As readers of DINKS Finance we are generally interested in 2 things….our relationships and our finances. Today we are going to discuss how to grow and preserve both of them. Here are some quick tips about how to treat our money like our marriages, or in my case, our relationships.
Hopefully our marriage is the priority in our lives and our money is the second. I don’t feel that we need to separate the two most important things in our lives. We want our money to last just as long as our marriages, so why not treat them equally…and the same.
Here are 5 pieces of advice for saving our money and our marriages (or relationships).
1. Let The Love Grow. Most relationships don’t start with love at first sight. We slowly fall in love with the person over time. Eventually, our boyfriend becomes our husband, or our girlfriend becomes our wife. The same thing is true for our finances. We won’t become rich over night. We have to preserve our income and eventually our money becomes our wealth.
2. Cherish The Relationship. We don’t take our spouses for granted, and we shouldn’t take our money for granted either. Our money may not always be there if we don’t spend it wisely and our spouses may not always be there if we don’t treat them with respect. Cherish both your money and your relationship because in the blink of an eye, we could make a wrong move and loose them both.
3. It takes hard work. No one said that relationships are easy. It takes a lot of hard work for a successful relationship to sustain over the long term. It also takes a lot of hard work to become successful and grow a financial empire.
4. The secret is compromise. If you spend a little too much one day, then save a little more the next day. Everyone tells me that the secret to a happy relationship is compromise. I believe that this is true for any relationship, whether it is with our loved ones or with our love of money.
5. Pick your Battles. We can’t win them all. We should accept defeat gracefully when things don’t as we plan. I for one was extremely disappointed when the value of my retirement savings plan dropped by approximately 27% from 2008 to 2009. However, getting upset about it was not going to help the situation. So I just kept my investments as they were and moved on. I have the same strategy with my boyfriend Nick. Not everything is worth the fight so sometimes I just don’t put on my boxing gloves.
We should enjoy our money and our marriages or relationships. We are very blessed, and very lucky to have both.
( Photo By EduardoDeboni )
Kristina Tahnyak
Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.
Kristina it so true about the hard work it takes to keep a marriage going. But its worth it. I have been married fro 12 years now. There have been some hills and valleys but we’re in for the long haul. By the way the hills make up for the valleys.
I see how you relate the experience to relationships, it’s interesting. In life as in building good finances it’s slow and steady. But also its about enjoying the ride.
I agree…our relationships with our finances have ups and downs just as we do in our personal relationships. If I had to choose between my boyfriend Nick or a million dollars I would definitely choose Nick. I would prefer to be with Nick and broke, rather than rich and single.
This is a great post! For some people I would be concerned if they treated their money like their marriage. Haha! (For the folks not so serious about them that is) A lot of times, if you fix your money (together as a team), a lot of the problems the marriage had resolve themselves. My wife and I used to fight a lot more than we do now, mostly over money, but since we became a team, it really has made a huge difference.
We are dinks for the first time. Finally, two incomes coming in! It is very exciting, and I recently wrote a blog post about how we (a soon to-be married couple) are handling our finances. I’d love to get your feedback.
http://figuringouthome.wordpress.com/2010/09/11/buying-shoes-and-its-none-ya-business/
Hey Megan,
It seems that you have similar spending patterns as myself and your boyfriend has exactly the same spending patterns as my boyfriend Nick. I think your rules are great. Your grandmother is a very smart woman!
I wrote a similar blog post about financial questions before marriage :)
http://blog.heaps.co.nz/how-to/7-financial-questions-to-ask-your-fiancee-before-the-wedding/