The effects of the torrential rains that lashed Jazan over the weekend were still being felt in many villages in the province on Sunday. Rescue workers from the Civil Defense were dispatched to several areas to aid people stranded in the floods while authorities worked to restore power and remove flood waters from streets. A weather report by the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment told residents of the province to brace for more possible rainfall. — Okaz photo Laura Bashraheel Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – With only a few days left until the end of Ramadan, many families are going through financial turmoil with the upcoming Eid Al-Fitr holidays and the new school year falling within two weeks of each other. As a result, families are following a strict budget to avoid overspending during the holidays and have enough money for school-related expenditures for the new academic year which begins in september. Government workers usually receive their Ramadan salaries during the last ten days of the month. Mohammed Bajabir, a Saudi government employee, said that managing his Ramadan salary is a delicate matter because most families tend to overspend and remain broke for the rest of the month. “My salary is barely enough for my family of three. I am stuck between what they want for Eid, saving money for rent and covering school expenses,” he said. Bajabir said that although he budgets carefully, he ends up spending his entire salary within the first two days of Eid. “The only way to get out of it is to borrow money, but again borrow from whom?” Khalid Saadi, a private sector employee who earns SR5000 a month, said most Saudi families are unaware of the concept of budgeting. “We are always in trouble because we are not balanced when it comes to spending. We are not trained to prioritize and most families spend their money on stuff they do not need. I have tried to save money for three years but I always fail. This Eid will be similar to the previous Eid's disaster - I will be broke and I will not be able to afford most of my children's school expenses,” said Saadi. Tawfeeg Aziz, a Saudi father of three working in the banking sector, said that most Eid-related expenses are unnecessary but he is forced to spend because of his children's expectations. “My children want new clothes and expensive gifts. They do not know that we parents are burdened with other responsibilities such as paying rent and utilities and putting food on the table,” he said. Aziz believes the only way to ease this problem is to buy necessary school supplies and postpone other school-related purchases for the following month. Such a dilemma is not only an issue for men with single parents also finding themselves in a similar predicament. Sarah Fouad, a mother of two, said that the only way for families to avoid such trouble is to start planning ahead. “Families know that Ramadan is followed by Eid and then the school year. This is not a secret and it did not happen all of a sudden. The easiest way to deal with this is to buy Eid gifts and clothes or school supplies a few months in advance. The problem is that the majority of families fall in this trap every year and then complain about it,” she said. Fouad admitted that budgeting was easier since she has the support of her family, a luxury that not all single women have. “I'm blessed to have such a supportive family – my dad takes my kids to buy them their school supplies. All my ex-husband has to do is send money to pay the school fees.”
