{"id":2087,"date":"2018-08-24T03:00:36","date_gmt":"2018-08-24T08:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kerryaclark.com\/blog\/?p=2087"},"modified":"2018-09-19T08:00:58","modified_gmt":"2018-09-19T13:00:58","slug":"take-the-stress-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/take-the-stress-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Take The Stress Out Of Dependent Care"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dependent Care That Matters – Part 2<\/span><\/h2>\n

How can I take stress and struggle out of expenses incurred by having children?<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>You have to admit that having children brings additional expenses to one’s budget. \u00a0Pamela and I wanted to take the struggle and stress out of having these additional expenses. \u00a0You see some expenses are unavoidable, like childcare. If you\u2019re not one of the lucky ones who can afford to have one parent stay home to care for the kids, then you have to incur childcare expenses as a part of your finances for dependent care. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\"\"Let\u2019s address the problem head on. Daycare, summer camp, and school tuition are large expenses. \u00a0In fact for us, these expenses (on purpose) are larger than any auto payment we\u2019ve ever had or currently have. This means they can easily get out of control if you miss a payment. This was problem #1, how can we avoid missing a payment of this magnitude. \u00a0Problem #2 that we wanted to address was, even if we were able to control the large expenditures, how could we better handle the miscellaneous ones? \u00a0You know those occasional ones: new shoes, fees, field-trips, sports activities, etc.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>How to avoid missing a payment? <\/b>
\n<\/b>I did a post a while back called \u201c<\/span>Budgeting Starts With Separating<\/span><\/a>.\u201d In this message we discussed, setting up different bank accounts to segment budget items. \u00a0Using payroll deductions and a separate bank account, we made paying our largest dependent care expenses less stressful. \u00a0In fact, we took the struggle and stress away and never have to really think about it. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>It began with a plan. \u00a0Here\u2019s the process:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Identify the problem.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Stop the excuses that there\u2019s nothing you can do about it.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Think outside the box and ask how can you make this problem go away.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Begin to implement a solution that you can manage.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Be willing to tweak the plan as the 1st solution may not be the final solution.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    How to handle the kid\u2019s miscellaneous expenses?<\/b>
    \n<\/b>After you become a <\/span>    student of your finances<\/span><\/a>, you\u2019ll begin to notice some recurring categories in your finances. \u00a0It\u2019s best to look year over year. We set a category for the kids. This way at year end we know what we can expect at a minimum for the following year. \u00a0Looking at a year\u2019s worth of expenses, allows you to see the recurring annual expenses easier than trying to rely on memory. The biggest benefit is you\u2019ll never again be caught off guard by the same expenses. \u00a0Handling the miscellaneous expenses begins with a plan. <\/span><\/p>\n

    Here\u2019s the process:<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Identify all the expenses you\u2019ve had over a year for your children.<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. Take the sum of these expenses and divide by 12 for a monthly figure. \u00a0This sum will probably surprise you. Once you have the monthly figure…<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. Set up a process to move the monthly figure to a special or separate place.<\/span><\/li>\n
    4. Use this place you\u2019ve setup to issue payments for your kids expenses when they occur.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Having a plan is best approach to take if you ever want to have \u00a0the life you\u2019ve always wanted. <\/span>
      \n<\/span>
      \n<\/span>Today is Friday!<\/span>
      \n<\/span>Take the stress out of your dependent expenses with a plan. If you\u2019re going to have stress, don\u2019t let it be over large expenses like daycare, summer camp or school tuition, but rather place the stress where it\u2019s more manageable. \u00a0Your life is your business and you can manageable it with a plan.<\/span><\/p>\n

      The Family Plan Binder<\/a>\"\"<\/a> is available now!

      <\/p>\nOur team has worked very hard putting it together. We designed it to help you and your family move the needle forward in making your life your business. \nFind out more about the Family plan here.<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      The Dependent Care That Matters – Part 2 How can I take stress and struggle out of expenses incurred by having children? You have to admit that having children brings additional expenses to one’s budget. \u00a0Pamela and I wanted to take the struggle and stress out of having these additional expenses. \u00a0You see some expenses […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2088,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,62],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2087","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-accounting","8":"category-dependent-care","9":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/20180824-TIF-Blog-The-Dependent-Care-That-Matters-Part-2.png?fit=760%2C360&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4jb7V-xF","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2087"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2098,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2087\/revisions\/2098"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}