Keeping up with the everyday expenses of one’s family can sometimes be difficult. Single parents in particular can face significant challenges when it comes to this.
Many things can impact how strong of a position a single parent is in when it comes to being able to meet their various family expenses post-divorce. One is what kinds of arrangements are ultimately reached in their divorce when it comes to issues such as property division, alimony and child support. Thus, when a parent is divorcing, it is important for them to not act carelessly or rashly in relation to these issues. Family law attorneys can help parents with giving these issues the attention and care they deserve during the divorce process.
Another thing that can have significant implications for a divorcing parent’s ability to meet family expenses is how they act financially after their divorce. Thus, it can be important for divorcing parents to exercise great care when it comes to their post-divorce financial habits.
This can be particularity important during the holiday season. There’s a lot of spending that can go along with the holidays, and thus there are various different traps single parents could end up falling into this time of year when it comes to their finances. One is engaging in more holiday spending than their income can reasonably support, thus potentially creating debt and expense-meeting issues. Another is dipping into lump-sum payments received in relation to the divorce too heavily in connection to holiday expenses, causing such payments to deplete at a much faster rate than one was hoping.
One thing that can help single parents when it comes to being financially careful during the holidays is proper budgeting. Setting a clear budget, which takes into account important things such as the various expenses their family has, financial goals and the nature and limitations of the assets and income streams they have (including assets and income streams coming from their divorce), can help give a parent a clear idea of what sort of holiday spending is within their means and at what level holiday spending could go from being manageable to potentially causing current and future financial problems.
What do you think are some of the best ways for single parents to stay on top of things financially during the holidays?
Source: Entrepreneur, “8 Financial Tips for Single Parents Facing the Holidays,” Andrea Murad, Nov. 27, 2015