Marriages that thrive and endure are based upon a number of things. Couples do not always agree with each other every time. There is nothing wrong with compromise of course but one thing on which both partners must be clear is finance. Mistakes are made and of course the recession caught out many people who had not seemingly made a mistake; they were caught out by circumstances over which they had little control.
A Worrying Start to the Century
Complacency and greed had prevailed in the early years of the Century. Mortgage lenders were extremely lax when it came to judging whether or not to approve an application for money. Some even advanced more than the purchase price of a property because they felt that the raging inflation on real estate would soon see the value rise past the sum advanced. There was so much toxic debt created but it was rolled into Collateralized Debt Obligations thereby hiding them within safe lending. When the crash came, the inevitable crash with hindsight, prices crashed, the economy floundered and many businesses collapsed. Unemployment and foreclosure took over from complacency and greed.
The environment was not pleasant and it inevitably impacted on households all over the USA.
Breakdowns
Money troubles do cause breakdowns in relationships within families and between husband and wife. Debt can be stressful and certainly if it gets out of hand the consequences for a marriage can be terminal. It is imperative that couples talk to each other and certainly have no secrets. It should start before they even take their vows and continue every day.
Anything other than the smallest piece of daily expenditure should be discussed and agreed. The most important financial decisions in a married life will be the mortgage . The children’s education and health are also very important and each should be discussed thoroughly. Neither partner should ever sign up for something without telling the other.
A Budget Is Vital
Even then, mistakes can be made whether couples agree or not. If debt gets out of control then both partners are likely to be stressed and that can often lead to tension. Problems must be shared jointly and extravagant spending should be avoided at all costs. A budget that accurately reflects monthly expenditure must be prepared and followed. The recession hit many budgets but that does not weaken the validity of having one. The economy has improved with jobs being created month after month. Unemployment has returned to pre-recession levels so anyone wanting to work should be able to find something suitable.
Money in installment
Once everything is written down the first thing to look at are the items of expenditure. It is an exercise in seeing whether there is some obvious waste. Any debt that is incurring a high level of interest is certainly waste. Credit card balances definitely fall into that category; high interest is added at the end of each month. It is much cheaper to take out a personal loan to pay off any such balances. Even people with a poor credit score will find the interest charged will be lower. The instalment repayments by the month can be put into the budget to replace the credit card amounts.
Regular Savings
There are other items for a couple to look at and often there are comparison websites to do much of the hard work. Three things come to mind immediately; utilities, insurance and telephone network. In the case of utilities the cost of oil is as low as it has been for some time. It means that utilities should be cheaper. If a supplier has not passed on any savings then there is likely to be another that has done so. Likewise it is worth shopping around for the best insurance premiums available, ensuring that any comparison uses like for like. The third thing is the telephone. There are even free services of course.
Obviously if further economies are needed then it may have to come by cutting down on such things as eating out or perhaps forgetting the coffee shop on the way to work. It is worth the effort without really being a sacrifice.
