International Women’s Day (IWD) sends me into a funk each year. I usually feel torn between sulking, yelling and hibernating. Why am I so angsty about this day in particular? Because change is so slow as to make me think we don’t really want it. Most of...
As regular readers will already know: I am not a lawyer or a financial advisor. Nothing in this article about estate management should be taken as advice. It’s for sharing experiences only. Please seek local professional help to learn how any of it applies to your...
Over time in a relationship, you start sharing significant costs. Rent or a mortgage, power and gas bills, food, holidays… the list grows as your lives become more entwined. At some point most couples will think about getting a joint bank account. You might do it...
Relationship breakdowns can be devastating emotionally, as anyone who’s been through it knows. Then, just when you’re at your most fragile and vulnerable, you have to deal with unravelling your finances. This is where we learn that 1÷2 ≠ 0.5, even though we wish it...
‘I want this one.’ My 2.5-year-old daughter was pointing to a plastic stool with Winnie the Pooh on the front of it. Price: $14. Next to it was an identical stool – same size, shape, colour, everything – but instead of Winnie the Pooh, it had a grey star and ‘I’m a...
By Lacey Filipich, BEng(Hons), MAICD My parents fought about money. It’s the main reason they divorced. I can’t conceive of them sharing a household budget so in retrospect it’s not surprising. To put it bluntly: Dad spends, Mum saves. You’d think they’d balance each...