• Divorced Women, Education, Finance, Newly Married
• Roxanne Langley

Couples typically want to avoid tension or shame due to financial stress.

But did you know???

90% of individuals who say they are in a happy relationship discuss money at least once a month. This is a huge number of happy individuals who realize the importance of these discussions. The key parts of elevating your money relationship are:

Communicate

• Establish a healthy time to review your financial life (weekly or monthly).
• Determine who will lead if one of you is more comfortable and what topics are a priority this month.
• Share openly about your thoughts towards saving, spending, record keeping, etc, and remember to keep an open mind. Nerds and free spirits unite!
• If you’re in a new relationship be honest about how much debt, savings, and income you bring into the relationship.
• Discuss your individual financial goals. Is it saving, debt reduction, investing, college, etc.

Design

• Determine who will pay the bills and who will oversee the long-term items, such as retirement, insurance, and estate planning.
• Decide if you’ll combine or separate bank accounts. Talk through the pros and cons of each.
• Set family ground rules for large purchases over a specific dollar amount. For instance, for any expense over $300, we wait 24 hours and discuss whether we really want it and how it will be paid for. Emergencies are the exception.

Plan

• Dream and write down your shared financial goals.
• Create a shared spending plan each month and determine how you’ll keep track of spending.
• Set up your next month’s date(s) together and write it on both your calendars.

During each money date, you want to make sure each of you knows where you stand financially. Set up in a mutually comfortable area within your home, grab your favorite beverage and snack.

• Update debt repayment status with balance(s).
• Check your net worth (it’s motivating to see your net worth rise as the debt lowers).
• Create your joint monthly written spending plan (budget). Remember to include any extras that month such as birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, special celebrations, auto-renewals, annual subscriptions, etc.
• Discuss any areas of overspending and how you can minimize it for the next month

It’s important to have regular discussions where you both can create a safe space to openly talk about your finances. Begin today and become part of the 90% in a happy relationship.

As a new couple are you unsure how to begin having monthly money dates or need an accountability partner/coach to help with the process? I love working with couples as they begin their new life and navigate combining their financial lives into one.

Schedule your first free session here. https://calendly.com/121meetings/discovery

Your money coach,