Mar
23
2008
5:25 pm

When One Plus One Equals Three

This is a guest post courtesy of nationalpayday.com

Math is easy when there’s only two of you, but that two can quickly result in a third little one who adds a whole new dimension to your financial planning. There’s no doubt that planning for the future becomes much more complicated when there are children involved. The cost of raising children is a major expense and most families now require loans to send their children to college later. A childless couple will often have two incomes and no dependents, but a couple with one child faces the addition of a dependent plus the potential loss of income, should a parent decide to stay home.

The basics of a fundamental support plan for your children won’t just include college costs, but also health and disability insurance too. What will happen to your family should one of them fall ill or become disabled or die? These are financial questions which are much more important when the surviving spouse has a dependent to worry about. So, you should be sure to always carry enough health, accident, and life insurance to help your family survive in the event of either spouse’s sudden disability or death.

While it might be nice to use extra funds for lavish vacations, you do have to start saving for your children’s education early. You don’t want to have to take out loans from your 401K to fund a college curriculum. Instead, put aside additional monies each paycheck in state sponsored 529 plans that allow you to save money for college either in the form of prepaid tuition plans or as designated college savings. Depending on which you choose, your child can have a choice of colleges or already have prepaid tuition at particular colleges. Be sure to check to see what happens to the funds should they not be used, but most of the time these plans are a great way to prepare for your kid’s future.

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1 Comment | | Sk*rtThis | March 23, 2008 | Filed Under Financial Matters, Guest Posts

Mar
21
2008
5:15 pm

What The A-List Hollywood Moms Get

This is a guest post courtesy of abazias.com.

Being a mother is special, but diamond jewelry makes it even more special. Hollywood moms like Gwyneth Paltrow and Sarah Jessica Parker have discovered the joys of baby’s first words in a unique gift of a diamond-encrusted circle formed from the letters of their loving baby’s first words. Other noted celebrities who wear the Tai Gillette “mama” jewelry are Courtney Cox-Arquette and Kate Hudson, amongst others. The trend for mommy jewelry appears only exceeded by the number of celebrity goddesses expecting a little one. You can expect to see more of this type of jewelry making an appearance, not just on the red carpet, but around Mother’s Day too. And, as always, the celebrities will be setting the tone for high style and charm.

The cost of this one-of-a-kind special jewelry is in the thousands, but for Hollywood’s A-List moms they are priceless. Buying jewelry to commemorate special bonds or occasions is a smart choice. You not only get to use it in public, but later it can become a keepsake that stirs up great memories of days past. While the standard earrings and baby cuff bracelets will always be popular, the trend is towards unique one-of-a-kind jewelry. Examples of this are dog tags in silver that have the foot or hand-print of your newborn reproduced in an etching format on the surface. This comes from past mother’s jewelry which centered on the birth dates of their children and their special birthstones.

The trend for mom’s jewelry is to remind the mother of the beauty of her children. You can do this with birthstone jewelry too. For those of us that don’t have thousands to spend on all diamond jewelry encrusting jewelry, you can still use birthstone jewelry to help remind you of your loved ones. Using semi-precious stones, you can make a multi-colored mother’s ring or add the corresponding children’s birthstones to a bracelet. This type of jewelry is not only beautiful but has a particular sentimental value that makes it stand out against all the other jewelry in the mother’s jewelry box.

Commenters: Barbilee skip

2 Comments | | Sk*rtThis | March 21, 2008 | Filed Under Guest Posts