How To Keep Your Family Together During a Financial Crisis

March 9th, 2007 • Related • Filed Under • by admin

There’s going to be a time in your life where there’s not a lot of money around for whatever reason and it’s going to add stress to your life and put strain on your family. It could be anything: a job loss, a medical issues, a loss in the family, a lawsuit, an unexpected bill, a natural disaster, a fire, or something of the store. Money is going to be tight and your stress levels are going to increase, that’s reality.

You can handle the added stress from the weight of your financial problems in two ways. The first is that you can let them get to you, you’ll become moody, angry, depressed and unpleasant to be around. These actions are perfectly natural, but you have to resist them for the sake of your family. The other way you can handle this adversity is to treat it like a challenge, something to take head on and overcome.

When I first got engaged, I found out that my fiancé had five figures of student loan debt. I’m one of those crazy people who hate being in debt and abhor the idea of borrowing money. I didn’t get depressed, I saw it as a challenge. With a lot of hard work, we’ll be able to pay it off three months after our wedding day. Starting out a marriage with no debt and a decent income is a great way to set your self up. The point is that even though your discouraged and beat up, you have to see it as a challenge to overcome, not something that you can’t get a hold of and that’s causing you sorrow.

Another very important thing to do is get your priority’s straight. Your relationship with God, your marriage, and your relationship with your children are all more important than money. If you can get those three most important things under control, your money problems won’t seem as significant. Your relationship with God and your relationship with your family is what matters the most, never forget that.

You should also prioritize the money that you do have coming in. Make sure there is food on the table first, and then pay your utilities and house payment next. Keep gas in the car, and you have your basic necessities taken care of. Everything else goes after that, no matter how much the credit card company is yelling, kicking, and screaming at you. This will allow you to keep living your life and fight another day. Don’t let any debt collector try to persuade you that they are more important than food or your home, because they are not.

Spend quality time with your family. Go on a date with your wife or husband, take kids to the park, do all of those things that make you really close to your family. They will relax you and take some of the stress away, and remind you that there’s more to life than money.

If creditors are calling you non-stop, unplug the phone for a while. You shouldn’t have to deal with all of them every day. You can send a partial cease and desist letter legally forcing them to only contact you by mail so that the phone-calls stop. If they don’t, you can sue them and win a nice sum of money which will surely help pay off those debts!

Remember what’s important, and that’s your family. Take care of your relationship with god, your relationship with your family, and your household, and the money problems won’t seem nearly as stressful or traumatic.