For those of you who are trying to get a handle on finances, particularly after the passing of a spouse, the first thing I will tell you is to take some deep breaths.
One of the most difficult things about my husband’s passing was the realization that there were areas of our lives where we have no control over the situation. God is in charge when someone dies.
One of the areas, however, where we do have some control over the situation, is how those of us still living in mortality LIVE. How do you want to live the remaining time you have before you are reunited with your loved ones on the other side?
Sadly, I hear from widows who had left the financial affairs of the family up to their husbands, were not involved in that part of their family life and have found themselves in a deep fog, shock, grief and now trying to figure out how to pay the bills with the money that is there, and what is expected to come in.
This is especially hard when the breadwinner is the person who has passed away, as that can present it’s own share of challenges.
Hopefully what I post here can shed some light on the subject.
First, you need a filing system. My recommendation is to get two office filing boxes and a bunch of letter sized file folders.
One box will be used for all of the paperwork from the death, burial and any probate or trust account records as the wishes of the deceased are carried out.
The other box will be to go through the paperwork that comes in for the monthly bills. Each file folder in the box should cover a month of bills. Try to gather as much as you can from the current year that has passed already. Print out monthly statements from the bank accounts and request all financial institutions to give you the previous 6 months of statements sent printed out on paper. As the surviving spouse, this is your right to get these.
Then sit down, take some deep breaths, make sure you have plenty to snack and drink while you sort everything out and put everything within their corresponding boxes.
One of the resources can be found within your Stake with the Self Reliance classes that are quarterly, with one class handling finance. If the time available for the start of the classes is too far off or not available in your stake, here are a few resources from Salt Lake and each provide free downloads:
The videos I will be using for this is from the YouTube Channel, “Our Life On A Budget”, which is based out of Canada and is one of the best series I’ve seen in using the Dave Ramsey method of getting out of debt and getting a handle on your money to allow for life to be a little easier.
Her first area is, Why Do You Want To Get Out of Debt? This can also be interpreted as, Why Do You Want To Get Your Financial Affairs In Order?
And now to find out where you stand financially right now:
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