Page 9 - Book11E

CHAPTER 1
Financial Tips for Single Parents
As a single parent, your family's financial well-being can feel like a huge burden. The daily necessities of life along with kids’ desires for music lessons and sports activities, special events like school dances and graduations, and not to mention college tuition, can be not only a source of worry but also the reason why many single parents find themselves buried in debt. In trying to provide their families with the kind of life they desire for them, single parents find themselves spend- ing beyond their means in the hope that circumstances will change and at some point they will be able to make up their debts.
A real result of the stress that comes with being a single parent can be physical and mental health problems. This volume does not attempt to deal with those problems but that does not mean that FFEF doesn’t recognize how serious those problems can be and how much they can impede your ability to make real progress. There are other organiza- tions far more equipped to advise you on how to recover from those medical symptoms so we recommend that you get help from an appro- priate group, whether it be a support group, a therapist, or a general practitioner. Many health insurance benefits offered by employers as well as Medicaid and SCHIP now include benefits related to mental health so be sure you ask your benefits administrator about what is available to you. Mental health problems are real and are nothing to be embarrassed by or ashamed about. Putting yourself on the road to recovery is a brave step and we encourage you to take it.
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