Love, Marriage, and Money - Part 2 - Communication
Since Brent and I have joint accounts, communication is crucial for our financial success. I do the bills and money stuff, but Brent usually knows exactly where our money is going and how much we have. We both have to be totally open and honest with one another in every dollar we spend. This also points back to the financial accountablitiy that I mentioned yesterday.
My parents had a rule that if one wanted to spend $25 or more, they had to ask the other first. It was like that from day one, and it still works. Brent and I don’t have a specific rule like that, but we do keep each other updated on the spending forecast for the week -
"Hey Brent, I have to buy cat food this week, so be careful with the spending"
"Ok, but don't forget we are going out on Friday so make room for that too"
This is not the only aspect of communication in finances, though. On Monday, Brent and I sat down and talked about what bills we could cut down on. Could we cut our minutes on our cell phone? Could we try to get DSL instead of cable modem? Two heads were better than one in this situation, and we were able to come up with solutions that worked for both of us. We decided together how much we choose to give to the church. We decided together to drop cable. If only one of us were making all of these choices, I can guarantee that the other would be miserable.
Also, since both of us are fully aware of our financial status, we are able to encourage each other toward our common goal. The penny pinching can get rough, but when we sit down and talk about how much we have in savings, or how much we paid on our debt this month, it's worth it. We can also bring concerns and complaints to each other and are able to talk them over rationally instead of getting resentful and fighting all the time.
On top of all of this, if something were to happen to one of us, it's very important for the other to know what's going on financially so they would be able to make appropriate decisions for their future.
My parents had a rule that if one wanted to spend $25 or more, they had to ask the other first. It was like that from day one, and it still works. Brent and I don’t have a specific rule like that, but we do keep each other updated on the spending forecast for the week -
"Hey Brent, I have to buy cat food this week, so be careful with the spending"
"Ok, but don't forget we are going out on Friday so make room for that too"
This is not the only aspect of communication in finances, though. On Monday, Brent and I sat down and talked about what bills we could cut down on. Could we cut our minutes on our cell phone? Could we try to get DSL instead of cable modem? Two heads were better than one in this situation, and we were able to come up with solutions that worked for both of us. We decided together how much we choose to give to the church. We decided together to drop cable. If only one of us were making all of these choices, I can guarantee that the other would be miserable.
Also, since both of us are fully aware of our financial status, we are able to encourage each other toward our common goal. The penny pinching can get rough, but when we sit down and talk about how much we have in savings, or how much we paid on our debt this month, it's worth it. We can also bring concerns and complaints to each other and are able to talk them over rationally instead of getting resentful and fighting all the time.
On top of all of this, if something were to happen to one of us, it's very important for the other to know what's going on financially so they would be able to make appropriate decisions for their future.
Labels: Saving Money
posted by Tracy at 6:08 AM
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