Discussing Financial Responsibility with your Partner

Getting married is one of the most exciting experiences in a couple’s life. Marriage does not only forge personalities and families together; it also comes with it more practical implications such as combining of finances from both parties.

When couples decide to get married, they usually do not have talks about money matters. Some find this uncomfortable. However, it is important to be aware of your partner’s financial standing because when you get married, you are also marrying your partner’s assets AND liabilities. And since you will be managing one household, it is important to decide on your family’s budget, what your financial priorities are and paint a big picture of your total cash flow.

Will you be a one-income or two-income household?

Before anything else, couples need to be transparent on what their financial setup is going to be. Will both of them be working or will they be relying on one partner’s salary? Determining this is the start of everything else as you will know how much money will be coming in.

What will be the partition of your household’s budget?

After determining how much money is coming into your household, you both need to decide what are your priorities. What percent should go into savings? What percent should go to your child’s educational fund? After determining these non-negotiables, check if your lifestyle is accommodated by your remaining budget? Can you maintain two cars? Can the rest of your budget pay for all the bills? Knowing all these things will help you assess if you need to cut down on some of your spending.

What is your partner’s spending habit?

In marriage, couples are not always in sync all the time. As we mentioned, you are forging two personalities and there may be some situations where couples do not have the same track of mind. In this case, find out what your partner’s spending habit is. Does he/she love to use credit cards? Is she able to manage her line of credit well? Upon thorough assessment of both parties, you should be able to decide who can manage your household fund more efficiently.

Discussing financial responsibility with your partner should not just be a one-time thing. It is something that should always be out in the open so that you can make adjustments when necessary. Many couples argue because of money matters and this is because of lack of conversation and concurrence on how to handle the household finances.

Talking about these concerns early in your marriage will help you curb financial problems in the future. However, there will be times that even if the couple is much prepared, they will encounter some emergencies or unexpected situations requiring them to ask for a line of credit.

There are many forms of credit that couples can avail and both need to weigh their options. Should they want a quick, easy and hassle-free transaction, they can avail of online payday loans to get them out of an unxpected financial bind. Payday loan companies like GoDay, provide immediate assistance to those who need cash for certain household exigencies.