Money & Marriage Mondays - Check Your Ego

 Photo Credit: healthy-magazine.co.uk 

Check Your Ego

With many married couples, there are usually 2 different spending personalities. This can get particularly tricky when one is a spender and one is a saver or one person is the sole bread "winner" or bringing in the majority of the income.

When this happens, there is an opportunity for financial friction such as "I'm bringing in the money and all you do is spend it." Or, "I'm home all day, working hard taking care of the kids and managing the house and you barely give me enough to make it all work. I work hard, I deserve ______." And there are many more possible points of contention.

This is when we have to check our ego. A marriage is not a competition, it is a completion. You each bring solid talents and gifts to the marriage. There may be times when things don't seem equitable, but you can't just look at the the things that are easy to measure, such as money. You have to look at the quality, not just the quantity in the marriage. 

It can be tricky, but the best way to do it is to put down your ego and come honestly together and communicate regularly. What will you talk about? You will talk about your financial priorities. And you should remember the dreams you dreamed together when you were dating. 

Remember, in a marriage, you are not keeping "score". There is no winner or loser in a marriage. You will both lose if you continue in the financial friction, but you will both WIN when you come together and agree on your financial future and agree on a budget and stick to it. 

If you need some assistance coming together and identifying your financial priorities and developing a budget, I can help.

You can master your money... and I can help!  

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