Becoming a Team

If you are married, you have got to become a team to tackle this problem and to be on the same page from here on out.  You have to be committed to each other.  Even more important that that, you need to commit your finances to God....they're His anyway. He is the one who gives you the ability to produce wealth.  Committing your finances to God is the first step in becoming a team.

Now that you're a team, here are 5 areas you need to work on/think about/fix.

1. Communication - do not fight, do not blame...learn to communicate about money effectively
2. Budget - create and communicate about the budget.  My husband and I communicate about the budget on almost a daily basis so we always know where we stand.
3. Unexpected expenses - is your $1000 emergency fund in place?  Not planning for those emergencies is a dangerous hole to fall in.
4. Home purchases - don't buy a home too soon or buy a home that takes up most of the budget.  It's very tempting, but more stress than you may be able to live with.
5. Spending money before you have it - do not take on unnecessary debt.  Save for the purchases you want, budget for the ones you need.  Don't fall into the buy now pay later trap.