Budgeting Tips for Young Couples

by David Keegan

The honeymoon is over! How times have changed from those glory years when you and your spouse-to-be were footloose and fancy free. You were dating, having fun, planning your dream wedding, the vacation on some exotic island and then living happily ever after.

Now, you’ve settled into the routines of life: work, paying the ever-increasing bills, and perhaps you have been blessed with a child (or two). The priorities have certainly changed! And, so has the financial picture. Your planning horizon has shifted from month-to-month to building a long-term future for your family.

What I am describing can be a very large burden on young families. This was a very difficult time for my wife and me, but with almost twenty years of experience under our belts, I now feel equipped to offer you some advice.

1) Share The Budget Burden - Budgeting decisions shouldn’t be made in a vacuum! Both husband and wife must set up a monthly budget together. If one person is not involved in these important lifestyle decisions, there is bound to be bitterness and anxiety. I have found that, in most marriages, the husband and wife will have opposite habits which tend to balance each other out. In other words, one may squeeze the money so tight that George Washington would cry while the other has a hole in their pocket! It is usually a healthy thing to meet in the middle somewhere.

2) Pay Yourself First - Nearly all couples have a checking account where the paychecks get deposited. All bills are paid from this account using check, check card or even online. As long as you stay above zero until the next payday, you’re OK. Right? WRONG! Unexpected big bills will come up and you need to have some cash reserves. What happens when the water heater breaks or you need the transmission fixed? The best way to manage this is to have a separate bank or investment account set up. Write a check to this separate account on each payday or at least once a month. Stay disciplined to this program! Treat it like a payment to any other bill collector. Then, you will have money available to pay cash for those inevitable surprises and you will not have to use the evil credit card. This leads me to my next piece of advice…

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