After the wedding cake has been feasted on and all the guests have left, life will get back to normal for any newlyweds out there. Part of this normalcy is coming up with a budget as a couple to ensure you make the best use of your finances. Here are five tips to help you create your first budget as a married couple successfully.
1. List Your Combined Incomes
The very first step you need to take is to list your combined income so you know what you’re working with. This way, you can better come up with a satisfactory amount to spend on essentials and to save. Many marriages that fail do so as a result of poor communication about money, so you need to avoid this from the very start. Be transparent with each other as this is the only way you will be able to work together towards common goals with no friction and issues with each other.
2. Write Down Your Household Expenses
The second tip is to write down all your expenses, from the mortgage or rent to utilities and car payments. This is important to do so you don’t end up being part of the more than 33% of car owners in America who neglect the maintenance needs of their vehicle, according to AAA. When you know everything that you need to spend on every month, it will become easier for you to come up with a plan of action to get it done. Don’t leave anything out as it may start to eat into money that you have allocated to some other use.
3. Come Up With a Savings Plan
Once you know what you both bring home and the expenses you have as newlyweds, you need to figure out how much you will save. Whether this saving is for retirement or for another goal, it’s important to come up with a reasonable figure. This means that you shouldn’t leave yourselves without enough money to spend on basic necessities and some miscellaneous needs that arise. With 45% of people going out to eat multiple times a week, according to On the Line, it’s important to remember things like this. Set aside some money for entertainment and dinners so that you can live comfortably while securing your future.
4. Set Realistic Goals
It’s important to set goals while coming up with a budget, but it’s also important to make sure that they’re realistic. This will make it possible to follow through with them as you don’t feel strained. With between 40% and 50% of marriages in the United States ending in divorce, it’s important to make sure that yours won’t suffer the same fate as a result of money issues. Make sure that each of you is comfortable with the amount set aside to spend on daily activities and you will most likely be happy to maintain your budget.
5. Try A Budgeting Software
We have the luck of living in a digital age, and one of the benefits that come with this is having access to budgeting software and programs. Some of them are available for free, while others need to be paid for in order to use them. Do your research and check online to find one that will work perfectly for you. When you do this, you will be able to enjoy creating budgets easily and altering them as necessary.
When you use the tips outlined above, you will likely find it easy and even enjoyable to come up with a budget. This will help you enjoy your marriage a lot more as you won’t have money issues that may make things complicated down the road.
