From the article: Don't Let Your Money Ruin Your Marriage
Share the tips that have worked for you or the best tips you received about managing your money before you got married. Getting married and merging your finances can be very stressful, but tips from others can really make a difference. Share Your Tips
Forgiving Past Mistakes
- After I asked my wife to marry me, we sat down and talked about money. She had a lot of debt, and some unpaid bills. She'd been avoiding dealing with it because it was overwhelming. It really upset me at first, and I talked to my dad about it. He told me that I had to forgive her and help her out if I loved her enough to marry her. So I did. We got on a plan, and we are working through it together. She's glad that I'm not holding it over her head, and I realized that I still loved her, even if she wasn't always perfect with money.
- —Guest Jacob
Telling the Truth
- When we wer first dating, we didn't talk about money and just spent time enjoying each other's company. But after we got engaged we sat down and talked. We both had a little bit of debt that we had from school. We set up a plan and got out of debt before we even got married, but I'm glad we were honest with each other, because we don't have things that will surprise us in the future.
- —Guest Sam
Financial and Marriage Counseling
- The pastor who was marrying us recommended that we see a marriage counselor before we got married. It was a good experience because we discussed how we wanted to deal with things in our marriage. And we worked out a budget and talked about our debt and income in the session. We created a plan so I can stay home for a few years when we decide to have kids. It's made the transition much easier and we both know what to expect from each other financially.
- —Guest Beccca
