I found this picture circulating on Facebook and people are amazed at how cheap the food were in those times and how their peso would go a long way. Sobrang mura talaga ng mga bilihin noon. Can you relate to this?
If you’re like myself, you are probably a stay at home mom (or dad). Choosing this path in life is truly a rewarding experience. You get to stay at home with your family and experience all those important milestones such as first steps, first words and other major goals in a child’s life.
No matter how rewarding this lifestyle is, sometimes the unexpected can happen. An unexpected doctor’s visit, a car repair, or a home maintenance cost can pop out of nowhere and sometimes the money just isn’t there. After checking to see if there are any available credit cards that I can use or seeing if I can borrow the money from friends or family, I turn to what I call my last resort, a cash advance.
Cash advances are a wonderful fall back for those times when unexpected expenses appear. I use them only as a last resort because, depending upon the place that I use the cash advance, interest rate can be very high and cause you to pay a lot more on the money that you are being advanced. That is why a cash advance is usually my last resort for an emergency money supply.
If you are a stay at home parent and deciding if a cash advance is right for your situation, here are a few things that I take into account before taking an advance.
1. Can you get the money anywhere else such as a credit card, a family member, or even selling items at a pawn shop or on ebay?
2. Can the expense wait until payday?
3. How often have I used a cash advance?
4. Can I pay it back in a reasonable time?
As long as you think it through and use a cash advance responsibly, you’ll be able to get that little added help when an unexpected expense comes out of nowhere.
Co-managing finances can be hard for couples because even if they love each other, there are some things that they will disagree on. For example, a person may like doing some trading in the forex market but his/her partner may not want to do this. Usually couples who are already in their golden years will have no trouble managing the process for reverse mortgage but for other couples, handling finances together can be complicated.
Are you a bit unsure with what you are going to do? Try the following:
Communicate with each other. Now is not the time for you to shut each other off. You need to talk and understand your different stands on different issues.
Be open about your borrowing history as well as your current credit rating. When you try to get some loans as a couple, your credit score and borrowing history will still be checked separately.
Get separate insurance. It will not be advisable to get insurance as a couple as some companies do not offer this. At the same time, it will still be different if you have other finances that are your own.
Handling finances as a couple will not be easy but after some time, you will get used to it.