WELLNESS - THE BIG CHOICE

FWR Says:  A Tale of two Families

Our families are in a deadly money bind. For too long, we have spent money we didn’t have.  We probably can’t sustain our lifestyle.  The banker and bankruptcy could be just on the horizon.

Here is how two families respond to our money crisis:

In the Green family, both parents work.  They have two mortgages, two cars and two children.  To face the money crisis here are their plans.

Lower their standard of living in the next three years with a smaller house and older cars.  They will gradually pay off their credit cards by saving at the rate of 20%.  They will reduce their use of insurance and will cut back on expensive holidays.

The Greens will have a garden to grow potatoes, beans and broccoli.  To go to college the children need to take on part-time jobs and save.  Family entertainment costs will be reduced by limiting cell phones, video and computer games and replacing with family games and outdoor projects.  They will learn the satisfaction of helping neighbours.

In the Blue family, both parents work.  They have one child, two mortgages and three cars.  They believe it is OK to maintain their lifestyle even though some families are having financial problems.  They own a cottage with a dock and a boat.

They see how they can carry the two mortgages, credit card balances and continue to get a new car every two years.  They still save for one big annual holiday trip and support their local church and community projects.  They don’t worry about general savings and maintain all their insurance coverage and costs.

To cover college costs they plan to each work full-time until their child graduates.  Since they are healthy, they don’t expect any interruption in their income levels. Still, they find the demands of financing to be heavy.

What is coming?  Nobody knows.  There are too many changes in our world for anybody to project what is over the horizon.

How will these two families make out?  Since it is unknown each of the options seems reasonable.  It would appear that the Greens are taking a safer route.  Their route, however, is a tough one considering how our society seems to be going.

FWR Asks:  How many Greens can we expect to see?