There is no better image of family identity than the family crest, which appears in the FamilyWorks logo. In history, crests were used to identify families—on them were pictured things that were important to that particular family, and they were emblazoned onto clothing, buildings, and artwork. In our logo’s crest, we have identified four different values that we as a company believe are particularly important to us, values that help us to help your family.

Every fall as schools reconvene, classrooms meet to talk about classroom expectations. What kinds of practices, attitudes, and behaviors is the class going to uphold as a group this year? Families, too, can use this change of season to talk about family or home expectations. How do you go about a discussion of expectations that actually works? How, as a family, can you build a set of positive behaviors and attitudes that the whole family will commit to. Here are some tips to get you started.

Your young kids may be off-the-wall crazy, or your teens may roll their eyes. But if you consistently emphasize the importance of the family meeting, show mutual respect and affection, and keep it fun, your family will eventually come around. And just like The Berenstain Bears, you can use family meetings to plan, problem-solve, and reinforce your family’s top values on a consistent basis.

It may surprise you, but Nordstrom offers some worthwhile lessons for families. The retailer is unique for its unswerving focus on the customer, and it works hard to promote values that enable the company to provide industry-leading customer service. Families can learn from this. One of the first steps for families in their quest for purpose and identity is to identify the values they hold to be most important. Values are crucial; they set the parameters for how a family behaves on its journey to fulfilling its purpose.

Budgeting—the word alone brings shivers to the spine. When we think about budgeting, we usually imagine piles of excel sheets and bank statements, calculators, stress, and lots of cutting of things we actually enjoy doing. No wonder only 41% of American households follow a budget. But budgeting is crucial for a lot of reasons, some of which have more to do with your relationship quality than with money.