Many marriages experience a division when it comes to money.Either the wife is the spender and the husband the saver or vice versa.Becoming debtfree is the dream for most couples.
A lot of the ways we handle money is based on our up bringing. For myself, I didn’t grow up with much and growing up on benefits with a single mother makes you fearful of spending in case you become poor; so I am a heavy saver; always have been since the age of 16 when I got my first job and EMA (free money the government gave us to go to college/high school). Yes I know, they paid us £30/ $40 a week to attend all our lessons and I had no problem with that. Anyway, the opposite can also happen as well, not having much can make you a spender, whenever you have extra money, you feel the need to treat yourself and spend it.
These innate attitudes can come into marriages and it’s important to identify the type of person you are and work together to become united. So you ask, how do we become united:
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SET FINANCIAL GOALS TOGETHER
Having the same financial vision helps with being united. Deciding on what you are aiming for in the near future helps tackle miscommunication and confusion. For myself and my husband, our financial goals are to clear our debts, build our emergency funds and work towards getting our forever home in the next few years. You obviously need to talk about it in a lot more detail with your partner. Applying the SMART goal strategy helps.
Read : 5 secret keys to a happy and successful marriage
Read : 5 Christian books for every Marriage
GET A JOINT ACCOUNT
It’s baffling when couples are against having a joint account if you are willing to share children, homes and your bodies with each other; sharing a bank account shouldn’t be a big deal unless you have something to hide. If you are in it together then having a joint account for your salaries and bills provides accountability. If all your bills come out of the same account, it makes it far easier to track your finances together. This strategy is extra helpful when you experience financial change, i.e. having children and becoming a stay at home parent, going from two salaries to one.
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DO A MONTHLY BUDGET TOGETHER
Creating a culture of doing the budget together allows you to work towards your goals together. Follow the steps below:
- What can you afford
- What are your priorities
- Allocate money accordingly
HAVE YOUR OWN PERSONAL MONEY
Having a joint account is great but I think it’s healthy to have your own allocated money. Within your budget, allocate personal money for yourselves and what you do with it is up to you, it should be your own responsibility for what you do with the money. In order to fulfill long-term unity, you need to be HONEST, TRANSPARENT, AND NOT AFRAID TO TALK ABOUT MONEY.
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PRACTICAL TOOLS TO USE
Colourful Budget App – I use this app to create a monthly budget, it’s so simple to use and allows your to sync via Bluetooth and you can connect it to your google drive to save it monthly.
Savings app – Chip – I rave on about this app all the time, Chip’s algorithm calculates what you can afford to save based on your spending habits. It then transfers that money from your current account to your Chip savings account – automatically. It has saved as little as £1.50/ $2 based on how much I had in my account. it is money I wouldn’t even notice. They also offer up to 5% interest rate which exceeds every high street bank. You receive 1% extra every time someone uses your code to register. My code is GQ6GCI.
For other Money saving and money making ideas. Click Here.
