you need so that you know how to deal with it.
In 2012, there are truly many things forecasted to happen including that of the planets forming one straight line. The imminent polar shift will also activate countless of catastrophes as well as explosions of nuclear power plants. There are also predictions way long before science was discovered; in fact these predictions were made more than 3,000 years ago, about these natural events.
Furthermore, these people claimed that the Mayan’s calendar which ends on December 21, 2012 is an indication of our planet earth finally getting destroyed. Besides the Mayans, the Aztecs and the Egyptians, the Chinese also claim the same thing and exact date.
The end of the world is also depicted in the Bible as the Apocalypse and the seven horsemen, although the exact date was not said. And if you truly wish to survive, you should start preparing with the necessary things to continue existing after the calamities.
Remember that you do not need to prepare the important things only, but you should also be knowledgeable about how to pick up the pieces and make a new life when all the calamities have finished.
Begin with how to prepare, consider the fundamental necessities such as food, clothing and shelter. The shelter should be in a safe place, away from radiation, flood, and tidal waves, and also near a water source. Remember that your new shelter should also be strong to be able to withstand blasts, radiation and quakes. The food you must store should be long lasting and not lose its natural nutrients; a long shelf life is appropriate as well. One more thing, your clothing should be practical and comfortable.
There are also other toolssthat you must take with you like a knife, which can serve several purposes for hunting, fixing things and cooking.
Never do without a match or a lighter and fuel refill is necessary for cooking food, provision of heat and also for giving light. You will also need other materials that will surely come in useful like a rope, a shovel and a water purifying system in case your water supply cannot be drunk as it is.
If still unsure of what to include in your survival kit for 2012, books like 2012 Contact can be a wonderful help. It will not only provide a list but at the same time will explain why you need to bring them and how you can them as well. There is no doubt that all these tips can make people start thinking rationally in search for solutions to make them survive 2012.