planning costs for the newly married

Mar 24 2011

Planning Costs for The Newly Married

Posted by admin in Finance

new couple

If you are already married and now you start worrying about how to manage the finances of the new house, there could be a problem. The best way would be to say that you have come to the battlefield without having prepared for combat. What we say, as many studies have shown that one of the leading causes of divorce are the problems that arise because of disagreements between couples on how to manage the finances of families.

So, take time to discuss these issues and to establish criteria to govern the financial decisions of this new family. Without doubt, it is essential that, before marriage, each person may object to the other all the details of your financial situation, ie, the levels of debt, savings, investments, commitments to his family and others.

When the couple is married, the financial position of this new family needs to be addressed on a common approach, ie, regardless of who does what or who did what to the table.

The importance of planning

Ideally, start with an exercise in long-term planning. These define the goals and objectives on which work should start now but it will happen throughout our lives. This includes things like: When you have children, buy a house, buy a car, saving for old age and retirement, among other things?. It should be as specific as possible and to establish approximate dates and amounts.

On the basis of long-term goals, then you can make a short-term financial planning and the creation of tools that will allow the couple to manage their finances effectively.

Budget

The main tool is the budget for the family or household purposes. E ‘extremely important that both people involved in the implementation of this budget and the final result is based on decisions by consensus. Each process involves preparation of a list of budget priorities between the various costs incurred by the funds available.

In marriage, this priority is complicated because, as we all know, the priority for a man is not necessarily considered a priority for women and vice versa. Ultimately, it is very likely to need a lot of mutual understanding and a certain level of sacrifice to achieve a budget which also covers the costs of the family, was used appropriately to individual needs.

Monitoring

When you developed a household budget (preferably monthly), you must establish a system of monitoring and cost control that allows us to compare the amount of the monthly expenditure against the budget. And ‘perhaps the most painful and difficult to implement in this process.

There are many tools that can help: save costs in a shoe box, electronic tools for computer or portable device. The key is to balance the level of value added of the details that you want to take control and the level of effort and time required to do so.

After all, what we want is to have a monthly estimate of how much was spent and how much was spent in a format that is comparable with the budget already. If the partners have different personality profiles in this regard, here is another opportunity for consensus, understanding and / or sacrifice (after all this is marriage … right?).

For those who regularly use the credit card and “Internet banking, some banks offer online tools to classify the costs of credit card default on some points depending on the type of consumption. If not, simply by using bank statements and create a space of time each month for the classification of costs. must have a slope so that it works, you must identify themselves to any time-consuming to do so.

When you start to implement the system of expenditure control and monitoring, you should make an effort and try to take as many details as possible. In fact, this process can better understand what are the specific issues we spend our money and allows us to further improve the budget structure. 3 to 4 months, you probably already feel pretty comfortable with the process or have learned a spontaneous alternative to simplify the level of detail that can be worn.

The key

In conclusion, the key to successful financial management of a family is joint planning and consensus (both long and short term). Humans by nature do not give enough importance to the planning and we feel more comfortable to act freely and spontaneously, without adjusting the structures and procedures that generate recurring liability. However, in many aspects of life, it was shown that “failing to plan is to fail.”

Financial Blog