My Personal Finance Blog

Article by Eric Holm

Medical first aid kits and supplies are indispensable in times of emergencies. This collection of supplies allows you to take immediate action against injuries that can happen anytime. And because you can never know when an emergency can happen, it is always a good idea to keep separate first aid supplies in your home, car and office. As a matter of fact, it is more prudent to have separate kits in each major section or room in your home. This way, you can always reach for medical first aid kits in a snap.

Your medical first aid kits and supplies should not be too small like a matchbox or too big like your garage. While there is no hard-and-fast rule about how big your first aid kits should be, you must make sure that your emergency medical set can contain all the essential items for first aid treatment. Also, take into consideration the weight of your first aid kit. It is better to have a lighter box than a heavier one because you will definitely need to carry it to many areas, not just inside your home, but also in other places where there is an emergency. Nevertheless, the type of container for your first aid supply can be varied according to your needs. You can use a re-sealable plastic bag or even a clean toolbox for your supplies.

Medical first aid kits and supplies should be placed in good open location, meaning, your kits can be easily seen by anyone inside your home. If you have kids, make sure that they understand the importance and the uses of having first aid kits. You will never know when you will rely on your kids to respond to emergencies, especially those that involve you, so you might as well teach them early on. Furthermore, if you can not afford to have multiple first aid supplies, you can just invest on one medical first aid kit and place it somewhere in the central area of your home such that you can see it and grab it from wherever you are coming from.

Medical first aid kits and supplies basically include bandages, adhesive tapes, cotton balls, clinical gloves, anti-bacterial solutions and eye goggles too. See “First Aid Supplies” & “First Aid Kits & Trauma Kits” on our web site and you will notice that the main components of good medical first aid kits include items that protect not just the injured but the respondent as well. Above all, make sure that your first aid supplies are of good quality. You can get your kits and supplies from reputable drugstores and online, or you can assemble them yourself.

Unless you step up to the challenge of controlling your finances, your debt level and your financial future, who else will? Preparing a budget is the ideal tool to get you started. It’s also really quite easy.

#1. A budget will show your current financial position.

Without a budget you are not able to clearly see the extent of your spending compared to your income. This is the most important role of your budget. It will show you whether you are living within your means or whether you are living on borrowed funds. It is also the tool that can show you where all your money is being spent. This allows you to answer important questions, such as “Am I wasting money on things I don’t really need?” “Is my credit card debt to blame for my predicament?” and “How much better off would I be if I could manage to be debt free?”

#2. A budget points you to the areas that need your attention.

There are reasons why you are in this worrying financial position. It could be that you are spending more than you earn, you are not paying off the credit cards quickly enough and are paying interest on the interest. Or it could be that you’re not saving for those inevitable emergencies and large financial bills that arise from time to time. The budget can provide answers that show you what is required to fix each situation.

#3. A budget helps you set goals to pay down the debt and save for emergencies.

A budget can help you calculate how much you need to put aside to save for emergencies and large unexpected bills. Is it the children’s education? Is it a holiday for the family or yourself? Is it to set some money aside for retirement? Or, is it to replace the car, furniture or washing machine? If you are spending all you earn and not saving any, you may be condemning yourself to lifelong poverty. Not a happy prospect.

#4. A budget shows whose money you are really spending.

The budget can show you how much of your spending is being funded by others. How much is being funded by the Credit Card provider or the bank. The cost of this funding is interest. The interest costs are most likely the reason you are in this situation, currently. It can clearly show how much you need to reduce your spending to live within your means

#5. A budget can keep you on track and motivated.

Once you have set up a budget it is no use putting it into the drawer and forgetting it ever existed. It is meant to be a living document that can help you often. It can keep you motivated to stick to your plan by tracking your progress towards the goal and seeing your savings rising and debt falling.

A budget is the key to getting your finances under control and the debt worry off your back. Preparing your own budget is very enlightening and offers you the chance of finally getting control of your financial future. Isn’t it worth a little effort? Don’t you deserve it?

If you are divorced, it’s very wise to create a Parenting Plan so that all the important people in your children’s lives are aware of all they might need to know.

I’m going to suggest a list of topics to be considered here and then leave it up to your good intelligence to fill in the blanks and distribute as necessary to those who need this information the most.

Use caution when you distribute this information. Make sure the recipient of the file knows that it contains personal and confidential data. Consider providing a copy for your ex, his parents, your parents, your children’s school and your children’s child care provider. Omit information not needed by the one you give it to – social security number, for example. Because of the incidence of Identity Theft, exercise caution. Mark the file as Confidential Information.

Child’s Name

Date of Birth

Current age

Sex

Social Security Number

Allergies

Doctor’s Name

Custody Options/schedule – weekly, vacation, holiday

Homework Agreements

Primary Residence Address, Phone, Cell

Secondary Residence Address, Phone, Cell

Exhange Agreements

Who has permission to pick up from school?

School, medical, and court records sharing

Communicating Emergencies

When a parent is moving

Activities – scouts, little league, dance classes etc.

Transportation

Dating Considerations

Extended/blended family Authorization for medical treatment form

Communication between divorced parents can be very challenging. If it’s at all possible, and to avoid confrontation, make an effort to communicate in writing. If you use the ideas here to draft a form, it could help make the communication in the relationship you have to maintain with your ex smoother. By using specific fields above versus writing large paragraphs of data, you can avoid miscommunicating.

Be courteous when you communicate with your ex. Keep it factual. You owe it to your kids to communicate with as much harmony as you can muster with their other parent.

Request that all school notices be mailed to each parent. You both need this information. You both need to read it and make yourself aware of what is going on with your child, particularly if you share custody across the school week.

If communicating the Parenting Plan to your ex sets off skyrockets, wait until later to share the emotions that got triggered. Run your ideas by a close friend, or talk to your ex about it after you’ve cooled down because the facts you need to talk about are too important to get lost in emotion. Use common sense; be mature and save the emotional communicating for another time.

Another practical tip: don’t count on your children to carry this information to your ex for you. Be a big girl/boy and do it yourself. It’s a burden for your children and they don’t need that from you. Communicate this parenting plan when those little ears cannot hear you so as not to bruise their souls.