Managing money as a couple is completely different from just managing your own money. It can be tricky and difficult to add in another person’s finances and navigating it may seem a little overwhelming. Whether you’re new to this, or you’ve been thinking about this for a while, here are the best tips on how to manage money as a couple.
Create a budget together
Both of you need to be willing to talk about money transparently. There’s nothing like secrets to derail your money goals and lead to some not so fun conversations.
Creating a budget together makes it so that you’re both working together on something. Those goals you are putting together are your north star for making sure you’re on the same page financially.
I will go into how to create a budget in detail what’s extremely important is to do it TOGETHER and agree to every single outgoing expense together, this includes a fun-money (we’ll touch on this later)!
There are incredible tools on how to manage money as a couple online too! If you’re looking to budget, look for some help first. There are some great tools out there to help you so you’re not stressed trying to figure out literally everything.
Related article: 9 incredible money saving tips for couples
Combine finances
A joint banking account makes everything easier. This can sound incredibly intimidating and it takes a lot of trust, but when you combine finances, you’ll be able to better track all incoming and outgoing.
Now, before you go and just hop onto someone’s account, look at what works best for the two of you. You have a few options here, so don’t jump to any conclusions. Here are some options:
- Stay at the same bank as one of you; open a new joint account
- Stay at the same bank as one of you; hop on one existing account
- Find another bank that might offer various incentives
Before you decide on any of these options, it’s important to do your research. Your joint account does matter at the end of the day, but what’s the most important is that you and your spouse agree on whatever you choose.
Live off one income
Ummm yes… I said it.
If you’re like, that’s impossible, or, we’re only on one income already, hear me out first!
You don’t actually have to live off of one income, but what you do want to do is limit your outgoing expenses. It’s ok to see this as a huge mountain, especially if you’re trying to get out of debt, or you’ve been living paycheck to paycheck.
But don’t worry!
If you and your significant other are on the same page, that’s the most important.
Agree on what to cut out
You’ll need to make some big decisions. One of the hardest things to do is to agree on what to cut out. Sacrifices are sometimes crucial in how to manage money as a couple.
It’s easy to see your spouse’s monthly protein powder order as a frivolous expense, but maybe it’s extremely important to them, beyond what you’ll ever realize.
Maybe your spouse doesn’t realize how important a specific expense is for you! Sit down and talk about those expenses, but also be realistic about what you can cut out too.
Fun money counts too
You and your spouse will need to be on the same page with fun money. This section is a hands off for you and your significant other. Whatever you decide to do with your fun money is your decision – no one else’s.
And no one gets to judge you on that, just like you can’t judge anyone on what they decide to spend their fun money on.
If you don’t have enough in the budget for whatever you want to spend money on too, you’ll have to save it up each month until you reach whatever you want to buy.
Regroup Monthly
Don’t just form a budget and let it collect dust. You have to regroup and make sure that you’re actually standing by everything that your goals are.
Monthly stand-ups are important to see the goal versus the reality. You might be shocked to see what you’re actually spending money on verse what you planned to spend money on.
This isn’t a meeting to blame anyone; it’s a meeting to openly talk about finances and how to improve.
Identify the Spender
No one really ever talks about the spender in the relationship. Usually there’s a spender and there’s a saver. The saver will definitely have a lot better times with this. The spender might be hurting a little bit, especially initially.
You’ll want to talk about who the spender is and what their triggers are because they’re going to be going through a harder time.
Talk about ways that will help them through this. If you both are on the same page. See how you can help. Obviously it’s their (or your) responsibility at the end of the day. If you’re really wanting to learn how to manage money as a couple, this is one way that nobody talks about!
Support each other
Support goes both ways! Each spouse will have their own vice. It’s incredibly important to continue to support each other and make sure you stay on the same track. Whether that’s splurging on a big ticket item, or it’s going over your budget because of something that was an emergency, doing it together will also build your bond.
Don’t forget that you both are in this together, so it’s incredibly important to rely on each other and not budget each other. Even when mistakes happen.
Related Article: 14 money managing tips you don’t want to live without
Don’t compare yourselves
Don’t compare yourselves to others, because your relationship and your relationship goals are different from others’. Comparing yourselves to what you know about other couples won’t help; it will only hurt.
It’s easy to see how other people look so happy and so put together, but you don’t have all the pieces. Your journey is your own, and it’s your choice how you progress together.
Other’s advice isn’t always the best advice
Learning how to manage money as a couple is difficult. Sometimes you’ll take advice from anyone who will give it to you. It’s not that you don’t want to know what steps are next, but sometimes you just don’t know what comes next.
Other people LOVE to give advice, even when it’s unsolicited. Be careful who you listen to. Some people don’t mean to give you bad advice, they just don’t know what they’re talking about.
You can do your research and make sure that you’re on the right path. But if you decide to do anything, be sure that you’re wise in your decision of who to listen to.
This blog post was all about how to manage money as a couple.
If you’ve been looking at how to get on the same page, hopefully this post helps!
Great article! Personally, I like to have a joint account for the bills and shared goals while also having personal accounts for fun money. This way we aren’t trying to micromanage each other’s daily spending, as long as it fits into the monthly budget. 🙂
That’s a great recommendation! I definitely think that it’s whatever works best for the couple. A positive of having personal accounts for fun money too is that don’t get to see what you might have bought them for a gift as well! There are definitely pros and cons to every method. At the end of the day, you’re right! The monthly budget is the most important.