Money Wise- An Essential Guide To Post Marriage Money Matters

You beat the odds or the odds beat you and you get married. You saunter through your nuptials with no care in the world, you get drenched in newly married bliss during the honeymoon period. You’ve learnt to live with each other and each other’s unique whims and quirks. You have set schedules for television time and started meal planning to suit each other’s tastes. At this point, most couples think that the hardest part is behind them. Even if they think of the things they will have to deal with, the things they may consider are learning to live together, dealing with each other’s family or even sex related questions. But what most people tend to overlook or even choose to ignore are the change that happens with money management.

Although talking money may seem like a sure way to create issues early on in the marriage, it is best to address the importance of finance earlier on.  If you are going to spend the rest of your life together, how can you avoid talking about a huge part of your life just because it might be uncomfortable?

Sit down and share all the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to your finances. Gather all your credit bills and debt details before sitting down.

When you are living by yourself and spending for one, you might not realise what all you are splurging on unknowingly. A great way to figure out all your avoidable expenses are by both of you tracking all your spending for a week before getting married- or at least a mock-up of how you spend when you are fending only for yourself. This list can be looked at critically by both of you in order to figure out each other’s spending habits

The next step would be to recognise how much each of you would like to spend ideally per month and who pays for what. The factors to address in this case would how much each of you earns and how much you would want to save. Although many people would like to split the expenses equally, it can also be split at a 60-40 depending on who earns more.

From educational loans, credit card debts to EMI on appliances, either one or both of you might have entered into matrimony with debts. Figure out if you are going to pay off from individual pay checks or jointly. It is always better to try hard and pay off the debt as soon as you can before having children, or building a house. You might have to tighten your belt a little, but it can ensure financial safety in the long run.

Now that you are married, it is better to take care of all your economic paperwork earlier on. Change your beneficiary on bank accounts, insurance policies, even details necessary for Tax returns. It might seem like a boring job, but it’s always better to get these things sorted earlier on so that you don’t run into complications when you are doing something urgently.

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