One of the most intimidating topics to discuss in life as a couple is money matters. Some are reluctant on talks about it as it creates a fight afterward.
Talking about money is important in a healthy relationship, especially if you are living together.
In this blog post, I will be sharing two tips on how to talk about money matters with your spouse.
- Talk About Your Dreams.
You can have these talks over a cup of coffee or tea. Knowing each other dreams and goals can help both of you connected and will help you plan for the future. If you are not yet talking about your dreams, most probably, you are not yet talking about plans for your future.
At times my wife and I talk about this stuff:
Being a stay-at-home mom and homeschooling our daughter.
Even before the pandemic hits us, we talked about having our kids being homeschooled until the age of 10 onwards. One of the reasons why we decided to do that is for us to spend more time with our kids and watch them grow. We want to be hands-on in their journey and based on what we saw from our friends, homeschooling works.
Looking for a future house where we will stay for good.
Currently, we are renting in a small apartment with one room and a comfort room. The rent we pay per month is somewhat expensive as it takes 1/4 of my salary. We are saving portions of our monies for a downpayment deposit right now and hopefully come up with at the very least $5,000 or more.
Plan for our 1st wedding anniversary.
Our wedding happened last 29th of February and because we weren't able to go elsewhere and got stuck in our home. We plan to travel and file a week-long leave either in Batanes or somewhere in the Philippines if it will be allowed already that time.
Online classes and training that we can attend for personal growth.
Skill is now the new currency and attending some classes and training can be quite costly. Some courses on being a Social Media Manager cost around $50.00 or more.
Be financially stable to be of help with our families.
Filipinos are known to have strong family ties - if there's a spare amount that we can help our family members, we may provide such.
These are the topics that we often talk about if we are talking about our plans. These talks are casual discussion only but we make a point to fully listen each time we have this conversation.
- Talk About Your Fears. What Are You Afraid of?
Aside from your dreams, your partner should also understand your fears. We are not talking about the fear of heights or some phobias but we are talking about is what we called a financial fear. Depending on how you perceive fear, this can be a roadblock or a motivation. In this case, we use fear as a motivation for improvement.
Usually, we talk about the following:
- Where we will get our money if someone gets critically ill.
- The possibility of unemployment due to the pandemic.
- The fear of not being able to provide for the family financially.
- The fear of not getting a house but rent a home in 5 years span.
You may think that these small talks does not matter but it does. Knowing what you are and your spouse is afraid of can help you plan ahead.
Conclusion:
Budget and money talks should always be openly discussed in the household. Talking about it is sometimes more important than having the cash itself as both of you will be able to position yourselves. You build a strong communication with having a healthy discussion over it and that can help both of you in the end to have a great relationship.
Photo by Adam Griffith on Unsplash