The wedding is over. Your life together has begun. You share dreams for your future yet you have different bank accounts, different spending habits, and different ideas of “essentials”. Every couple is faced with the struggle of combining their finances and managing their money. If you have specific goals such as buying a house or traveling, you may want to evaluate your financials sooner rather than later. Whether you choose to combine your bank accounts or keep them separate, the best thing you can do for yourselves is to create a unified budget and stick to it.
It starts with understanding of your fixed monthly expenses (rent, car payments, student loans, insurance, utilities, etc.). Tally that up and add your variable monthly expenses like groceries, gas, clothing, dining out etc. Don’t forget to include small frequent purchases (such as coffee). Over time, these can really add up. Subtract all expenses from your monthly income and voila, you have the amount you should be saving. Look back through your list of expenses and determine ways you can trim. Maybe one latte per week is sufficient? Maybe you can switch one night of dining out for dining in? Maybe you can get a family cell phone plan and save? You can use personal budgeting software such as Quicken (http://www.quicken.com/) or just track your budget and spending in a spreadsheet. Kiplinger also has an online worksheet to get you started (www.kiplinger.com/tools/budget/).
Photo courtesy of Profinish Design
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