Individuals who come into a relationship with solid money habits have an advantage, but to make love work, it’s essential to merge skills to make the most of dual incomes and hit shared goals and dreams.
This can help you eliminate spending on some things you’re both paying for (it happens!) and get a sense of your actual shared bills to utilize your joint account better and start spending as a team.
Rather than expect the more free-spirited person to become the master of spreadsheets, think about how they can best contribute to the financial relationship.
By creating buckets, for example, using the 50/30/20 rule (50% on needs, 30% on wants, and 20% to savings), you can start effectively planning with your money rather than just saving and spending sporadically.
Taking the time to learn each other’s money stories and how their attitudes developed over the years can help couples build intimacy and understanding. There are fun ways to learn each other’s money stories.
Automating your finances means that you don’t have to write yourself a note to manually transfer money into your joint account or bug the other to pay your bill. But automating your finances is more than just simple convenience.
However you choose to merge your income, it’s essential that you both feel like you have access to your money in a way that makes you feel like you have financial independence and a healthy role in your financial decision making.