4 Ways For Married Couples to Get on The Same Page With Finances

For many of us, being independent with finances is an easy thing to do. After all, it’s easy to figure out who is spending your money when it’s just you depositing and withdrawing the funds. It’s easy to set a budget when there is only one person to consider. But what happens when another person is added to the equation? What can we do as married couples to get on the same page with finances?

4 Ways For Married Couples to Get on The Same Page With Finances

Communicate Effectively

While this may seem rather obvious, we have known many couples who failed to communicate their concerns about finances and their marriages ultimately ended in divorce. Sad, but true. Be sure to communicate effectively with your spouse about how you are feeling about your finances, then you can work out any potential issues. Just remember to be kind when you approach your spouse about any of your concerns. One scripture that is good to live by in order to communicate effectively is James 1:19.

Sow, Sow, Sow

Anyone who has made it into adulthood realizes the truth in the statement found in Galatians 6:7b, “A man reaps what he sows.” If you sow finances you will reap finances. In addition to tithing, we believe that it is important to give money to help spread the love of God. We like to sow into ministries that help sick children, impoverished children, and anything that will feed the hungry. We don’t sow into these ministries to “get” something back, but the truth is, God’s word is true and we always have what we need (Psalm 37:25).

Set Weekly Budget Meetings

In our decades of marriage, this has worked wonders to keep us on track. This very method helped us to become debt-free (house and both of our college undergraduate loans included) within the first 5 years of our marriage. It is a great way to hold one another accountable for how the finances are being spent, as well as give you the chance to rectify anything that needs to be fixed. We have always used Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace principles in our weekly meetings to keep our accounting accurate. Our favorite part of it, in the beginning, was watching the debt snowball keep going DOWN until it reached ZERO. What a feeling!

Save, Save, Save

We cannot express the importance of this. Be sure to set aside every little bit you can. One thing we always do is save the difference. We are pretty awesome at saving money on groceries and everything under the sun (be patient as this takes time to get the hang of). The gist of saving the difference is paying yourself the savings you made on your grocery bill or other purchase. This method has allowed us to build several savings accounts over the years rather quickly. Also, if you are not already getting paid to shop, you need to. This method has brought thousands of dollars into our home from buying things that we need. And believe me, this makes my husband and I very, very, happy! You can read about several of the ways that we save money in my article: 5 Ways To Build Your Savings Account.

If you and your spouse will implement these simple steps above, you will be on your way to getting on the same page with your finances. We pray that you are blessed by these tips and will continue on with your own plan of financial stewardship that meets the needs of your particular situation!

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