The most common hiccup in any relationship is that of money and how it should be spent. The best of us can and do sometimes become rather unpleasant when it comes to money matters in a relationship.
As a couple here is how to make money sharing easier
Merge Goals
As with other common arguments, having an open and honest talk helps a lot. So sit down and tell each other your goals for the money you have. If they are similar, then it will be easy to come up with one master list. If not, decide together what should go on the list and then decide what to tackle first and how much to save each month.
Saving together means you will have to open a joint account and decide how much you can each comfortably put into it each month. Any money moving from there should only move when both of you have agreed. And should only move for paying for something you have on your merged list of goals.
Work Together
Having one person handle all the money and making sure the bills and all the goals are met can make sense but, sometimes tensions arise when one person tries to take complete control of the financial situation.
Control comes when one person expects the other to hand over their earnings each month without question while at the same time not disclosing theirs or when one partner won’t let the other use the joint account card.
The best is alternating when it comes to money matters and will work if both getting a turn to be in the driver’s seat take it very seriously. Arguments can be avoided every year, if in the 12 months of the year, each has control for 6 months. However, most times this is not possible because you may have a partner who’s very risk-averse, or one that makes it difficult to build up wealth.
The situation whichever may be it is best to work with the partner you have because working together also means that, you keep an eye on each other and make sure there are no deviations or lapses in duty.
Also, it means that when one is steering (some of the time or all of the time) the other takes over or oversees what the other normally would handle. Which may include making sure the day-to-day expenses and bills are taken care of and the different needs in the home are taken care of.
Knowing each need and spending style is very important, therefore.
Be Flexible
There might be a large gap between the amounts you each put in the joint account but you can still work together to achieve your goals. Differences will always be there but be flexible. If one of you considers a third of your income should be the amount while the other considers just a small percentage. Don’t let this spoil your money goals. Try and meet in the middle.
And instead of dividing your joint expenses in half, split them up so that each person pays an equal portion of income. If one partner earns 10,000 and the other 5,000 and your monthly expenses or the monthly payment for a desired high value item is 1, 500 then the higher earner can pay in 1,000 and the lower earner 500.
Most important, let each of you have a say when it comes to decisions that affect the home because sometimes it is not about the amounts but about who decides, when, where and what to spend the money on. This decision should be joint.
