Single Parents - Neglecting Life Insurance

[scagnt83]

Yeah, we had expensive calculators too once pre-cal and such hit. Prices have not risen that much on them, mostly because they are still fairly low tech compared to a cell phone or laptop. But they do have wifi now and the kids turn in their work wirelessly via the calculator.

 

[LostDollar]

Yeah, we had expensive calculators too once pre-cal and such hit. Prices have not risen that much on them, mostly because they are still fairly low tech compared to a cell phone or laptop. But they do have wifi now and the kids turn in their work wirelessly via the calculator.

Hmmm..........

What will they come up with next?


I can't find the usb connection on my Big Chief Tablet.

 

[rousemark]

I've spent almost $500 this year just on normal school field trips for my middle schooler. And they were all local trips, nothing big like the single $350 trip last year.
There was about $80 in required school supplies just to start. Last year there was a $120 calculator required on top of the normal supplies. Then most extra curricular after school activities will cost $300-$1500 in supplies/fees/expenses.
Let's not forget that internet at home is essentially an unsaid expectation in many schools... so add on another $600 per year for that. School is vastly more expensive for parents these days vs 15/20/30/40 years ago

40 years ago (1977), minimum wage was $2.30 per hour and the average blue collar wage was around $4.00 .. When you compare that with what people make today, what you are paying for school is not much more, if any, than it cost back then.

 

[Alston]

40 years ago (1977), minimum wage was $2.30 per hour and the average blue collar wage was around $4.00 .. When you compare that with what people make today, what you are paying for school is not much more, if any, than it cost back then.

That dog won't hunt.

 

[rousemark]

That dog won't hunt.

Yeah it will. I was making $75.00 per week when I got marred so I actually lived it. When you take the cost of the essentials such as bread, milk, etc. You will find that the average person works fewer minutes to pay for them today than back then. The average house costs more but today's average house is far more "elegant" than the houses of that day. Back then most houses had only one bath. They had one, maybe two outlets per room, etc. We did not pay for TV, we watched a couple of over the air channels. We certainly did not pay a couple $100 per month for broadband. When it came to utility bills, the majority of homes has no AC to run up the bill in the summer. Very few families had two cars, much less four and five. If people had the same standard of living today...which we thought was pretty good... they would cut the monthly budget by 30% or more.

 

[Alston]

You are totally, and I suspect intentionally, ignoring the childcare piece.

Few people can work and take care of young children at the same time.

My mother was essentially widowed when I was eleven (my dad didn't die until four years later, but he was disabled and later in a coma for those four years due to a series of strokes).

I was the younger. At that age I didn't need a babysitter, but I needed supervision that she couldn't give me if she worked outside of the home.

My mother taught piano in the home, so she was always there. My sister is a brilliant musician so she got college scholarships.

But if you change any of those elements just a little bit we could have easily crashed and burned. If my dad died when I was 5, or if my mother couldn't earn a living from home, or if my sister didn't get scholarships our family would have suffered even more.

You can research all that data and you can't intuitively understand that a one-parent household is fundamentally different from a two-parent household with one income? SMH

 

[kgmom219]

This thread is cracking me up.

1. I AM a single mom. And have been for 12 years.

2. Yes, most single parents struggle financially

3. The cost of a house compared to 30 years ago is dramatically different. Not only the extra school expenses, but cable, internet, cell phones, etc. Then you think about housing, car payments, insurance, gas. All of those items have dramatically increased.

The non-PC answer is this: we all make choices. I didn't choose to be a single parent, but sometimes life sucks. You can either spend $20/month on life insurance or get the new iphone. Take your pick.

There are plenty of financial planners who try to specialize in divorcees. It doesn't work very well. Either there is NO money or there is a ton of it and they already have financial planners. In the middle are the women who take the house instead of the retirement. Or they take the 50% of the retirement and buy a new house with it.

Whether or not you have life insurance has nothing to do with single parenting.

Whether or not you have life insurance is based on if you are responsible or not.

I *might* be a tad sensitive on this subject. There are no excuses because you are a single parent. Financial. Parenting. Or any other area.

 

[WinoBlues]

Yeah, we had expensive calculators too once pre-cal and such hit. Prices have not risen that much on them, mostly because they are still fairly low tech compared to a cell phone or laptop. But they do have wifi now and the kids turn in their work wirelessly via the calculator.

Which are "required" as well. At least in high school and above. Damn backpack is $50. Add Car, gas, insurance and coffee.

Summer job? But if your kid is in extracurricular (Theater kid) there is little time for afterschool jobs. Not to mention homework is hours a night.

 

[rousemark]

This thread is cracking me up.

1. I AM a single mom. And have been for 12 years.

2. Yes, most single parents struggle financially

3. The cost of a house compared to 30 years ago is dramatically different. Not only the extra school expenses, but cable, internet, cell phones, etc. Then you think about housing, car payments, insurance, gas. All of those items have dramatically increased.

The non-PC answer is this: we all make choices. I didn't choose to be a single parent, but sometimes life sucks. You can either spend $20/month on life insurance or get the new iphone. Take your pick.

There are plenty of financial planners who try to specialize in divorcees. It doesn't work very well. Either there is NO money or there is a ton of it and they already have financial planners. In the middle are the women who take the house instead of the retirement. Or they take the 50% of the retirement and buy a new house with it.

Whether or not you have life insurance has nothing to do with single parenting.

Whether or not you have life insurance is based on if you are responsible or not.

I *might* be a tad sensitive on this subject. There are no excuses because you are a single parent. Financial. Parenting. Or any other area.

A post deserving a thumbs up. And, a pat on the back for refusing to be a victim which seems to be so popular in our society today.

 

[Norwayguy]

Which are "required" as well. At least in high school and above. Damn backpack is $50. Add Car, gas, insurance and coffee.

Summer job? But if your kid is in extracurricular (Theater kid) there is little time for afterschool jobs. Not to mention homework is hours a night.

That cracks me up my kids teachers don't assign homework because they would have to grade seems teachers are getting lazy.