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It's not your relatives,
your cooking, or that three letter S** word.
It’s MONEY!
The statistics say it all: money is the #1 reason couples argue and the #1 reason
marriages fail.
How can you prevent this? Like any problem, the answer is communication. And in the area
of money, the answer is an excellent money management system as your communication tool.
The beginning, a very good place to start!
Many people associate budgets with those who have little money. The truth is that everyone
needs a budget for the simple purpose of good communication. Billion dollar companies
"budget" because they need a common "language" to discuss their
finances. Couples need that "language" too! And the best time to start is now,
at the beginning!
Why is setting up a family budget so important now? The answer is simple. A budget is an
excellent communication tool that allows expenses to be laid out clearly for comparison,
discussion, and analysis. Getting all the issues on the table at once makes decisions
easier. Setting up a budget together in the beginning will save agonizing over spending
decisions month in and month out for all the years of your marriage.
Create your household budget together.
Equally important to the monetary benefits of budgeting is that by setting it up together
either one of you can "run" the budget. Suppose, as is often the case, that one
of you becomes the primary bill-payer. Without a consistent system known by both partners,
the non-bill-payer is often left in the dark and really doesn’t know or understand
the family finances. Further suppose that the bill-payer becomes unexpectedly sick or must
travel for awhile. With a budget and system you create together it is easy for the other
to jump in.
With a budget, you have a tool for communication that you both know how to use. You have a
consistent method. You both "buy into" the ramifications of decisions because it
is not a situation of one "imposing" something on the other.
Remember "budget" does not mean "deprivation!"
Probably the biggest reservation couples have about starting a budget is the idea that a
budget is like a diet—that they have to "give up" things to make it work.
While penny-pinching is the traditional advice, newer budgets show how you can actually
increase your spending money through organization. It may seem counter-intuitive, but you
can actually get money back by budgeting!
Unfortunately, most people have learned to think about running a budget as a torture
mechanism. However, the literal definition is, "to plan in advance the expenditure
of." A budget is a tool; just like your lawnmower, microwave, or computer.
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