Wedding planning is one of the most anxious times when you have to take every step under perfect flourish. When you’re busy planning your wedding & other works around your ceremony, you need to do more than just picking out a dress, cakes or caterer. Yes, your finances.
Newly engaged partners must figure out how they will merge their separate finances into a system that will keep them blissful and financially secured in future.
You need to know the right way to manage money, so figure out the mingle finances. You may seek help from an advisor to sort out money management issues well in advance.
As per the reports made by Knot, 90% of engaged couples discuss their finances prior to marriage. However, in order to make it a success, they need to approach their conversation from the right angle. In this article, we will speak about how you should prevent money from destroying your relationship and make your marriage financially successful.
Don’t set yourself up for disaster
Most of the couple usually make the same mistake by spending too much on the wedding. Experts who specialize in personal finance say that for couples who can’t afford to pay cash, do end up into debt. Also, many young couples who are on top of their credit card debt and student loan literally get drowned in debt out of the gate.
So, those with limited budgets should do something smaller or find alternative ways to make their wedding affordable. This way they’d save big party for 5th or 10th anniversary when they’re in rich financial position.
Set your eyes on the prize
As time goes by, it’s not unusual for people’s financial priorities and expectation to shift. However, couples need to check in with each other ensuring that they’re still in synch. It’s a reality check for couples to sit & discuss the financial stands, whether it’s saving more for retirement, paying off debt, or for a vacation home.
Having goals aligned is very much crucial for couples when only one spouse generates the income. Usually, the non-working spouse feels guilty about not contributing financially or the working spouse may resent because the money earned is not being spent prudently. Thus, it is essential that both partners have the same goal in mind and it can be possible that the spouse that’s not working does something to generate some money.
Understand your partner’s money mindset
According to Matt Bell (associate editor at sound mind investing and author of book Money & Marriage), a lot of fights between spouses that seem as though about money, aren’t about money rather it’s a clash of temperaments.
Now, temperament is a huge potential source of conflict and one person may be upset that their spouse spends too much. However the issue may not be just that they can’t afford it, but something deeper like real fear of not being able to pay bills on time.
It is important to understate how your spouse was raised around money and how they view money. Some questions like: did they live on a budget? Were their parent’s frugal or big spenders? Did your parents talk about money or was it a taboo matter? Did you live on a budget? What is your spouse’s greatest fear of finances?
All of these answers will play into marriage and depend on how partner treat money at present times.
Don’t ignore the “B” word
“Budgeting” may seem tedious, but with it, one can yield significant benefits and prevent their marital turmoil and bringing into light about where their money is going.
Through the intervention of technology, budgeting has become a lot easier with the proliferation of apps and online tools that tracks your spending and account for you. There are many programs where you can create a budget and automatically track your transactions and accounts. As such you’ll also be able to see your progression and categorize your purchasing to get a better idea of how you’re spending your money. As there are a lot of great programs, it’s worth looking into which program works best your budgeting case.
Stop keeping secrets
Keeping secrets from your spouse can put you on the fast track to marital may-hem especially when it comes about money. According to a poll conducted by creditcards.com, 6 million consumers in the US (about 7% country’s population) conceal their financial accounts like credit cards, savings accounts, checking accounts from their partners, spouses or significant others they live with.
So many couples do hide debt or money or charges and when the spouse finds out; it gets into a war in their marriage. In a survey conducted by moneysupermarket.com, 1 in 10 people said that their secret credit-card purchase led to divorce or breakup.
While no one should be expected or micromanaged to disclose every purchase, lying about big purchases, or hiding can be toxic to the relationship and may even lead to bigger emotional issues down-the-line.
Conclusion
As with managing money in marriage, the above essential tips will surely give you some deeper knowledge and provide means to prevent marriage from being ruined. By applying these steps, couples can set a stage for a marriage built on financial harmony, honesty, and openness.
This article deals with significant aspects of managing couples relationship alongside monetary issues where both spouses need to take critical steps to prevent ruining their marriage. Some steps may be quite awkward to take, however, the results here will benefit both of the partners in long-term running towards a successful married life.