Everyone has bad days, even months, but nothing hits you harder than a life event, such as divorce, that leaves you financially jaw dropped. Divorce happens very often these days, so it’s a life event that many can relate to, I’m sure. I was divorced in 2010, with that came a change in household income. I was no longer the work from home Mom who added income to the household’s main form of income; I was it. I became the sole financial supplier in the home. It was very difficult to get used to managing money that I had coming in net 30, 60 and sometimes 120 days to feed and support my three children.
It took me quite some time to find tools and resources that would assist me in successfully working from home while raising my three children and keeping food on the table as well as a roof over our heads. Finally, I found a system that worked well for me; an Excel budget template. A friend of mine had this Excel spreadsheet all set up with formulas and she shared it with me as a means to get me back on track financially after my divorce. The budget template lays out what I need to save weekly in order to keep things afloat financially. This was a true blessing, but what I also found was that there are resources outside of just word-of-mouth from friends, such as SunTrust’s website where they have a wide range of tools & resources at your disposal.
What I love most about SunTrust is that their website has tips to help you keep your budget on track as well as tips on saving money for goals later. Saving money is extremely important, especially when I was found living on one income. I had to learn to save every little bit I could as a means to attempt to accumulate emergency money. We all know that having kids means there are unexpected expenditures that arise, being a single Mom back then, made savings all that more vital to our financial survival.
Three Tips That Worked for me to Gain Financial Success –
- Do not fall for “deals” – if you didn’t need the item in the first place, no deal is worth spending your money on.
- Stick with your Budget – work to create a budget sheet, print it out and never, ever allow temptations to steer you away from your budget.
- Lock cash Up – if you have to lock your weekly allotted budget amount for bills in a firesafe lock box, do it!
Those top three tips are what assisted me in overcoming the financial hardships that divorce created for me back in 2010. I still stick true to my budget this day and have started to be able to save some money too! It’s a wonderful feeling knowing that you are capable of rising above any financial hardship life event if you just stick to budget and keep moving forward.
At SunTrust Bank their purpose is lighting the way to financial well being. They help you get organized, make a plan, and stay on track so you can get and stay in control of your finances. When you are confident about about your money, you can save for your goals and splurge knowingly on what matters most to you.
