TWO BE WED...AND MERGE THE FINANCES

 TWO BE WED...AND MERGE THE FINANCES


So with the wedding being about a good 3 months away (HOLY SMOKES!!) A and I have started to really discuss the merging of our finances. 

I mentioned in this post that one of my goals this year is to save money, but I also want to eliminate some debt. I'm sure these goals are sitting on a lot of to-do lists this year! It's so important as a couple (God doesn't like debt!) and also for all the goals we have for our family, that we whittle away at this debt until it's gone and save some money too! 

I stumbled across this article on The Everygirl and they highlighted some key finance resolutions for the new year (although these are great tips to follow all the time). One of the ones I liked was:

"Go nuts cutting your unnecessary costs."

I really feel like this is a definite area where we can focus a big part of our efforts! When it comes down to it, I feel like we could definitely live a lot simpler than we do now, and focus on meeting our basic needs rather than fulfilling our wants. I just gotta convince A... :)

Another blog I like to read is And Then We Saved, formerly "And Then She Saved". I love it because she went on a spending fast to get out of debt and then transitioned to a spending diet to save money and stay on track. 

What are some ways that you/you + your boo have cut back and saved money? Don't be shy, sharing is caring!




12 comments:

  1. Hello! I have been married for about 8 months now and I have to say that my husband and I have not fought about money at all. At first I wanted him to be in charge of the finances because "he is the man and should be in charge." but I soon found out we were not saving money like we should be. So I decided to take charge and we have a pretty large saving's account now :) This next paycheck I am going to try a new thing where every two weeks we each get $50 to spend on ourselves (coffee, movies, nails ect...) but we have to leave our debit cards at home (debit cards are our downfall!) Anyway I hope this helps :)

    ~Alysse

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    1. Aww, that's awesome! Has that 8 months flown by?? Yes, I definitely think that we will have discussions now about how to pay for what, etc. But I may be in charge of the tracking just because I'm a bit more detail oriented (spreadsheets and such). I definitely want us each to have our own "me" money each month too for our own fun stuff.

      I don't foresee any arguing over money :) but I do realize that is the downfall for a lot of couples. Thanks so much for visiting my little blog!

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  2. It is so smart of you to start talking and planning about your finances now! Good for you guys! I know that money can be a big source of argument for couples, especially if they have opposing viewpoints on how it should be spent and saved. I'm not an expert by ANY means, but my husband and I have been married for five years now, and so far money hasn't really been an issue (not that we're perfect, either!). I think one of the most important things is simply to be aware of how your spouse views money and decide ahead of time what each of you values enough to spend money on. Don't cut out all the fun stuff completely. :) Another thing that worked for us is automatically saving a set percentage of each and every paycheck, and setting aside another percentage (however small) that we were each free to spend on "extras."

    Good luck to you guys on this and the rest of your planning in general! What an exciting time! :)

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    1. Congratulations on 5 years! This is really sound advice! Planning our wedding is the first big thing we've had to deal with money on together and we haven't hit any major bumps other than A not understanding my need for pipe draping :) Overall it's been a breeze and so I imagine anything having to do with our finances will be just that. We definitely want to do that as well, set aside money to spend on ourselves. Thank you for your well wishes and for visiting my blog!

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  3. Great topic! Just attended a womens workshop the other day and this was my focal area as well. Saving more money with my mate. The best ingredients for this? Self control and habitual communication between each other to insure that you both have the same vision. :)

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    1. I believe that communication is truly the key and a common understanding of what each person envisions for life together and the steps it will take to get there! Thanks for visiting!

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  4. My boyfriend and I only have one joint account for our townhouse expenses but we're not moving til June so we haven't used it yet. Heh. I think we will keep our finances separate for now of course. I am really torn on the issue of mixing everything when we're married (if that happens). I can't really form an opinion though because I need to think about it more and get more information. I always like to hear other people's take on this issue since I don't know much about it, so thanks for writing about it.

    For me, I am paying down my debt while also saving money. Sometimes I am tempted to throw extra money at the debt but then I find myself without any money for groceries the last few days leading up to payday, so I gotta rein it in a little! :) I do think it's important to still spend a little bit on luxuries, whatever you define luxuries as - for me, it's a few lattes and maybe a sweater on sale once a month. Could be lots of other things. Anyway, set a budget for "free spending" and it really helps because you can still treat yourself while paying down debt. I leanred the hard way that going "full gusto" and not spending anything on myself made me more likely to buy something too expensive because I felt I was paying down debt so "I deserved it". Uhhh no! :)

    Anyway best of luck with all that money stuff!

    http://permanentdaydream.com

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    1. Well, I'm not sure what your beliefs are, but I believe that once you are married, your finances are merged. Having separate accounts could definitely cause confusion and lead to arguments because each person has their own money. Marriage is about forming a union. Just my two cents! But for now, I think the way you are going about this is probably wise. Merging incomes before marriage could definitely cause problems too! And good for you for knocking down that debt!! Thank you for your well wishes and for visiting!

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  5. By no means am I a pro at handling money, but I think having a discussion about money is a MUST for people who are planning on getting married. I think it's important because when people get married their finances are tied together. Couples may think they are not going to have financial issues, but they eventually do because they fail to talk about their expectations. One of the ways we have started saving money is through limiting the times we go out to eat. We used to go out for breakfast, lunch, and, at times, even dinner, and it can get expensive. I started cooking more so that is definitely helping!

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    1. JASAM!! Yep, yep!! I agree- I'm actually starting the whole30 program (will post about this probably tomorrow) and while my grocery bill is a tad bit higher because I had to get a lot of staples that I didn't already have in addition to organic produce, preparing my own meals will be good for my wallet and my body! Finding things that you can do together to cut costs is really key (I think-I don't really know jack squat yet lol). Thanks for commenting girl!

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  6. we use cash on all food and groceries - when we are out, we are out and have to eat what is left in the kitchen. after a couple months of eating sad food the last couple days, we got better at balancing our food money so that we could even go out to eat the last week! budgets are key! we also both have allowances so that we can spend that money "no questions asked" - it was hard at first justifying purchases (like new clothes, starbucks, soda at the movies, and video games) but when we decided to budget in allowances that helped us fight less, save more, and be intentional on what we wanted to purchase with our allowance (when you only have $50 you don't buy everything, you only buy what you really want!)

    You can do it! xoxo

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    1. LOL at "sad food"!! You know what? When I first graduated, I was really good about keeping my college mentality. MEANING I did not replace something until it was all gone, I planned multiple errands in one trip, I bought what I needed, etc. Then something happened and I started replacing things when they were halfway gone and I buy a lot of wants (not nearly as bad as it could be, but I can do better!). I definitely want us to take the Dave Ramsey course/read the book on our own and start the envelope method. But you're right, it's very easy to focus on how much cash you have in your hand because you can see it dwindling away. A card is so easy to swipe and keep swiping. I'm excited about it because I know we can do it, we just have to be more disciplined and intentional about our efforts. Thanks for the insight and for visiting! :)

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