I need to be frank with you guys.
Please don't hate me for speaking the truth, and take a deep breath before reading any further.
Being a mom and not having life insurance is dumb. Your husband/wife/partner not having life insurance is dumb. It's beyond dumb, it's downright stupid. You love your kids, and you love the person you sleep with (besides your children), so you need to do the responsible thing and provide for them in the event that you no longer can.
How much should you be insured for in the event of an untimely death? You need to factor in many things, which you need to spend a bit of time figuring out. All you need to do is find an independent insurance broker and get everything squared away. Show your kids how smart you are, and save them from having to struggle financially if you head on up to the spirit in the sky.
Middle-income Canadians are under-insured, while 65% of Canadians have no coverage or inadequate life insurance coverage. (I'm in the 35%, which means I really want more Canadians to get their act together.) Empire Life has the funniest video to show how dumb it is to die without life insurance.
See it here:
Empire Life rates for term insurance are very competitive — sometimes much lower than mortgage insurance offered by the banks. And they're hilarious. THEY WIN.
There may be many dumb ways to die, but life insurance can give you peace of mind. I like peace of mind. It lets you enjoy the fun ways to live. Life insurance also protects you and your family from the what if?, so you can go on enjoying the why not?
The biggest question most people have is: How much insurance do I really need?
An even more important question is:
How much money will your family need to meet immediate expenses? Here are a few expenses they will need to deal with:
How much money will your family need to maintain their standard of living over several years? A few expenses to consider:
The key is to determine what your immediate costs will be, and then add the standard of living costs. Determine what money is already available to work with (savings, other income), and the difference will be the amount of coverage your insurance policy needs to be.
People often think that life insurance costs too much and that is just not true. Buying life insurance is easy and affordable and SMART. You are a smart Mom/Dad/Human being. Take the time to take care of your family in the event of something going sideways. You know you need to.
Do you have life insurance? Why or why not? I would especially love to hear if you don't, because I want to help you make it right.
Are you one of the 65% of Canadians who has no life insurance coverage or inadequate coverage?
Empire Life makes buying term life insurance simple and affordable with an easy-to-use online “Fast & Full” application process that you can use with your insurance advisor. For more information on Empire Life or to get an insurance quote and learn more about insurance that will work for you, visit empirelife.ca. Because the dumbest way to die is without Life Insurance.
This is proudly sponsored by our friends at Empire Life.
www.empirelife.ca
Dumb Ways To Die.™ characters are officially licensed to The Empire Life Insurance Company. © Metro Trains Melbourne, Dumb Ways To Die.™ All Rights Reserved.
Registered trademark of The Empire Life Insurance Company. Policies are issued by The Empire Life Insurance Company.
Before my husband and I had kids and when we were both working full-time, we would talk in the afternoon and decide what we wanted for dinner that day. One of us would stop at our local grocery store, grab the ingredients we needed, then come home and make dinner. We had the time and financial freedom to make monthly Costco trips for our deep-freeze, and to buy everything else we needed at will.
Add three kids, a Pastor's salary, and me returning to self-employment, and things have changed. Drastically. They've changed for the good, I believe, because I meal plan every week. It cuts down on stress, it cuts down on our grocery bill, and it cuts down on waste. You might think that you have no time to meal plan, but those fifteen minutes you spend will save you that many minutes (And more!) per day.
Sit down with a pen and paper (or an app, if you prefer)(I like pen and paper). Write down the days of the week, and what meals you have planned for each day. Build your grocery list around those meals. I like to make my list in order of the aisles I'll hit, to make it easier. I also plan meals with similar ingredients, to reduce waste. If plans come up and you need/want to move meals around, food won't go bad.
Here are the reasons why you need to meal plan:
1. It reduces stress. Say goodbye to the #whatsfordinner dilemma. (I see that hashtag on Twitter and it gives me anxiety. I can't imagine to be the one typing it an hour before dinner needs to be on the table.) I write the week's meals on a chalkboard in our kitchen so that everyone knows what to expect, and us adults know what to take out of the freezer each day.
2. It saves you money. I don't browse fliers as much as I should, but I do flip through them often and grab sweet deals. The biggest thing, for us, is doing a big shop once a week at a discount grocery store. I'll then shop at our local grocery store mid-week for fresh veggies, sandwich meat, etc. I do my best to grab what's on sale.
3. You have less waste. After my big grocery shop, our fridge is pretty full. By the end of the week, our fridge is pretty barren, but things aren't turning into a murky soup in our vegetable drawer.
Do you meal plan? Why or why not?
If you like saving money, check out How to use point cards to save on groceries and Taking the stress out of daily finance tracking.
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