Finances and Family

 This week I learned about the importance of managing money. A really great talk I read that I will talk about and mention is called One for the Money by Elder Marvin J. Ashton. Elder Ashton gives many recommendations to improve personal and daily financial management. 

In Elder Ashton's talk he says that 89% of all divorces could be traced to quarrels and accusations over money. I think that many people have many expectations when it comes to money, whether it’s how much money they would like to have, or how they want to spend it. I think the best thing you can do when you are dating or engaged is to make sure to get on the same page as your partner. Get on the same page about your expectations with money and how you are going to manage money. These questions are so important because obviously many people have ended relationships because of money problems. Elder Ashton says that peace, contentment, love, and security in the home are not possible when financial anxieties and bickering prevail. When there is contention in the home, then the spirit will not be present. I think the best way to solve money problems is to remember that you and your partner are a team. When you place blame on your partner then you are driving a wedge between you. If you are angry with your partner and accuse them of spending all the money, the conversation will drive a wedge. But instead of starting the conversation with anger, if you approach your partner with love and talk about how we are struggling financially, we should try and cut down spending. This conversation will go over so much better because it’s putting it in a way where the couple is in it together, and it’s not placing blame on just one partner. This allows the couple to work together to save money, and it will in turn bring them closer together.

This week I learned about this study that was done on this couple. The husband worked 40 hours a week and he made $42,000 and the wife also had a job where she worked 32 hours a week and she made $21,000. The husband and wife had 2 kids and this was considered to be what the average home looked like. The person who did this study wanted to see if the wife taking the second job was actually more or less beneficial. Because both parents were working they had to pay for daycare, they also had to buy a second car for the wife to get to work along with the gas, and because she was not home to prepare food they had to spend more money on fast foods. After calculating these and some other factors they found that the couples real income combined was $40,500. They were actually losing $15,000 with the wife working. After hearing this the wife was devastated that she lost time with her family and kids because she was working and it wasn’t even benefiting the family. I find this so interesting. I believe that every family situation is different but I also believe that Heavenly Father knows what works for families, and that is why He has laid it out in the Family Proclamation. Heavenly Father’s way is that men should be sole providers and that women should be the main child caretakers. This doesn’t mean that husband’s and wife’s jobs are completely separate, this means that they can fill in where they are needed. If the wife needs help with the kids then the husband can help, if the husband needs help earning money that partners should counsel together and come up with solutions together. Heavenly Father will help us if we will just lean on Him, He will guide us to know what is best for our families.