The Telegraphs relationship expert Sarah Abell highlighted certain ways of ensuring everyone enjoys themselves.

Try and maintain a good sense of humour, letting things that would usually wind you up go over your head. After all this is only one-two weeks of your life.

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52% of new mothers return to work after the birth of a child because of financial worries with one in 10 doing so before the end of their planned maternity leave.

Comparison website uSwitch found that the average net household income drops 34% from £3,431 to £2,266 a month whilst on statutory maternity pay. This time also see’s costs rocketing as parents spend money during the run up to the birth on baby items with an extra £2,152 spent before the birth and an extra £2,521 spent post both.

Financial worries forced 9% of mums back to work early and caused 9% to rethink their plans of being a stay at home mum with 40% accepting a pay cut so they could work part time.

Only 21% of new mums believed their opportunity for progression and earning capacity had been unaffected by their maternity leave.

Unfortunately the current financial climate, plans to cut child trust funds, the budget, pay freezes and redundancies all result in a huge amount of pressure on new families, often meaning new parents are having to change their plans and accept spending less time with their newborns.

If you are concerned about the financial implications of starting a family or you are struggling in your current situation then one option to consider is contacting a financial coach. They will be able to help you understand your current situation and if you are in debt how have you got here and how will you overcome it? They will also be able to help you to plan your finances so that the money you do have goes as far as it possibly can.

To read more about Financial/Money coaching please click here.

The first step towards taking control of your debt is to open all of your bank statements and bills and make a list of all your debts. This may seem terrifying but it is the first step to addressing the situation. Once this is done you can really start to take control of your finances. Try implementing all or some of the follow tips:

1.Write down what you’ve bought and where you spent. Knowing how and where you spend your money will help you to keep control. It sounds a little annoying but simply carrying a small notebook means you can record all of your expenditure. You may notice patterns such as spending more just after payday or at weekends etc and just being aware of these habits will help you to break them.

2.List what you spend on a weekly/monthly basis and think about cutbacks you can make to increase money available for creditors. Perhaps you could find a better deal for your phone tariff or you could take the bus to work to cut petrol costs.

3.Realise that certain debts are more important than others. Sit down and have a think about which are priority debts, eg mortgage, rent, utilities, council tax, income tax and which are non-priority such as credit cards and store cards.

4.Realistically consider what offer of payment you can make to each creditor. For priority debts it is a good idea to try and offer the current charge with a little extra towards arrears and for low priority just offer what you can. Even if it is a small amount.

5.Don’t try and avoid your creditors because they will not go away. Let them know your circumstances because without that knowledge they can’t do anything to help you. Write to them explaining your situation and ask if they will agree to accept the offer of payment and freeze the interest.

6.After priority debts move onto the credit cards and store cards. Use whatever extra income you have to whittle down the high interest cards and once the debt has been cleared completely move onto the next one with the next highest interest rate.

7.Use cash! If you find it difficult to keep track of what you have spent using credit and debit cards then withdraw a budgeted amount of cash. Try getting a certain amount out at the start of the week and resolve to just using that.

8.Don’t fall into the trap of transferring all of your debts into one monthly payment secured on your house. If you fail to keep up with the payments, your home will be at risk.

9.If you are still really struggling it may be an idea to seek professional help with a debt advisor who will help you to gain control of your finances. You may also find it helpful to talk to a life coach specialising in this area. They will be able to help you understand why you are in this situation and what you can do to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

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Losing a stone is a resolution classic, yet little of us manage to achieve it. Firstly, never repeat a resolution because it will almost always lead to failure. If you have already tried and failed something you will usually be setting yourself up for a disappointment. If you can’t do something it is usually for a reason so try a new approach. Finding a new activity that you love could also help you to loose the weight you want to but in the event that it doesn’t you have still achieved something positive. Try something exciting like belly dancing lessons or self denfence. Throwing yourself at a new activity will do wonders for your confidence.

‘‘Get the support I need in order to stop smoking’ instead of Give up smoking’

Careful planning of a resolution means your are more likely to stick to it. This includes smoking. You have a far higher chance of success if ou use a different approach to the one you tried and failed with. Set your quit date with a friend and visit www.nhs.uk/smokefree. You can sign up for the free Together Programme and choose to be supported via regular mail packs, texts, emails or phone calls. If you’d prefer to attend a local group, there are 150 NHS Stop Smoking services in leisure centres, doctors’ surgeries and high-street chemists throughout the UK, or you can call the helpline on 0800 022 4332.

‘Save for something special’ instead of ‘Sort out my finances’

The word finance is terrifying and you will only become confused and annoyed if you attempt to sort out everything. A better option is to set yourself a positive goal such as saving for a new T.V or a weekend away somewhere. You could even set yourself mini goals like saving £100 which you could have frittered away and be sure to reward yourself each time you achieve something.

‘Change one thing’ instead of ‘Be more organised’

Firstly identify the bad habit and then set up a system to tackle it. Think small easy and specific and give yourself a little reward as the thought of this will keep you motivated.

‘Make one small lifestyle change’ instead of ‘Be healthier’

If you don’t specify certain things then they will not be attainable. ‘Be healthy’ doesn’t actually mean anything. Instead try something like I will swim for an hour on Monday and an hour on Saturday. Or even, I will take a healthy packed lunch to work.

With Christmas around the corner it is very likely that couples might find themselves in the midst of a few present buying arguments as their spending habits are illuminated by the festive lights. When it comes to joint accounts there is the possibility one party might spend a great deal more than the other. As The Guardian put it, “A man might look at their five-page bank statement and think: Why does my wife have to buy a present for each and every one of her 14 friends when I buy none for mine?” A woman might resent that her husband spent £200 on his mother when she gave hers a £50 M&S voucher.” However, those without joint accounts might find that one party might be landing with all the buying when the other can’t be bothered. The tighter the money the more squabbles you are likely to have.

Recent research conducted by the Skinton Building Society in 2006 found that only 32 percent of couples now have a joint credit card. Thirty-six per cent have a joint savings account, while 21 per cent prefer to keep their money in their own names.

Studies suggest that more than half of couples argue about their finances with many believing that the other is ether irresponsible with money or living beyond their means. The arrangement that seems to work the best is for each couple to have their own independent account and them for them to share a third joint account which can be used for household bills and expenses. This way they can feel like they are both contributing fairly to the household but they don’t have to justify their personal spending to their partner.

A YouGov poll of 2,000 people in May this year has found that 22% said they have been arguing more regulary with their partners because of money concerns since the recession began.

A recent report from ICOR online (Information Centre on relationships) compiled research showing that arguments about money were especially damaging to couples and even more so to their children. Disputes were characterised by intense verbal aggression, tended to be repeated and not resolved, and made men, more than women, extremely angry.

Most couples assume that they know the ins and outs of each others finances, but in reality they don’t. Among couples and friends, taking about personal finances seems to be as much of a taboo as death. However it is important that you are both aware of how much each of you are paying into joint accounts, using for bills, keeping for themselves etc.

Being honest about income and making budgets for household expenses may not seem romantic but it is completely essential and may just save your relationship.

Parents of children with an asbo will automatically be required to attend classes on literacy and parenting and will also have an option to move into supported accommodation.

Intervention projects cost an average of £8,000-£20,000 a year per family. The government says that this new scheme could ultimately save around £3 billion over the course of 5 years by cutting the cost of police and court and council action involved in dealing with difficult families.

Figures from a pilot scheme show that 82% of families referred to the projects were jobless, 76% had educational or learning problems, 66% had physical and mental health problems and 65% had poor parenting.

The scheme drastically improved the behaviour of the 700 families involved. Bringing the 46% of families involved in antisocial behaviour down to just 5%, a huge improvement.

Since the project was introduced three years ago, it has opened 170 centres across the U.K and has helped an estimated 2,600 families.

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Talking therapies have become highly fashionable over the past couple of years, yet our attitudes towards emotional health are still low on our list of priorities. A healthy work life balance is difficult to achieve and pressures on women to have careers, families and relationships can mount up. Although we think we may be more willing to seek help, 46% of women who participated in the ICM survey said they wouldn’t talk about having counselling openly, showing there is a clear stigma still attached to mental heath problems.

Recent reports show that anxiety disorders have increased by 13% in the past 15 years and common issues that cause this are divorce, bereavement, work-related stress, financial insecurity, scare stories in the media, managing the work-life balance and choosing a career or family, all showing that women’s emotional health is as important today as it ever has been.

A retirement coach will not only help to plan financial aspects, but also will help the retiree consider how they will spend their time after they retire and how their work friends will behave once they don’t see each other everyday. When people plan to retire they automatically think of leisure but often retirees don’t know how they want to spend their increased leisure time.

Family and marital relationships can also become a source of stress once you have retired unless you take steps to insure this doesn’t happen. How will your partner react or be influenced by your retirement? If you are both retiring at the same time or you are joining a spouse who is already retired, how will it be to spend a significantly larger proportion of time with them? How much time together or apart will each of you need and want? What anticipations do your relatives have about all the free time that you may have, and do those expectations complement what you plan to do?

As you can see, planning for your retirement can be far more complicated than you thought and the support and structure of a retirement coach may be just what you need to help things run more smoothly.

The first step is to break down the household into manageable components and functions, for example bill paying, washing, children, travel etc.

After this has been done delegate certain tasks to specific family members and don’t just assume that if you don’t take care of it someone else will.

After the breakdown and task assigning is complete, try to list long term goals for each task. This can be anything from increasing family revenue to cutting down household expenditure. To take this to the next step try to list the ways these goals can be achieved.  Here are some examples:

• To create a greener household you could, recycle, use energy efficient light bulbs and research heating alternatives.

• To cut household expenditure you could, create a budget spreadsheet, encourage the children to get part-time work and look for money saving vouchers.

• To lower the cost of family holidays you could, research local attractions, plan a road trip and have a car boot sale to raise funds.

All of the above tasks have been broken down into smaller manageable components and should try to be achieved within a certain time frame.

This coaching formula was created by executive coach and certified physician, Dr. Joe Siegler and hopes to capture the diverse skill set and responsibilities involved in successfully running a modern home.

“Household management can seem like an overwhelming set of endless duties,” says Siegler. “However, like any enterprise, the key is breaking down the main job into manageable components and tasks.” In his new book Fire Your Therapist, the coaching formula for success (Wiley, June 2009, paperback) he introduces simple and practical coaching tools to increase energy, enjoyment, and competency in managing your household.