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By EK Wills There is a lot of talk around the topic of stress and being overwhelmed. But when we start labeling the result with terms like burnout we are saying that the limit is reached. Then there are those that try to attribute the feeling to the fault of the person by saying that they are not resilient enough or not creating a work life balance that leads to the breaking point. In a time where productivity is heralded as the most important result, the idea of taking time

By E K Wills Why do so many people have such huge credit card debts? Financial gurus are always espousing the virtues of not going into debt so how is it that vast amounts are racked up on credit by people every month? Years ago, a study done by MIT researcher, Associate Professor Prelec, showed that when two sets of people were asked to bid in an auction using cash vs credit, about twice as much bidding was done by the credit card holders than those with cash. So even though

By EK Wills Many families are feeling the pinch at this time of year. Christmas has eaten a hole in the budget and the family holiday only made it bigger. Or there have been so many April birthdays and gifts bought for them that you are left wondering what to do when Mother’s Day rolls around. In our family, I have just celebrated my birthday (in April) and then Mother’s Day follows hot on it’s heels weeks later and I really don't need more gifts. The other aspect to consider

By EK Wills I am sitting in a vineyard bach (villa) in New Zealand after having gone out for dinner and can look forward to a swim in the pool after breakfast. But it is tainted. The day before, the family sat on the beach talking about meal plans: not because we were budgeting (although we do that too) but because my teen was stressed about her weight. Her distress centres around confidence or lack thereof. She tells me that if her weight were better then she would feel more

By EK Wills Not every teen has an eye for design and knows exactly what they want. When my teen came to me unsure of how she wanted to design her bedroom, she was unhappy with everything. She didn’t know what she wanted but it wasn’t what she had. This is not unusual for teenagers so parents are pretty used to dealing with such dilemmas, although not always sure of what to do about it. Luckily, I drew on my previous experience as an art director and designer to suggest creati

By EK Wills money tree I grew up in the excess of the 80’s when everyone expected to become a millionaire. My father was one, so why shouldn’t I? Except the 80’s didn’t last and he wasn’t the Rich Dad that taught you how to do it sensibly and slowly because that was boring. He was a risk taker and a good one. The 80’s were his gold fields and he knew how to reap the rewards. He didn’t need a savings plan but he knew that you needed regular income to service your debt in order