The financial side of living together
Without the essentials of wealth education, love and money spells nothing but trouble for a lot of couples. The reason isn’t always due to a lack of money or a person’s spending habits. Trouble is often credited to unrealistic expectations of love and emotional fear regarding money. It is how people decide to communicate about money that is often the problem. However, whether two people are living together without the legal benefit of marriage or even if they are newlywed, there are certain agreements concerning love and money that need to be made and adhered to for the healthy survival of the relationship. If issues around finances are discussed early, and a plan and understanding about finances are reached, love and money work very well together.
Love conquers everything except the rent, utilities and grocery bills
When couples first fall in love, it is believed that the feelings they share for each other will be sufficient to overcome any and all obstacles that they may encounter during their future together. If these attitudes prevail, love and money spell disaster. Reality stays reality, regardless of how in love you are or aren’t. Bills need to get paid, wealth education needs to become a priority and expectations and guidelines about spending need to be agreed upon and stuck to if success is to be attained.
Love means budgeting together
Even prior to a couple moving in together, a household budget needs to be created. In doing so, couples should also be open about their salaries, any commission payments they regularly receive and any other additional income sources. Also, car loans and other installment loans should be discussed. This includes any existing payday loans and cash advances. Those finding themselves regularly getting payday loans should discuss it as well, so the budget can be adjusted to better manage debt. Though payday loans are helpful when fast cash is needed for emergencies or unexpected expenses, a person who is constantly applying for online loans, or who has trouble living off of their current salary, has to be honest about their budgeting choices. If someone is paying child support, spousal support, or any sort of dues, all of this has to go into a budget as well.
At this point a couple can realistically look at what each can afford to pay towards bills and other costs. People are hesitant to pry to have conversations like these, because they don’t want to pry to deeply into the other’s business or they pretend money doesn’t matter to them. For others, there may be fear in revealing that they’ve had debt difficulties in the past and installment loans, bad credit, payday loans or cash advances have been a part of their recent history. However, it is precisely when this kind of denial is allowed to exist that the notion that love and money spells catastrophe is born.
Love and money spells security for those unafraid to face the facts
One of the first lessons in wealth education for individuals, as well as couples, is to be honest about what one earns, what one can practically afford and how much each person needs to save in order to reach their financial goals together. For couples to move in together with dreams of purchasing a home, taking annual vacations and living a happy life is just unreasonable unless and until such serious conversations have been had and concrete plans for these things have been made. Too many couples found themselves at odds over money because they didn’t bother to discuss and exercise wealth education before their futures and finances were entwined.
Loving each other requires commitment to growth and honesty. Both of these are threatened when finances are murky and a survival plan hasn’t been discussed, or when each is unclear about their financial role in the relationship. For couples who understand the importance of clarifying these matters, love and money spells security.
